Does Coffee Make You Fat? How You Take Yours Will Tell...

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Coffee (definitely one of my vices) can be an addictive habit indeed. But is it actually going to make you fatter? With everyone around me ordering extra skinny lattes with artificial sweetener it leaves me wondering about all the misinformation out there that almost seems like it's designed to stop you from getting lean abs!

Let me tell you first and foremost - coffee is a substance which gives your body a metabolic boost. This means it will actively increase your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) and help you burn more fat.
I'll admit it, coffee isn't for everyone and if it's consumed with "skinny" milk and artificial sweeteners it may well cause more problems than benefits in terms of fat loss.

Every time I encounter this argument of "will coffee make me fat?" I always will argue a resounding NO.
Maybe we should examine the different things that make you fat compared to things a lot of people THINK make you fat...

Things the people think will make them fat:

• Full Cream Milk
• Sugar

Things that actually make people fat:

• Low Fat Milk
• Artificial Sweeteners
• Sugar (depends on how much)

The adverse hormonal effects of aspartame-based artificial sweeteners and low fat milk which has virtually all nutritional value stripped from it completely, are far greater than the little bit of fat and sugar contents of a regular cup of coffee. Besides, if you want to take advantage of the fat burning potential of coffee (from the caffeine) you will want as little hormonal interference as possible. I suggest trying stevia (a natural sweetener) and full-cream, organic milk straight from the cow! - But that's for another post.

 

Related articles

• Artificial Sweeteners Encourage Weight Gain (lewrockwell.com)
• Metabolic Cooking Tricks To Burn Fat Faster & Banish Your Boring Fat Loss Diet (wlfreedom.typepad.com)

Fat Loss With Drugs And Supplements - The Truth

There are loads of people out there that claim all sorts of crazy things about just about anything. A certain percentage of those people are called conspiracy theorists, some are just laughed at and funnily enough, some are hailed as the next best thing since sliced bread.
I'd like to be able to say things were not the same in the fitness industry but alas... They are not!

Have you ever wondered about supplements and "wonder drug" fat buster pills that claim to increase your metabolism 10 fold overnight to give you a super-lean waist and ripped six pack abs overnight? Well... So have I.
The truth is that fat loss can not be sustained in a healthy way through the use of drugs and supplements. This is mainly because, as a natural organism, the human body can deal best (in the long term) with natural changes and processes. Any foreign substances which are not naturally found in human diets are pretty well destined to cause metabolic trouble in the medium to long term. This means storing more fat, being more prone to mood swings and having more trouble toning up!

What about supplements, I hear? Well, yes I am a fan of some supplements but only when their contents are naturally occurring and can be used by the human body to increase the body's metabolism to a level that is:

1. Healthy and sustainable for health
2. Going to cause a healthy level of fat loss to occur (about 2 pounds per week, depending on your current weight)

So I would recommend following an energetic eating plan to get your metabolism on the right track and doing just enough exercise to back it up as well. Now of course everyone is different - I know. But you will definitely benefit (from the perspective of fat loss) if you can incorporate metabolism boosting mega-foods (such as antioxidant rich teas) into your regular eating. And what's more? You'll get WAY better results in the long term than any wonder fat blasting pill could do. Most of them will wreck your metabolism completely.

So don't go for the drugs, choose your supplements wisely, go for natural, pure supplements that your body can absorb (not chelated) and aim to boost metabolism through your food - you'll be 2 steps ahead of everyone else. That's the truth about fat loss.

Image sourced: http://www.virtualmedicalcentre.com/uploads/VMC/PageImages/drugs6_250.jpg

How To Get A Waist Like Kate Middleton

OK, I'll admit it, royal fever has officially struck the world and as impartial as I am with the whole fuss, I must admit that one of the things that did catch my ear when listening to some coverage of the royal wedding was all the presenters talking about the size of Kate Middleton's waist...

Well, I'll give you this one for free - If you're a lady, and you'd love to see yourself in her body then it won't necessarily be "EASY". In all likelihood I will mention that some people ARE born with "favorable genetics" when it comes to having a slim waistline. But, given your own genetics, you can still make your own waist slim, firm and toned by taking a few simple pieces of advice... I'll start with the obvious ones first:

* Eat well - don't eat too much "crap food"!
* Exercise a bit... Don't go crazy on a running spree or anything, just make sure you get SOME exercise into your day A.O.A.P. (as often as possible). NOTE: There are ways to minimize your time exercising and maximize your results (I talk about this in other blog posts).
* Focus on getting cruciferous vegetables into your daily eating.
* Work on your health and fitness knowledge - especially about how to get the thermogenic effects of food on your side!

Now that's about as simple as I've ever said it and if you need more info, feel free to browse my blog and also my web site. Make sure you share this info if you think it's useful! Absolutely not enough people are making use of their fitness potential mainly because they don't know these key things!!!

So whether or not your waist will end up looking like Kate Middleton's will depend on:

1. Your genetics
2. Your commitment to a handful of simple food and exercise "keys"

But even if you think your genetics are "shot", you can still have a tighter, slimmer, sexier waistline and it doesn't take as much effort as you think!

Image courtesy: http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2011/Apr/Week4/15982594.jpg

The #1 Key Thing That's 80% To Blame For Excess Fat

We all know that what we eat and what kind of exercise we do affects our levels of excess fat right? No big secrets there obviously.
What is it then that gives so few people success with their fat loss efforts and lets so many people struggle in and out of starvation diets, exercise programs, gym memberships?
Well as I've pointed out several times before, fat loss is about the basic fundamentals of health. And although it's about combining lots of small effects to work together in producing a successful result, if there was 1 key that would help to give you 80% of your results, I'm very sure it would be this:

"It takes 3 months for your taste buds to change"

Losing weight and excess fat can be hard! It's absolutely a struggle for so many people, mainly because they ignore this 1 simple key!

You see, you can make drastic results happen by changing just a few of your eating habits. Every health and fitness expert I have ever come across has agreed that adjusting food intake gives you 80% of your results when it comes to losing fat and 20% is due to exercise. The trick in changing your eating habits though, is waiting out the 3 months. Learn a little bit about what tastes good and works for fat loss, and the chore suddenly becomes much easier.

So here's a quick summary:

1. The main key to blame for excess fat is rogue food habits
2. All it takes to change those habits is giving yourself 3 months to adjust to some "new foods"
3. Knowing some tasty foods that are awesome for fat loss can really help in this process
4. Don't discount exercise (It still helps your metabolism get a major boost and you will notice a difference if you do the right types of exercises). 

Losing 2 Pounds A Week - Is It Easy? Is It Possible?

Heaps of people want to know about losing 2 pounds a week. The first and most important question which should be asked though, and is not always obvious, is what are you really trying to achieve?
Losing weight might just mean losing water from your body, or losing muscle mass or like most people, losing fat is the real goal. The important thing to remember here is: Fat Loss Does Not Equal Weight Loss.
So let's just rephrase a little and say you want to lose 2 pounds of fat per week.

Q: Is this going to be easy?
A: It can be easy, but it depends mainly on what advice you have and what methods your actively following.

Q: Is it possible?
A: It most definitely is possible, although I recommend that if you want to maintain a healthy metabolism (and who doesn't) that you limit the fat loss to approximately 1 pound per week. I pound of pure fat lost actually equates to quite a drastic change in the way you look though.

Q: Is it healthy?
A: Losing 2 pounds a week is considered to be on the border of healthy and overkill. The danger in losing too much weight too quickly is that it can actually destroy your metabolism. The shockingly fast changes make alterations to the way your body regulates your weight automatically - this is going to make it a struggle for you to lose weight in the future.

So that is the basic "low-down" on the (commonly asked) question on losing 2 pounds a week.

Image courtesy http://www.truthaboutabs.com

How To Lose Fat Without Losing Muscle... 3 Tips On Approaching Fat Loss

Well, we are into 2011 now and want to act on some of our new years goals that will stick!

A problem (more common than you think) that I come across with people all the time is how to lose fat without losing muscle. The truth is, people struggle with this everywhere. The challenge is staying lean with a muscular frame but getting rid of the fat on top of the muscle.

So what's the answer then?

Well, there are a few easy tips that I'm going to show you that will absolutely change the way you look at fat loss and will revolutionize your results. 

Here they are:

Tip #1 - Don't follow your intuition.

Although your instincts are extremely useful and may be very helpful in other areas of your life - fat loss is simply not one of those areas. Most people intuitively think things like:

• "If I stop eating as much, I'll lose weight"
• "If I cut fat out of my diet, I won't put on any fat"
• "If I exercise my stomach muscles, I'll get a flat stomach"

FALSE!

These all sound like reasonable assumptions but it simply won't work.

Instead of following your intuition, look for some sound, credible advice (don't take the word of your friend who is in the same boat as you with trying to lose fat without losing muscle).

Tip #2 - Work on increasing your muscle mass.

This tip right here can be a little controversial, especially with the ladies, because not everyone wants bigger muscles. The thing is, muscle mass is like an automatic fat burning advantage. Every extra pound of muscle mass you put on will burn extra layers of fat off your body - this is hard science about how your body works. 

So instead of doing cardio all the time, try doing some strength training - the intensity and style of your strength training will also determine how much bigger you get, so if you don't want to grow much but just want to get rid of the fat, just start slowly and watch the effects take place.

Tip #3 - Eating, eating, eating.

Too many people mess this part up big time. And you DON'T have to be a health nut to get it right. Here are a few easy rules of thumb when it comes to your regular eating:

• Avoid processed junk foods on a regular basis
• Eat at least some raw foods every day and don't avoid fat
• Find out which foods boost your metabolism the most and eat them regularly
• Don't skimp on your eating - especially DON'T skip meals, it actually makes your body create MORE FAT!

Now that is an easy list of 4 food tips that anyone can put in place. I hope you got something out of this and know a little more about how to lose fat without losing muscle.

New Years Goals That Stick - Your 3 Step Guide!

New years goals that stick... How can you make it work for you?
As we get right into the new year many of us start to have a bit of a reality shift in terms of what we want in life.

We realize that there are a few things in life that we want... but we haven't made a priority...
...YET!

If you're familiar with goal setting, you'll know how important it IS in achieving any goal whether it be  getting six pack abs, losing weight or any other non-fitness related goal for that matter.

The process:
There are 3 easy steps to setting goals that work and here they are (these are definitely advisable for anyone wanting to get six pack abs)...

1. Decide on your goal - make it something realistic, something achievable and something that you desire.
2. Write down your goal in the present tense - For example, if you want to lose 10 pounds of fat write it like: "It is may 10th, 2011 and I have an awesome, toned body. I now weigh x-amount pounds and I feel awesome!"
3. If you want to do this thing properly and make it heaps more motivating to reach your goal, take the time to find a picture which reflects your goal beautifully. For example, if you want 6 pack abs, find a picture of a guy (or gal) with a 6 pack and stick a pic of your face on it... Hang it somewhere you'll see it frequently and you're set.

Goal setting is not hard. 

It can take a few minutes of your time, but millions around the world swear by it for getting real results. 

I personally guarantee that setting a new years goal properly makes your goal HEAPS more achievable. It means at least you know what you want and you have a bit of motivation to get there. 

Take the time to do it - set your new years goals now!

Image courtesy: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9NcK4LkP1MbU_BM0I16jQ6dtC9i1PTU6Fp-g90jECRhQxOrv9e4edLgqDfu7Mzk0JF_EqMs9NXt53JH39BgW73vFRW8QULLHU0y2a-hYGyGVjWeZwZu7Dtob6XKUVGXQOYhA0t9aNHgQ/s1600/goal-objective-setting1.jpg