Archive for February, 2010

[ Editor's Note:  My friend, fitness author Jon Benson shared this letter with me and gave me permission to share it with you. ]

It’s the spice of life.

Food that is. Or opinions. I guess there is a lot of things that are officially “the spice of life.” I think spices are the spice of life.

I have a new-found love of spices since hanging around a killer healthy-food chef for the past week.

Wow oh wow… I had no idea.

And hey — I’m helping her put her recipes into to a book that will be out soon. I’ll send you all a video of this woman doing her thing too in a week or so… prepare to be blown away.

Back to spices:

Not only can spices save an otherwise boring healthy meal…. turns out spices can help you burn more bodyfat.

The January 2006 issue of The Journal of Physiology and Behavior cited numerous studies on several spices that increased thermogenesis in the body.

Thermogenesis is simply heat — and since a calorie is a unit of heat, guess what?

More thermogenesis = more calories burned  =  Less bodyfat.

Pretty cool stuff this thermogenesis.

In fact thermogenesis is the foundation of my handbook “The Radical Fatloss Blueprint.”

I’m giving this book away for free for 21 days to anyone who owns a copy of “The Every Other Day Diet.”

Lose up to 21 pounds in 21 days.

But you can only do it for 21 days. Fair deal, right?

If you want the book for freee, make sure you have “Every Other Day Diet” so I can send this to you the last week of February.

Get EODD here –

http://www.everyotherdaydiet.com/go/privacy1 <— more thermogenesis, less bodyfat

For now, here’s the spices that work the best to help you burn bodyfat:

1. Capsaicin, the compound gives red chili pepper its heat, increased energy via heat expenditure by up to 23% after ingesting it at breakfast.

2. Black Pepper increases body heat (thermogenesis) by bonding to TRPV1 receptors in the brain.

3. Turmeric has both anti-cancer and pro-thermogenic support. Best of two worlds if you ask me.

Combine these three spices:  Red chili pepper, black pepper and turmeric, and use them liberally (as you can handle them) on your lunch and dinner meals.

Just be careful not to overdo the spices, otherwise you’ll end up with more heartburn than fatburn.

I’ll be including FAR more powerful ways to burn bodyfat radically in “The Radical Fatloss Blueprint” — and you can get your copy free the last week of February if you own Every Other Day Diet.

Get it here –

http://www.everyotherdaydiet.com/go/privacy1 <— more thermogenesis, less bodyfat

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Want to know the most effective ab exercises? The following ab exercises are the results of the American Council on Exercise’s study to determine the most effective ab exercises. While ab exercises won’t spot reduce fat from the belly, strong abs are important for keeping your body healthy and protecting your spine. For more about flat abs, visit my Abs Page for articles, workouts, FAQs and more.

The Bicycle exercise is the best move to target the rectus abdominis (i.e., the ‘six pack’) and the obliques (the waist), according to a study done by the American Council on Exercise. To do this exercise correctly:

1. Lie face up on the floor and lace your fingers behind your head.
2. Bring the knees in towards the chest and lift the shoulder blades off the ground without pulling on the neck.
3. Straighten the left leg out while simultaneously turning the upper body to the right, bringing the left elbow towards the right knee.
4. Switch sides, bringing the right elbow towards the left knee.
5. Continue alternating sides in a ‘pedaling’ motion for 12-16 reps.

The basic crunch exercise for the abs targets the rectus abdominis muscle. Although it seems simple, many people don’t perform the basic ab crunch properly. Using good form when doing an crunch makes this a much more effective abdominal exercise.

How to Do the Basic Abdominal Crunch

* Lie on your back, bend your knees, placing your hands on the sides of your head.
* Contract your abs and flatten your lower back against the floor.
* Slowly lift your shoulder blades one or two inches off the floor.
* Exhale as you lift, keep your neck straight and chin up.
* Hold for a few seconds (don’t hold your breath).
* Slowly lower while keeping your abs contracted.
* Repeat up to 20 reps this perfect form for each rep.
* To make it more difficult, use an exercise ball.

Life is all about balance. At least I think so. So does hormone expert Dr. Holly Lucille.

Holly’s idea of balance goes beyond day-planners and schedules. She talks about “internal” balance: Balance between your  natural hormones to help create energy,  lower body fat, and increasing  your sex.drive.

When you read her, everything makes perfect sense and you wonder why you didn’t put it together before now.

It’s really a good read…

I wanted to give you this today. It’s an  excerpt from Dr. Lucille’s fantastic book,  “Creating and Maintaing Balance.”

Pick it up here free:

http://www.naturapause.com/go/privacy1/free-sample <— 26 pages of Holly’s book

Enjoy!

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[ Note: This article was written by a good friend of mine - fitness and nutrition author Jon Benson. I thought I\\\'d share it with you. ]

What do these six things have in common?

– McDonalds
– Renée Zellweger
– Epileptic children
– Yours truly
– Most bodybuilding and fitness competitors
– Kiefer Sutherland

Give up?

All the above employ the strategies of the low-carb dietplan.

Recently researchers have found that low-carb nutrition plan reduced the number of seizures in epileptic children.

Most of the world’s leanest physiques get that way on a regimen, limited or not, of low-carbs and higher protein.

Even McDonalds is getting into the act.

Even Renée Zellweger.

Even Kiefer Sutherland.

Even me.

Kinda.

Read on and I’ll explain what I mean…

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Why Low-Carb Works

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When McDonalds starts counting carb grams in their food, you know someone is either jumping on a trend or finally seeing the light.

In this case, both — but it is a good thing. Low-carb dietplans. They work.

For the masses, they work because they are the easiest nutrition plan to follow when you’re busy.

McDonalds and stars like Kiefer Sutherland figured this out. The busy on-the-go guy or gal doesn’t want to make the time to prepare six meals per day and carry them around in Tupperware.

When choosing my own lifestyle nutrition plan, time and convenience played a major role. I looked at role models who were very busy, formerly obese, and very lean.

Most of them rely in some form or fashion on a low-carb strategy.

Low-carb also works, much to the hem and haw of traditional doctors and nutritionists, due to the way the body processes fuel.

For those of us fortunate enough to grow up on whole grains and very low-sugar mealplans, a moderate to higher-carb nutrition plan may work just fine.

But most of us grew up eating junk.

Processed foods, fast foods, and downright junk was the cornerstone of our dietplans. That puts your body on the “carb defense.”

After years of abuse the body becomes resistant to carbohydrates. The insulin they produce can cause all sorts of health issues, fat-burning problems, and more.

When carbs are removed, even healthy carbs like whole grains, the body has time to re-adjust.

In some cases, you can go back to a moderate-carb plan with whole grains and fruits after a period of time.

In others, you are a “low-carber” for life.

Guess which one I am?

Finally, low-carb works because you tend to eat less. Fat is very satiating, and most low-carb plans are fairly high in dietaryfat.

So, in recap:

— Easy and convenient;
— Metabolically important for carb recovery;
— Lower in total food volume (eat less)

Do not make light of that first point. Any plan that is not simple is one very few people will stick to. Making your plan simple and tasty is key, even if that plan is not “perfect” by nutritional standards.

Now, by far, the best low-carb dietplan in the world (yes, I’m bias for good reason!) is this:

click.here ——> My Favorite Foods Diet Presentation

EODD works so well because your carbs are low for “most” of the time. Not “all” of the time. And the times when your carbs are not low you can enjoy your favorite foods.

Personally I enjoy pizza and burgers on my non-low-carb days. You can enjoy whatever you want if you just keep it reasonable.

You see, there’s no need to diet-perfect.

Progress always trumps perfection.

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Why Low-Carb Fails

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There are two primary reasons for the failure of the low-carb nutrition plans: boredom and media bashing.

One causes irritability. The other, doubt. Unless you’re certain that your plan will work, you will eventually go off of it.

This is true of any plan, no matter how ideal it is. Certainty rules.

That’s why I believe in having a flexible, tasty plan like EODD.

Then boredom is easily solved.

I share my own unique ideas about “cycling” carbs and fats in the presentation here:

click.here ——> My Favorite Foods Diet Presentation

Using my cycle strategy you will rarely if ever become bored. And your body will burn more bodyfat too. It’s just a cheap metabolic trick…but boy, it works.

The second reason is media and medical bias. One study after another has proven that low-carb plans, even the Atkins plan, works and is safe to use for most people.

Check with your doctor first, of course.

I’ve seen researchers get down-right angry when the results come back. In one study, carried out for a full year, the low-carb plan out-performed the so-called “healthy” Dean Ornish plan.

Lower blood fats, more weightloss, and more energy were the results.

My preference always comes back to low-carb nutrition. I just cycle it in a way that allows me to get plenty of veggies, some grains, and ample fiber.

Even a slice of cheesecake here and there… : )

Hey…I said “low-carb”, not “low-life!”

Yours In Fitness,

J O N   B E N S O N

P.S. One of these days the mainstream medical community will wake up to the fact that 90% of the population will never eat 15 servings of veggies per day.

While this may be “optimal”, it’s not at all practical. I’d rather give you down-to- earth practical nutrition advice that you CAN and WILL follow — and enjoy.

Makes sense, doesn’t it?

click.here ——>  My Favorite Foods Diet Presentation

No..this isn’t a try at humor, but a very serious problem for certain men. Read on if you will….

3 quick questions:

1. Are you a guy or do you know one close to you over the age of 35?

2. Have you or he looked at your/his bare chest lately?

3. If so… did you see them?…The dreaded….

“Manboobs”?

Obviously if you are female this is not an issue. But for us men, “gynaecomastia”, often jokingly referred to as manboobs (we can thank “Seinfeld” for that) is anything but funny.

From this point on, I’ll refer to it as “MB” if that’s okay by you.

MB is not an age thing. It can occur at almost any time in life. However, for those of us over 35, it is more common. This is just one of the many symptoms of “andropause”, or “male menopause.”

When you age your testosterone levels decline…and more than that the testosterone gets “weaker” due to an imbalance between it and estrogen. When you combine that with our modernized “estrogen-rich” environment that Dr. Holly Lucille frequently lectures on, you have a problem.

A big MB problem.

MB is associated with lack of drive (you know what I’m talking about guys) and excess bellyfat due to the estrogen.

Even more serious:  Excess estrogen has been positively linked to prostate cancer.

Yep. MBs are not so funny after all.

Check out Dr. Lucille’s NaturaPause Audios. There is an entire audio dedicated to male menopause and natural solutions that really work.

Most do not work worth a darn.

Hers does.

http://www.naturapause.com/go/privacy1 <— no more MBs!

It only takes a few minutes to listen…it may be just what you’re looking for.

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If you’ve been looking to gain muscle while you’re burning body fat take a look at this…quite interesting and extremely useful when you’re trying to do both at once.

I just received this article from Jon Benson and HAD to share it with you. It really opened my eyes to what is possible. Let me know what you think, okay?

How To Gain Muscle And Burn Bodyfat At The Same Time

What is your “big dream?”

I have two:

– To make an impact on the lives of over 10M people before I die;

– To have a family that’s mobile so I can live in many places.

Not bad, right?

Want to know a “third” dream of mine?  One that I saw become a reality a few years ago?

To gain muscle AND burn bodyfat all at the same time.

It’s like a pipe-dream that somehow worked its way through the pipes and into my gym.

It is not easy, granted, but you can do it.

Almost anyone can do it.

You just have to train and eat in a very specific way.

Listen:  You do NOT want to just “burn bodyfat” or god-forbid “lose-weight”… that will not give you the body you want.

You absolutely MUST shape your muscles, tighten and tone, and burn bodyfat.

And you can do it at the same time.

Most pros disagree with me. They think it is metabolically impossible to gain muscle while in a state of low-calorie dieting.

They are wrong.

Here’s an article I wrote on this topic. I hope you enjoy it.

To save you time, I put a link to the online complete version of the article below…

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I remember a friendly argument with my co-author of Fit Over 40 Tom Venuto. It all started when I told Tom how I was eating and training for my last peak. A peak is where you lower your bodyfat and try to maintain as much muscle mass as possible.

“There’s just no way I could ever get in shape eating and training like that,” says Tom. “Sure you could man…what are you, a mutant?” Tom fires back, then me, then Tom….and so it goes. (I really didn’t call Tom a mutant. That was creative liberty.)

So why are so many fitness pros like Tom freaked out about my training and nutrition plan? Simple: I claim it burns fat while building muscle at the same time. Every time I read an article by some doctor or expert claiming it’s “biologically impossible” to gain lean muscle mass on a hypocaloric diet (a diet low in calories) I just laugh.

I do more than make claims–I have proved this to be true many times. I’ve had my bodyfat hydrostatically measured during several peaks. In all but one I showed an increase of muscle mass and a decrease of bodyfat during a 12-16 week period. The one time I didn’t show an increase in muscle mass when was I was training the most in the gym. That may not make sense right now, but it will in a moment.

Article Continued Here –
http://www.7minutemuscle.com/go/privacy1/gain-muscle-burn-fat < — click.

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If you have stubborn body fat that just does not want to budge, you will find this free video helpful.

It’s only 16 minutes long and covers the connection between your “hormones” and body fat.

Not only body fat… Your sexual-drive, your energy, your mood, and of course issues like menopause, andropause (male menopause) and more. Give it a look…

http://www.naturapause.com/go/privacy1/video-preview

Just by taking some of Dr. Lucille’s advice (natural, without harmful drugs) you can kick-start your hormonal system back into overdrive.

It’s really an easy way to end stubborn bodyfat and reboot your drive at the same time.

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