So … found a link back to my site from The Muscle and Brawn forums — talking about “abs on a skinny guy” … and … a picture of me.

When I registered to comment, I left this a simple comment, here it is:

“Hahahhaha! That’s me guys!

Wow, that’s not nice — “skinny guy with abs” haha

Just so ya know, abs are a side benefit of the fact that I keep my diet in check … and … focus purely on strength.

I compete in powerlifting, last meet I did the 123lb class:

350 squat – 2.8xBW
175 bench – 1.4xBW (still sucks)
370 deadlift – 3xBW
895 Total (RAW powerlifting between the class 1 and master ranking)

By the way, the deadlift was super crap for me, I’ve done 370 for 7x in training (5/3/1) I was having some technique issues up until the day of the meet, took 3 something the first attempt, 370 I missed for the second attempt (because I took some advice to not pull so fast from the start, stalled at knees because of this), 3rd attempt ripped it up super easy.

405lbs was my best in the gym while training for a single in the deadlift …

Just saying all this to say that:

1. I’m “skinny” because I’ve never cared about gaining a crap load of muscle — competing in full contact taekwondo earlier in my life always made me crave strength + speed …

2. I think relative strengh is the basis for all athletic skills and health for that matter.

3. Because I thought I’d pop in and comment!! hahaha.”

Notice all the laughter? That’s because I’m used to my 200+ pound powerlifting buddies busting my balls because I actually care about keeping my body fat levels low enough to see my abs. No biggie to me, just making the point … just cause I’m not “HYUGE” … doesn’t mean I’m in it for abs.

They Banned Me For No Reason Not 5 Minutes Later!

Hahahah, talk about an “open discussion” forum!

Here’s the notice I got when I tried to check back and see if any replies had popped up:

Click for larger view

It says:

“You have been banned for the following reason:
No reason was specified.

Date the ban will be lifted: Never”

Genius.

So I guess the nazi moderators think it is ok to bash someone on the internet who has written over 300+ articles for FREE to help people … but … want to ban that person when they step in to introduce themselves (if you notice, I didn’t even try to “internet fight” with anyone — just popped in with my opinion).

Oh well. The reply right after mine said:

“We are aware of that. We are also aware that you can’t add 30 pounds of muscle in 28 days. No disrespect meant.

Your site claims: “How to build 30 pounds of muscle in just 28 days”

I respect your lifting accomplishments, but we really don’t want that type of nonsense here. It’s highly deceptive and I won’t have it on this forum.”

SIIIIIGGGHHH …

I guess he’s referring to one of the first articles I posted here about Tim Ferriss’ 30+ lb gain – link to my article … and … the article I was talking about by Tim. He’s a NY Times Best Selling author–they’d probably ban him too though haha.

He then goes on to thank me on my weight loss …

“Congrats on your weight loss. I see on your site you went from, 300 to 123 pounds, which you currently weigh. That is nice work.”

Not sure where he got that. I was NEVER that big. Chubby? Yes. 300lbs + … no.

The Mystery Tattoo.

One guy pointed out my tattoo … and … that is something I will answer here, lol.

To answer the question about my tattoo — yup got it in Thailand, pics below …

Done with a BAMBOO stick -- like it's sposed' to be done!

Yes, I was trying to watch what he was doing ...

Showing off the final tat -- it's a thai buddhist blessing thing, similar to the one on Angelina Jolie's back ... but ... mine's cooler

So What Have We Learned?

1. Muscle and Brawn moderators are Nazi’s who don’t like anyone disagreeing with anything they say … and … they think it’s ok to for me to be named (and pictured) and not be able to voice my opinions.
2. I have a cool tattoo that I don’t talk about much. And it was done on a dirty floor of a Muay Thai coach in Thailand by a “high-as-a-kite” tattoo artist.
3. The only cool article Muscle and Brawn has ever put out on their site was this one by Jamie Lewis: “10 Reasons Stuart McRobert Can Go F*ck Himself“

Just thought I’d break my multi-month silence to speak out against this B.S. Later!

Related posts:

1. How To Deal With Haters
2. 4 Ways New Moms Can Lose Baby Weight
3. How To Get More Muscle & More Grip Strength With This Deadlift “Twist”

Here's what 1 and 5 pounds of fat looks like. This article will show you how one guy lost 275 pounds of this junk!

Recently, I got this comment on the blog:

“Please everyone, the first part of this diet plan is ridiculous! Never fast for 16 or 20 hours, because your body will not burn fat for energy, it will go into a catabolic state in which it burns your muscle because its saving your fat because it believes it is being starved. You will go so far backwards if you ever go almost an entire day without eating.”

Lets examine what this guy is saying, shall we?

Perhaps I am totally wrong, and maybe fasting is somehow dangerous or will cause your body to burn muscle or will cause you to “go so far backwards” on your journey to health?

Let’s examine the SCIENTIFIC evidence …

When You Fast, Does Your Body Burn Fat OR Muscle?

The comment states:

“Never fast for 16 or 20 hours, because your body will not burn fat for energy, it will go into a catabolic state in which it burns your muscle”

Is this true?

Well, it depends on two things:

1. How long you’re fasting and
2. What you’re DOING while fasting.

In a SHORT fast — such as 16-24 hours — unlike what clueless people (like our commenter) want you to believe — your body will NOT burn muscle.

Instead it will first burn the stored glycogen in your muscles, and then fat, and LASTLY muscle.

Second, if you’re doing some form of exercise — resistance/strength training — during the fast — then your body is “smart” enough to know that it needs to keep your lean muscle and get rid of fat instead.

There was a study where they took a group of men, decreased their calorie intake by 1,000 calories per day and also had them do weight-training 3x per week.

The result? They lost up to 20 pounds of body fat and kept all their muscle mass.

(Rice B, Janssen I, Hudson, R, Ross R. Effects of aerobic or resistance exercise and/or diet on glucose tolerance and plasma insulin levels in obese men. Diabetes Care 1999; 22: 684-691)

As I’ve also mentioned before, a study was done as long as 12 weeks where people were on a VERY low calorie diet. Only 800, liquid, calories per day! But because these people were doing weight training 3x per week (a form of resistance training) – these people kept all their muscle mass.

(Bryner RW, Ullrich IH, Sauers J, Donley D, Hornsby G, Kolar M, et al. Effects of resistance vs. aerobic training combined with an 800 calorie liquid diet on lean body mass and resting metabolic rate. J Am Coll Nutr. 1999;18:115-21.)

Lastly, while there are no well-designed studies at this time that test subjects to see if fasting causes muscle loss, my friend Martin from LeanGains.com posted a great summary about this myth that fasting causes muscle loss (backed up with science, as per usual and emphasis mine also like usual):

“Only in prolonged fasting does protein catabolism become an issue. This happens when stored liver glycogen becomes depleted. In order to maintain blood glucose, conversion of amino acids into glucose must occur (DNG: de novo glucogenesis). This happens gradually and if amino acids are not available from food, protein must be taken from bodily stores such as muscle. Cahill looked at the contribution of amino acids to DNG after a 100 gram glucose load. He found that amino acids from muscle contributed 50% to glucose maintenance after 16 hours and almost 100% after 28 hours (when stored liver glycogen was fully depleted). Obviously, for someone who eats a high protein meal before fasting, this is a moot point as you will have plenty of aminos available from food during the fast.”

Basically as long as you’re eating a decent amount of protein every 24 hours — you’re gonna be absolutely fine — no muscle loss.

When You Fast, Does Your Body “Save” Fat?

The comment also states that when you fast, your body is “saving your fat” …. is this true?

Let me answer this question, by asking YOU a question:

WHY does your body store fat?

For ENERGY in case you ever stop feeding yourself.

So when you STOP feeding yourself, your body STARTS using stored fat.

It’s that simple: it’s the way your body was designed to work.

To think that your body will “save” fat if you stop eating for 24 hours or less is ridiculous.

Again, my main man Martin from LeanGains.com (because he has the patience to rebut all-comers with real science and hunting down the appropriate studies, unlike me, I’d rather just yell at you) has the following to say about how your metabolism actually INCREASES during a short-term fast (short-term in this case is up to 60 hours — WAY more than either I or Martin recommend, which proves the point even more):

“Looking at the numerous studies I’ve read, the earliest evidence for lowered metabolic rate in response to fasting occurred after 60 hours (-8% in resting metabolic rate). Other studies show metabolic rate is not impacted until 72-96 hours have passed (George Cahill has contributed a lot on this topic).

Seemingly paradoxical, metabolic rate is actually increased in short-term fasting. For some concrete numbers, studies have shown an increase of 3.6% – 10% after 36-48 hours (Mansell PI, et al, and Zauner C, et al). This makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. Epinephrine and norepinephrine (adrenaline/noradrenaline) sharpens the mind and makes us want to move around. Desirable traits that encouraged us to seek for food, or for the hunter to kill his prey, increasing survival. At some point, after several days of no eating, this benefit would confer no benefit to survival and probably would have done more harm than good; instead, an adaptation that favored conservation of energy turned out to be advantageous. Thus metabolic rate is increased in short-term fasting (up to 60 hours).”

Add to the fact that fasting automatically cuts your calories for the fasting days/hours … and … that your metabolic rate is increased and you have a pretty good recipe for fat loss … NOT … “saving fat”.

What’s more, as you’re about to see you can lose a LOT of fat by not eating.

The ULTIMATE proof of all these points is coming up …

How Long Can You SAFELY Go Without Eating? And How Much Fat Can You Lose?

It was 1968 — the year before the summer of love (I don’t know this because I was there, but that’s what I’m told).

A 27 year old man was VERY obese … extremely overweight … he weighed a whopping 450lbs!

He went on a medically supervised fast.

Here’s what he did:

• Drank water
• Took vitamins
• Did not eat or drink anything else.

He Fasted For 1 year and 2 weeks — 54 weeks — 382 days!

The questions are:

• Did this man burn fat for energy? The energy to survive was coming from SOMEWHERE, he didn’t eat ANYTHING for over a year …
• Did he go into a completely “catabolic” state where he burnt muscle… instead of … fat? I’d say there was some muscle loss after an ENTIRE year of no food … BUT … he burnt MOSTLY fat (otherwise, he would be dead because your body will not function without muscle).
• Why did he burn mostly fat? Because he was 450lbs — severely overweight — and fat is stored energy that gets used when you stop eating (or aren’t eating enough)

This is just common sense!

And what were the total results?

He Lost 275 Pounds!

Now, here’s the point in the argument where people like our commenter will say something like:

“You will go so far backwards if you ever go almost an entire day without eating …”

Which is an attempt to say:

“sure he lost all that weight, but it probably ruined his metabolism, and his body was so catabolic, he lost too much muscle mass, and he’ll regain all that weight back, blah blah blah”

Well, here’s what you should know:

The fast took place in 1968 and the paper wasn’t published until 1973. At that time, he had gained back only 6 lbs.

You can read the full abstract here, where it states:

“A 27-year-old male patient fasted under supervision for 382 days and has subsequently maintained his normal weight.”

Also, and just as importantly, the abstract of the study says this:

“Prolonged fasting in this patient had no ill-effects.”

So What’s The Bottom Line?

Don’t believe “bro science”.

What is Bro Science?

It’s when people repeat “facts” about health, diet and fitness that they keep hearing  … without … ever examining the evidence for themselves.

Don’t believe the hype!

• Short fasts WILL primarily burn fat for energy
• Short fasts will NOT make your body eat all its muscle
• Fasting does NOT make your body “save fat”
• Short, smart, fasting will NOT make you “go backwards” in your weight loss goals
• 24 hr or less fasting is a piece of cake compared to what your body is capable of

All that being said, here’s my disclaimer:

DISCLAIMER: PLEASE do NOT go without food or water for that long without medical supervision. I would never recommend a fast longer than 24 hours. You don’t NEED to do that to lose weight, or be healthy, or for any other reason.

Related posts:

1. How To Lose Fat and Build Muscle
2. How To Eat To Lose Weight
3. How Many Calories To Lose Fat/Gain Muscle?

Let’s define …

DIABESITY:

– NOUN:

Having prediabetes or diabetes or at high-risk for this disease and also obese.

As you probably know the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is in charge of teaching Americans how to eat for good health. Their website states:

“The Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion was created within the U.S. Department of Agriculture on December 1, 1994, and reports to the Office of the Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services. CNPP’s mission is to improve the health of Americans by developing and promoting dietary guidance that links scientific research to the nutrition needs of consumers.” (emphasis mine)

That’s right:

They’re supposed to use SCIENTIFIC research to improve the health of Americans … keep that in mind …

In 2010, they released their “Dietary Guidelines For Americans”, here is the advice they give (from the executive summary of their paper):

“On average, Americans of all ages consume too few vegetables, fruits, high-fiber whole grains, low-fat milk and milk products, and seafood and they eat too much added sugars, solid fats, refined grains, and sodium.”

Shift food intake patterns to a more plant-based diet that emphasizes vegetables, cooked dry beans and peas, fruits, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. In addition, increase the intake of seafood and fat-free and low-fat milk and milk products and consume only moderate amounts of lean meats, poultry, and eggs.

Significantly reduce intake of foods containing added sugars and solid fats because these dietary components contribute excess calories and few, if any, nutrients. In addition, reduce sodium intake and lower intake of refined grains, especially refined grains that are coupled with added sugar, solid fat, and sodium.”

They recommend a more plant-based diet … ok … I’ll admit most people could eat some more veggies … but they also tell you to increase the amount of seafood and fat-free and low-fat milk and milk products … AND … consume less lean meats, poultry and eggs.

Also, they claim “high-fiber whole grains” are good for you … but … is that true?

Is a low protein, and low fat diet REALLY the way to optimum health?

Are these dietary guidelines working for anyone?

Let’s examine the REAL evidence shall we?

From 1988 to 2000′s — Fat Eating Goes Down — Obesity & Diabetes Goes Up

My man Dr. Jonny Bowden makes some EXCELLENT observations in the video below, in particular their are two graphs at 1:03 mins that you should pay special attention to!

This Graph shows from 1988 (arguably when the "high-fiber whole grains and low fat" madness started) to 2000 the amount of states with over 35% of people classified "obese" went from only 5 to EVERY SINGLE DAMN STATE IN THE UNITED STATES!

The United States now has over 2/3 of it’s population as OBESE!

And we’re eating MORE low-fat food … and I would argue … LESS high-quality protein than ever.

Does Eating Low-Fat, Low-Protein, High-Fiber/Whole Grain Carbs Help?

No. Not at all, look at this graph …

In case you think eating whole grains, low-fat, low protein is good for you health. Think again: Diabetes rates climbed AT THE SAME rate as obesity in the U.S. since the USDA began teaching Americans "how to eat"

Here’s Dr. Bowden’s complete video for you to watch:

Are You Going to THINK For Yourself?

Obviously: everything the USDA is telling you is WRONG.

It’s not based on science. It’s not even based on “common sense”.

It WILL make you fat.

It WILL put you at risk for obesity related diseases like Diabetes.

And you WILL feel like crap and not enjoy the food you’re eating.

So what’s the answer?

How Should You REALLY Eat For Health?

It was simple really …

Our ancestors were primarily hunter-gatherer types of people.

If you couldn’t gather it from the woods/ground … or … you couldn’t catch/kill it … then you didn’t eat it. You also didn’t have access to food 24/7. Sometimes you would have to go without food for almost 24 hours or so, and when you did get a good kill — you sat down and ate it and enjoyed it and relaxed.

Whether we were designed to function most optimally this way … or … our bodies adapted to it — researchers aren’t sure, but it’s the way we function most optimally and in the highest health.

And we Americans ate pretty well and functioned pretty well and were pretty health “back in the day” before the USDA got ahold of the food economy and began poisoning minds with their “advice”.

Check out this short article from my main man, Dr. Al Sears:

#### BEGIN ARTICLE #####

Don’t Discard Centuries of Nutrition Wisdom

My dad was health conscious in an old-fashioned way. He practiced holistic health care before it had a name. He knew how to keep himself lean and muscular without much effort.

He would beat all the neighbors at parties in push-up contests. Women would steal glances at his biceps and men would marvel at his feats of strength. Many people probably assumed it was good genes. Yet, I believe it was about life choices.

Our culture has been critical of the health choices of our fathers. They have become politically incorrect – even taboo. Yet, before you throw away these centuries of wisdom, let’s re-examine them in light of today’s science.

Dad never lifted a weight in his life. He did rounds of push-ups, pull-ups and crunches. He said his diet of raw eggs, wild game and spicy food would “make a man out of you.” Most tips he got from his father and older brothers. They were their own men’s club. He passed these health tips down to me and now I want to share them with you.

Eat Wild Game, Grass-Fed Meat

My dad was a hunter. We always had rabbit, squirrel and quail – and occasionally deer or wild boar. He claimed that eating meat could make you strong and “put hair on your chest.”

I never took this literally until decades later, when I found research that red meat is the best source of muscle building creatine, provides the highest concentration of heart-fueling CoQ10 and increases testosterone levels.

As testosterone drops, men lose body hair. As testosterone rises, men experience increases in body hair in a masculine distribution. You were right, Dad; meat really does put hair on your chest.

The meat we ate was either wild game or from nearby farms. The majority of the meat we eat today comes from commercial farms. Farmers feed the cattle grain, animal by-products, and synthetic hormones and antibiotics.1

Feedlot cattle do not eat what nature intended them to eat. As a result, the cattle often have a difficult time digesting the starch and get sick or die. To combat the disorders caused by a starchy diet, farmers inject the animals with antibiotics.

The percentage of livestock that is salmonella resistant to five different antibiotics has increased from less than one percent in 1980 to 34 percent in 1996.2 The numbers continue to rise. A growing body of evidence incriminates feedlot growth hormones as a risk factor for gastrointestinal cancers.3

How can you follow this tradition? Eat wild game and grass-fed beef. You can find these products at the grocery store if you ask and you can order them online. The prices are a bit higher, but the health benefits are substantial. Grass-fed beef and wild game is higher in omega-3, CoQ10, beta-carotene and vitamin E.

This reduces your risk of heart disease, certain cancers, depression, high blood pressure, and diabetes. What’s more, grass-fed beef is five times higher in CLA than in feedlot beef. CLA helps convert fat to lean muscle. 4

Spicy Foods Protect Your Heart

Dad was fond of the spicy foods that nutritionists have been telling us to avoid. He grew a variety of his own peppers and dosed much of the food he ate with hot pepper sauces. He said they were good for your heart. He also enjoyed daring me to eat them.

It turns out that many spicy foods contain powerful antioxidants that protect against heart disease. Plants in the pepper family contain capsaicin, which has been shown to speed up your metabolism and your ability to burn calories.5

Dad’s love of hot sauce may have helped him stay lean. If you like spices and peppers, don’t be afraid to throw some in your next meal.

Drink a Raw Egg Daily

Right after his nightly set of push-ups, Dad drank a raw egg. He said his father would take one directly from the chicken coup, punch a hole in it with his pocketknife, put it to his lips and suck it down.  He thought it was important for me to learn this technique but usually we would break it into a glass. The eggs we bought in those days came right from the farm.

Dad always said that eggs were the perfect food, but they were better if eaten raw. I don’t know how he knew this, but after devoting my life to natural nutrition and health, I couldn’t agree more.

Eggs are the only food known to man to have a protein quality rating of 100. They have every amino acid you need in exactly the ratios you need them. The white has every B vitamin and the yolk has every fat-soluble vitamin. They are an excellent source of essential fatty acids, and the hard-to-get brain and heart nutrients DHA and CoQ10.

Eating eggs raw maintains their chemical make-up. When you cook eggs, the protein is denatured, the B vitamins decrease, and it may destroy the DHA. Raw eggs are additionally much easier for your body to absorb. A raw egg is absorbed in 30 minutes while it takes about 4 hours to digest cooked eggs. In addition, eating eggs raw saves time. You don’t have to clean pots or pans.

The risk of salmonella poisoning is very unlikely from consuming raw eggs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that 0.00003% of eggs in the U.S. have salmonella.6 I have eaten raw eggs for 40 years and have never suffered. However, you lesson your chances even more by purchasing organic eggs.

My dad’s diet of meat, raw eggs and spicy food helped him stay strong and masculine, burn fat, feel great and still enjoy his life.

People assumed that he spent hours a day lifting weights and controlled his habits like a nun. He didn’t.

However, he taught me a reverence for health and diligence to my own body that I will never forget. I share his story as an example that I hope helps you take action to promote wellness in your own life.
____________________
1. Cordain L et al. (2002). “Fatty acid analysis of wild ruminant tissues: evolutionary implications for reducing diet-related chronic disease.” European Journal Clinical Nutrition.
2. Robinson, Jo (2000). Why Grassfed is Best! The Surprising Benefits of Grassfed Meet, Eggs, and Dairy Products. Washington: Vashon Island Press
3.  Epstein, SS (1996). “Unlabeled milk from cows treated with biosynthetic growth hormones: A case of regulatory abdication.” International Journal of Health Services, 26: 173-185.
4. Rule D.C. (2002). “Comparison of muscle fatty acid profiles and cholesterol concentrations of bison, beef cattle, elk, and chicken.” Journal of Animal Science, 80: 1202-1211.
5. Hot peppers help control weight. Yoshioka M., et al. Br J Nutr 1999 Aug;82(2): 115-23
6. Hope BK, Baker R, Edel ED, Hogue AT, Schlosser WD, Whiting R, McDowell RM, Morales RA. (2002) An overview of the Salmonella enteritidis risk assessment for shell eggs and egg products. PubMed Risk Anal:203-18

####### END ARTICLE #######

Common Sense Saves The Day

What happened to common-sense diet and health advice like our grandfathers use to practice?

Like our ancestors survived on?

Men and women back then were thinner and had better looking bodies … Less diseased … MORE fertile/virile (men are losing fertility with each generation) … and … just overall healthier.

Even sadder: people born and grew up this way, healthy, virile, loving life … after trusting doctors and the “establishment” with their LIVES … are now sick, unhealthy, and barely hanging on to their pharmaceutically “enhanced” lives for many disease/risk factors that are MADE UP.

When instead they should be doing what they did all along.

But their trust is in the wrong place.

So the choice is up to you — are you going to think for yourself — ignore the “rules” — and choose to be healthier?

Or are you going to turn into just another diabesity statistic?

Some Simple Tips On How To Eat For Maximum Health (and Weight Loss)

If you’re looking for some more tips on how to eat, or what foods to AVOID eating, to get and maintain a lean body for life (with maximal health), you should watch the video I put together below:

Related posts:

1. How Vegetarians and Vegans Can Eat For Muscle Building
2. Hardgainer Diet?
3. Muscle Gain Foods – Eat These Foods To Gain Muscle

If you’ve ever heard of the term muscle confusion … or if you’re wondering about the effectiveness of P90x (or similar systems) … then read this, so you save yourself a lot of wasted time and effort when it comes to getting the results you want.

A commenter asked this question:

“I like the idea of a full body workout. I have also have read that one key factor to getting ripped is muscle confusion. After a few weeks, wont your body get used to those 8 excerise you have listed which will then have no affect anymore? Are there more full body excerise i can add in later or a more advanced strength training in order to cut more fat and gain muscle? These are questions i was just curious on, i like all your articles i have read thanks for the help.”

Here’s the (admittedly) long-winded answer …

The Theory Of Muscle Confusion

The idea behind “Muscle Confusion” is this:

“Your muscles and your muscle building/fat loss/strength will stop progressing if you continue using the same exercises in your workout programs”

This sounds correct … and … there is a sliver of truth to this because your muscles do adapt to the demands you put on them … but … it aint quite right.

First off …

Strength Does NOT Like Muscle Confusion

First off, if you’re trying to get stronger — you don’t want to “confuse” your muscles.

The commenter asked this:

“Are there more full body excerise i can add in later or a more advanced strength training in order to cut more fat and gain muscle?”

Specifically, if you want to progress in strength on a certain exercise, the best thing you can do is that same exercise — a LOT!

The formula for strength in any one exercise is this:

• Specific Exercise — like a bench press, squat or deadlift
• Done As Often As Possible — 3, 5, even 6 times per week
• As High Tension/Resistance as possible — at 75% of your one rep max in the exercise or above
• While staying as fresh as possible – meaning you don’t want to get fatigued. So low volume training (low reps/sets each workout), but done frequently

So if you’re wanting to get stronger in any one exercise (or in general), you definitely want to NOT confuse your muscles.

What Your Muscles Do Adapt To

The problem with the muscle confusion myth is that P90x and other systems claim you need to always change up your exercise selections and workout routines.

That’s not actually true …

Your muscles WILL adapt, but only to the “volume/load” of your exercises. You could do the same 3 exercises all the time (such as bench press, deadlift, and squats) and just vary the load (how much weight), how many reps/sets, etc … and … you would never really stop gaining strength or muscle.

That’s a fact jack. Powerlifters do it all the time.

Granted there are different systems out there for building strength, even within powerlifting, there are ones that make use of many different “accessory” exercises (Westside for example) … but … a large majority of a LOT of people have always stuck wit the basic “bread n butter” exercises and varied the load/volume over time to keep seeing gains.

Here’s the other thing …

Getting Ripped Has Nothing To Do With Muscle Confusion

The commenter asked this:

“I have also have read that one key factor to getting ripped is muscle confusion. After a few weeks, wont your body get used to those 8 excerise you have listed which will then have no affect anymore?”

Getting ripped comes down to

1. Building some strength, which increases “residual muscle tone”
2. And eating less calories than you burn.
3. Or burning more calories than you eat.

Of numbers 2 and 3, number 3 — trying to burn more calories than you’re eating is actually the HARDEST way to get ripped.

It’s much easier to NOT eat an extra 500 calories than it is to try and “work off” or “burn off” those 500 calories in the gym.

So the premise of using a system like p90x is kind of flawed from the beginning …

The idea is that the workouts are so metabolically demanding (because they change all the time, never giving your body time to adapt) that you burn more fat.

Basically trying to “out work” the dinner table.

That’s fine and all, but there are easier ways (just eat less).

Here’s a big point most people don’t realize …

Why P90x And Other “Muscle Confusion” Routines Work

Whenever the topic of P90x or some other workout routine comes up that’s sold through infomercials or to the mass market, I hear people say …

“Yeah, that works! I know this guy … “

Umm duh. EVERYTHING works.

All you have to do is work it.

Here’ s the thing: you take someone who normally eats like crap, sits on the couch all day and watches movies and you get him to whip out his credit card and buy P90x. Then when it arrives, if he buys a pullup bar, dumbbells and all the other equipment he needs, then gets off his butt and does the program 6 DAYS A WEEK and follows the nutrition guide, it’s GONNA WORK!

Because you’re doing SOMETHING. That’s the key. You’re no longer just getting fatter — you’re working out 6 days a week and eating better than before.

Makes sense don’t it?

It’s not exactly the “magic” of muscle confusion that’s getting your ripped in 90 days … it’s the “magic” of “getting off your ass and doing something productive” (which I’m sure confuses your atrophied gluteous muscles too!)

Here’s The Bottom Line On Muscle Confusion

• Your body does adapt to certain exercises and become more efficient at doing certain motor patterns.
• Instead of changing patterns/exercises, it’s easier to just change the volume/load/sets/reps/speed/etc of specific exercises (less injury chance because you can do those exercises with better technique, keeps your options down, no confusion about what to do, etc)
• If you WANT to change exercises because you’re bored, that MAY be a good idea. It’s usually not. A LOT of people will change their routine so often that they never get ANY results. I say stick with a basic routine for continued progress and vary your “accessory” exercises or metabolic conditioning exercises (different types of interval training, etc).
• The key to getting ripped is building muscle strength, a little size, and making sure you’re in a calorie deficit most of the time. You can do that by working out more or eating less. Eating less is MUCH easier.

Keep all this in mind the next time someone tells you that you need to “confuse” your muscles … do p90x … or something else to get ripped.

Related posts:

1. How To Gain Muscle Size
2. Does Cardio Build Muscle? Burning Leg Fat?
3. How To Build Muscle Mass Fast – These 3 Tips Will Help You Build Muscle Mass Fast

If you’re out and about and you want a meal fast, sometimes the only option is fast food.

Other times, you just feel lazy and you don’t want to cook. Either way, fast food seems like a good option.

Thing is, eating out too much can really help you screw the pooch when it comes to your diet … there are healthy alternatives mixed in among all the fattening choices. Your best bet is to learn some common sense guidelines about what makes each item unhealthy and choose one of the healthy items.

It’ll also help if you study the menus of some of your favorite fast food restaurants. You’ll most likely be able to look up their nutrition facts online. Do that and you’ll know for sure how many calories are in your favorite fast food meals.

Now here’s your quick guide to eating healthy and keeping the pounds off while eating fast food …

Some Quick Guidelines:

1. Grilled Meats. Grilled meats are a much healthier way of cooking rather than deep fried, breaded meats. If the fast food place you’re visiting has the option of choosing crispy or fried chicken versus a grilled patty, choose the grilled one. If the place is like KFC, and the grilled meat isn’t really grilled, then just eat the deep fried, breaded meats and avoid the side carbs (biscuits, etc).
2. Skip the Fries. (Almost) Always. This one was SO HARD for me to get over because I love the way fries taste. I imagine kicking the heroin habit is easier than this. But I’ve probably had about a handful of fries in the last 1.5-2 years so I’m doing good! Nothing but starchy carbs and trans fats here.
3. Healthier Sides. Some fast food places will offer alternatives to a side of fries. You may be able to opt for some healthy fruit or salad instead. Or you could do the healthiest side option–don’t get any!
4. Don’t Super Size. Less calories = less fat. And they only supersize the fries and the soda! WTF? I want a super sized cheeseburger man!
5. Diet Soda. I used to laugh at the fat guy who orders the big greasy meal and then orders a diet soda, as if it’ll make a difference. Well it does make a difference, but, not if your packing fries into your mouth too! Big sandwich, skip the fries or chips, and a diet soda can go a long way towards filling you up and helping you not eat as much … Water or unsweetened tea is a good choice too …

Examples Of Healthy Meals At Popular Fast Food Joints

Here’s a list of some healthy choices you can make at some of the most popular fast food restaurants:

1. Taco Bell. Taco Bell has come out with a “Fresco Style” menu that allows you to choose popular menu items in a lower calorie style. A menu item ordered fresco style will come back with a special healthier salsa and it’ll also lack cheese. (I personally don’t take this option since the only time I eat Taco Bell is when I’m drunk anyways, but it’s worth noting)
2. McDonalds. They now offer an extended list of “premium salads”. However, it’s still easy to get fooled into thinking something is healthy when it really isn’t. Make sure you use a low fat dressing on your salad (half a pack if you can) and opt for the grilled chicken. If you grab the ranch and crispy chicken, you may as well be ordering a Big Mac! A burger or two with no sides and a diet coke/unsweet tea will fill you up with less calories too.
3. Subway. As healthy as they claim to be, there’s still a crap-load of empty bread carbs here. Try a salad, throw some protein in there with some chicken, avoid the chips, you should be good to go.
4. Wendy’s. My all-time favorite fast food joint. If you order a value meal you can definitely opt out of the fries. You can substitute for a baked potato, mandarin oranges, and more. If you’re fasting, the Triple Baconator is the ultimate one burger per day — 1300 calories of fat and protein goodness. That’ll be it sir!
5. Burger King. Like the rest of the popular fast food chains, Burger King has followed suit and made changes. You can opt for healthier alternatives like salads, chicken, etc. You can also do the one big burger thing with their whoppers if you’re fasting.
6. K.F.C. Has actually got a GREAT menu item — the Double-down sandwich. Low carbs. High protein and only 500 calories. Fills you up and keeps the calories down. I bet you could lose 20lbs on an all Double-Down Diet.
7. Chipotle. Not really fast food, but an AMAZING restaurant and probably the best choice for eating healthy. Some whiny punks complain about oversized portions but if you order the right stuff, it’s good portion sizes of good food. Skip the extra 1500 cals of empty carbs that comes with the tortillas, get a bowl instead, fill it with meats, salsa, fajita peppers, mounds of guacamole and lettuce and you’re kickin’ serious Bootay. Use the Chipotle Fan Nutrition Calculator to see the different macro-nutrient and calorie profiles of your food combos and enjoy!

For all other restaurants, you can make an educated decision about the healthy items from the menu. If you’re unsure, use some common sense guidelines:

• Avoid empty carbs (fries, tortillas, chips, biscuits, etc)
• Layoff the transfats (deep fried foods, fries, etc)
• Avoid the sugar (no sodas, no sweet tea, no ice creams, etc)
• Try not to cram so much of it in your mouth a.k.a. watch your portion sizes

Follow the tips in this short article and you’re sure to lose weight while eating fast food.

Related posts:

1. Tips On How To Lose Weight
2. Healthy Food Ideas
3. How To Eat To Lose Weight

Got a GREAT comment from some guy named “Johnny”

“Who are you Caleb? Give us some credentials, like for example, you’re a personal trainer, or a doctor etc. To me you’re just some dude talking out of his ass. Do you know what would happen if someone got physically affected from your “training program”? What’s more incredible, people actually respond to you. I guess morons attract morons, and in a world of morons, lawsuits don’t exist, therefore you continue your “know-it-all” rant. Get some training in the subject. Physical trainers and everyone else that gave their lives for this subject not only will be disappointed, they’d be pissed; I bet is they see you on the street they’d beat the crap out of you for being so fuucking ignorant.”

I nearly spit out my coffee reading this today! Made me smile

First off, I want to clear this up right now …

I’m NOT a doctor. I’m NOT a personal trainer. I’m NOT a nutritionist or dietician. And I do NOT have a degree in anything. But here’s the thing …

I’m An Expert In Whatever I Choose To Be An Expert In!

Why?

Because I CHOSE to be an expert in one or more areas. I don’t need a degree, a certificate, or anything else to tell me “Ok, now you’re an expert, you can proceed”

(Pay attention, you could shortcut YEARS off your path to success if you listen to this advice … or … you could continue being a sheeple (sheep + people, get it?) because you’re following THEIR rules)

Here’s how the process works:

1. I’d like to become an expert in “Subject XYZ”: …
2. Learn or DO more than 99% of other people in “Subject XYZ”  …
3. You are now an expert and can share your expertise for fun or profit …

That’s it.

Let’s break it down:

Decide What You Want To Become An Expert In

For me, I’ve got many areas of my life that I would consider myself an expert in … or … at least an “expert enough” to ask for money in exchange for my talents in the area. But let’s talk about health & fitness (a big part of what this blog is about).

I CHOSE to become an expert in this little arena because I wanted to show others what I’ve learned … correct a lot of misinformation out there (that I knew was B.S. because I had tried it and it didn’t work) … and being the capitilistic pig that I am–I wanted to get paid for my expertise.

How To Become An Expert In Any Subject

1. READ a LOT! If you go grab the top 3-5 books on a subject, and read them all, you’ll be 99% ahead of most others when it comes to ANY subject. For myself, I’ve been reading books, articles, websites, studies, magazines, newsletters, etc since I was 12 years old when it comes to anything related to health & fitness. (That’s actually WAY too much time to wait by the way to claim expert status in a given area, 3 months of intense study like this is usually enough to be ahead of the pack)
2. DO a LOT! There’s the other key, and what I’d consider even more important. Get out there and get your teeth kicked in a bit. Try everything you’ve been reading about. Consider your life as just a big experiment, test your theories, your knowledge and your ideas. (To me, this is MORE the credentials for a real expert than anything else, knowledge included).

And the last step is to simply …

Establish Yourself As An Expert

Don’t wait. You don’t need ANYONE to tell you, “ok, you can be an expert now”.

This is called, “The Magic Of Self Appointment“. And most people will NEVER get this (like our friend Johnny).

You don’t realize it, but you’ve been conditioned from BIRTH by your parents, religions, education systems, government, etc to fit into a nice little spot — acting as a “cog” in society — keeping things running. Things like credentials, degrees, etc are just ways to keep you down from doing what you want with your life.

Seriously, read this article: The Magic Of Self Appointment, here’s a few gems you should consider:

“Realize our school system, government, and industries reward dependency, NOT self-reliance … conformity, NOT innovation … slavery to the status quo, NOT fearless adventure into the unknown.

Aside from the 3Rs, (reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic) what you learn through formalized education is obsolete, outdated knowledge by the time you learn it. Worse, it is designed to prepare you to become a droid in a large vertically-integrated company or institution the likes of which are disintegrating daily.

The result is the inevitable stunting of your initiative, creativity, and capacity for capitalist thinking. Naturally, you fail to appoint yourself captain of the myriad entrepreneurial opportunities around you. And then you wonder why external appointment eludes you.”

PROOF I Know What I’m Talking About

First of all I’m DOING it.

I followed my three simple steps. I’ve written books and sold them to people in countries all over the world, I’ve got my blog, dozens of websites, I’ve got emails subscribers, and people that actually THANK me for helping them in some form or another.

(Yes, I’m actually helping make the world a better place. I’m actually DOING it. So arguing that the world doesn’t work like this is simply crazy … because … I’m proving it each and every day!)

And I’m only a 20-something year old (getting older every day) guy …

Second, nearly EVERYONE who has ever achieved anything worthwhile … or for the mass benefit of mankind … has used this exact same process (from the same article):

“If you look at some of the most successful people in the world, you’ll see they became that way by taking a very different approach.

… Who told Steve Jobs to drop out of college and appoint himself MESSIANIC LEADER OF STONED GOOFBALL COMPUTER GEEKS EVERYWHERE in a crazy war against centralized computing and its overbearing, power hungry priesthood? A war they ultimately won. Had they not, you probably wouldn’t be reading this.

… Who told Andrew Carnegie — the son of a weaver — who started his career changing spools of thread in a cotton mill twelve hours a day for $1.20 a week that he should appoint himself CAPTAIN OF INDUSTRY?

… Who told Abraham Lincoln that with one year of a backwoods Kentucky education (reading, writing, and ciphering to the rule of three) he was qualified enough to be appointed Postmaster, and then Lawyer, and then Congressman, and then President, and then MILITARY COMMANDER IN CHIEF?

Nobody, that’s who, THEY JUST DID IT!

… And the rest is history.”

Here’s the bottom line: keep waiting for others to control your life … tell you what you can or can’t do … how to live, how to act, how to make a living, how to “be” in the world …

… OR … step up, take control of your life and start giving your deepest gift possible to the world. And when you’re thinking about doing it — just DO it — and stop waiting for someone to tell you it’s ok.

(Oh, and when you DO start doing it, and you have people living small lives telling you you shouldn‘t be doing it, just make a blog post out of them, to 1. teach them how life works and 2. make an example out of them.)

Peace

Related posts:

1. How To Be a Genius At Anything You Desire
2. Exercises To Get Rid Of Cellulite
3. Being Average Is Worse Than DEATH!

Stop doing this. Then keep reading to fix your already bad real squat.

The Squat is a technical lift … maybe … the most technical lift of all.

• Chest should be up,
• shoulders back and down,
• elbows down,
• lower back slightly arched,
• sitting back into the squat,
• weight on the midfoot/heels,
• knees pressing out to the sides,
• posterior chain loaded …

… And rebounding strong out of the hole … there’s a LOT to get right!

Here’s What Happens When You Start Doing It Right …

Instead of turning it into a “good morning” type exercise, like a lot of people do. Where you bend too far forward, like a table, like JABBA THE BENCH was prone to doing (no pun intended!)

You start doing it right and you send your friend the following after a hard squat workout, via text:

JABBA THE BENCH: Somethings wrong. There’s this achey feeling in my thighs. Its like the same feeling my back usually has after squat day but for some reason it’s in my legs …

ME: Ohmygod! I think u might actually have “propersquatitis” disease! It usually shows up when u focus on doing exercises like the squat correctly for a few weeks!

JABBA THE BENCH: Oh no! I have heard of this! The only cure I know of is “roundbackitol”!

ME: To be honest i caught propersquatitis when I first started. The symptoms r easy to deal with: confidence. self respect. posterior chain development. I’d just keep it if I were you!

JABBA THE BENCH: I just may. I hear it’s one of those which the cure is as bad as the disease. Without the pounding ache in my lower back how will I know I’m helping my Deadlift tho?

ME: Yes that’s one of the first symptoms – ur squat ceases to be an accessory exercise for ur deadlift and becomes its own lift!

Start Fixing Your Squat Today:

These articles might help:

• How To Squat With Proper Form
• How To Fix Your Squat In 30 Seconds Or Less
• Why Box Squatting Sucks & Why You Should Do It Anyways!
• Back Squat – Sitting Back Into The Squat
• Back Squat – Getting The Correct Stance
• Back Squat – Getting The Bar Position and Your Hands Right
• How To Make The Squat As Useless As The Leg Press

And when you’re done there … practice, practice, practice

Related posts:

1. Back Squat – Sitting Back Into The Squat
2. Back Squat – Getting The Bar Position and Your Hands Right
3. New Deadlift, Squat and Bench PR July 09

Pudzianowski knows how to lose fat and not strength. Do you?

Got this excellent comment:

“alright so here it is. I weigh about 180 lbs and I am High Bar squatting 225 lbs for 3 x 5. I do this 3 times a week as per the Starting Strength program (yeh I am going against Rippetoe with the High bar squat, but I like it better). I want to lose a lot of fat and am at about 20% bodyfat right now? My nutrition is now in check so the only variable that I am missing is cardio. I used to do basketball but i rolled my ankle for the 5th time on friday so I have to take a week off. Anyways, what type of cardio would you recommend to lose fat fast? Should I do something like the BEAR complex post workout? There is no track in my area for me to sprint on, which is a shame since I love sprinting. Anyways, how many times a week should I do some sort of HIIT and how many times a week should I do steady state so that it DOES NOT interfere with my strength gains?”

Ahh … where do I start?

You’re Focusing On Being Strong! Good For You …

This is the first step to getting a great body. Both healthy and looking awesome.

Good for you. And if you like the high bar squat better … and you just wanna combine it with the Starting Strength program … I say more power to you!

Personally, for me, I like the low bar squat because I feel it focuses more on posterior chain development — which I feel all of us in Western Civilization are lacking in (for more, read: Posterior Chain – Why You Gotta Train Yo’ Back-Side! )

Are You Sure You Know How Fat You Are?

I’m not being an asshole, only being blunt, because I want to get a point across, you claim:

I want to lose a lot of fat and am at about 20% bodyfat right now?

Don’t worry!

I respect the question mark at the end of your sentence which I’m imagining means you’re not sure how much fat you’re actually carrying around.

To be sure, most “Big” guys who are lifting weights TOTALLY underestimate how much weight they’re lifting. Judging by your size and squat numbers — you’re probably underestimating how much fat you have … OR … you’re still building your strength up.

At 135-139 lbs … hovering around 10% body fat … I can do your workout of 225 x 3 x 5. At least with a low bar position … and not going ass to grass olympic style … actually I may be able to do it but it would be tough.

Either way, you have about 40lbs on me … so I’m thinking you may have a little more fat than you’re thinking or you’re still building strength. EITHER ONE IS FINE!

I just want to make the point that most bigger guys underestimate how much weight they could lose and still be lean and strong. For example, a guy in my gym now figured he had about 20 pounds to lose of fat and he’d be where he wanted to be. He’s finding out (after 15lbs of fat melted off) that he could lose MUCH more.

Most people realize this as they start cutting weight. For reference, unless a guy is taking steroids, it’s VERY unusual to see a lean (below 10% bodyfat) athlete/bodybuilder/anyone who’s around 6 feet tall and weighs 200 lbs or more.

Next …

IS Your Nutrition Really Good?

You asked …

My nutrition is now in check so the only variable that I am missing is cardio.

I’d like to ask you, IS your nutrition in check?

Here’s two things:

1. what most people think of as “good” nutrition is REALLY off!
2. most guys focusing on strength mistakenly think “eating = more strength”

1. What Good Nutrition REALLY Is …

Try these posts:

• Doctor Reveals What You Should Eat Every Day For Fat Loss And Health.
• Eat This And Get Healthier In Just 10 Days
• Never Eat These 3 Foods
• A Sample Of How I’m Eating These Days …

2. Eating More Does NOT Equal More Strength …

Now, there is a caveat here … HARDGAINER WARNING:

Most guys that think they are “hardgainers” simply do NOT eat enough. Think you’re a hardgainer? Here’s the ONLY advice you’ll ever need: “Eat until the scale moves and go from there” Basically, if you’re working out, and you’re saying “I’m eating ENOUGH to gain weight but I’m not!” Then you are NOT eating enough. Keep eating. If the scale moves, then you’re eating enough. Eat until it moves. Then go from there (meaning: did you gain fat? then eat a little less … did u gain muscle with little fat? Then you’re eating the right amount! keep doing that!)

Now …

Let’s say you read those articles up above and realize you could “clean” up your diet. Basically eating the “right” foods. Good. That alone for most guys will have them dropping weight like Lil Wayne drops punchlines.

But … let’s pretend for a minute you’re already eating like those example articles above.

You wanna lose more weight? Simply eat less.

It’s the EASIEST way to lose weight. You don’t need cardio. You don’t need other stuff. If you hit the strength training hard and aren’t a total couch potatoe at home (meaning you walk around, do stuff, and do something other than go to the gym) then you should just eat less.

The FEAR here for most guys (especially bigger guys focused on gaining strength) is that by eating less they’ll lose strength. This is purely psychological. It’s not real. You may FEEL weaker after not eating or eating less or whatever, but it’s just not true.

One, there’s been studies where men were tested in strength with barbell exercises. Then they were put in a FASTED state (no food) for 36 hours. Then tested on those same tests again. The result? They had the same levels of strength at everything.

It’s HARD to lose strength from eating too little …

Next, the same friend I mentioned above who has dropped 15 pounds already has seen his bench press numbers go UP! He’s getting stronger while he’s getting leaner. Go figure.

So I would highly advise that you just work with your diet MORE to lose weight instead of adding additional cardio.

That being said …

How To Do Cardio Without Losing Strength …

Do as LITTLE as possible.

Ideas:

• Tabata protocol intervals (4 mins or less!) How to lose weight fast in 12 minutes or less
• Hill Sprints (grass easier on joints, find a hill) Hill Sprints – Burn Fat & Build Killer Endurance With Hill Sprinting!
• Jump Roping (keep it 12 minutes or less, intensity over time) Jump Rope Training For Fighter Fat Loss and Conditioning!
• Rowing (avoid your ankle injury, and hard as fuck): Rowing Exercise For Fast Fat Loss and Conditioning

Don’t go overboard with this to keep your strength gains growing. 2x a week max. Again, you can NOT out-train the dinner table, get your diet in order, it’s a LOT easier.

And/or you could do 15-30 mins of light, steady state cardio after your weight lifting workouts or in the morning before breakfast (if you eat breakfast) in a fasted state. That should also be easy to recover from.

Other Articles On Losing Fat and Not Strength:

• Fat Loss AND Muscle Gain?
• Muscle Building and Fat Loss — Can You Do Both?
• How To Lose Fat Not Muscle
• 3 Tips To Burn Fat Not Muscle
• How To Lose Fat and Build Muscle

I feel I’ve given you MORE than enough to work with here and help you achieve your goals. To give me something back, send me a BEFORE/AFTER photo of yourself after you’ve taken this advice to heart … and more importantly … ACTED on it!

Related posts:

1. Lean Body Nutrition 101
2. How To Lose Your Love Handles
3. Bar-Barians, Reverse Disease With Vitamin C, and Milk Nutrition

This is great! But at the same time, it’s really annoying that it took this long for it to be accepted as fact.

An article in the New York Times proves “6 meals a day speeds your metabolism” is a myth.

Of course, I wrote about this in my smartly titled, The “6 Meals A Day” Myth, way back in September, 2008 … but what do I know right?

Related posts:

1. Eating More Meals Does NOT Speed Metabolism, Motivation, and Primal Blueprint
2. The “6 Meals A Day” Myth
3. Fat Burning Exercises a Myth?

There’s not a lot of things that you shouldn’t “ever” eat.

In fact, I’ve never been the “never” type of guy. Pretty much EVERYTHING is good in moderation … and even most things that seem to be unhealthy … have some health benefits when used in moderation. Stuff like …

• Drinking alcohol …
• Eating saturated fat …
• Smoking certain things …
• Etc,

So it’s hard for me to say “NEVER” eat these things … but … I feel in this case it’s justified.

Once again, my main man, Dr. Al Sears breaks down 3 of the foods you should never eat if you wanna be healthy, lean and virile!

Dr. Sear’s writes:

“Here are three foods that will put you on the fast track to fat:

Breakfast Cereal: This one is a little deceptive. No one thinks of cereal as being a threat to their health. But no matter which one you choose, breakfast cereals are high on the glycemic index (GI). For many people, a dose of high-glycemic carbs in the morning is the prescription for building excess body fat.

You’d almost be better off eating a candy bar or a piece of cake.

The GI of an average piece of chocolate cake is between 31 and 38… a Snickers bar is about 43. Not bad.

Compare that to the GI of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes… which registers a whopping 132. That means corn flakes break down into sugar in your bloodstream faster than pure glucose!

And if you add fuel to the fire by putting sugar on your cereal, you’re sending an overwhelming surge of sugar into your system.

Remember, high blood sugar triggers a wave of insulin. And insulin is the hormone that sends the message to build and store fat.

Even “healthy” cereals like Grape-Nuts have a GI of 80. That’s also very high.

It might be a fast fix when you’re rushing in the morning, but cereal in the morning will make you fat. Avoid it at all costs.

French Fries: Possibly the worst foods you can eat. First off, potatoes are high-glycemic and not good for you in any form. But when you take potatoes and deep-fry them in trans fatty oil, you have a recipe for sickness and disease.

While white potatoes aren’t the best choice, the oil they’re cooked in adds much more danger than the potatoes do. If you need a potato fix now and then, opt for a baked potato or, better yet, sweet potatoes. They’re loaded with carotenoids, vitamin C, potassium, and fiber.

Bagels and Breads: Don’t fall for the “whole-grain goodness” trap. When it comes to the glycemic index, it matters very little whether breads are made from whole grain or not. Grains spike your blood sugar, and you know what that means.

Forget about the commercials you see on TV. Unless you are very poor and can’t get enough calories without them, you should avoid grains at least until you get as lean as you want to be. You’ll be better off without them.

In the morning, take a few extra moments and scramble some eggs. Before you throw the eggs in, sauté some sliced tomatoes and spinach. Maybe some onion, too. In less than 10 minutes, you can have a breakfast that will make you feel pumped and energetic for the whole morning.

And if you need a fast lunch, try a wrap instead of a sandwich. More and more restaurants offer wraps these days. They come in all styles – spinach is my favorite. (Try and avoid the heavy flour tortillas.)

With That Being Said, I Sin On Sundays …

So lately, I’ve been endulging in my “sin” of eating McDonald’s breakfast sandwiches on Sunday mornings before Church.

And Yup, I get the bacon, egg and cheese bagel. Spikes the ole insulin? Yup! Along with lotsa fat? Yup! Tastes unbelievably delicious? Yup!!!!

But you know what? I don’t try and deceive myself into thinking it’s something healthy I’m doing. It’s like my cheat day. And I usually take additional measures the rest of the day to minimize the impact (eat a little less, etc).

So whatever.

Don’t eat those three foods above … “ever” … and if you do … just know you’re not doing yourself any good. Life’s too short for any other attitude

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