Your Naked Nutrition Guide will be removed from the market in the upcoming months and will be partly replaced by (updated and modified version) “Naked Nutrition: Nutrition Stripped To The Essentials” a book that will be available for sale at Amazon.com. Then as time goes on I will be releasing ’supplements’ in the form of manuals, DVDs, and multimedia eCourses to help people with specific nutrition/diet related areas. Currently two DVDs are in the final stages of production – Fat Loss: What To Do When It Stops and More Muscle Dietary Tweaks for Continuous Growth.

These DVDs will be part of the Fat Loss and Muscle Building supplements. More supplements will be released after these.

So….lots of exciting stuff coming up. But for today I wanted to share with you an excerpt from the new Naked Nutrition book. It is from the first section “The Mindset”.

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The day and age that we live in is all about instant gratification. Instant messaging, instant lines of credit when we go shopping, instant communication via cell phones, instant internet access from anywhere – when we want something we want it right way.

The same goes for your health and weight loss. We want to be healthy now.

“Give me a shake that I can drink and be healthy by the time I’m finished.”

We want to be lean and 30lbs lighter next week.

“Take this pill, jump up and down on this machine and you’ll be 25lbs lighter in only 7 days.”

Unfortunately, health and weight loss don’t’ work that way. In this book I will show you diet strategies that will allow you to greatly accelerate your weight loss and health but they are not instant.

Plus, instant never works. Sure you can do the Master Cleanse and only drink lemon juice with Cayenne pepper and a drop of maple syrup for 2 weeks straight and you might lose 12 lbs. But I can promise you that the weight will come right back on. Ironically everyone’s focus is on losing weight but weight loss itself isn’t that hard. There are hundreds of published studies showing different diet and exercise interventions that lead to weight loss. I’m sure you don’t need this book to show you how to lose weight as you’ve done it in the past. The missing piece to the puzzle is how lose the weight and keep it off. That is what I am going to show you how to do – Get results and keep that new you forever.

In order to do this we need to look beyond instant. Instead of an instant focus, we need a consistent focus. Whether you are seeking to build more muscle, lose bodyfat, or just improve your fitness level, the reason most people fail to attain the body they want is inconsistency over the long term. This is the difference between being the eternal yo-yo dieter and the one that everyone looks at wishing they had the dedication to stay so fit for so long.

Dietary inconsistency is commonly due to a lack of clear-cut goals and, ultimately, desires. The first step that needs to be taken is to sit down and think about where you are now and where you want to be in 4 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year. This isn’t a five minute process, so take your time, put the book down, explore your thoughts and feelings on health, physical attributes, fitness, and develop a clear picture of where you want to be 4 weeks, 6 months, and 1 years from today.

Not too long ago I taught a continuing education nutrition course and was shocked to see that none of my students could tell me what their fitness goals were. These people exercised on a regular basis, ate right, but had never really given a lot of thought to why. Why is important.

Once you have developed this image in your mind, write it down. Describe how you see yourself in every detail possible – what you look like, what it feels like, etc. Keep this paper handy and refer to it whenever you feel your drive dwindling.

Now that you have created the image in your mind of what success means to you, it is time to create concrete goals that will allow you to constantly monitor your progress. Write your goals in the present tense.

“I have ….” Not “I will….”

Changing the verbage is a little trick that you play on your mind which can make all the difference in the world. Studies have shown that the human mind cannot differentiate between what happens in the real world and the movies that you play out in your mind. Keeping your goals in the present tense gets your mind conditioned to believing that these things are already a reality.

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“Naked Nutrition: Nutrition Stripped To The Essentials” will be available at Amazon.com in the Early Fall of 2009.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In this video I go over the importance of using multiple units of measure and what those units should be.

Click here to view the embedded video.

• Research from Harvard shows that increased coffee consumption and greatly reduce your risk for type two diabetes
• The antioxidants in coffee can reduce inflammation and risk for heart disease
• The antioxidants in coffee have been shown to reduce the oxidation of LDL cholesterol (the ‘bad’ cholesterol)
• Caffeine increase dopamine levels which makes you sharper and more alert
• Caffeine increases brain activity [and reduces morning fog <--that's not a scientific finding just my observation ]
• Many people shy away from regular coffee and opt for decaf thinking they are making a healthier choice but decaf coffee has significantly lower levels of antioxidants.
• Caffeine has been shown to accelerate your body’s ability to repair blood vessel walls (that’s cool).
• Coffee has been shown to reduce rick for suicide.

I bet you didn’t know that all that good stuff came from drinking coffee huh? One quick word of warning though, regarding coffee and exercise. Caffeine can reduce the blood flow to your heart during exercise so if you have heart problems skip the Java before your workout.

If you’re wondering….I drink my coffee black.

How to you take yours?

What do you think about coffee? Good/Bad?

How much do you drink?

I’d love to hear you input.

Let’s take a closer at the benefits of green tea to your overall health in this section and then in part two, focus more specifically on the exact benefits that green tea has in the quest of weight loss and healthy weight management.

Green tea finds its roots in China, Asia, Japan and the Middle East. Its health benefits date back centuries, as far back as 1911 when Zen practitioners reported the healing properties found in the regular consumption of green tea. Over the last 10 years, green tea has migrated and found its way into the Western world. With health benefits dating back centuries, it serves us well to closely examine and consider the use of this simple and enjoyable addition to our diets.

Below you will find a list of the long purported health benefits associated with regular (daily) ingestion of green tea. Many of these have been scientifically researched and proven effect to the applicable claim. Others have not yet been academically signified, however they are widely accepted as true due to the lack of need to scientifically prove these claims; the benefits have been so long-standing and evident in regular users of green tea for centuries, thus the validity of the claim is acceptable.

• Anti-Cancer Properties- In 1996, New Scientist Magazine performed a study that indicated positively that green tea protects against a range of cancers; most specifically, prostate, breast and lung cancers.
• Increased Metabolic Rate- The University of Geneva as well as the University of Birmingham conducted trials and research on green tea and its relationship to metabolic rate. Conclusively, they found that green tea raises the metabolic rate, speeds up fat oxidation and improves insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance. All this translates to quicker and absolute weight loss. They also found green tea increases energy and endurance thus leading to more productive lifestyles and exercise routines. All this equates to weight loss for green tea users.
• Improved Fat Metabolism- As suggested in the study above, it has been proven that green tea increases endurance by improving fat metabolism. Clearly this translates to greater weight loss with less, yet easier, effort.
• Possible Anti-Diabetes Effect- As of January 2008, there is epidemiological (study of controlling and preventing diseases) evidence that suggests strongly that regular drinking of green tea may help in preventing diabetes.
• Boosts Mental Alertness- The amino acid “L-theanine” found in green tea diligently alters the attention networks in the brain resulting in a calmer, yet more alert, state of mind. This was proven scientifically in September 2007 by a research team at The City University of New York.

In the next article we will look at the remaining benefits of green tea and the conclusion to green tea helping with weight loss.

Reported Benefits of Supplementing with Fish Oil:

• Fat Loss and improved body composition – Research has shown that fish oil seems to turn on the body’s fat burning mechanism and even better, it was shown that most of the fat loss was in the abdominal region. Yes, your belly fat!*
• Fights Inflammation – reduces the inflammation causing substances in the body. Inflammation will kill you eventually. It wreaks havoc on your body and long term health. Not to mention it is responsible for painful conditions around the body. Fish oil can help with muscle soreness and joint pain
• Improves Cardiovascular health -Fish oil lowers triglycerides, reduces the likely hood of blood clots, can lower high blood pressure, reduces chance of stroke.
• Mental Health – Reduces depression, and elevates the mood. It was even found that fish oil supplementation in children with ADHD dramatically improved their symptoms.
• Healthy Eyes – Fights Macular Degeneration, Glaucoma and dry-eye syndrome
• Boosts the immune system – Less time being sick, and better fight against colds and other illness.
• Increase s.ex drive – Do I really need to explain this any further?
• Helps with menstrual pain – Women rejoice!
• Improves digestion – So many people out there live with digestion problems. This supplement can really help with some of those issues.
• Fights Osteoporosis
• Helps to prevent cancer
• Lowers the risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease
• Helps with Asthma
• Helps with Multiple Sclerosis
• Helps with skin problems – Eczema, and psoriasis. I can personally attest to this benefit. All of my life I battled with Eczema, and never won until I started using fish oil. Now, I rarely get an outbreak and if I do, it is short lived.
• Helps with Diabetes
• Can lower stress
• Reduces headaches
• Helps with Fibromyaglia

One of the most common questions I get from clients and gym goers is which piece of “cardio” equipment they should use.

(Without rehashing my views on doing long-slow cardio for fat burning…I am not a fan. Check out my article on HIIT for the best information on how to burn fat without doing hours of long-slow, cardio. )

Regardless of what type of “cardio” session you are going to do, I definitely have my favorites for maximum fat burn.

Elliptical machines are EASY

Yes, I said it…elliptical machines are easy. Why do you think every elliptical in your gym is always occupied? It is not because they are the most difficult machine in the gym and everyone is after the hardest workout! Elliptical machines are momentum-based machines. This means that as you go, momentum will start to kick in and do much of the work for you. In a sense, you are coasting for much of your training. Besides that fact, they really don’t challenge the major muscle groups too much. You are gliding the whole time with little knee or hip bend. I have watched un-trained people do the elliptical for 45 minutes to an hour after only a week of training.

Stationary Bikes are HARD

With that said, it should be clear to you that stationary bikes are one of my favorite machines for max fat burn. As with the elliptical, look around the gym the next time you go in. Chances are the bikes are empty. Why? They are difficult. There is no momentum produced on a stationary bike. There are no hills to coast down as you ride. Your muscle groups must produce each movement fully. The bike requires you to use the largest muscle groups in your body, thus giving you the most fat-burn in the end. If you goal is to burn fat, get on the bike. People are not used to riding a bike much, especially at large resistances. The more foreign the type of training, the more chaos your body will go through. This is a good thing for fat burn.

Treadmills are HARD and EASY

So which is it? Both really. If used the correct way, the treadmill can be a great fat burning machine. The problem is that people tend to not be very good runners and because of this fact, they go slower than is required over time. Many people are spooked about turning up the speed on the treadmill too. This is for good reason. If you are doing a HIIT session on the treadmill, you better be a very good runner and be paying attention. I have witnessed my share of people fly off the back of the treadmill when trying to run faster than they really could. Increasing the incline can be a good way to add to the resistance without increasing the speed as much. I like to put people who would not be considered good runners on the treadmill at maximum incline at a fast walk, after a very tough training session.

In review

Pick a machine that is going to challenge you the most. If the elliptical is all you have, you can still use it. Just make sure you crank the intensity way up when doing your training. Try to negate the momentum that is being produced.

Stationary bikes are my favorite fat burning machines. You get more bang for your buck with the use of large muscle groups.

If you are a good runner, treadmills can be just as good. Increase the incline and resistance and you will really turn on that fat burning furnace.

Most of us take our bodies for granted. Plain and simple, many of us spend more time and money and care on our cars, than we do on our own bodies. We abuse these wonderful, physical machines each day by overeating, not moving enough, sometimes moving too much, pounding them in the gym, on those long runs, etc.

In this blog post I am going to outline 5 simple ways that we can help our bodies feel better, or somewhat back to normal no matter what the problem. Are there more than 5 ways? Sure there are tons, but I will outline 5 ways that I have used on my athletes and clients, as well as myself with great success. I think anyone can implement these 5 things into their daily lives and help make a real difference.

Now, these methods will not “cure” your ailments, but I can almost guarantee that if you follow these suggestions, in a few short weeks, you will feel better on a daily basis. Even if you are relatively “healthy” and feel fine, it is a good idea that you incorporate some or all of these into your daily routine. Of course, if you have a serious problem, make sure to consult a medical professional.

For a bonus, if you are an athlete, a weight lifter or do any type of exercise where you are looking for improvements, these methods will help you improve in all of those areas.

PLEASE NOTE: If you already have a medical condition, please see your doctor before starting any kind of exercise program or perform and exercises.

5 WAYS TO FEEL BETTER:

• STRETCH – Yea, I know, you already know this and still don’t want to do it. How about taking a new approach to stretching instead of the one you have stuck in your head from your high school gym class or Pop Warner football team. You can effectively stretch the important parts of your body in less than 5 minutes each day. That’s right, no more than 5 minutes to stretch those important areas!! Everyone has 5 min.

• FOAM ROLL – What is foam rolling? By using your own body weight and a foam roller, a deep pressure is created and applied across your muscles and muscle tendons. This pressure acts like a deep massage, and helps to rid the areas of tension, scar tissue, and any types of adhesions that may be present and causing pain and inhibiting normal function. In case you are the science type and really want to know the true name for this, it is called Self Myofascial Release. The foam roller is the easiest and most effective way to do it.

• GET CONTROL OF YOUR BUTT – regain control of your hips, especially your glutes!! There are so many reasons to regain control of your butt muscles. Most people have tight hip flexors. When the hip flexors are tight, that causes the glutes to be in a weakened state. This will cause the hamstrings to overcompensate most of your movements. Not only are you setting your self up for more potential injuries to the hammy’s and hip flexor area, you are also going to put way more stress on the low back. Most people in this predicament will have tight hammy’s as well because they are over activated. This ultimately causes low back stress and chronic pain. Check out my posts on Healthy Hips for more information on how to get your butt in gear.

• MOBILITY WORK – No this is not the same as stretching. Static stretching is aimed at increasing the length of the muscle-tendon complex, which is a goal in certain parts of our body. While this is important for overall physical health, it still leaves us short of gaining optimum function. Mobility work will help improve joint mobility, which is not the same as the muscles. When a joint is immobile, it can set you up for a load of chronic pain, limits in motion and take away from basic everyday function. Not to mention that if you are an athlete, limited joint range of motion is a precursor for injury.

• NAP – find time (and a place) to take a 10-minute nap each day. Yep, 10 minutes is all you need. Research has shown that an afternoon nap of even 10 minutes can improve alertness, mood, and mental performance. If you are someone that takes naps, then you already know this, but if you are someone that is not a nap person, give it a try. 10 min. Just be careful not to sleep more than 30 min… you may wake up feeling more tired, and if you are at work, you could lose your job!!

It isn’t taking fish oil.

It isn’t reducing your saturated fat intake.

It isn’t eating more fruits and vegetables.

It is losing weight.

Time and time again. Study after study. It has been shown that when you lose weight your health improves. I don’t care what you have to do – lose the extra weight.

You will feel better, sleep better, have more energy, have an increase sex drive, your heart will function better, you’ll live longer. What else could you possibly want?

Start losing weight today.