Exercise Routines For Women At Home

Best Exercise Routines For Women At Home

Exercise routines for women have become an integral part of their lifestyles. With lesser time for oneself and sedentary lifestyles, exercise routines for women at home hold a high significance.

Those women who do not wish to spend a lot on the gym charges; they can easily follow exercise routines for weight loss at home. Exercise routines for women without equipment are also available for those who can’t afford the gym equipment. There are various exercise workout routines for women and it is just up to the women to choose the best fit for them.

Even the women have tight schedules now and they are constantly struggling to maintain a balance between the work and home. And yet some of them aspire to follow one or the other exercise routine at home. But they may still need to buy some inexpensive equipment to carry out these exercise routines at home. The equipment would include a bath towel, a small (soccer-sized) ball, a furniture-free area at home, a desk chair, some good dance music and a glass of water.

Exercise routines for women at home provide the best chance to maintain their working regime along with their physical fitness. Before starting the actual workout, a four-minute warm-up is a must. Running in place or walking briskly around the house provides a sufficient warm-up before the exercise routine.

Few of the exercise routines for women are:-

• Ab twist: While sitting on the floor and towel underneath you, and feet shoulder-width apart, hold the ball with both hands and arms extended in front of you. Lie back, tucking in with tight abdominals at all times. Stop at halfway to the floor and twist to the left and try to reach toward the floor with the ball. Slowly twist over to the right side while holding for a beat followed by normal breathing and concentrating on contracting abdominal muscles.

• Push-up: Push-ups are an important part of the exercise routines for women at home. Place the towel under the knees for support and kneel on the towel in such a position that the torso is at a 45-degree incline. Position the hands slightly wider than shoulder-width and with fingers spread, lower yourself (until the torso remains two inches off the floor) while inhaling and abdominals tucked. Now gradually press up to the starting position.

• Hamstring curl: You need to lie flat on stomach with ball placed between ankles. Let the head rest on crossed arms. Lift the knees off the floor as high as possible, keep the ball squeezed and the legs straight. Now the knees should be bent until the feet point toward the ceiling. Remember to exhale while curling up and inhale while releasing.

• Arm Extension: Roll up the towel lengthwise, place one end in the left hand. Straighten the left arm directly over the head. Now grasp the other end of the towel with the right hand reaching behind the back. Let the towel be pulled down gently with the right arm, bending left arm behind the head. Keep inhaling while holding the towel steady. Exhale and bring the left arm to the starting position keeping tension on the towel with right arm. Then repeat on the other side.

The above exercise workout routines for women can be done even without any equipment’s, so it’s not necessary that you need something external to do exercise. All you need is motivation and you can follow above mentioned exercise routines for women at home to get fit and look smart.

For attaining the results, the workouts need to be followed very sincerely and the exercise routines for women at home are a blessing for the ones who are unable to manage time from their schedules.

Effective Workout Routines for Men

Effective Workout Routines for Men To Build Muscle And Lose Fat

In today’s world of hectic and stressful life, it is very important that you must know the effective workout routines for men. Be sure to do some exercises regularly. These workout routines can be done at home and it can help you in maintaining the fitness level that you want without spending too much money and time. You can even perform these exercises at home by yourself.

There are a lot of effective workout routines for men at home that you can do. In fact, you do not have to join a gym or any fitness club in order to make yourself fit. These home workouts are probably better compared to those performed at the gym because you are only using your body weight while performing them. If you workout in a gym and you do not have any prior knowledge about the machines that you will use on the workouts then chances are you might damage your joints or obtain some injuries. Excessive stress on the body joints can result to serious consequences.

Advantages of Effective Workout Routines for Men

• Workouts done at home are much safer than those done at the gym.
• Bodybuilding exercises and stretching exercises are proven to be highly effective if proper guidelines are followed and proper care is observed.

The most effective workout routines for men can be categorized into back, chest, leg and shoulder workouts. These exercises can help you in keeping a fit body. Workout routines for men done at home are quite simple and yet effective. These workout routines can help you in muscle building as well as developing a strong body.

Some of the Effective Workout Routines for Men

• Push-ups are considered as the most common types of workouts that you can do at home. This type of exercise can strengthen your chest muscles. The inverted push-up is another type of push up exercise that can help in strengthening your shoulder muscles.
• Side to side lunge is a form of exercise that can strengthen your leg muscles.
• Body weight squats are the exercises for the muscles of the thighs and the legs particularly the glutes, hamstring and quads.
• Deadlift is a type of weightlifting exercise which is done with the use of a barbell. This is the best exercise for stretching your thighs and back.

These effective workout routines for men are quite easy to perform at home. These exercises do not require too much time. Some people use these workout routines as their most effective weight loss workout routines. Some people want to lose weight because they are tired of the criticisms made by some people or they just simply want to boost their self-esteem. If you want to be successful in doing these workout routines then you need to have hard work and discipline. Your weight loss goals cannot be achieved by pills or dietary supplements. All you have to do is to make some changes in your daily routine. Effective workout routines for men are the easiest and most economical way of maintaining a healthy body.

Elliptical Trainer Routines

 Elliptical trainer routines are now becoming more popular due to a lot of reasons and the most important of all is its overall effectiveness. A lot of people are enjoying elliptical trainer workout routines because it has a lot of advantages which cannot be found in other types of exercise equipments.

Advantages of elliptical trainer routines

• Elliptical trainer workouts are actually a combination of a stair climber and the natural and full stride of a treadmill. Treadmills are actually simple but you have to pace yourself the right way.

• Elliptical machine routines provide you with cardiovascular workouts without affecting your back or your joints. This is a feature which you cannot find in other types of exercise equipments. Elliptical trainer workouts are perfectly safe for those individuals who have problems with their ankles, arthritis or bad knees.

Features of elliptical trainer routines

• No back strain can be felt since you are standing upright in a natural position. There’s no need to pull or reach anything, therefore you won’t suffer any back pains compared to other types of exercise equipments.

• Using the elliptical machine workout programs can give you the option to work your lower body or your upper body only. If you choose not to do the upper body workout then you can make use of the hand rails for comfort and support.

• Elliptical machines can let you do both backward and forward motion which can let you exercise different muscle groups. These machines can give the most comprehensive workouts for your body providing an excellent overall sculpting and toning.

Using elliptical trainer routines can let you burn more fats. You won’t feel more exertion compared to a treadmill. This is the best way of obtaining great results while sticking to the workout program without feeling any disappointment. Elliptical machine workout routines are suitable for intermediate or advanced users as well as for beginners. You can never outgrow these machines. You have the choice to intensity and try various workout routines in order to meet the level of ability and fitness that you want. These elliptical machines are also safe for pregnant women. Due to the obvious benefits, a lot of people are now purchasing these elliptical machines. These machines are a wise investment for everyone. After purchasing these machines, try to develop elliptical workouts that can help you in toning your body. Your workouts must be able to help you obtain cardiovascular health. Whether you are an intermediate or a beginner on elliptical workouts, it is very important that you must have cool-down and warm-up periods. These periods are very important every time you use these elliptical machines. You can allocate five minutes for warm up as well as five minutes for cooling down and make them in a steady and slow pace. This can help you in loosening your muscles. You can do your workout for at least 3 to 5 times a week. You can also use your elliptical trainer routines every other day so that your muscles can rest on the days in between.

Workout Routines For Women To Tone

Workout Routines For Women to Tone – See What You Are Missing in Your Workout

Now days, people don’t only need to look healthy, but also want to have toned body. There are varieties of exercises, workouts which can help you in achieving your goal. All you need is commitment, compassion, and your will power to achieve it. The workout routine for women to tone is less or same as that for other individuals, it’s just the stamina and part of body to be toned which make it different for every person.

The workout routine for women to tone is mainly aimed for women who are new to workouts or have very less experience in doing the exercises. To have a toned body or to tone any particular area of body, it’s always advised to do compound exercises rather than simple one. It means that like combining cardio with weight lifting and repeating the sets of any exercise.

One of the workout routine for women to tone their body is:-

Start with a warm up then 20-25 minutes cardio exercises then 20 minutes whole body toning exercises , cool down and finally the stretching- This is a whole body routine work up. The 20 minute whole body workout routine includes exercise for each part of the area. To do this start with the order mentioned below and work from the largest to smallest muscle to get the best results.

• For Butts- Do Squat and Pulse Exercise

• For Outer Thighs- Do Squat using Step

• For Inner Thighs- Do Inner Thigh Press Out

• For Legs (Quadriceps, Hamstrings, Calf)- Do Lunge, The Heel Curl, The Heel Raise

• For Upper and Lower Back- Do Dumbbell Lift and Lower Back Lift

• For Chest- Do the Push Up’s

• For Shoulders- Do Side Raise and Internal and External Rotation

• For Arms and Forearms- Use Dumbbells and do the Curls

• For Stomach- Do Bicycle Maneuver and Chair exercises.

Don’t forget to do 10-15 repetitions for each exercise.

So now you know how the celebrities have the toned body and for women looking best in every form is the main criteria , so try this workout routines for women to tone your body and here you are- THE BEST.

Muscle Building Diet

Muscle Building Diet For Building Muscle Fast

What you eat is as important as you train yourself for any activity especially building muscles, stripping fat, and losing weight. Muscle building diets differs from the ordinary diet. Body builders work hard in the gym and strict muscle building diet with adequate nutrients is required to grow body muscles.

There are different muscle-building diet plans, so planning the correct one is very important if you want to increase your lean body mass without gaining too much unwanted fat. Generally people say it is important to have 3 proper nutritious meals per day. But 5-7 meals per day with right amount of nutrients at interval of 2-3 hours are more beneficial in muscle building. Some of the important muscle building diet rules are:-
Cycle your calories:-
This is one of the most important rules and works very well. You should consume more calories on the day you work out more and the vice versa. It will help you to stay leaner as you go for muscle building process. Eat your breakfast properly to get the calories from the first hours.
Get plenty of lean protein sources:-
Always make sure to get enough lean protein sources with each meal. This will help you in muscle density development. Proteins are the second source of energy after carbohydrates, so consuming them gives you enough energy to work out. Egg whites, Lean red meat, Chicken breast, Fish, and Seafood are excellent sources of protein.
Eat on healthy fats:-
Healthy fat is must for muscle diet plan. Healthy fat is extremely calorie dense at 9 calories/gram compared to 4 calories/gram proteins and carbohydrates. So it easily meets your calorie requirements. Fats slow the digestion and preventing the nutrients to get directly to the muscle tissues. So you should try to avoid fats before and after the work outs but do add healthy fat to your each meal.
Meal Timings:-
Make sure to have proper meal and nutrient timings. Try to focus on taking protein and carbohydrate rich diet before and after the work outs and then include proteins and healthy fats in your other meals. This will provide your body with the exact type of fuel sources, which means better results.
Be cautious on vegetables:-
It is always said that eat as many vegetables as you can. But for person who is looking for muscle building diet, you will have to be easy on consuming vegetables. As you will not be able to reach the total calorie intake for growth requirement as vegetables are rich in volumes but low in calories. You can blend vegetables in sauce and have its nutrient values. But take caution while consuming them, so they do not take the extra space in the stomach.
Eat calorie dense foods:-
It is advisable to take calorie dense food when you are thinking of muscle building diet rather than on vegetables. Adding foods like whole eggs, dried fruits, nuts, and nut butter which are calorie dense make your progress faster in muscle building. By taking even small quantities of calories dense food you reach your goal.
Always assess your progress:-
You should check your progress regularly. If you haven’t built the muscles even after doing proper work out as you had hoped, it means you are not consuming enough calories. So increase your calorie intake by 200-300 and then see the effect. If you assess your progress regularly, you can adjust your body accordingly and have the proper results.
Do not neglect all saturated fat:-
For muscle building, it is primarily important to take unsaturated fat, but having some saturated fat helps you to keep testosterone levels high. Testosterone is the key hormone involved in process of building muscles. So don’t neglect it completely- 15 % of fat can easily come from saturated fats while planning for muscle building diet.
Keep hydrated:-
Hydration is one of the important key factors in muscle building diet. It helps you to recover yourself from workout sessions and after that you have the energy to carry out your daily activities. It is advised to have at least 10-12 glasses of water; juice, milk for extra calories.

Though many people argue on the basic amount of fats, proteins are carbohydrates but generally following guide is helpful in muscle building diet plan:-
Fats: – 0.25 grams/pound of body weight.
Proteins: – 1-1.6 grams/pound of body weight.
Carbohydrates: – 2.5 grams/pound of body weight.

So above mentioned are some muscle building diet tips which, if taken care of, helps you in fast muscle building process.

Muscle Building Workout

Muscle Building Workout – Important Tips To Build Muscle Quickly

One of the biggest mistake that some of the people make while muscle building workouts is by copying routines of the guys from muscle magazines.

Most of the guys shown in magazines with good muscles are not trained naturally but they have genetically gifted bodies. So following their routines will not make you build muscles fast.The average person needs entirely different approach for muscle building work out– one which builds muscle fast and prevents physical & mental exhaustion.

Few tips which help you in muscle building are:-

Muscle building work out plan: – Before joining any gym make out a proper plan; visualize the work out in your mind through the exercises and weights you are going to use. Moreover, be sure to load your iPod with good training songs which will boost you for work out.

Work out 3-4 days per week:- If you do some other physical exercise along with muscle building workouts, then 3 days work out is good enough; otherwise work out for 4 days a week.

Plan your workout: – Whichever option you choose, but always limit your main strength training portion workout to 45 minutes and 15 minutes for warm up.

Stick with muscle building work out plan: – Rather than changing work outs from week to week, for best results stick to muscle building work out for minimum of 12 weeks. Then gradually decrease your work out and move to other plan.

Start with warm up exercises: – Always start the work out with warm up exercises to lubricate the joints and activate the muscles. People make a biggest mistake of skimping warm ups- never do that. Do a good number of warm up sets along with repetitions.

Adjust as per your body: – If you are a beginner, you should use “straight weights” or “set-across” which means that you pick up the weight and repeat the sets that you are comfortable in doing like 3*10, 4*8 etc.For advance lifter usually “working up” is better which means that you do bunch of warm up sets and “work up sets”, until you are able to do 1-2 heavy sets or may be some back off sets.

Work on Compound Exercises: – Isolation exercises are fine once you have built base strength & muscle mass. But once you are starting to build muscle, exercises which hit several muscles at the same time are better for good results.

Full body workouts: – Try to work on complete body rather than on isolated parts to achieve the complete muscle building body. Even training of legs is essential. Squats work your whole body; it is the most important exercise.

Acquire Recovery: – Don’t overstrain yourself. If you are beginner, start slowly and then add more exercises to your muscle building workouts. Focus on intensity rather than on time in gym. For the growth of muscles rest is important, so have proper eight hours sleep. You can have nap after your workout if your lifestyle permits.

Nutritious high calories diet along with hydration is one of the key factors in muscle building.So, you have noticed that there are some basic points for muscle building work out, rest depends upon you which body part muscles you want the more and you can opt for it accordingly. There are many muscle building work outs like weights, lifts, squats….which can help to attain your goal.

To Juice or NOT to Juice… That is the Question

I’m pretty used to people coming to my home and saying “Wow, this place is so super healthy. I can’t believe it.” As you may or may not know, it does take quite a few people to keep the Diet Solution Program running. I had a bit of a “retreat” at my house where I invited 3 of our employees to come and work from my house and spend some time together. Whenever entertaining guests, I always try and be the “hostess with the mostess” and in my best Martha Stewart impression I asked “Can I get anyone anything? Some food or a drink?”

One of my employees replied, “Yes, I would love some juice please.”

As I did everything in my power to hold back the look of death, I said “We don’t have any juice. How about water or a tea?”

Without going through the entire conversation, this particular employee couldn’t believe there was no juice in the house. Moreover, she absolutely could not believe that my son does not drink juice and only drinks water (and yes, I did let her keep her job).

She has, of course, read and knows the DSP inside and out, but she admitted that she really didn’t believe that I completely lived my life that way until she saw it with her very own eyes.

But back to the juice…

Juice is one of those drinks that many people perceive as healthy, especially when it’s labeled natural or organic and it says it is made from all natural ingredients. Let me clear this up right now…Juice is NOT part of a healthy eating plan unless you are freshly squeezing it right in your kitchen with your own hands or through a juicer.

“But Isabel. My juice says its organic, natural, 100% juice with no sugar added. Is that ok?”

Well, I spent a significant amount of time reading the label of almost every single juice container, juice box, and juice product and they all came up the same…with tons of SUGAR. Read the label clearly and you will see that every gram of carbohydrate contained in the juice directly comes from sugar.

“But Isabel. All the carbs from fruit are from sugar too right?”

Yes, fruits are almost entirely sugar (coming from fructose), but a whole fruit also contains plenty of fiber and vitamins that are lost when you make a juice, bottle it and store it for any amount of time.

“But Isabel. My juice is fortified with calcium, Vit D and iron (or whatever they are fortifying juice with these days).”

When you “fortify” any food or drink with a vitamin and/or a mineral, your body is smart enough to know that this is not the real version of this particular nutrient. So much so, that it will choose not to use it. Yes, all of these fortified products are not giving you the vitamins and minerals you need. You must obtain these from natural sources like real fruits and vegetables (i.e. real food).

So if you’re a juice lover like many people are or have fallen for the “juice is healthy” trap, here are a few strategies to help you get your juice fix while simultaneously following a healthy eating plan.

1. Buy a quality juicer and make your own juice. There are so many different delicious and nutritious juices you can make in a juicer that will give you a super boost of vitamins/minerals and super nutrition. One of my favorite is carrot, apple and ginger. Be careful though! If you’re anything like me and sensitive to too much sugar at once, I would suggest having a serving of 4 oz or less or mixing your 4 oz with some water. I would also suggest juicing primarily vegetables and not as many fruits. This is a great way to get in some serious nutrition without having to eat vegetables all day long (a great option for children). I would also combine your fresh juice with a protein and healthy fat to keep your blood sugar balanced.

It is best to drink freshly made juice right away, as the longer it is stored, the more it will decline in nutrition. You can put your juice in a glass jar with an airtight lid and fill it to the very top. There should be a minimal amount of air in the jar as the oxygen in air (air is about 20 percent oxygen) will “oxidize” and damage the juice. Wrap the jar with aluminum foil to block out all light. Light damages the juice.

2. Make my favorite “tea juice“. If you haven’t seen this recipe in the Diet Solution Recipe Guide, here it is again:

5-6 bags caffeine-free herbal tea (e.g., peach, mint, chamomile, or fruit tea)

3 quarts boiling water

Stevia powder (or liquid) to taste

Pour water over tea bags in a large pot. Add stevia while tea is hot. (Adjust amount
according to the desired sweetness.)
Let the tea cool, remove tea bags, transfer tea to a serving pitcher or individual water bottles, and refrigerate.

3. Make your own DSP approved lemonade. My business partner loves this and drinks it almost daily (be careful if you’re sensitive to citrus or too much lemon.) Mix the juice from half a lemon, 5 drops of liquid stevia and 12oz of water in a large cup. Add more stevia or lemon based on your taste. This drink is a great alternative to people who need a bit more flavor than plain water all day.

So what did I end up serving my thirsty employee? Water! (And she bought juice when we went out to lunch). Oh well, I tried.

So now that I’ve shown you why juice is not good for you and how you can make your own healthy drink alternatives, why not learn more about which foods will cause you to lose fat? Check out our informative video right now!

Does Hoodia Really Work For Fat Loss?

If you are anxious to get fat loss going, you’ve likely looked into the diet supplement, hoodia. Hoodia gordonii is a plant that was used in South African many years ago by hunters who would need to go for long durations of time without food and grows very slowly in harsh conditions and needs to be harvested for four to five years before it’s ready.

But how well does Hoodia really work for fat loss? Many people turn to hoodia thinking it is the answer to all their prayers. Never hungry? Sounds like a dietary dream. After all, following a diet should be easy if you never have any feelings of hunger, shouldn’t it?

Unfortunately, it isn’t so simple.

First off, if you are a trying to get a lean, sexy midsection, not eating is the last thing you want to be doing. Sure, you definitely will need to eat less in order to lose body fat, but if you aren’t eating enough, you’ll actually just lose muscle rather than body fat. Since muscle tissue is your calorie burning engine, destroying it would be counterproductive to getting the results you want.

Who wants a slower metabolism at the end of the day? That’ll just make further fat loss next to impossible.

If hoodia is affecting your natural hunger signals, it will be hard to get in the foods that you do need – the foods that will work with your body to lose the body fat while still keeping muscle tissue intact.

Secondly, you must understand that hoodia is not a thoroughly tested product and cannot be deemed safe. If you take enough of it, it can actually damage your metabolism, causing a variety of thyroid issues that will be stuck with you into the future. While fat loss and getting abs is important, you must do it a healthy way so that you don’t do anything disrupting to your health.

Finally, hoodia diet pills are by no means a proper method to losing abdominal fat. In order to lose abdominal fat, you’re going to have to find a method that will be sustainable over the long term. If you think that you’re just going to skip eating for the years to come, you are very mistaken. You will not get the proper nutrients you need to sustain life, therefore, to put it bluntly, using hoodia as a means to help you maintain fat loss could very well put you in the hospital with severe malnutrition.

What you need is a diet that supplies all the nutrients you need, while still being affective with stomach fat loss. Then, you’ll also need to make sure this diet is something you can work into your lifestyle so that your abs aren’t going to be just covered up by more body fat again once you move off the diet.

The more time you waste chasing after gimmicky supplements that only hurt you in the long run, the more time you spend without the results you are after.

———————————-
About the Author:

Vince DelMonte is the author of Your Six Pack Quest found at http://www.YourSixPackQuest.com

He specializes in helping decipher the truths and myths about all the supplements such as hoodia that are marketed for helping you achieve a six pack.

My Top 55 Lean-Body Foods to Build Muscle and Lose Body Fat

In most of my Lean-Body Secrets Newsletters, I like to provide a healthy snack or meal recipe that not only is delicious and healthy, but also helps to get you closer to that hard-body appearance that everyone is looking for, while also more importantly, improving your health for life. In this article, I’d like to give you healthy food ideas in a different way. This time, I figured I’d just give you some ideas of what I stock my fridge and cabinets with.

Remember, if you don’t have junk around the house, you’re less likely to eat junk. If all you have is healthy food around the house, you’re forced to make smart choices. Basically, it all starts with making smart choices and avoiding temptations when you make your grocery store trip. Now these are just some of my personal preferences, but perhaps they will give you some good ideas that you’ll enjoy.

Alright, so let’s start with the fridge. Each week, I try to make sure I’m loaded up with lots of varieties of fresh vegetables. During the growing season, I only get local produce, but obviously in winter, I have to resort to the produce at the grocery store. Most of the time, I make sure I have plenty of vegetables like onions, zucchini,  spinach, fresh mushrooms, red peppers, broccoli, etc. to use in my morning eggs.  I also like to dice up some lean chicken or turkey sausage into the eggs, along with some swiss, jack, or goat cheeses (preferably raw grass-fed cheeses when I can find them).

By the way I’m talking about whole eggs, NOT egg whites.  Always remember that the yolk is the most nutritious and nutrient dense part of the egg, so only eating egg whites is like throwing away the best part… and no, it’s NOT bad for you because of the cholesterol… eggs actually raise your GOOD cholesterol.  Try to get free range organic eggs for the best quality. Here’s an entire article I did on the topic of whole eggs vs egg whites.

Coconut milk is another staple in my fridge. I like to use it to mix in with smoothies, oatmeal, or yogurt for a rich, creamy taste. Not only does coconut milk add a rich, creamy taste to lots of dishes, but it’s also full of healthy saturated fats. Yeah, you heard me…I said healthy saturated fats! Healthy saturated fats like medium chain triglycerides, specifically an MCT called lauric acid. If the idea of healthy saturated fats is foreign to you, check out my healthy fats article

Back to the fridge, some other staples:

• Chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds – delicious and great sources of healthy fats.
• Cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, and yogurt – I like to mix cottage or ricotta cheese and yogurt together with chopped nuts and berries for a great mid-morning or mid-afternoon meal.
• Whole flax seeds or chia seeds – I grind these in a mini coffee grinder and add to yogurt or salads. Always grind them fresh because the omega-3 polyunsaturated fats are highly unstable and prone to oxidation, creating high levels of free radicals in pre-ground flax.
• Whole eggs – one of natures richest sources of nutrients (and remember, they increase your GOOD cholesterol so stop fearing them).
• Salsa – I try to get creative and try some of the exotic varieties of salsas.
• Avocados – love them…plus a great source of healthy fats, fiber, and other nutrients. Try adding them to wraps, salads, or sandwiches.
• Butter – don’t believe the naysayers; butter adds great flavor to anything and can be part of a healthy diet (just keep the quantity small because it is calorie dense…and NEVER use margarine, unless you want to assure yourself a heart attack).
• Nut butters – Plain old peanut butter has gotten a little old for me, so I get creative and mix together almond butter with sesame seed butter, or even cashew butter with macadamia butter…delicious and unbeatable nutrition!
• Leaf lettuce and spinach along with shredded carrots – for salads with dinner.
• Home-made salad dressing – using balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, and Udo’s Choice oil blend. This is much better than store bought salad dressing which mostly use highly refined soybean oil (full of inflammation-causing free radicals).
• Whole grain wraps and whole grain bread (look for wraps and bread with at least 3-4 grams of fiber per 20 grams of total carbs).
• Rice bran and wheat germ – these may sound way too healthy for some, but they actually add a nice little nutty, crunchy taste to yogurt or smoothies, or can be added when baking muffins or breads to add nutrients and fiber.

Some of the staples in the freezer:

• Frozen berries – during the local growing season, I only get fresh berries, but during the other 10 months of the year, I always keep a supply of frozen blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, cherries, etc. to add to high fiber cereal, oatmeal, cottage cheese, yogurt, or smoothies
• Frozen fish – I like to try a couple different kinds of fish each week. There are so many varieties out there, you never have to get bored.
• Frozen chicken breasts – very convenient for a quick addition to wraps or chicken sandwiches for quick meals.
• Grass-fed steaks, burgers, and ground beef – Grassfed meats have been shown to have as high as, or even higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids than salmon (without the mercury). Also, grass-fed meats have much higher levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) compared to typical grain-fed beef.  I recently found an excellent on-line store where I buy all of my grass-fed meats now (they even deliver right to your door in a sealed cooler) – www.healthygrassfed.2ya.com
• Frozen buffalo, ostrich, venison, and other “exotic” lean meats – Yeah, I know…I’m weird, but I can tell you that these are some of the healthiest meats around, and if you’re serious about a lean healthy body, these types of meats are much better for you than the mass produced, hormone-pumped beef and pork that’s sold at most grocery stores.
• Frozen veggies – again, when the growing season is over and I can no longer get local fresh produce, frozen veggies are the best option, since they often have higher nutrient contents compared to the fresh produce that has been shipped thousands of miles, sitting around for weeks before making it to your dinner table.

Alright, now the staples in my cabinets:

• Various antioxidant rich teas – green, oolong, white, rooibos are some of the best.
• Whole wheat or whole grain spelt pasta – much higher fiber than normal pastas
• Oat bran and steel cut oats – higher fiber than those little packs of instant oats.
• Cans of coconut milk – to be transferred to a container in the fridge after opening.
• Brown rice and other higher fiber rice – NEVER white rice
• Tomato sauces – delicious, and as I’m sure you’ve heard a million times, they are a great source of lycopene. Just watch out for the brands that are loaded with nasty high fructose corn syrup.
• Stevia – a natural non-caloric sweetener, which is an excellent alternative to the nasty chemical-laden artificial sweeteners like aspartame, saccharine, and sucralose.
• Raw honey – better than processed honey… higher quantities of beneficial nutrients and enzymes. Honey has even been proven in studies to improve glucose metabolism (how you process carbs). I use a teaspoon or so every morning in my teas. Yes, it is pure sugar, but at least it has some nutritional benefits… and let’s be real, a teaspoon of healthier raw honey is only 5 grams of carbs… certainly nothing to worry about.
• Organic maple syrup – none of that high fructose corn syrup Aunt Jemima crap…only real maple syrup can be considered real food. The only time I really use this (because of the high sugar load) is added to my post-workout smoothies to sweeten things up and also elicit an insulin surge to push nutrients into your muscles.
• Organic unsweetened cocoa powder – I like to mix this into my smoothies for an extra jolt of antioxidants or make my own low-sugar hot cocoa by mixing cocoa powder into hot milk with stevia and a couple melted dark chocolate chunks.
• Cans of black or kidney beans – I like to add a couple scoops to my Mexican wraps for the fiber and high nutrition content. Also, beans are surprisingly one of the best sources of youth promoting antioxidants!
• Dark chocolate (as dark as possible) – This is one of my treats that satisfies my sweet tooth, plus provides loads of antioxidants at the same time. It’s still calorie dense, so I keep it to just a couple squares; but that is enough to do the trick, so I don’t feel like I need to go out and get cake and ice cream to satisfy my dessert urges.

Lastly, another thing that’s hard to go wrong with is a good variety of fresh fruits and berries. The staples such as bananas, apples, oranges, pears, peaches are good, but I like to also be a little more adventurous and include things like yellow (aka – mexican or champagne) mangoes, pomegranates, kumquats, papaya, star fruit, pineapples, and others. Also, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and cherries are some of the most nutrient and antioxidant-dense fruits you can eat.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this special look into my favorite lean body meals and how I stock my cabinets and fridge. Your tastes are probably quite different than mine, but hopefully this gave you some good ideas you can use next time you’re at the grocery store looking to stock up a healthy and delicious pile of groceries.

Be sure to pick up a copy of my book The Truth about Six Pack Abs, which introduces you to the entire comprehensive training and nutritional program that will turn your body into a lean, sexy specimen that others will envy!

How To Lose Belly Fat

Almost everyone wants to lose some excess fat on their body somewhere. For the vast majority, they’re looking to lose belly fat and they want to lose belly fat fast! Whether you want to admit it or not, most of us spend far too many months of the year overeating and then scramble at the first sign of warm weather in order to remove what’s accumulated over the time. Unfortunately, if you’re trying to learn how to lose belly fat, it’s not exactly a quick fix.

The problem most individuals run into is they overlook how difficult it can be to lose belly fat off their body. If the truth be told, a fat belly is probably one of the hardest areas to successfully remove because it’s made up what is known as ‘stubborn’ fat.

You’re body is actually physiologically slightly different when it comes to fat around the abdominal region. What’s the reason for this? Primarily, it’s the first place we tend to store fat and where body fat is needed for protection the most – to protect the organs and internal structures.

As such, your fat belly is going to do everything it can to hold onto it. Not a good situation in your quest to lose belly fat.

In order to outsmart this, you’re going to have to work really hard. That’s not to say it can’t be done – it most certainly can, you just have to have realistic expectations about the time line you will achieve this goal over and how much effort you’ll have to put in.

First things first, lets talk about exercise to lose belly fat. First, hit the weights. When lifting, be sure you are lifting as heavy as you possibly can, as this is what will ramp up your metabolism the highest. You want to shoot for the 6-10 rep range, as this is most appropriate for metabolic effects.

Second, get that cardio up there. Don’t do hours on end though, focus on doing sprints. In fact, better yet is to sprint first, then do more steady state cardio afterwards. This will help to release the fatty acids from the tissue (mobilize them) and then burn them off during the steady state cardio. This type of set-up can be far more effective at getting that stubborn fat off your body than doing a typical cardio session is.

Lastly, check over that belly fat diet. Too many fat or carbohydrates calories will slow your progress, while protein, generally speaking will help due to the fact the body burns more calories just digesting it.

This can be taken too far though – there is no need to exceed 1.5 grams per pound of body weight, but keeping it up around that level is your best approach. Then, fill in the remainder of your calories with carbohydrates around the workout period and fat during the other times.

As long as you are patient with the process and continually push yourself in the gym, there is no reason why within time, you can’t be sporting your own set of six-pack abs.

———————————-
About the Author:

Vince DelMonte is the author of Your Six Pack Quest found at http://www.YourSixPackQuest.com

He specializes in helping chubby guys and gals get six pack abs without gimmicks, supplements or dieting.

Next Page »