That’s the question we all have, right? At least that is the question I get from readers on a weekly basis.

Here’s a sample of the solution. What you see in the picture is how I make eating multiple times during a busy day work. On the right of image you’ll see a bag of white powder – don’t call the ATF, it isn’t what you think .  That is my workout nutrition. Below that is a metabolic drive bar and some almond slivers (Meal 2) which I can eat literally walking from one place to the next.

Below that is an apple and some protein powder. I’ll combine that with some pistachios that I keep at my desk for another really quick meal. For breakfast I’ll have a meal similar to the fat burning breakfast I posted previously.  the other meal that I’ll have today (not shown) was made, portioned, and frozen on Sunday) consists of pork loin, brown rice, salsa, spinach, chickpeas, and olive oil.

What I have just outlined is 1. Easy to do 2. Doesn’t take a lot of your time and 3. Will help you burn fat.

What are you waiting for?

What are some things that you do to make your nutrition fit into a busy schedule (post’em below).

I’m talking about Heinz One Carb Ketchup and Hood Calorie Countdown milk (Chocolate is my favorite). First let’s look at One Carb. As innocent as ketchup looks it always contains a nice dose of added sugar – high fructose corn syrup in regular ketchup and usually cane sugar if you spring for the organic stuff. One Carb is different. Instead of the standard 5-8 grams of carbs per serving as the name states One Carb has just 1 gram of carbs. It is sweetened with splenda so you don’t feel like you are eating tomato paste but it isn’t overboard sweet. I recommend that even people that aren’t on a low carb diet check out One Carb ketchup as it is a great way to cut out unnecessary calories from sugar from an unlikely source.

Next up is Calorie Countdown Milk. When Hood first released this onto the market it was called “Carb Countdown.” Apparently branding this product as a low carb product wasn’t working for Hood as they switched the name. Fortunately they didn’t mess with the formula. Chocolate Carb…sorry CALORIE Countdown Milk has only 5 grams of carbs per 1 cup serving compared to 30 grams per serving as seen in some brands and 12 grams as found in regular milk. Not only did Hood remove the added sugar from choco-lating the milk (yes, I made that word up) they also removed some of the naturally occurring sugars in milk (lactose). This is good news not only for low carbers but people afflicted with lactose intolerance (myself included). This stuff is goooood. Now, Hood isn’t exactly giving this milk away as it is more in the price range of organic milk but even if your grocery budget doesn’t allow for a weekly half gallon of this chocolate food science masterpiece you’ll definitely want to treat yourself every so often to glass.

As Frank the Tank so delicately put it “When it hits your lips it’s just so good”. Seriously, you’ll feel like you’re cheating on your diet but you’re definitely not. Again as with One Carb Ketchup even if you aren’t a low carber this should make it into your nutritional rotation.

Q: I just have a quick question about cottage cheese.  I really like the stuff however I find it doesn’t sit well with me.  I currently am using a 4% one.  Would you recommend I try the lower % fat cheese since it may be the fat content that’s causing me difficulties with digestion?

Mike: The problem here is most likely the lactose (a carbohydrate found in dairy products) and not the fat in the cottage cheese. I would look for the Lactaid brand cottage cheese or cottage cheese that contains live cultures (Cabot is a brand that does).

Lactaid cottage cheese will contain lactase the enzyme responsible for digesting lactose and thus will most likely help relieve your symptoms.

If you buy cottage cheese that contains live cultures the bacteria can help digest the lactose and make the cottage cheese easier on your system.

Let’s recap so far.

1. People eat away from their homes more than ever.

2. People are terrible at estimating the caloric value of foods.

How does that make you being overweight not your fault?

….you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out

Many of you may be wondering where I’m going with this. Here we go.

Restaurants and other foods serving places (those are places that call themselves restaurants but their food is so bad they shouldn’t fall into the “restaurant” category) have begun to do something very sneaky. In an effort to boost taste, flavor, and perceived value they have figured out ways to cram inordinate amounts of calories into “normal” looking foods.

This results in our inability of judge caloric value of foods even MORE detrimental to our health especially when you couple this with the fact that people eat out more than ever. Here are some really good examples (courtesy of Men’s Health):

Ruby Tuesday’s Turkey Bella Burger - Turkey burger. Must be healthy right? It even has portabella mushrooms. It also has almost 1200 calories! 1200 calories!!!! Are they serious? when should a burger ever have 1200 calories? Seriously, give me an example, Ruby?

Massive Burritos – There is a whole crop (crop or crap?) of Franchises popping up that serve massive burritos. I recently spoke with a friend of mine who opted for the lower calorie version (no rice or beans). It still ended up being ~800 calories!!!

Here’s another one

Boston Market Rotisserie Chicken (Dark Meat), Sweet Potato Casserole, and Market Chopped Side Salad - Good? Only to the tune of 1400 calories.

While I know that one would not call these items low calorie but I doubt anyone would guess that they are such high calorie. Also, I am not about giving people excuses for carrying around overweight. Poor eating and lack of exercises are the two main reasons and you have control over those things. But you may not have known about the insane caloric inflation that is going on at restaurants across the country.

But now you know.

You have not excuse for the extra fat around your midsection anymore (well you never did but it made a good title).

Have a great weekend (and be skeptical about caloric values when you eat out)

-Mike

Let’s say you’re a little overweight. Maybe you’re more than a little overweight.

Good news…it isn’t you fault.

Seriously. I’ve been thinking about this a bunch over the past week or so. What do people do more today than ever? Other than sit on their rear end.

Eat out.

People are always eating on the go.

We also know from studies done decades ago (some before I was even born!), that people don’t do a very good job of estimating the caloric value of foods. Let’s be honest. People are TERRIBLE at looking at a food, saying “Yeah that’s about 257 calories.”, and being accurate. So next time you look at that heaping spoon full of peanut butter and say “That’s about 2 tablespoon.”

STOP before suck down what is really ¼ cup.

Let’s recap so far.

1. People eat away from their homes more than ever.

2. People are terrible at estimating the caloric value of foods.

How does that make you being overweight not your fault?

….you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out

When I first looked at the workouts in Afterburn, I kind of snickered. Just take the first one:

Each couplet is a superset.

Squats: 20 reps, 60s rest.
T-Push Ups: 8 reps each side, 60s rest, then repeat 2-3 times

Step Ups: 20 reps each leg, 60 sec rest
Rows to neck, 20 reps, 60 sec rest, repeat 2-3 times

SHELC: 20 reps, 60s rest
Ball crunch: 20 reps, 60s rest, repeat 2-3 times

Doesn’t look all that hard.

It floored me. It was so far away from what I normally did with weights that the minimal amount of anaerobic conditioning that I did perform didn’t help me much…

…It’s was, for me, a big surprise when I finally bit the bullet to try it for real.

Have any of you had the same experience?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIgNpsbvcVM

I got an email from Tom Venuto last week and I’ve probably read it 5 times. Tom is dead on with these “predictions” I’ve bolded the ones that I think are very important (I could have bolded all of them but tried to pick the real important ones)

On that basis, here are my 20 fitness predictions for 2008:

I PREDICT that if you can reach into your pocket on any day in 2008 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’m not sure if Tom has read Your Naked Nutrition Guide but this is a HUGE focus of the 1st Section of the book

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 won’t set you back and it will pass.

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 2008 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 in 2008.

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 in 2008, you will double your chances for success. If you surround yourself with numerous support partners, you will become virtually unstoppable.

If you aren’t familiar with Tom Venuto – where have your been! – just kidding. Seriously, if you aren’t familiar with Tom and his work then I highly recommend that you check out his site, or his blog. He is a “I practice what I preach” kind of guy and I read his stuff whenever possible.

Have a good one.

Day in and day out.

Chicken, Spinach, broccoli, almonds, fish….

Day in and day out.

STOP. I am constantly preaching dietary variety – not for just sanity but to ensure adequate amounts of a variety of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.

One thing that many people are guilty of is eating the same kind of nuts everyday. You know what I’m talking about…almonds.

Almonds are a great snack food but don’t limit yourself to them. Let’s look as some other good options:

Pecans – Pecans have a buttery taste and are packed with antioxidants and monounsaturated fats

Pistachios - Pistachios can often be oversalted and this can detract from their flavor. Pistachios are a great choice as they to two contain high levels of monounsaturated fat and have been shown by the lab I work in to reduce the oxidation of LDL cholesterol (oxidized LDL cholesterol is essentially the bad getting badder).

Walnuts – Walnuts are a well rounded nut with significant levels of monounsaturated, omega-6 polyunsaturated, and omega-3 polyunsaturated fats. they have 2.5grams of omega-3s per 1oz serving. EAT ‘EM UP. Walnuts are my nut of choice when making a shake.

This week when you go shopping, if you have been married to almonds add some variety and pick up pecans, pistachios, or walnuts instead.

“Given time, there is a high likelihood you will be obese because people gain weight as they age in this country,” – Dr Robert Kushner, Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University

I hate to say it but the guy’s right. If you are like me you traveled over the holidays and saw friends and family that you hadn’t seen in a while (in my case 2-3 years).

Be honest. How many people did you see that were in better shape and leaner than the last time you saw them?

What did your friends and family think of you?

That’s a tough one to swallow. Did they look at you and say “Hmm..he/she has definitely put on some weight since the last time I saw him/her.”

Can we be honest for a second. Have you put on weight over the past year or so. 1-2lbs a year adds up. That means you could (I know many people that are) 20lbs heavier at 30 y.o. than they were when they were 20 y.o.

Yeah you could chalk it up to aging and a slowing metabolism but really…that’s crap. It is a poor excuse that we feed ourselves to justify our weight gain.

In reality we aren’t exercising as much and are eating much worse than previously.

Here’s another thing that people don’t want to think about. What are you missing out on because you’re unhappy about your weight? I ask a similar, and powerful, question to my clients when they first join the Naked Nutrition Online Coaching Program – “What will you not experience if you don’t achieve your goals?”

Read that question again. Pull out a piece of paper and write down the answer. DO IT.

Now take the first step and make the decision to change your habits and your body.

-Mike

P.S. If you want a low cost way of having me help your change your body and habits check out the new Fat Loss Accelerator Program that comes FREE with Your Naked Nutrition Guide. It is a 45 day crash course with daily emails containing exclusive videos, special reports, audio lesson, and a lot more.