Former Fat Guy Blog

Video: More Outdoor Pushup Variations

Rob — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:00:25 +0000

A few days ago I posted Tara Scott’s Outdoor Pushup Variation video showing some extreme pushup drills. As amazing as they were, these pushup drills take it to another level.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Tara Scott blogs about primal fitness and outdoor exercise and fitness. She is a senior instructor and trainer of primal body conditioning.

Pushups are a core piece of Turbulence Training by Craig Ballantyne

Make sure you see part 1 of the pushup variations video

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Video: Outdoor Workout Pushup Variations

Rob — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:19:07 +0000

Basic outdoor body weight exercise should be a foundation for any workout program and Coach Tara has these primal workouts down to an art form. The pushup is a basic movement that strengthens so many parts of your body, the chest, tricep, shoulders, core etc and with her variations, begins to work more and more parts.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Tara Scott was a Class 1 National Gymnast and a Professional Modern Dancer. Now she’s a Certified Pilates Trainer, and a Senior Instructor and Trainer of Primal Body Conditioning. I’ve got to find out more about this Primal Body Conditioning instruction course.

and of course, Tara is hot.

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Back Flip Extravaganza

Rob — Sun, 17 May 2009 19:35:42 +0000

How’s your back flip anyway?

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

via scott bird

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The Vice Squad Came a Knockin

Rob — Sat, 09 May 2009 04:42:31 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. Jon is the author of Seven Minute Muscle Workout and many others. I have his permission to share it with you. ]

A video about vices.

What are your vices? Here are my top 5 vices. And one of my vices — sugar — has been worked into my fat loss plan.

Think I’m kidding?

Pigs In Space: The Truth About The Swine Flu

Rob — Fri, 01 May 2009 05:16:19 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. Jon is the author of Seven Minute Muscle Workout and many others. I have his permission to share it with you. ]

Pigs In Space:
The Truth About The Swine Flu

THE MEDIA IS LYING TO YOU!!

Shocking News: 36,000 People Dead In The U.S. Due To The Flu!

Sounds scary, doesn’t it? I mean, this whole Swine Flu makes you want to send every pig on earth into orbit.

Pigs in Space!

That’s the answer man. Shoot ‘em all up into the atmosphere. Let Ms. Piggy sort ‘em out.

That bit of shocking news? It’s true.

About 36,000 people have already died of the flu — last year.

And the year before.

And…. the year before that.

And so-on, and so-on.

Not the “Swine” flu — that’s killed one person so far in the United States (an infant.)

The “flu” flu.

You know…. the FLU? The pain-in-the-ass flu bug that you’ve known about but never feared and panicked over since you were a kid?

Yeah… that flu.

36,000 a year in the U.S. alone.

How many media outlets are talking about this historical fact? Hardly any.

Just today I saw headlines in 4-inch type: “FIRST AMERICAN SWINE FLU DEATH”.

Now, I feel for the poor little baby who died. Do not get me wrong.

But can you not see the clear, unmitigated media hype here folks?

The media depends on sensationalism and hype to sell papers and advertising. Period.

And almost ever year, something like this comes along. A few years ago it was “Bird Flu.” Remember?

How many people do YOU know that were killed by the Bird Flu.

Uh-huh. Me too. Zilch.

Let’s review:

36,000 a year die of the simple, plain-old flu.

And… we’re supposed to freak out over the potential of a new strain?

Okay — here’s what you can do to protect yourself from any strain of flu — and colds for that matter.

Ready? It’s kinda complex, so be sure to take notes…

1. Wash your hands.
2. Never touch your face (mouth, nose, eyes) before washing your hands. Antibacterial soaps probably do not help much. It is more important to take time to wash/scrub hands well. (from a post by a doctor to this reply…thank you!)
3. Eat a diet that is low in insulin response.
4. Drink plenty of water.

That’s all.

I know, very, very complex stuff… but… what can I say.

The only thing you may NOT being doing (most people are not) is eating a low-insulin diet. That’s a diet that does not promote insulin resistance in the cells.

The ideal diet for that is my Every Other Day Diet. Why?

Well, because I wrote it… that’s why. ; )

Actually, because it allows you the foods you love every week, so you don’t feel like you’re on a diet all the time.

If you doubt the claims, just read about the results on my support blog.

Or get yourself a copy. Try it. If you don’t like it, I’ll pay you back.

Simple as that.

Go here now –

The Every Other Day Diet The Flu AND Fat Killer

Feel better now? Good.

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Recipe: 3 Dairy Free Coleslaw Dressings

Rob — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 17:15:29 +0000

Coleslaw is one of my favorite side dishes so for variety sake, we had to come up with some dairy free coleslaw dressings. Cabbage is part of the cruciferous vegetable family and is excellent for colon health. If you’re a guy, colon health and specifically cruciferous vegetables play a big role in prostate health and increasing testosterone. We make our own coleslaw around our house, grating fresh red and yellow cabbage ourselves. I like to make different sorts of dairy free coleslaw dressings, some with a little kick.

I used to think that coleslaw dressings were always white and creamy because that’s how it was when my mom made it. It’s also how you’ll find the fast food variety of coleslaw, like KFC or otherwise. We like mustard and lime and spices such as cayenne, so they’re included in our dressings.

Growing up, coleslaw dressings typically included dairy and or mayonnaise, but for health and weight loss reasons, dairy should be completely avoided.

Honey Mustard Coleslaw Dressing

½ cup olive oil
½ cup Udo’s Oil
3 Tbsp organic Dijon mustard
3 Tbsp Honey or Agave (unpasteurized honey if possible)
Celtic sea salt or Real Salt brand sea salt to taste

Place all ingredients in a jar or blender. I like the magic bullet blender for this purpose. Bullet blenders are so versatile. Shake or blend until combined.

Honey Lime Coleslaw Dressing

3 Tbsp Lime Juice – fresh squeezed or bottled organic
1 Tbsp Maple Syrup – Darker syrups have more minerals
1 tsp Turmeric
½ cup Almond Milk
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp to ¼ tsp Celtic sea salt or Real Salt brand sea salt

Place all ingredients in a jar or blender and shake or blend until combined. Change the amounts of almond milk and maple syrup to vary the thickness. Ie: use less almond milk, or a little more maple syrup.

This dairy free coleslaw dressing can also be used on a salad.

Rob’s Spicy Fat Burning Coleslaw Dressing

½ cup Udo’s Oil
¼ cup Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar
3 Tbsp Honey or Agave Syrup
2 tsp Celtic sea salt or Real Salt brand sea salt
¼ tsp or more of Cayenne pepper
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
2 tsp mustard seeds (optional)
½ tsp celery seeds (optional)

If blending, mix all items into blender and blend until mixed. Then add the seeds. If using a jar, place all items into jar and shake.

Because of the healthy fats from Udo’s Oil, the cayenne pepper and black pepper and the apple cider vinegar, I call this my Fat Burning Coleslaw Dressing.

Dairy Free

We replace cows milk with Almond Milk. You can either make your own almond milk or purchase it. Completely skip any mayo as there’s no nutritional advantage to it. Dairy free is the way to go as far as I’m concerned, in your coleslaw and in your life.

Don’t Avoid the Salt

Table salt should be thrown out and replace with sea salt. Salt should have color, not be white. The minerals in sea salt is what gives it the various colors and does the body good. Salt is not a bad thing, but has to be balanced with a larger amount of potassium (Cave man ate roughly a 10:1 potassium to sodium ratio). Dark leafy greens, apples, apple cider vinegar and other vegetables are sources of potassium. Too much salt is not necessarily the problem, but rather too little potassium. For step by step information on including more potassium in your diet, in a natural and tasty way, have a look at my Fat Loss Fundamentals – 12 weeks to better eating course.

Other Replacements

Non nutritional oils are replaced with Udo’s Oil for it’s health and fat burning properties and any white distilled vinegar is replaced with unpasteurized Apple Cider Vinegar (I use Bragg brand).

Note: because of the variety of sizes of the coleslaw dressings, you’ll have to play with the amount of cabbage you use. If you like your slaw creamier and richer, use less cabbage. If you like the taste a little milder, use more cabbage. I’m sure you get the idea.

For best results, make ahead of time, stir dressings into the shredded cabbage and allow for flavors to mix for a few hours. Make lots, keep in a covered container in the fridge and have as a side for a few days.

Coming soon: Wasabi coleslaw dressing and Horseradish coleslaw dressing

Because coleslaw is an excellent way to improve colon health, and because I just like cabbage so much, I eat it on a fairly regular (no pun intended) basis and suggest you do too. These dairy free coleslaw dressings are simply one way to add variety to your meals.

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The End of a Classic | Does Being Slightly Overweight Matter?

Rob — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 00:47:59 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. Jon is the author of Seven Minute Muscle Workout and many others. I have his permission to share it with you. ]

Does Being “Slightly” Overweight Matter?

Shockingly so.

A 2008 study nicknamed “The Physician’s Health Study” proved that just a little bit of extra weight can raise the risk of heart failure. The study was designed to calculate the heart hazards of being pudgy but not obese.

Researchers tracked the health of 21,094 U.S. male doctors for two decades found that even those who were only modestly overweight had a higher risk for heart disease. The numbers grew along with the amount of extra weight.

In men who are 5 feet 10 inches tall, for every seven pounds (3.2 kg) of excess body weight, their risk of heart failure rose on average by 11 percent over the next 20 years, the researchers wrote in the journal Circulation . The average age of the men at the outset of the study was 53. During the study, 1,109 of them developed heart failure.

Overall, the risk of heart failure increased by 180 percent in men who met the definition of obesity according to their body mass index (BMI of 30 and higher), and by 49 percent in men who met the definition of overweight (a BMI of 25 to 30).

So, what about the leaner and more active doctors?

“The lean and active group had the lowest risk and the obese and inactive group had the highest risk,” Kenchaiah said in a telephone interview.

And what about “all those hours” needed for exercise?

Yet another myth –

“As far as vigorous physical activity is concerned, even if somebody said they exercised one to three times per month — which is a very low level of exercise — they had an 18 percent reduction in the risk of heart failure after accounting for all other established risk factors,” said Kenchaiah.

This is just more support for my approach to exercise as found in 7 Minute Muscle. It is by far the shortest workout you can do to reap the greatest rewards.

It’s time to get more serious about that “little flab” — and studies like this one conducted over twenty years will go a long way to showing exactly how beneficial cutting the flab can be.

Fit Bits: In-Home or In The Gym?

For my top 5 questions of the day received, this makes the list.

“Jon, can I workout in my home or do I have to go to a gym?”

Here is both sides to the story…

First, the answer in most cases is “Yes” — you can workout in your home with little to no equipment and make very good progress.

With some exceptions.

First, you have to really have a great plan. Home workouts are fine, but honestly they are less exciting than going to a gym and being around other fit-minded folks. So a plan is crucial. If you just try to “catch a workout”, you will probably end up being inconsistent and not progressing.

Next week I’ll be releasing my 7 Minute Body System. This the in-home version of 7 Minute Muscle that requires only bands, a rubber ball, and your body weight. Dumbbells are optional.

This is a great plan for in-home workouts… and of course it’s only 7 minutes long.

There are other plans you can find on the Internet or in another book that may work for you too. Just be sure to USE on. Do not just wing it.

Results for in-home training tend to be lower on average than in-gym training for two reported reasons: Commitment and variety.

Commitment is crucial. If you have a good system and you can commit to it, then you can do well. But a gym fosters commitment in most people due to the costs and the environment. This is not always the case of course. Some people waste their bucks on a gym membership.

Variety is obviously much better in a gym — more equipment, more people to interact with (mental variety) and so-on.

One more thing: Progression. Progression is key in the gym or at home. So no matter what workout environment you choose, write down your workouts every day. The next time you perform that workout, be sure to add a rep or two here and there or some more resistance. Perhaps less rest between sets.

Always try to progress. Some days you will, others you may not — but the mental attitude of progress is essential.

The bottom line is this: If you can make the commitment to your self and get yourself a good, solid in-home plan, you can make in-home workouts work for you.

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Low Pressure Sex Released; Dismiss Perfection

Rob — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 01:32:16 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. ]

Have you ever started out to do one thing but ended up doing something different?

Night and day different?

Remember how Post-It Notes were invented?

Some guy was trying to come up with a “permanent” glue.

Obviously he failed… and he considered it a failure… but 3M had another idea.

The guy was all of a sudden Joe Brilliant.

Well, I’m feeling a bit like Joe today. But this is much more interesting to you than Post-It Notes…

It’s about sex… sorta. Not dirty, I’m talking about couple’s stuff here.

My new book just came out today about it.

But it didn’t start off that way at all. In fact … get this… I was co-writing a book with medical researcher Frank Mangano on lowering blood pressure without meds… really.

So how did this big U-turn occur?

Okay, okay…. funny, true story:

I read this article from a medical journal about how “lowering blood pressure would help sexual-performance-problems.”

Ding. The lightbulb went off in my head.

You see, lowering blood pressure is probably the most healthy thing you can do for yourself.

But face it — it’s really, really BORING.

I mean, who really cares about their blood pressure unless their doctor says, “Look, lower your blood pressure or you’ll die in six months.”

Then you care.

Are you with me?

I’m right and we all know it.

Heck, I was the same way.

I ignored my blood pressure for years until it hit stroke-level back in my 30s.

Then I could no longer ignore it.

I found every natural alternative possible… which led me to Frank’s books… and they are the BEST.

So Frank comes to me and asks me to contribute to his very popular on-the-shelf book “The Blood Pressure Miracle” –

… and I said,

“Hey, guess what I just read?”

Since he’s the researcher, I said, “Go see if there’s any truth to this.”

The results BLEW MY MIND.

Not only is there truth to it — that, yes… lowering blood pressure not only extends your life but also extends your sexlife as well — but WOW… it’s a major player in everything from male-ED to females feeling “out of the mood.”

It’s crazy, but it’s true.

It makes sense once you read this:

Low Pressure Sex Book Click here for “Low Pressure Sex”

Hang with me: It gets better…

So Frank digs up article after article on the subject of high blood pressure and LOW sexual-energy and performance… and we have a much more compelling reason to want to lower our blood pressure, now don’t we?

But we wanted more.

I said, “Look Frank, I get a lot of emails about sex-after-30… people who want to feel more kick, more alive in that area of their lives… and above all, closer to their mates.”

So… we decided to add another book on TOP of our book…

… a book on improving sexual-pleasure for couples only. “RevolutionarySex” is the name of it. My friend Alex Allman wrote it…and just like that we had two books instead of one.

But that’s not all… ( told you… this story is interesting… ; )

THEN my friend Jeff Anderson comes out with his “homemade V” — and guys, we know what “V” stands for.

Listen: V (little blue things) is really dangerous stuff. It really is. It RAISES blood pressure for one thing. For another it can cause addiction and memory loss.

But Jeff’s version is all-natural, cheap (we’re talking pennies instead of dollars per “pill” to make) and above all… SAFE.

So all of a sudden… THREE books (plus an audio)… so…

It became a System, not a book.

And the topic went from “lowering blood pressure” to …

… How you can completely solve your sexual-performance-problems and increase your pleasure all by lowering blood pressure naturally without meds.”

What a concept…

…and it WORKS.

Low Pressure Sex Book Click here for “Low Pressure Sex”

Here are the advantages…

1. If you take blood pressure meds… and a lot of you do… your “kick in the stick” suffers. A lot. Some men suffer all the way, which lead them to taking the V stuff…

… and that stuff ‘raises’ blood pressure.

Bad, bad combo. Our System gets you off of that dangerous and expensive cycle of drugs and on to a natural, easy approach that also adds pleasure to your relationship.

2. Cheaper… by far… than meds.

3. Something you can read and do as a couple or as a single person.

4. You get healthy and you get your vigor back at the same time. Ladies too.

5. It’s guaranteed-to-work… 60 days on us.

I’m very proud of this System. We put a lot of time, research and effort into it.

If you want a life freee from high BP and sexual-performance-issues and better health, then go here:

Low Pressure Sex Book Click here for “Low Pressure Sex”

Fit Bits: Forget Perfection

You will never be perfect. At anything.

Period.

Forget it. In fact, the faster you forget it the faster you’ll make progress in the gym and with your weightloss-goals.

Perfection with a dietplan is silly. No one will eat perfectly for life. No one will make every workout.

But thousands upon thousands of people try to be “perfect” every single day. That’s why they fail on their dietplans and exercise schedules.

They are too demanding.

In the first day’s lesson in my Personal Fat Loss Certification Course I teach you (free) how to avoid perfection in both dietary and exercise protocols so you can progress enjoyably for life.

Trust me: I’m far from perfect. Tonight I had Mexican food. Bad Mexican food, but still… ; )

And I’m still in good shape. I know how “not” to be perfect — and how to eat ‘tomorrow’ to ensure that what I had ‘tonight’ will not affect my body or my health at all.

I look forward to teaching you the same secrets.

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Issue 64: The Skinny on Fats

Rob — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:57:43 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. ]

Let’s get this one out in the open:

1. Fats do not make you gain bodyfat.

2. Fats do not put you on Heart Attack Row.

3. Fats are not the enemy.

We’ve been sold a bag of lies when it comes to fats.

Fats are essential for your body’s hormone production, skin health, absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, and even burning bodyfat. Yep… you need fats to burn fat.!

Studies have been conducted to attempt to elevate cholesterol levels using high-fat diets. Most all of them have failed miserably — in fact several “lowered” total cholesterol while raising the so-called “good” cholesterol (HDL).

That being said, you don’t need the following…

1. A lot of fats in your diet. Fats still contain over twice the calories per gram as carbs and protein.

2. Any kind of “fake fats” — margarine or processed oils of any kind are highly dangerous foods.

Here’s my simple dietary fats solution:

Eat fats as they occur in nature, but eat at least 80% as they REALLY occur in nature — meaning from grass-fed and free-range sources. The extra cost is worth it. It tastes better and your medical costs will well offset the few dollars more per pound you pay.
Cook with a combination of olive oil and coconut oil, but use both sparingly. If you are eating plenty of animal protein you do not need excessive fats… not because of ‘danger’ but because of needless calories. Not a good idea if you’re wanting to keep your abs. But a bit of raw butter or olive oil can make bland veggies taste wonderful, so feel freee. Also, omega 3-rich fats like olive oil and fish (and especially fish oil) help lower inflammation. That’s the real culprit behind heart disease in most cases.
Avoid a lot of fats at night. The night-time meals should be high in lean protein (tuna, tofu, turkey breast) with very limited fats if you are wanting to really get lean. If you are just trying to shed bodyweight slowly, it’s okay to have some fats at night.

Just do me a favor: If you are on the “Fats make you gain bodyfat and have heart attacks” bandwagon, jump off. We have consumed fat for countless thousands of years. Just consume it the way we always HAVE (naturally, not stuffed with hormones and cooked up in a lab) and you’ll be fine.

If you want a diet-solution that actually uses dietary fats to help you lose bodyfat, then use this one:

My Real-World Diet Plan Eat Fat, Lose Fat!

It’s a real-world plan that allows you to eat your favorite foods and still shed the bodyweight you want.

And yes — that includes fats.

Fit Bits: Unilateral Training

Here’s something to break up your workout: Train one SIDE at a time.

You can work one side of your chest at a time, one arm at a time, one leg at a time, and so-on. Working unilaterally will cause you to have to increase your balance skills, and that involves muscles you are probably not working at the moment. Plus working one muscle side at a time really is a challenge, especially with legs.

Two of my favorite unilateral leg movements are one-legged bodyweight squats and leg presses with one leg. Both are super challenging and take practice. You can Google “one leg squats” and find some YouTube examples of how to do them properly. For the leg press, just make sure you start with well ‘under’ half your normal leg press weight. That’s just so you can get the movement down before you increase the poundages.

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Issue 63: The 48-Hour Fitness GiveAway

Rob — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:02:53 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. ]

I promised you free stuff … and this one is the mother-load.

The good news: I’ve lined up with four of the top fitness guys in the world. We all chipped in and created unique gifts for our most valued readers.

The urgent news: It’s only for 48 hours.

Each of these five gifts are free… no stings, no catches, no cards to “input” and be charged later… nothing like that.

This is just a great big “thank you” for being a loyal reader.

The gifts you’ll find at the below address range from anywhere from $50-$250 in actual real-world value.

But for the next 48 hours ONLY you can grab them for the best price ever - zero.

Just go here and enjoy –

http://www.FreeFitnessGiveaways.com Click Here

Since many of these are all products that are actually “sold” our time limit is 48 hours. Then we take them down.

Stay subscribed and you’ll get these kinds of gifts from me from time to time.

Thanks to fellow fitness author and Body For Life Grand Champion Joel Marion, this 48-Hour GiveAway is the best I’ve ever seen.

Go see for yourself –

http://www.FreeFitnessGiveaways.com Click Here

Nothing to buy…just a way of saying how much we all appreciate your readership and support.

Fit Bits: Free Dumbells and Barbells?

Okay, it’s one thing to give away five killer fitness books (see the article above) but free dumbbells and barbells?

Kinda-sorta.

I watched for the past few weeks as my good friend Fabrice Rinaldi, author of 1 Rep Fitness, trained another Frenchman, Sebastien Night, for a really cool French video special.

Using 1 gallon milk jugs, Fabrice made dumbbells and “plates” that worked for the entire 3-week program!

All you do is fill the gallon jugs with water and some sand until they are heavy enough for you. Wrap a towel around the handle and tie a knot in the towel and you have a dumbbell for free. Add small rocks and sand as you need.

Fabrice ended up with 4-6 of these homemade dumbbells, putting them on the end of a simple wooden pole to create a barbell as well as using the towel method for creating dumbbells. That’s it… and that’s all you really need if you workout at home to create free dumbbells and barbells. And trust me — you can get a gallon jug up to about 25 pounds if you put enough rocks, sand and water in it. That’s plenty for most people just training at home.

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Issue 62: Fitness One-liners: The Best Diet/Workout Ever

Rob — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:38:52 +0000

[ Note: This article was written by fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you. ]

What is your favorite one-liner?

Most people think of one-liners as either pick-up lines for the ladies or one-liner jokes.

Rodney Dangerfield was a master of one-liner jokes.

One of my favorite was:

“When it comes to women, I never cry…I beg.”

I guess that’s both a joke and a pick-up line! Ha….

Anyway, my one-liners are no where near as funny. They also do not land me dates.

Over the past three weeks or so I’ve noticed that my one-liners are all super-fast answer to pretty complicated questions.

Questions like…

“What’s the best dietplan for me?”

“What’s the best workout you’ve ever used?”

“How can I lose this bodyweight and eat like a normal person?”

“How can I workout when I only have 30 minutes a day to spare?”

“What is the capital of Arkansas?”

(That last question was to see if you are paying attention… ; )

And so-on it goes.

Folks, these are NOT simple questions to answer. There are a lot of variables.

What foods do you like? What foods are you allergic to? Have you ever trained with weights? Do you train at home?

That’s just for starters.

So, I came up with my fitness one-liners.

What I didn’t know was that I was actually outlining the basics in two of my own books: The Every Other Day Diet… and 7 Minute Muscle.

Since I’ve shared these on countless interviews and in-person, I thought I would share them with you today.

These Fitness One-liners are basically my best shot at answer this question:

“What is the best diet/exercise plan for me?”

I may be chopping myself off at the ankles financially, but if you apply these simple “Fitness One-liners” you may not need any other book or plan to get into descent shape.

If you want to get into “great” shape, then sure… you may need more. My books cover that “more” part.

But some of you cannot afford them right now and just want a place to start.

So, I’m going to give it to you. I want to see each of you succeed.

If you can, grab a book or two at the bottom of this email. This is all I do for a living.

If you can’t, take these Fitness One-liners and run with them. You can make some pretty remarkable progress.

Let me cover a few ground rules first, okay:

These are one-liners, not “details”. If you want details, books are required. Otherwise you’d be reading a novel for an email!

These one-liners will work for “most” people “most” of the time. Again, if you need specifics (like if you are diabetic, or if you are working out at home) you need more information.

Finally, these are my overriding guidelines. In each of my books I give exceptions to these guidelines… but when it comes right down to brass tax, this is what I suggest for most people.

Ready?

DIETPLAN ONE-LINER:
“Eat 2-3 days very low-carb, then one day higher carb, then repeat.”

That’s it.

Of course there are tons of details, but that’s the one-liner. Eat nothing but veggies, protein, and healthy fats for 2-3 days, then take a day to increase your carbohydrates. You can increase your carbs by eating an “off-meal” (a junk-food meal) or if you are really serious about dropping bodyfat by eating yams, brown rice, or other natural unprocessed starches.

Just do yourself a favor and eat something you really enjoy at least once per week.

If you simply avoid adding excessive amounts of fats to your low-carb days and take in only the fats you need (a bit of coconut oil, olive oil, and natural real butter is fine… but a BIT is not a GOB!) you will naturally eat less on these days. Then on your higher-carb days you will naturally eat more.

This is called “caloric staggering” — and it’s the secret behind most successful nutrition plans we fitness types use.

FITNESS PLAN ONE-LINER:
“Do one exercise per bodypart, one exercise per day, Monday-Friday, and start with 10 reps, resting only 30 seconds between sets, and stop when you cannot get 3 reps.”

Okay, that was a massive one-liner and a run-on sentence… : )

If I had to do ONE thing in the gym, or even out of the gym, this is what it would be.

And I do this all the time. It’s “almost” like my 7 Minute Muscle, but it’s not quite as effective. Still, it works.

Here’s an example:

Work your chest on Monday, your back on Tuesday, your shoulders on Wednesday, your legs on Thursday and your arms on Friday. Work abs and calves at least twice per week as you see fit.

Normally training five days in a row would lead you to over-train, but doing only one “long” set with mini-rest intervals and only one movement keeps your workout under 7 minutes. Most people will not over-train.

Let’s take Monday’s workout: Chest.

Let’s assume you’re doing Incline Smith Machine Presses. (Note: Use any compound movement, but do not use isolation movements.)

I would warm up for a minute or two, then put my 10-rep weight on the bar. I would to 10 reps, rest for 30 seconds, then try 10 more. I will probably get 8 this time due to the limited rest. Then rest 30 seconds, and so-on.

I would stop when I could not get more than 3 reps.

If you do not want a lot of muscle mass, stop when you cannot get more than 6 reps.

That’s it… and we’re talking about some hard work, but short… 3-7 minutes TOPS.

Now obviously you may need more than this, but you’d be shocked at how far this can take you.

If you want more than a One-Liner, then go here:

7 Minute MuscleClick Here

This is my 7 Minute Muscle System. And on the pre-checkout page you will be given the option to get my Every Other Day Diet System along with it for a 30 buck discount.

That will give you more than a one-liner — that will give you a plan for life.

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Tom Venuto Body Fat Solution Giveaway

Rob — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:00:02 +0000

Tom Venuto, author of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle, one of the top selling books on burning fat while building muscle, has just released his first book The Body Fat Solution. It quickly became a #1 seller on Amazon and has impacted tens of thousands of lives already.

Written in a no nonsense style, Tom easily explains the principles to overcome emotional eating, why we eat more and exercise less (and what to do about it) and why it is so difficult to balance calorie input with calorie output. If you’re looking for a clear guide to calories and how they play a role in getting to your weight loss goals, this is the book for you.

The Body Fat Solution

The over consumption of calories plays a large role in our gaining fat but we’re not always so rational when we think about food, hunger or exercise. The Body Fat Solution: Five Principles for Burning Fat, Building Lean Muscles, Ending Emotional Eating, and Maintaining Your Perfect Weight is aptly named.

Drawing on his years of personal experience as a personal trainer and nutritional adviser, Tom lays out a clear plan of action to overcome the very things that keep us where we’re at and to help bust any plateaus. It’s the “little things” that we don’t think of that are just as important as daily exercise.

The Body Fat Solution is impacting lives. I received this recently from one of my subscribers:

I just want to fall down on my knees and THANK YOU for recommending Tom Venuto’s book: The Body Fat Solution. While I was reading it, I felt my mind being reprogrammed, and my physical health is now my top priority. I relaized that I have always made other things priorities. I have a wall full of diplomas, degrees and certifications as proof of my relentless pursuit of goals. It wasn’t until I read this book that I realized that having the body I have always wanted was a simple as deciding to do it- no excuses, no acknowledgment of barriers- except to kick them down or work around them and no tolerance for failure. I exact these standards in other areas of my life- my health should have been top priority all along! The athlete inside of me is awake and it is SO on. Thank you so so much for caring enough to share this information with me.

-Tangee

When I first reviewed Tom’s Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle, I said that I learned some new principles that took my physique to the next level.

Well, he did it again (Thank you Tom).

Embracing Hunger

Tom discusses hunger in a way that I’ve never read before, and it was exactly what I needed to hear. We tend to overeat because we fear hunger but it’s in embracing hunger – just a little bit of hunger – that gets us closer to our goals.

It’s easy to accept that eating too much will add weight to our bodies, but it’s in overcoming the fear of hunger that we reach our goals quicker. It’s time to reframe our beliefs on hunger and accept, as Tom so beautifully puts it, that “hunger is not an emergency”. Tom does not take credit for that statement though, and says he’s quoting Judith Beck.

Hunger IS NOT an emergency!

Hunger is the sound of “fat cells shrinking”.

By being a little bit hungry between meals, just a little mind you, we reach our goals of a lean physique that much quicker. Hunger must be reframed in your mind and understood to be your friend – your ally. I’ll never forget a conversation I had with Tom a few years ago when he said “Rob, you must go to bed just a little hungry every day”.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said that to myself since reading the book. I’ve updated my facebook status with that statement and tweeted it on twitter. It’s something you have to take on and accept, if even for the short term, until you reach your goals.

We’ve eaten too much food and we’ve stored it. Eating is fun, but to reverse that process, we must accept hunger. As I said earlier, reframe hunger and begin to realize that hunger is fat cells shrinking.

The Body Fat Solution is a robust book - as important for the weekend warrior as it is for the weight loss novice. Part of what you’ll learn:

Change your vision and gain indomitable confidence by setting manageable goals
Maximize your metabolism to jolt out of plateaus
reshape your body through lean muscle training for a strong core and toned frame
invite a supportive social network of friends, family, and mentors to help you achieve your dream for life

.. and it goes so much further past all that. It’s had an immediate impact on me and how I think from chapter to chapter that I simply must share it with someone.

Free gift…

I recommended The Body Fat Solution by Tom Venuto when he first released it and after reading it myself and hearing back from Tangee, I want to give a couple of copies away.

To win a free copy of this book, there are two requirements:

1. Leave a comment telling me why you should be picked. Maybe it’s because you’re an emotional eater, or maybe it’s because you need more education into physical fitness. Maybe it’s because you never fully understood the relationship between having a calorie surplus vs a calorie deficit or simply because you need a good kick in the pants.

2. You must be a subscriber to my natural weight loss newsletter. This give away is a way for me to give back to my readers and subscribers. I will cross reference the email you use for entering the comment against my subscriber list. The email address must have been on my subscriber list before placing the comment.

If you’re not a subscriber to my newsletter, sign up (look for the red box on the right side of the page). Subscribers receive my free report “How To Lose 10 Pounds a Month, Every Month, Until You Reach Your Goal Weight” when joining. Subscribe here.

Contest closes Sunday February 15th 2009

Winners will be notified via the newsletter.

UPDATE: BONUS ALERT - GRAND PRIZE OFFER

After speaking with Tom, he’s agreed to up the reward and offer a personally signed copy as a Grand Prize, to be sent directly to the winner.

So there are now 3 copies to be given away, 2 from me and 1 personally signed copy from Tom himself.

Winners…

And the winners are Comment #9 Christie Landtroop (Grand Prize winner), #3 Tara B and #38 M Reed.

Email me at your earliest convenience with your mailing address using the same email address you used to enter your comment. Congratulations!

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Best Abdominal Exercises - Win A Free Copy

Rob — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 20:21:53 +0000

“The Best Abdominal Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of” is a book about unique and innovative exercises devoted entirely to the abdominal area. This abdominal training manual contains information on 77 extraordinary new exercises including pictures, videos, tricks for performing them, and common errors to avoid.

For one day only, TODAY, I’m giving it away to one lucky reader. So if you have ALWAYS wanted to train your abs so that they literally pop out of your skin but have been getting nowhere with crunches, this is the information you need.

This is NOT your typical ab training book that shows you a bunch of exercises you already know. I’ve gone through this book and I can’t believe how many completely new exercises are in it. If you’re serious about getting amazing abs, you owe it to yourself to check this out now!

Want to learn how to do these KILLER abdominal exercises?

I thought so.

Want it for FREE?

Free Gift - Best Abdominal Exercises

During the week of February 2 through February 6th 2009 (Mon to Friday this week), Nick Nilsson and I are giving away a free copy of all his fitness books and programs including The Best Abdominal Exercises You’ve Never Heard of.

Anyone can do this as long as you’re willing to GOYA and put in the effort.

Create an eye-popping six-pack that will reach out and GRAB attention. The exercises in this book make the contraction in ordinary ab exercises feel like a gentle breeze.

You’ll get MAXIMUM tension at the most “anatomically possible” contracted position, creating the abs you’ve always wanted!

Continue reading to find out how to Win a FREE Copy…

You’ll get 77 great descriptions on how to do the exercises along with full-color photos and videos! And, if the exercises and videos aren’t enough, he’s designed very specific programs to help you achieve off-the-charts results. You’ll take your abdominal and core training FAR beyond where you’ve ever been with these highly targeted programs:

Waist and Love Handle Minimizer
Core-Strength Workouts
No-Equipment Workouts
Six-Pack Workouts
Abdominal-Detail Workouts
Explosive-Core-Strength Workouts
Lower-Ab Workouts
Swiss Ball Workouts
Serratus Builders

And more…

No matter what your goal or desire for your abs, he’s got a program that puts it all together and WORKS!

Think you are already familiar with what Nick could possibly teach you about abdominal training? Read what this martial arts instructor had to say about it:

I had a look at the book yesterday and it did not let me down. Congratulations Nick - this stuff is bloody brilliant. First I thought - yeah right, how many ab exercises that we have not seen could possible be out there? Well, you obviously proved that there are plenty of them. To be honest, I only knew one.

It’s clear that lot of imagination, lateral thinking and your vast experience went into this. All the exercises are the real deal - functional stuff. The book is a breeze to read, well-structured and the pics and video clips take all the guesswork out.

Any trainer out there who wants to keep up to date with the latest in training techniques should have this book.

George Hynec
MA Training
ISSA S.M.A.C (Specialist in Martial Arts Conditioning) Instructor
RKC (Russian Kettlebell Challenge) Instructor
Sydney, Australia

Free Ab Exercise Training Course (for Everyone)

Nick would love you to experience 5 of his unique ab exercises for free.

Simply sign up for his free ab training course and you’ll have a new exercise to try every day. He’s confident that the 5 exercises alone with create results for your mid section as long as you do them.

Nick’s Ab Training Guide ensures you develop a 6 pack abs, tighten your waist, flatten your stomach (where regular crunches totally fail), develop astonishing core strength, target your hard to reach lower abs and use every moment of your ab workout to maximum efficiency. Never waste another moment training your mid section.

Some Clarity…

There’s so much free stuff today, I just want to be clear about what we’re giving away.

1. EVERYONE can have a free copy of the Ab Training Guide with the 5 exercises. Go here: Free Ab Training Guide

2. ONE lucky person will win the FULL VERSION with 77 Never Seen Before Abdominal Exercises (see below)

Win A Free Copy…

Tell me why you must have this program in the comment section. Over the weekend, I’ll be choosing one person who has left the most compelling comment and send their email to Nick for a free copy. Today is the last day of this promo, so make sure you leave a comment on the various fitness programs we’ve been talking about all week.

that’s it… leave a comment telling me why you should have this rapid fat loss and muscle building program, and it could be yours.

50% off Fitness Bailout Sale

For the past 5 days, Nick Nilsson has been having a Half Price Fitness Bailout Sale on his entire fitness product line. Get programs such as Metabolic Surge, Muscle Explosion (28 days to Maximum Muscle), Gluteus to the Maximus, The Best Ab Exercises, The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard of and more at 50% off their already low price. This is an offer not to be missed. Find out all about the Fitness Bailout Half Price Sale.

Winner…
and the winner is Judy Haynie - Comment #3. Judy, I personally chose you because of the wedding thing. I too am getting married this fall and my fiance and myself are in a body transformation contest right now. I FULLY support you in your intention and efforts to get into killer shape for your spouse. Thank you for everyone who participated in this giveaway.

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How To Build A Bigger Butt - For FREE

Rob — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:30:41 +0000

How would you like to add 2 firm inches of muscle to your butt in 2 weeks? Whether you’ve always wanted to have a rounder, firmer butt to show off at the beach or just to get rid of the flat ass you’ve always had, stop everything you’re doing and read this post! This is THE butt building ass workout program straight from the evil mind of Nick Nilsson.

Maybe you’ve always had your thighs kick into gear and take over the load of your glutes, resulting in a less than impressive butt, or maybe you’ve just thought you were born with a flat bum and blamed it on your genetics.

Well today’s Gluteus To The Maximus butt building program is exactly what you’re looking for.

To be honest, we’re all interested in looking better whether we’re coming or going. The boost in confidence and self-esteem you can get when you really feel good about how you look gets noticed by everybody.

With a bigger firmer butt…

You will look better in your jeans
You will look better in your shorts
You will look better in a bathing suit
You will look better naked…

When you’re done with what Nick has designed, you’ll know you had a great ass workout!

Free Gift - Gluteus To The Maximus
Build a Bigger Butt NOW!

You CAN build a bigger butt FAST, regardless of what you’ve tried before, because today, you’re going to get the secrets of how you can build those larger, rounder, firmer glutes of your dreams quickly and easily !

You CAN build a bigger butt…

Regardless of genetics
With as little as a few minutes a day
Whether you’re a beginner or an extremely advanced trainer
With home fitness equipment OR at your gym
…. And with guided, large, full color videos of each exercise so you learn proper technique

This Bigger Butt Training Guide will force your glutes to do so much work that they will have no choice but to grow.

Nick Nilsson, the Mad Scientist behind muscle building programs such as Muscle Explosion, Metabolic Surge (his Rapid Fat Loss and muscle building program), The Best Abdominal Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of, The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of, Hybrid Training, Specialization Training and this Gluteus To The Maximus has GONE NUTS.

He’s doing a 50% off his entire product line Fitness Bailout Sale for ONE WEEK only.

You can pick up his entire collection of rapid muscle building tools for Half Price.

And here, this week only, I’m giving them away, each and every day.

Win a Free Copy…

Every day this week, February 2 through February 6th 2009, it’s my pleasure to be able to give away a copy to one lucky commenter. Winners will be chosen over the next weekend, so make sure you leave a comment telling me why you MUST HAVE this “build a bigger butt” program.

Go into graphic detail about why you need a bigger, firmer butt to show off at the beach this summer (lol).

I started the week off with the rapid fat loss program Metabolic Surge, and yesterday’s free giveaway was the muscle building program Muscle Explosion. Comment entries are open all week long, so make sure you leave a comment.

Winner…
and the winner is Marlene Wolski - Comment #3. Thank you for everyone who participated in this giveaway.

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Win A Free Copy Of Muscle Explosion

Rob — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 21:58:34 +0000

Who wants 6 to 10 pounds of muscle added to their body in the next 28 days? Win a FREE COPY of the rapid muscle building program Muscle Explosion, by Nick Nilsson as part of his Fitness Bailout Sale.

Nick is doing his part by putting fitness programs in your hands at 50% of the normal retail value! Here at Former Fat Guy Blog – I’m giving them away!

Free Gift - Build Muscle Fast

“Muscle Explosion! 28 Days To Maximum Mass” is a powerful program for building muscle as FAST as possible. It’s a 28 day program that utilizes cutting-edge training and nutritional techniques to help trainers blast through training plateaus and gain 5 to 10 lbs of muscle in just 4 weeks.

If you’re looking for some rapid muscle growth, this is an excellent program to consider. It’s only 28 days long but MAN, those 28 days are tough. You really have to WANT to get big to do this one…but the results are just AMAZING.

After all, you bust your tail at the gym to load PILES of muscle onto your body…thick, meaty pecs, a back so wide you could show a movie on it, biceps that jump out in eye-popping peaks, legs like tree trunks…

I’ve had a chance to review a copy of Nick’s Muscle Explosion program and I have to say, this is one POWERFUL program…it WILL get you there…

This program takes you by the hand, tells you what to do every step of the way, and then gives you the SOLID KICK IN THE PANTS that you NEED to REALLY take your physique to the limit.

I’ve not done it yet, but I’ve got it scheduled in for August as part of my Getting Into Wedding Shape workout program, and I’ve personally spoken with a few friends who’ve done it already.

Check it out here while Nick’s still got his insane 50% off sale going (you’ve got 4 more days)…

Sign up for Nick’s free email training course in order to receive the 50% off Bailout price. He sends it to you once you confirm your email address.

Win A Free Copy…

If you want to win a FREE copy, leave a comment telling me why you MUST HAVE this rapid muscle building program to add another 6 to 10 pounds of muscle on your body!

That’s it, leave a comment and you’re entered to win, but I’ll warn you, you really have to want this program because it’s NOT a walk in the park. Fit and athletic people only! Nick is the Mad Scientist of the fitness industry. What comes out of his brain and is put onto paper make the weak turn and run. Personally? I’m itching to put this to work for myself.

Coming Up In The Next Few Days:

Gluteus to the Maximus – Add Inches To Your Butt Quick
This is an ebook about building larger, firmer, rounder glutes as quickly as possible. It contains exercises, programs and training advice targeted specifically to building up this area of the body. Not just “any type of training”, this very specialized approach, that Nick shares with you, will turn your body into a glute-building machine. Your glutes will have no choice but to grow bigger, rounder and firmer very quickly.

The Best Ab Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of
It’s a book about unique and innovative exercises devoted entirely to the abdominal area. It contains information on 77 extraordinary new exercises including pictures, videos, tricks for performing them, and common errors to avoid.

The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of
Just like Nick’s approach to abdominal exercises you’ve never heard of, this time he teaches you how to get maximum value out of every rep you do for specific body part training. Never waste another minute in the gym – get the most value for your time. The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of” can help you get far more results without any more effort than you’re putting in right now.

I started the week off with the rapid fat loss program Metabolic Surge, but there’s still time to enter that draw as well, so have a look.

You might want to subscribe to the blog posts so that you’re alerted to all fitness and exercise program giveaway’s all this week.

Winner…
and the winner is Chris (Anderson?) - Comment #7, randomly chosen by my tweeps on twitter. Thank you for everyone who participated in this giveaway.

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Win A Free Copy of Metabolic Surge

Rob — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 23:01:22 +0000

The Rapid Fat Loss program Metabolic Surge takes fat burning to a whole new level as it literally uses the stored energy in your fat to build muscle. Under the right training and nutritional conditions, your body has the capability of actually building muscle while burning tremendous amounts of fat. In fact, under these conditions, your body can actually use your own bodyfat to provide the energy for building that muscle, practically DOUBLING the speed of fat loss!

Want to learn how to do it?

And secondly, would you like it as a FREE GIFT?

I thought so.

Free Gift

During the week of February 2 through February 6th 2009 (Mon to Friday this week), Nick Nilsson and I are giving away a free copy of all his fitness books and programs starting with Metabolic Surge.

This is NOT for the timid and should only be applied by anyone already in good to extreme shape already.

A Fat-Loss Program That Actually Allows You To Build Strength AND Muscle? How Is That Possible?

Continue reading to find out how to WIN a FREE COPY….

It’s possible with a scientifically-designed program that harnesses and applies the real power of your own natural metabolism.

With the right training and nutrition, your body is fully capable of building muscle even when on a fat-loss program. You see, your body reacts to certain nutrients and certain training styles in very predictable ways.

By exploiting your body’s natural reactions, the right program not only maximizes the positive fat-burning and muscle-building effects of Growth Hormone, it also maximizes the anabolic effects of Insulin while minimizing Insulin’s possible negative impact on fat burning.

It’s a combination that has the potential to transform your body in a remarkably short period of time!

The training part of it combines elements of low repetition / high intensity training along with short duration cardiovascular intervals. Your body is constantly moving, switching back and forth between weight training exercises and cardio exercises for the duration of your workout.

During your rest periods for your weight lifting, you’ll be doing cardio and while resting for your cardio, you’ll be doing weight training – for 45 minutes.

It forces your body to burn calories continuously during the workout which dramatically increases your metabolism leading to increased fat burning long after the workout is finished. More so than either the weights or the cardio alone.

For an example of this type of training, have a look at a sample day of Metabolic Surge.

You can print that out and take it with you to the gym for your next workout.

The training program along with the nutritional manipulation make rapid fat loss while building muscle a reality. Normally, one would build muscle, and then cut up afterwards.

Again, this is ONLY for the advanced athlete who has a good base of fitness prowess already.

There is a protein principle in his nutritional program that really shook my beliefs. I still use it once a week at the very least and will continue to.

Win A Free Copy…

Tell me why you must have this program in the comment section. Over the weekend, I’ll be choosing one person who has left the most compelling comment and send their email to Nick for a free copy. We’ll be doing this all week, with a new program every day, so stay come back and leave a comment. Subscribe to the rss feed too, for instant delivery of the blog post.

that’s it… leave a comment telling me why you should have this rapid fat loss and muscle building program, and it could be yours.

50% off Fitness Bailout Sale

For the next 5 days, Nick Nilsson is having a Half Price Fitness Bailout Sale on his entire fitness product line. Get programs such as Metablic Surge, Muscle Explosion (28 days to Maximum Muscle), Gluteus to the Maximus, The Best Ab Exercises, The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard of and more at 50% off their already low price. This is an offer not to be missed. Find out all about the Fitness Bailout Half Price Sale.

Winner…
and the winner is Ryan Evans - Comment #11. Thank you for everyone who participated in this giveaway.

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Recipe: Orange Vegetable and Lentil Stew

Darlene — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 15:00:48 +0000

This weeks hearty Orange Vegetable and Lentil winter stew is loaded with all things orange that are good for you! It is another magazine find, and yet again I’ve altered a few things to make it healthier.

Vegetables and fruits that are bright orange get their color from a high concentration of Beta-carotene. Why is that important for your health? Because Beta-carotene helps your body create Vitamin A and is a powerful antioxidant that helps boost your immune system. It also aids in good vision - didn’t your mother always tell you to eat your carrots?

So what comes to mind when I say “eat orange foods”? Carrots and oranges? Well - here’s a LOT more orange things you might not have thought of. Enjoy!

Orange Vegetable and Lentil Stew

2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 onion diced
2 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (if a milder stew is desired, use 1/4 tsp)
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 Orange pepper, seeded and diced
2 cups carrots, diced
2 cups sweet potatoes, diced (skin off or on, your choice)
2 cups of an Orange squash (pumpkin, kobacha like I used, butternut) peeled, seeded and diced
1.5 cups dried red lentils
1.5 tsp celtic sea salt
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp grated orange rind
1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice (one orange)
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (above 1/2 a lemon squeezed)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

In a large pot heat oil and saute onion until it’s transparent. Stir in cumin, allspice, cayenne, turmeric and white pepper - saute another minute to blend spices. Add orange pepper, carrots, sweet potato, squash, lentils, salt, bay leaf, and orange rind. Cook - stirring often for about 10 minutes.

Add 6 cups of purified or filtered water (or home made veggie soup) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the vegetables are softened and lentils are cooked - about 30 minutes. ***NOTE: red lentils are SUPPOSED to turn to mush, you have NOT done anything wrong!***

Remove bay leaf, stir in orange and lemon juices. Add cilantro right before serving.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Optional variation: if you want to add some ground turkey or chicken, do that at the beginning and put it in with the onion.

Subscribe to my recipes by email: Make sure you get my recipes emailed to you every weekend by subscribing to my recipe email service. Every weekend, one new whole food recipe posted for you to enjoy and then comment on.

Orange Vegetable and Lentil Stew Photo Credit: Her View Photography

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Video: Tony Robins at TED - Why We Do What We Do

Rob — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 20:56:52 +0000

Tony Robbins speaking for 22 minutes at TED on why we do what we do. Tony discusses the hidden forces that motivate everyone’s actions. Could easily be said that this might be the best 22 minutes you spend on yourself today.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Tony Robbins is one of the worlds leading motivational speakers. His book “Unlimited Power” was a critical part of me starting my own weight loss journey.

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Does Weight Watchers Consider Inches Lost or Just Pounds?

Rob — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 23:38:24 +0000

It’s come to my attention that Weight Watchers does not track inches lost over the week, but rather focuses squarely on the scale, giving no credit to a gain in muscle. Does weight watchers understand or even promote an active lifestyle? and if they do, they simply MUST understand that a body building muscle is going to drop inches as it burns more fat, which wouldn’t register on the scale.

Imagine the psychological impact of a man or woman who’s been increasing their exercise frequency and intensity, watching what they eat, counting the points and proud of what they’re accomplishing as they get stronger, only to be totally discouraged at a weight gain a week later.

I Question The Weight Watchers Approach

Does Weight Watchers take into account an increase in muscle mass and a decrease in inches as a successful week? or is it just the reading on the scale that counts?

Muscle weighs the same as fat, let me be perfectly clear about that.

1 pounds of muscle is equal to 1 pound of fat, just as 1 pound of hammers is equal to 1 pound of feathers.

A pound is a pound.

However, a pound of muscle is more dense than fat and takes up less space.

As one exercises, he or she begins to stimulate the body to compensate for the work load and it does so by building more muscle. That muscle in turn is metabolically active, and begins to burn more fat, even while sleeping. As the body burns the fat, it becomes smaller in size because a pound of fat takes up more space than a pound of muscle. The body burns the fat as long as the body remains in a calorie deficit each day.

We shrink, yet it’s possible to weight the same, trading 1 pound of fat for 1 pound of muscle.

The scale wouldn’t budge, but your clothes might fit better or you might be able to do up the seat belt a bit easier.

If one was simply using the scale as a way to measure feedback about your exercise and nutrition, one might become discouraged. This is why measuring yourself either with a tape measure or through body composition analysis tests is so important. Body composition analysis’ can be performed at your local gym, either free with your membership or for a small fee. There are even special scales available to measure body composition, but they leave a bit to be desired in accuracy. Anyone can use a tape measure and measure themselves though.

My friend was quite discouraged when she learned that she gained a half a pound.

Her co-workers questioned her about her diet and that strange meal replacement stuff she’s been eating (and getting GREAT results on). The thought that she was the one who had been eating the best and been most active, so questioned her on re-evaluating her nutritional program.

She text msg’d me about the weight gain.

My first question to her was “what did the tape measure say”.

She told me that they do not take measurements, just the scale.

The Tape Measure Told A Different Story

Today I learned that she was indeed down 3.5 inches on her abdominals and an inch on each thigh - she’s thrilled! She did the measurements herself as I’ve been coaching her all along to do. She’s kept track of all her measurements over the past 8 months or more.

After spending a few minutes on the phone with her, she understands now that all the exercise she’s been doing, the one hundred body weight squats she’s been doing every day, the Wii Fit and all the walking is beginning to build muscle on her body like never before.

I’ve NEVER seen her more active than she’s been since the beginning of the new year and she’s getting results. Not on the scale though, and now she’s armed with a response to her friends and the weight watchers representative next week. She now has proof that she’s getting results and will stick to her program.

So I wonder about weight watchers now. I did a poll about weight watchers results and if weight watchers really worked.

I do not have all the facts here to make a statement one way or the other. It may just be the group facilitator who is neglecting to take the measurements, or simply some bad training. Maybe it’s just in the interest of time to weigh this group and not measure, I don’t know. What I HAVE come to realize though is that a lot of people taking on a weight loss program do not understand the relationship between fat loss, muscle gain, and how it impacts the scale. It’s critical to know what you’re losing, because the perfect nutritional and exercise program should have one building muscle while they’re burning fat. For those with only a few fat pounds to lose, the scale may never even budge, but you would get the shape you’re looking for.

So I ask. Does weight watchers take into account that members who are exercising will be gaining muscle, loosing inches and staying the same weight? I posed this question on twitter and have not gotten any responses yet. Maybe you can shed some light on this for me. I welcome comments

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Your Fitness Future Foretold: 20 Predictions for the New Year

Rob — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:32:08 +0000

This is a guest post by Tom Venuto, the author of the #1 best selling diet book Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle

Happy New Year! In this article, I’m going to predict your future and forecast exactly what kind of results you’re going to get in the next 12 months. Sylvia Browne, step aside… I’m pretty good at this.

Several years ago, a public relations firm in New York City asked me to write an article for one of their publications about fitness trends and predictions for the coming year.

It turned out that my “crystal ball” was pretty darn accurate. I nailed most of the predictions I made about aerobics classes, yoga, core training, “holistic” approaches, online personal training technology, the baby boomer market, increasing obesity and many other subjects.
I do confess, it wasn’t that difficult, because instead of just guessing, I actually did some research on industry statistics and I also had some “inside insights” because I’d been a health club manager for so many years and was privy to fitness business trends.

This year, instead of making predictions for the whole fitness industry, what if I could take out my crystal ball again and predict with 99% precision exactly what kind of results you will achieve with your body by the end of the year?

Well, no problem, I can do that too!

I would claim that I have some kind of “gift” for this, but to be honest, you and I don’t need to be psychic to make predictions like these.

There are two things you can always count on: (1) Nature’s laws of cause and effect, and (2) human nature.

On that basis, here are my

20 fitness predictions for the new year

I PREDICT that if you can reach into your pocket on any day this year and pull out a card or piece of paper with all your body and fitness goals written on it in vivid detail, the odds are 95 to 1 in favor of you achieving every one of those goals before the year is out.

I PREDICT that if you focus your thoughts on your goals and how you are going to achieve them, all day long, you will reach your goals so fast this year, it will make your head spin.

I PREDICT that if you focus your thoughts on health woes and body fat problems and if you think about what you don’t want, all day long, your problems will get worse than ever this year.

I PREDICT that if you made a new year’s resolution, but you didn’t turn it into a specific, written goal with a deadline and a strong reason why you must achieve it, you will freely abandon it the moment the going gets tough.

I PREDICT that if you can tell me all the reasons why achieving your health and fitness goals are important to you, you will be motivated from within to stick with it when the going gets tough.

I PREDICT that at times, the going is going to get tough.

I PREDICT that if you can tell me today what is your life purpose and what is your lifelong vision for your body and your health, you will still be as motivated and driven at the end of the year as you were at the beginning.

I PREDICT that if you don’t have long term goals and a “big picture” vision for your life that you will lose your New Year’s enthusiasm and motivation in a matter of months or even weeks.

I PREDICT that the way you see yourself in your mind’s eye today will be an exact reflection of what you see in the mirror at the end of the year.

I PREDICT that if you have a setback that seems to get in the way of you reaching your health and fitness goals and you tell yourself “this just is temporary; this too shall pass,” then it will pass and it won’t set you back.

I PREDICT that if you believe the way your body looks today is out of your control and you feel helpless or powerless to change, you won’t even make much of an effort this year.

I PREDICT that if you accept complete responsibility for the way your body looks today and you believe that you have the power to change, that you will take action and keep taking action, even through the tough times.

I PREDICT that if you’re unhappy with your physical condition and you say, “it’s not my fault” or you blame it on genetics, hormones or age, then your body will look pretty much the same at the end of this year as it did on New Year’s day.

I PREDICT that the more you have patience, a long term perspective and the ability to postpone immediate gratification, the more likely you are to be a success one year from now.

I PREDICT that the more you seek “miracle pills” or “quick fixes,” the more likely you are to be a failure one year from now.

I PREDICT that you will be tempted by many quick fixes this year.

I PREDICT that if you hang out with losers and negative people this year, you will become just like them.

I PREDICT that if you hang out with winners and positive people this year, you will become just like them.

I PREDICT that you will run into more negative people and losers this year than positive people and winners.

I PREDICT that if you recruit just one friend or support partner that stands behind you and the lifestyle changes you want to make this year, you will double your chances for success. If you surround yourself with numerous support partners, you will become virtually unstoppable.

So how does your future look for the year ahead?

Based on my “predictions,” if it doesn’t look as bright as you’d like it to be, then don’t worry, because a prediction is not predestination.

You can’t do anything to change the past, but by changing your thoughts, attitudes and actions in the present moment, the future is yours to create.

Your friend and coach,

Tom Venuto
Fat Loss Coach
www.BurnTheFatBook.com

About the Author:

Tom Venuto is a fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, independent nutrition researcher, freelance writer, and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat-Burning Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models (e-book) which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world’s best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefatbook.com

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Poor Me Syndrome

Christina — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 16:05:50 +0000

PMS. The Poor Me Syndrome.

Guys, you too can be afflicted by PMS and not even know it.

This disease selects all gender, every ethnicity and all demographics!

Its running rampant and I saw three cases of it yesterday. Myself included!

Levels of severity can differ day to day and some of the symptoms to watch for might include:

Making excuses
Justifying to yourself that you have chosen to do the ”right” thing
Commiserating with others
Seeking sympathy

I will share a personal experience with you. On Tuesday, I believed I couldn’t go to the gym because I was too busy from my work and at the end of the day I felt tired. A raise of hands if you’ve felt the same way. That was my belief but actually it was my own personal opinion created by what I thought was my own reality.

It all begins with a single thought and snowballs from there

.

This is a core value and belief that I am working on changing. How will I do this?

Firstly, I have to stop thinking I am the victim. What I mean by this is, Life Happens. Ever hear yourself say, What did I do to deserve this or Why is this happening to ME!? Instead, use the power of choice and empower yourself to create the life you want.

Didn’t I mention in one of these sentences that I wasn’t excluded from PMS. Believe this, there were times I felt so frustrated at good friends because they didn’t understand I was simply too tired to exercise because they didn’t know what it was like to be in my body, never had major surgery, had my job or simply had the time to exercise that I felt I didn’t.

A long time ago I accepted that I was obese because I chose to live my life the way I did. No exercise and poor eating habits.

Excuses, excuses, excuses and a good case of finger pointing too!

Ban the words from your vocabulary: They and them.

Then, slide in a good amount of personal accountability.

Create the body you want, create the life you want… You choose the actions. No one can do that for you.

You are in control.

I’m not alone, a good friend was told that her excuses were lame for not going to the gym. I thought to myself, the person who says that her excuse are lame perceives it just as the person perceives her busy life and making the excuses not to go to the gym. That’s her choice and her belief. It won’t necessarily get her the results she wants (better physical healthy, weight loss and energy) by not going to the gym but she choose to make these excuses and that is her reality as she sees it.

Two ideas on how to commit to exercise that are working for me:

Publicly announce your intentions. Tell your family, friends and loved ones. They will remind you of your commitments and keep you on the straight and narrow
Tell yourself you will exercise after work. Bring your gym bag and commit to getting to the gym by a certain time. Let nothing stop you. Make time for the activity and put value on it. Ever notice how committed we are to things we put value on?

Yesterday while leaving work with my gym bag, a fellow co worker saw me and asked if I was going away for the weekend. I told him I was off to the gym. His response, I’m sorry and then he laughed.

Me, I just smiled and told him I love it.

Hey, who would have thought.

Me, love exercise? The lightbulb has gone on. I realize the importance of activity in my life and value its benefits.

What’s not to love.

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Recipe: Roasted Butternut Squash with Garlic

Darlene — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 16:00:17 +0000

We found this roasted squash and garlic recipe in a magazine and altered it to be more healthy - as we do!

All I have to say is “ah garlic!” We love it! We put it in almost everything we cook, in large quantities. We actually thought we used a lot of it until we went to Thailand and took some cooking classes there (yes we’ll share those recipes soon). Our teacher and host put about 12 cloves into one pot of soup. It was great!

Seriously - garlic has long been known for its healing qualities and was at one time thought to ward off not only vampires but the plague too. Cook this roasted squash in the afternoon and your house will smell so great when everyone gets home they won’t be able to keep their hands off it.

Roasted Butternut Squash with Garlic

Preheat the over to 400F

3 Tbsp coconut oil (melted or in liquid form - just put it near the oven as it’s heating up and it’ll melt)
12 cloves of garlic (or more if you love it like we do) peeled but not cut
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
3 cups peeled, seeded and cubed butternut squash (1/2 inch cubes)
Celtic sea salt and fresh ground pepper
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

In a metal, 9×13 baking dish (or casserole dish) combine the oil, garlic and squash. Toss wel to coat the squash and season with the salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Remove cover and cook for another 10-15 minutes or until the squast is golden brown on the bottom.

Add the parsley and stir gently. Bake for 10 minutes longer or until tops are browning. Times may vary from oven to oven - check with a fork to see if the squash is soft. If it is still crunchy - give it a few more minutes.

Makes 4 servings.

Meal suggestion: serve with Rob’s Kick Ass Mung Bean Dahl and a large fresh salad.

One thing I will mention is that if you have never tried buying organic garlic - I challenge you to buy some and see the difference in taste and just pure intensity of the flavor. Were you might usually put 4-6 cloves, put the same amount of organic garlic and see if it doesn’t blow you away with the taste sensation. Or better yet - take a whole bulb, cut the tops off, put it on some tin foil, drizzle with a little coconut oil (melted) and wrap it up and bake it for like an hour at 350 or so. When it’s done you just squeeze it out the cut ends and eat it. It’s amazing. But I digress . . .

See you again in two weeks.

Subscribe to my recipes by email: Make sure you get my recipes emailed to you every weekend by subscribing to my recipe email service. Every weekend, one new whole food recipe posted for you to enjoy and then comment on.

Roasted Butternut Squash with Garlic Photo Credit: Her View Photography

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Abdominal and Shoulder Kettlebell Exercise

Rob — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 02:25:57 +0000

Found this little upper body (abdominal / core and shoulder workout) on the Diesel Crew website. I can see myself doing this with a good heavy kettlebell, but I suppose one could start a bit lighter. I like it.

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Video: The Basic Squat

Rob — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 18:36:15 +0000

This squat video by the American Council on Exercise shows proper form and technique for the squat. They’re doing body weight squats in this video, to show form and function, but it’s also a good idea to progress to a point where you’re using weights.

Adding weight to your squat can come in the form of a barbell across the shoulders, dumbbells in each hand, a kettlebell in one or both hands or even a dumbbell in one or both hands.

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Body Weight Exercises

Bodyweight exercise is fantastic. Push-ups can be done anywhere you have a floor and they’re one of the perfect vacation exercises. Squats are just as easy to perform anywhere you have a floor. If you’re using body weight, you can begin with one or two if you’re quite large, then progress as you get stronger. If you’re already quite strong, do a massive set of 50 or 100 squats.

Jeff Anderson the Muscle Nerd uses a combination of many different types of bodyweight exercises plus gym tools in his Combat The Fat Workout program. I’ve used the Combat The Fat Workout as my primary training routine when I was getting in shape to climb to Mt Everest Base Camp in Oct of 2008. I needed endurance and lung capacity to be able to handle the 9 hour days of climbing and Jeff’s program did the trick.

I’ve recently added a squat challenge to my body weight challenge section in my “other” forum. Challenge yourself, see how many squats you can do in 2 minutes or try another one and see how many long it takes you to do 100 squats.

Watch the squat video, make sure you’re using proper form, because when it comes right down to any training you do, it’s all about form, not the weight.

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Eating At The Table - Food For Thought

Christina — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:39:35 +0000

It wasn’t until today that I decided that I need to revitalize a old tradition from my childhood and reminiscent of the Thanksgiving or recent Christmas Dinners - Eating at the table.

Eight weeks ago, we purchased a gorgeous dark wood pub style table and chairs for our kitchen.

We live in a smallish condo. perfectly comfortable for two with no designated dining area. I chose the table because of the dark wood and it gave the area special warmth. A place for us to dine together. Until then, we had a tiny table not suitable for two.

40% of North Americans eat with their family at home each night each week

Until then and even after we had the table, we shuffled our plates on our laps while we unconsciously, almost zombie like, sat to watch a sit com, the news or whatever reality tv show was on. After a busy day at work and especially throughout the Christmas season, it was our time to relax and our time to rest.

After recently talking to a couple at a party, I learned that they too would quite often watch tv with tv trays. Not only the two of them but their children as well.

Now, I suspect that we aren’t the only ones doing this.

A recent survey suggests that 40% of North Americans eat with their family at home each night each week. So, what about the other 60% of the time? Dining in restaurants, eating on the run, eating in front of the computer, or even in the car.

Eating in front of the tv or computer can lead to mindless eating and overeating caused by being distracted and prevent you from listening to your body’s hunger signals and satisfied signals.

Case in point, Popcorn in movie theaters. Do you need that much popcorn to make you full? While watching a film, we not only eat kernel by kernel but stuff handfuls of popcorn into our mouths and wash it down with huge containers of soda pop.

My Challenge To You

Instead of going out for dinner, why not have dinner at home tonight? Turn off the computer and the tv and take the time to enjoy the flavors, texture an taste your food by sitting down at the table. Enjoy the company of your family, partner or friend.

You’ll be healthier for it and reap the benefits of being connected, communicating and even try new foods or share favorite foods with those special people in your life.

Don’t limit yourself to holidays or special occasions, make everyday special.

Bon Appetit!

Christina

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Recipe: Mint Pea Lime Soup with Spinach

Darlene — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 16:00:27 +0000

Greens, greens and more greens! It is not only a very festive Christmassy color, but most things you can eat that are green are super charged with nutrition. Dark leafy greens are on the top of the charge for nutrient density, and the more you can eat of them the better.

Many people think of “rabbit food” when you say “dark leafy green” but you can do so much more with them than just salad. This recipe uses green peas, spinach and fresh mint leaves which makes it not only good for you but really tasty. Anyone that knows Rob and I, know we like to taste our food so we look for recipes that are healthy AND taste great. No one wants to eat flavorless food. Add more lime, or add some chili peppers if you want it to have more zip.

Mint Pea Lime Soup with Spinach

2 Tbsp coconut oil
3 cups yellow onion diced
4 cloves of garlic pressed or diced
3 cups of green peas (fresh or frozen)
1 bunch of fresh spinach (enough that if you made a salad it would serve 4 as a side dish) washed and stems removed
1 Tbsp celtic sea salt
4 cups of filtered water or vegetable soup stock
10-12 sprigs of fresh mint, washed and stems removed
Juice of one lime, or use bottled if in a hurry - 2 Tbsp or to taste

Cook the onion and garlic in the coconut oil until onion is just starting to turn transparent. Add the peas (defrosted if using frozen), spinach and salt and cook for another minute or so. Add water or soup stock and cook at a simmer until the peas turn bright green and the spinach is wilted.

Place half of the soup and 1/2 of the mint leaves into the blender. Blend until creamy and smooth, or as desired if you like it more chunky (we left ours a bit chunky). Do the same thing with the second half of the soup and mint leaves. Combine them together and add the lime juice just before serving.

Serves 4.

This is how the soup looks as it is cooking, prior to blending. I just had to take a photo it was so bright green and pretty. Green is my favorite color and we LOVE to have that color on our dinner table too.

Subscribe to my recipes by email: Make sure you get my recipes emailed to you every weekend by subscribing to my recipe email service. Every weekend, one new whole food recipe posted for you to enjoy and then comment on.

Mint Pea Lime Soup with Spinach Photo Credit: Her View Photography

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Recipe: Healthy Christmas Dinner Ideas and Variations

Darlene — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 16:00:47 +0000

How to stay healthy and not gain any weight during the holidays and at Christmas is the age old question, isn’t it? Well here are some ideas on how to take some of the old favorites and make them with a slightly new twist that takes out the bad (saturated fat, loads of salt, etc) and puts in the good (lots more nutrition, vitamins, fiber, etc). Pick and choose the ones that appeal to you and mix them together for a holiday menu sure to please the hungry masses and leave them not only wanting more, but asking for the recipes.

Healthy Christmas Dinner

Christmas dinner usually starts with a turkey, so I won’t spend much time on that other than to highly recommend getting an organic, grass fed one over the regular grocery store variety turkeys. I convinced my mom to do so about 3 years ago and we haven’t gone back since. Yes they cost more per pound but consider this - many of the commercially raised ones (apart from being full of hormones, steroids and other drugs to make the grow faster) are pumped full of water and oils before they are frozen. They claim to make them juicier that way - but in reality the turkey just weighs more frozen, and you get less meat.

We used to buy a 20 pounder but the first organic one we bought was only 15 lbs. After my mom cooked it, she said it had WAY more meat, and was certainly much juicier than the regular ones we usually got. And even though the organic one was more per pound, it cost less overall cause we got one 25% smaller and had more meat at the end of the day.

Support your local organic farmers - find a farmer’s market and order a turkey direct from the farmer. If there isn’t one in your area, look for a Hutterite or Mennenite Community - they usually sell poultry and produce.

And now, on to the rest of the meal. Some of my past recipes work well as side dishes for any meal and these two are particularly colorful and great for a holiday table.

Roasted Root Vegetables with Orange Sauce

One of our all time favorites, this recipe is SO super easy to make and no one will be the wiser that it’s good for them cause it tastes so yummy. You’ll love the way it makes your house smell as it cooks.

Edamame Beans, Chickpeas, Shiitake Mushrooms and Spinach

New last week but equally as colorful and flavorful. This can be served on the side and any leftovers can be blended and made into a tasty bean dip (thanks to my subscriber Maria for her comment on the original recipe - great idea Maria!).

Mushroom Gravy

1 Tbsp coconut oil
3 shallots, or 1/2 an onion minced finely
1 cup sliced mushrooms (white or brown button)
1.5 cups vegetable or mushroom stock
1 Tbsp Bragg’s
Celtic sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Pinch of sage and thyme
1 Tbsp arrowroot powder dissolved in 2 Tbsp of cold water (it is used to thicken sauces instead of cornstarch, but do not add it to hot water it will clump)

Cook shallots or onion in coconut oil until softened. Add the mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the stock, Bragg’s and season to taste. I like sage and thyme in my gravy - you can leave them out if you want or add other spices and herbs you like.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low. Whisk in the arrowroot powder and cook until thickened, 2-3 minutes. Serve hot.
Makes about 2 cups.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Rutabaga

2 large rutabagas, peeled and chopped
4 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
Celtic sea salt to taste
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 Tbsp almond milk
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 cup pecans (optional)
1/4 dried cranberries (optional)

Steam rutabagas and sweet potatoes, cook until soft. Mash vegetables in a large bowl and add the oil, almond milk, onion powder until the vegetables are completely broken down and smooth. Add salt to taste. Place mixture into a small ovensafe dish and top with pecans and cranberries if you choose. (I didn’t add either because I used put the mushroom gravy on instead) Place in a preheated oven and bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes.

Serve warm, serves 6-8 as a side dish.

So there’s a few ideas to get you started on a healthy version of your Christmas or Hanukkah family dinner. If you want a few more ideas, you can check out last years Healthy Christmas Dinner. I was looking for a different twist on the traditional stuffing and I found a few, but didn’t have time to try them out in time. There’s lots of things you can do with wild rice, brown rice and quinoa - in place of the usual bread in stuffing. Try some and let me know if you find a good one.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Subscribe to my recipes by email: Make sure you get my recipes emailed to you every weekend by subscribing to my recipe email service. Every weekend, one new whole food recipe posted for you to enjoy and then comment on.

Healthy Christmas Dinner Ideas Photo Credit: Her View Photography

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Vitamins Dont Work - Aspartame and Sucralose is Fine

Rob — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:56:39 +0000

Food Supplements are Big business in America. In the year 2000 Americans ALONE spent more than 16 BILLION in supplements.IN 1994 Americans spent 8.8 BiLLION! Thats double in only six years! Multi vitamin supplements are the most popular and most people believe they contribute to good health.

Americans are skeptical about people (the Government) criticizing their supplements.Nearly half of Americans surveyed believed physicians are prejudiced against use of supplements and dont understand them.

People dont trust the government when it comes to advice on supplements either.Approximately 70% of people said they would continue to use a supplement even if a government agency ( such as the goold ole Food And Drug Administration or FDA) said it was ineffective! (strength Cond J. DEC 2002; ARCH.INT. MED.,161:805-810,2001)

This study is about 8 years old but I tend to believe nothing has changed. If the FDA told you to quit taking your vitamins yet approve Sucralose,aspartame and artificial flavours and colors are all slammed down your throat for consumption how do you explain that?

Dont get me wrong I love my Doctor hes’ a good guy and means well for me but this isnt about the little family practictioner. this is about the big conglomerations that are not making millions their making BILLIONS on selling this shit and then selling more shit to cure the problems they created in the first place…

What do you think Am I an idiot?

[Rob's Note: I found this little comment in a note on facebook and thought it quite appropriate seeing as how a recent news story was advising doctors to stop recommending vitamin supplements to their patients because they were shown to not be effective.

From a personal stand point, and I'm only speaking for myself here, I get a kick out of seeing news headlines like that. "Study shows Vitamins ineffective", "What We Eat Has No Impact On Disease". Even the recent move by the US to begin irradiating spinach (for our protection of course) has got to ring some alarm bells.

Once we realize that they are making money off of dis-ease, pain and suffering, it becomes clear where all the headlines and stories are coming from and why.

Get sick, take a drug.

or realize that our body is fueled by food, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, amino acids and do everything you can do to take personal responsibility and eat the way nature intended. Fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grass fed animals, wild fish and pure clean water - and that's it!

Note: if you know the source of this initial comment, I'd love to give credit ]

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Recipe: Edamame Beans, Chickpeas, Shiitake Mushrooms and Spinach

Darlene — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:00:37 +0000

High protein Edamame beans and nutrient dense spinach make make up the bulk of this high fiber nutritious hot salad. It’s been FAR too long since we shared a new recipe with everyone and we’re sure you missed us. This is the first of what I hope will be 2 new recipes each month as once a week was too much to keep up with in our busy lives. I’m sure you can all relate.

We love color in our foods and varied textures as well. This one caught my eye in Extra Vegan Za as I was flipping around looking for something new the other day. I fills both those criteria, and tasted great!

Edamame beans are green beans in large pods commonly known as Soy Beans. They are great eaten right out of the pod and you find them quite often as a starter in Japanese restaurants. You can also buy them frozen in the pod or shelled. For snacking I buy IN the pod, for recipes like this I buy the shelled ones. They are loaded with fiber - 1 cup along yield about 8 grams of fiber or almost one third the recommended daily amount. They are also great for folate, manganese, Vitamin C and K, and iron. (Source Nutritional Data)

Adding to that the fact that 1 cup of chickpeas has 12 grams of fiber - and this dish packs a punch most people are lacking these days. Fiber is much needed to help move food through the colon and keep us healthy.

Edamame Beans, Chickpeas, Shiitake Mushrooms and Spinach

3 Tbsp coconut oil
1 onion, diced
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 cup shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and thinly sliced
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 cup shelled edamame beans (thawed)
1 Tbsp dulse flakes (dulse is a red seaweed and can be found in most stores in dried flakes. It is very high, as all seaweeds are - in calcium and many other minerals. It adds a salty taste to foods and can be sprinkled on salads, in soups or stir fries, on broiled fish or sauces for an “ocean” taste)
1 Tbsp Braggs
14 oz. can of chick peas rinsed and drained - or aproximatel 1.5 cups cooked from dried ones (cooking info for dried beans)
3/4 cup purified or distilled water
1 Tbsp Arrowroot powder (healthier substitute
1 bunch fresh spinach, stems removed, washed and chopped
Juice of one lime

Saute the onion in the oil on medium heat until it starts to turn translucent. Add the salt, mushrooms, and ginger and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Stir in the edamame beans, dulse flakes, Braggs, and chickpeas.

In a separate bowl dissolve the arrowroot powder in some cold water, then pour the mixture into the pan with the beans. Stir in the spinach and cook until it has wilted. Remove from heat and add lime juice before serving, mix well.

Serve over a bed of brown rice or quinoa, or alongside some steamed vegetables. Serves 4-6.

Subscribe to my recipes by email: Make sure you get my recipes emailed to you every weekend by subscribing to my recipe email service. Every weekend, one new whole food recipe posted for you to enjoy and then comment on.

Edamame Beans, Chickpeas, Shiitake Mushrooms and Spinach Recipe Photo Credit: Her View Photography

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Educate Before You Vaccinate

Rob — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 22:49:35 +0000

Vaccinations have been directly linked to Autism in a vulnerable subset of children by the CDC, but it still seems as though there are those who believe without question what doctors and the media are telling them. Maybe it’s about population control or simply the desire to make a lot of money from sickness that makes this disease engine tick. When presenting this sort of material or this stance on the subject of dangers of vaccinations, it’s worth keeping an open mind. Simply look at both sides of the issue, because if its your childs health that’s at risk, trust no-one, and do your own research.

Are Vaccines Worth The Risk?

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Thimerosal and Autism

Robert F Kennedy, author of “Deadly Immunity” discusses the link between Thimerosal and Autism. Thimerosal is a preservative found in vaccines and is directly linked to a rise in Autism cases once it was introduced.

Here is an interview with Robert Kennedy about Autism and Vaccines.

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Find more information about Thimerosal on the National Autism Association website.

Before you vaccinate your child or yourself, educate yourself about the references in medical journals about the dangers of vaccination. Chet Day of Health and Beyond has put together a good start to your reading material references in his no vaccines article.

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Tom Venuto Body Fat Solution Giveaway

The Body Fat Solution

Embracing Hunger

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Recipe: Orange Vegetable and Lentil Stew

Orange Vegetable and Lentil Stew

Video: Tony Robins at TED - Why We Do What We Do

Does Weight Watchers Consider Inches Lost or Just Pounds?

I Question The Weight Watchers Approach

The Tape Measure Told A Different Story

Your Fitness Future Foretold: 20 Predictions for the New Year

20 fitness predictions for the new year

Poor Me Syndrome

Recipe: Roasted Butternut Squash with Garlic

Roasted Butternut Squash with Garlic

Abdominal and Shoulder Kettlebell Exercise

Video: The Basic Squat

Body Weight Exercises

Eating At The Table - Food For Thought

My Challenge To You

Recipe: Mint Pea Lime Soup with Spinach

Mint Pea Lime Soup with Spinach

Recipe: Healthy Christmas Dinner Ideas and Variations

Healthy Christmas Dinner

Roasted Root Vegetables with Orange Sauce

Edamame Beans, Chickpeas, Shiitake Mushrooms and Spinach

Mushroom Gravy

Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Rutabaga

Vitamins Dont Work - Aspartame and Sucralose is Fine

Recipe: Edamame Beans, Chickpeas, Shiitake Mushrooms and Spinach

Edamame Beans, Chickpeas, Shiitake Mushrooms and Spinach

Educate Before You Vaccinate

Are Vaccines Worth The Risk?

Thimerosal and Autism

Pigs In Space:
The Truth About The Swine Flu

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