New Diet; Feed Muscle and Burn Body Fat

I had a discussion with a gentleman about eating who was concerned about being light-headed and a little nauseous after his workouts.  He explained to me he was trying to lose weight quickly by exercising in the morning before having anything to eat.  He was also on one of those popular quick loss diet plans he said was working because he had lost a significant amount of weight over the last couple of weeks.

Over my 25 years in health and fitness I have heard this gentleman’s story countless times with the same results.  You lose the weight quickly on one of the popular fad diets and then you gain the weight back faster as soon as you return to your normal eating habits.  Here’s why this scenario plays out over and over with the same outcome. The weight that you lose on a calorie restricted diet is mostly from muscle loss and that decreases your metabolism.  Then when you get tired of following the restricted eating plan and return to your old eating habits you will find that your body is not burning as many calories as before you started your weight loss effort.  Click here to read more...

Want to Increase Your Metabolism? Strength Train

Science is revealing more and more information about how important building and maintaining muscle is to your health especially as you age.  Losing muscle as you age is a natural process and along with that muscle loss is a corresponding decrease in your metabolism and a consequential increase in fat storage.  Thus as you age, you lose muscle and you you get fatter (yet, another negative aspect of aging).

But, be of good cheer you can do something to counter this process, and it's called strength training on a weekly basis.  Strength training is simply a form of exercise in which you lift a resistance that's more than your body weight and your body responds by increasing your muscle size to adapt to the increased demand.

Look at it like this, your muscle mass is the engine in your body that burns calories.  The larger the engine, the more calories you burn.  But unlike an automobile engine, your muscles burn calories when you are both moving and resting.  Thus, as you build more muscle mass through strength training you increase the amount of calories you burn each day even when you are asleep.  Regular strength training increases your resting metabolism by about 7 percent which is typically more than an additional 100 calories burned per day while you are resting.  Other things being equal, that amounts to almost 1 pound of fat loss per month just to sustain your normal metabolic function. 

Just think, by strength training of a regular basis (2 to 3, thirty minute sessions weekly) you can increase your metabolism and lose body fat.  This is s much better and healthier way of reshaping your body than dieting.

You can start strength training now and reshape your body in a few months.  Download my Beginner's, Intermediate, and Advanced strength training programs by clicking here: Forever Fit and Firm.

Muscle Plays a Major Role in Your Health

I've been in the health and fitness industry for over 21 years now and I've always emphasized the importance of building and maintaining healthy muscle, especially as you age. I've always known that muscle plays a major role in your overall health and fitness and current research has now proven this as so.

The importance of muscle mass, strength, and metabolic function in the performance of exercise, as well as the activities of daily living has never been questioned. However, the role your muscles play in whole-body protein metabolism is less recognized.

Your muscle plays a central role in your whole-body protein metabolism by serving as the principle reservoir for amino acids to maintain protein synthesis (growth & regeneration) in vital tissues and organs in the absence of consuming enough protein in your diet.  In other words, if you don't get enough protein in your diet, your body breaks down your muscle mass in order to make the necessary amino acids you need to survive.

Additionally, new research points to a key role that muscle metabolism plays in the prevention of many pathologic conditions and chronic diseases.  Loss of muscle has been associated with weakness, fatigue, insulin resistance, fractures, and frailty. Thus, many of the degenerative conditions that are associated with aging are caused by poor muscle health.

Thus, building and maintaining your muscle mass is one of the most important things you can do for your overall health.  In my next series of post I will show you the most effective ways to accomplish this.

Why Qivana

I’m a personal trainer, published author, and fitness blogger with over 20 years of experience in the health and fitness industry. Over that time, I’ve been approached by many nutritional companies to represent their products and recommend them to my clients and followers. I’m always open to new opportunities, and I have tried many of the products, for I feel obligated to my clients and followers to recommend only products that are beneficial in improving their health and wellness, and are of the highest of quality. A little over a year ago I tried some natural nutritional products from a company called Qivana and I found them to be head and shoulders above any other products in the natural nutritional arena that I have experienced.

Over the years I've seen fads in both exercise and nutrition come and go. I've found that most of the so called latest and greatest natural nutritional products are either some single cure all elixir, or a confusing mall of products. However, the product systems Qivana has put together to address weight management, cardiovascular health, digestive health, and immune system health are revolutionary in today’s market. I'm going to highlight each of Qivana's natural health systems in a series of posts.

In this post I'll talk about Qivana's Metaboliq Weight Management System and what makes it so different from anything else in today's market.  First, the Metaboliq System was created by one of the most well respected experts in metabolic research, Dr. Donald K. Layman.  The first time I heard Dr. Layman speak, he told his audience the same thing I have been telling my clients for years about weight loss.  He said "losing weight is more than just calorie restriction, it's about losing body fat and maintaining lean muscle mass." The Metaboliq System is designed to do just that.

The Metabloiq Weight Management System is based on a macrobalance of protein, carbohydrates, and fat designed to vitalize muscle, and stabilize blood sugar thus, causing your body to burn body fat.  I know from my years as a competitive natural bodybuilder, if you balance the protein, carbohydrates, and fats correctly in your diet you can force your body to burn body fat. Dr. Layman has perfected this formula in his system based on years of research working with world class athletes.

The Metaboliq System is built around a macrobalance of getting the right amount of protein in your diet, and then balancing that protein with the right kind and amount of carbohydrates. The system calls for a one to one ratio of carbohydrates to protein in your meals.  When you eat this way two important things happen. First, you get enough protein to build and maintain healthy muscle mass, and second, you stabilize your blood sugar level, thus controlling the insulin level in your bloodstream.

Building and maintaining your muscle mass is important to weight loss because muscle is that active component of your body that burns the majority of the calories that you consume.  Your muscles are burning calories even when you are resting and asleep.

Stabilizing your blood sugar level is important to weight loss because spikes in the insulin level in your blood causes increased body fat storage, hunger pains, and cravings for more sugary foods.  Thus, leading to a vicious cycle of eating carbohydrates.  You've probably experienced this if you've only eaten cereal for breakfast and about two hours later you feel like you are starving.

The Metaboliq Weight Management System is an easy to follow combination of precisely macrobalanced shakes and bars.  What I like about the system as a personal trainer is it teaches you how to transition from the shakes and bars into eating correctly balanced regular meals.  The system teaches long-term healthy habits and this is the best solution to long-term weight management that I have ever seen.

 Please click on the following link to find out more about the Metaboliq System and Qivana's other natural health systems : Qivana

Dr. Donald Layman Talks About The Importance of Protein

Here is a very informative video by Dr. Donald Layman about the importance of protein in your daily diet.  Dr. Layman is one of the top minds in the world on the subject of nutrition and obesity.

Heard of The Metaboliq ?

The Best weight maintenance system that I have ever seen in my 18 years as a personal trainer.
http://youtu.be/ueoHu_Uj9tM.

Strength Training, The Key To a Firm Body

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I believe, as you age strength training is the best thing you can do to improve your health and fitness level. Strength training is important because around age 40 you start to experience muscle loss. “If you don’t do anything to replace the lean muscle you lose, you’ll increase the percentage of fat in your body,” says Dr. Edward Laskowski, a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Left unabated, you can lose up to 10 pounds of muscle each decade starting at age 40.

Loosing muscle is detrimental to your fitness because muscle is the component of your body that burns the majority of the calories you consume each day. Therefore, when you lose muscle your body requires fewer calories to function. Consequently, those extra calories you consume are stored as fat around your waist, hips, and other places.

Your body constantly burn calories, even when we’re doing nothing. This resting metabolic rate is much higher in people with more muscle. Every pound of muscle uses about six calories a day to sustain itself, while each pound of fat burns only two calories daily. This small difference can add up over time. In addition, after a bout of resistance training, muscles are activated all over your body, increasing your average daily metabolic rate.

Fortunately, strength training can mitigate, and even reverse the loss of muscle at any age. Thus, increasing the amount of calories needed to function. That’s why you hear some people say that their appetites increase after they have been strength training for awhile. This is a sign that they are starting to build muscle.

Increasing your metabolism isn’t the only benefit of strength training. It also helps:

• Develop strong bones. By stressing your bones, strength training increases bone density and reduces the risk of osteoporosis.

• Control your weight. As you gain muscle, your body burns more calories more efficiently which can result in weight loss. The more toned your muscles, the easier it is to control your weight.

• Reduce your risk of injury. Building muscle protects your joints from injury. It also helps maintain flexibility and balance which are crucial to remaining independent as you age.

• Boost your stamina. Building muscle helps to increase your energy level.

• Improve your sense of well-being. Strength training can boost your self-confidence, improve your body image, and reduce the risk of depression.

• Sleep better. People who strength train on a regular basis are less likely to have insomnia.

• Manage chronic conditions. Strength training can reduce the signs and symptoms of many chronic conditions, including arthritis, back pain, depression, diabetes, obesity, and osteoporosis.