by Mike Geary - Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer (CPT)

1. Many so-called "health foods" are actually cleverly disguised junk foods that can actually stimulate you to gain more belly fat... yet the diet food marketing industry continues to lie to you so they can maximize their profits.

2. Ab exercises such as crunches, sit-ups, and ab machines are actually the LEAST effective method of getting flat six pack abs. We'll explore what types of exercises REALLY work in a minute.

3. Boring repetitive cardio exercise routines are NOT the best way to lose body fat and uncover those six pack abs. I'll tell you the exact types of unique workouts that produce 10x better results below.

4. You DON'T need to waste your money on expensive "extreme fat burner" pills or other bogus supplements. I'll show you how to use the power of natural foods in more detail below.

5. Ab belts, ab-rockers, ab-loungers, and other infomercial ab-gimmicks... they're all a complete waste of your time and money. Despite the misleading infomercials, the perfectly chiseled fitness models in the commercials did NOT get their perfect body by using that "ab contraption"... they got their perfect body through REAL workouts and REAL nutrition strategies. Again, you'll learn some of their secrets and what really works below.  

So, Click-Here and let's set the
record straight once and for all...

Carbohydrates & Fat Loss: Clearing Up
The Confusion - Part 1

By Sean Nalewanyj
Fat Loss Expert & Best-Selling Fitness Author
www.HowToBurnFat.com

(Part 2 will be in next week-ends newsletter)

No other nutrient out there is surrounded by more confusion, hype and contradiction than the
all-too-famous carbohydrate.

Over the last decade a virtually endless amount of advice, fad diets and hard-fast rules have been put into place regarding proper carbohydrate consumption. As a result, most average beginners have been left clueless and without any rational guidance on the topic.

In this 2-part article I will attempt to provide a very basic and straightforward framework to help you choose which sources of carbohydrates to include in your fat burning diet. This will simply be a broad, overall examination of the topic in order to keep things as easy to understand for you as possible.

So... what exactly IS a carbohydrate?

Sugar.

Whether you consume a plate of spaghetti noodles, a bowl of grapes or a chocolate bar, carbohydrates will always eventually be broken down into their simplest form: glucose.

The main function of glucose is to provide fuel for your muscles and brain in order to carry out your daily tasks.

While the end product of all carbohydrates is the same, it is the manner in which they reach that final end product that is important to us in terms of burning fat.

When you eat foods containing carbohydrates, the body will digest and break them down into glucose, which is then released into the bloodstream to be used as a source of fuel. The main difference amongst different carbohydrate sources is the speed at which the sugars are broken down for use.

Some carbohydrates raise blood sugar levels quickly and sharply, while others are broken down and released at a slow, gradual pace.

As a person looking to burn body fat and maintain high levels of energy for your workouts, your primary goal when consuming carbohydrates is simple: keep blood sugar levels consistent and balanced.

Why?

It’s all related to insulin, which is a hormone that controls the amount of sugar in the bloodstream by moving it into the cells of the body.

When you consume carbohydrates that are broken down quickly, the body must release a large amount of insulin in order to compensate. The insulin will remove the sugar from the bloodstream very quickly, which will then result in lower-than-normal blood sugar levels.

Low blood sugar levels will result in feelings of tiredness and fatigue, and will also produce hunger pangs which can then lead to binge eating.

In addition, high levels of insulin increase the body's rate of fat storage. When insulin is present in large amounts, fat cannot be used as an energy source by the body due to a rise in enzymes that prevent fat mobilization.

To put it simply...

When you consume carbohydrates that raise blood sugar levels quickly, you end up in a constant cycle of sharp rises in blood sugar followed by dramatic falls. This inhibits your ability to burn fat and throws your energy levels, appetite and mood completely out of order.

Because of the above-mentioned facts, the ultimate goal of proper carbohydrate consumption is to stick to meals that keep blood sugar levels balanced. This is accomplished by focusing on food sources that are broken down and released gradually in the bloodstream.

By always maintaining steady blood sugar levels, your body will remain in a continual fat burning state, your energy levels will remain peaked, and your appetite will be kept under control.

We have now established what the GOAL of proper carbohydrate consumption is, and in Part 2 we will discuss which specific sources can help you achieve that goal…

About The Author

Once an awkward, out-of-shape "social outcast", Sean Nalewanyj is now a renowned fat loss and muscle building expert, best-selling fitness author, and creator of the wildly popular online fat loss program: "The Real Deal Body Transformation System". Learn how to burn fat and lose weight quickly, safely and permanently by visiting: www.HowToBurnFat.com.

Note to the reader: You are free to reprint and redistribute this article as long as the content is not altered in any way, the links remain live and the author resource box (including this message) is left intact.

If you would like to submit an article to our readers please contact submissions@atozfitness.com 

Why Your Glutes Are Small, Flat and Shapeless…It Could Be All In How You STAND!

By Nick Nilsson

Body position and posture has a HUGE impact on how you look. Get the inside scoop on how
something as simple as how you stand could be why your
glutes are small and flat (and your back hurts!).

If you're one of the MANY men and women who want larger, firmer, rounder glutes but haven't had much luck in building them, THIS is the article for you.

I know it's popular to say "it's not your fault" about almost anything these days...but in this case, it actually COULD be your fault...and you don't even know it!

You see, something as simple as your everyday posture could be responsible for the tough time you're having building up those glutes of your dreams.

Let's set genetics aside for a moment - while it's true that genetics CAN and DO play a big part in how your body develops, blaming a small, flat butt completely on genetics then just giving up is just not an option I'm going to let you get away with... :)

First, a little functional anatomy - we need to know and understand HOW the glutes work. Relax - nothing too technical here - just a little info so you'll be able to take these concepts and put them to work for you right NOW.

Everybody knows WHERE the glutes are, so I won't get into that. If you don't, you're sitting on them right now...heck, they're following you everywhere you go!

The glutes are among the biggest muscles in the body because their main function is movement (technically, it's to extend the hip backwards) and movement is VERY important. This backwards extension of the hip is what moves you forward with every step you take. It's what moves your body up when you take a step up on a stair. It's ALSO what helps keep your body upright and stabilized while standing.

So how can your posture and how you STAND possibly impact this big muscle and how it works and grows?

Well, I'll tell you!

First, you'll need to do an easy visual test on yourself in the mirror. This is going to help determine if your posture is causing your glutes to shrink up and not respond well to training.

Go to a long mirror and stand beside it so that your side is towards it (you're not facing it right now). Don't look in the mirror yet. Now stand like you're waiting for a bus or you're in line at the movies - "normally." Make sure you're standing on both feet with your weight evenly distributed (not on one foot or the other). Relax and don't try and do anything differently than you do in everyday life (if you try and fix yourself now, you'll mess up the test).

NOW keeping that exact same body position, turn JUST YOUR HEAD and look in the mirror. We're going to look at where your hips are in relation to where your shoulders are.

Ideally, you want your hips to be in a direct up-and-down line with your shoulders so you're standing up straight.

But what we'll often see (especially in the cases of those who have trouble building their glutes and feeling them working when training glute exercises) is that the hips are FORWARD of the shoulders and the butt is kind of "tucked" under the hips.

So instead of a vertical line like this: |

The body forms a forward angle kind of like this: <

When the hips shift forward like this, the glutes are taken almost completely out of the postural chain - they become relaxed and little work is required of them.

The immediate problem with THIS is that the glutes then get weaker and smaller. But the REAL problem (and the one that affects your glute-building) is the STRUCTURAL change that takes place in your body in the long term.

Over the course of YEARS of this "hips-forward" posture, your body will strengthen OTHER muscles and tendons to take over the loads and functions that the glutes were supposed to be in charge of. It can also lead to back pain and overstretching of the abdominals, which makes your stomach LOOK bigger than it actually is!

Eventually, these structural changes in your body will carry over to walking and exercising! Your body will not properly recruit the glute muscles when it comes time to do squatting and lunging movements even if it LOOKS like you're doing them correctly.

The thighs will tend to take over the movement to compensate for the reduction in glute function. The body, quite simply, isn't USED to using the glutes anymore and has a hard time activating them.

This means even when you do direct exercises to work the glutes, your body is unable to properly USE the glutes to perform the exercises!

And when you walk, instead of using the glutes to actively PUSH yourself forward with each step, you'll have a short stride and a more "shuffling" gait (this happens because your leg isn't coming back far enough behind you).

You're using your hip flexors (the muscles on the front of your hips) to bring your leg forward with each step but you're using GRAVITY and momentum (in a way, you're almost falling forward with each step) to keep moving, NOT pushing with your glutes!

SO HOW DO WE FIX IT?

Well, the first BIG step is to be mindful of your posture and how you stand. It's going to be strange at first - you're going to forget yourself and have to constantly be your own "posture police" to keep yourself straight and upright. You might have even to recruit friends and family members to "keep you honest" and remind you when your hips start drifting forward.

We're basically going to be looking to reverse YEARS of "glute-reducing" posture here, so it's something that will take time. The upside is, you will most likely start feeling more confident and looking better almost immediately when you make the effort to stand up straight!

The extra work your glutes are going to get simply by doing what they're supposed to should start helping you increase glute size and firmness rapidly as well.

Abdominal exercises can also help here, by tightening up abs that have gotten overstretched from this "hips-forward" posture. Keeping your abs tight and "in" will help you keep your hips back and in the right position.

Finally, when you're walking, you should focus on actively PUSHING yourself forward with the glutes with each step you take. You'll end up taking longer strides and getting places sooner, which is not a bad thing either.

Bottom line (no pun intended!), we have to RETRAIN your body to use the glutes properly. Now I know it's not a quick fix but it IS an effective fix and can be done with relatively little effort.

Because once your body starts learning how to use the glutes again, you'll have a MUCH easier time developing the glutes that you're looking for!

Changing how you stand won't give you a bigger butt overnight but it WILL set the stage so that the work you ARE doing to improve your glutes will be more effective!

GLUTEUS TO THE MAXIMUS -
BUILD A BIGGER BUTT NOW!

After all this talk about glute training, you better believe I've got a BIG TIME solution for you for increasing your glute size with powerful exercises and training programs! "Gluteus to the Maximus" is a book I wrote that is TOTALLY targeted to building larger, firmer, rounder glutes...it's not about tightening and "toning" (though you CAN adjust the programs to focus on tightening up the glutes). I'll walk you through EVERYTHING you need to know to build your glutes fast...nutrition, training, stretching, you name it. AND it's packed with programs you can do at the gym OR in the privacy of your own home (little to no equipment required!).

If you want to build a bigger butt, this book is a MUST HAVE. Check it out here:

------------------

Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," “Muscle Explosion,”"The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available by here 

He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

The following new weekly newsletter feature will be a short summary of the past weeks articles posted on my fitness article blog. You can always visit the blog and see the weekly post's at http://articles.atozfitness.com

Three Stunning Weight Loss Mistakes You Can Easily Fix
Posted - 14 Sep, 2008 

Three Stunning Weight Loss Mistakes You Can Easily Fix

O.k. Right From the start, it’s not just three weight loss mistakes (see also the articles

- "Why Can’t I Lost Weight" and "Workout Mistakes")but a smorgasbord. For some

reason, a lot more people than usual felt like personally emailing me their weight loss problems to answer in the newsletter this month.

Since it’s going to rain today, I thought, "What the heck, lets put some of them down so the next time this happens others will have a place to look up the same weight loss mistakes." So lets start with the first one..

Hi Ray, 

I am finishing up with reading Fat 2 Fit. And I am really enjoying it! The way it is presented keeps it real.

I have downloaded the nutrition info, and am starting to manipulate it into my new workout routine.

The thing is Ray, I go to the gym 3 days a week, make sure my calories do not exceed 1700 per day and my fat content is below 50 grams per day. And have been doing this consistently for 6 months. I have a personal trainer twice a week and she is great… my fitness levels have really improved! But my weight and inches aren’t going anywhere.

I’ve even asked her to figure it out for me, but neither does she have an answer.

During my reading of your Fat 2 Fit Program, I have come to respect what you have to say.

Therefore I would like to ask you, Where Am I Making Mistakes?

I am almost (in 4 weeks) 21 years old, weigh 95 kilograms and am 168 cm’s tall (or short)  ...

Click-Here to read the rest of this post.

How To Avoid 8 Years Of Poor Health In A Fat Body
Posted - 17 Sep, 2008 

How To Avoid 8 Years Of Poor Health In A Fat Body

By Rob Poulos, Fat Loss & Fitness Expert & Author of "Fat Burning Furnace"

I was puttering around on the internet this morning and I saw something that caught my eye. It was the latest data regarding our current life expectancy as humans from the World Health Organization, along with a history of how that’s changed over the years.

This info went all the way back to the Neanderthal period (the guys from the Geico commercials) up to present day humans. Those poor Geico guys only lived to be 20 years old on average, while today’s humans can expect about 75 years of life.

But did you know that today’s people have an average healthy life expectancy of just 67 years? In other words, this is saying that you can expect 8 years of your life in poor health. 8 years! That’s 2900+ days of poor health. I don’t know about you, but that’s not something I’m looking forward to.

I sure think we can do better than 67 years of good health on this planet. And you know what? We can. This number is an average. Like anything else, you don’t have to be average if you don’t want to be. The average person doesn’t exercise properly, if at all. The average person doesn’t know how to make the right foods selections and maintain a healthy diet. The average person doesn’t apply themselves mentally and emotionally to maintain relatively stress free living.

Click-Here to read the rest of this post.

I hope you DON’T have a milk mustache.
Posted - 20 Sep, 2008 

"But my momma told me to drink my milk!?"

One of the most controversial events that happens in my office all the time is the reduction or complete elimination of all dairy products from my client’s meal plans (and yes this includes children as well).

Something just like this happened last week but almost started a minor welterweight boxing event in my office. This particular mother could not understand why I was telling her to get her children to stop drinking so much milk when everyone else (including other health professionals) was telling her just the opposite.

So I did what any good nutritionist would do, rolled up my sleeves, put up my dukes (just kidding, I didn’t). I came back with the following statements:

1. Americans drink the most milk of any other country, yet we still have the highest rate of osteoporosis.

2. Pasteurization kills off all the necessary digestive enzymes in the milk (This is why so many people are now suffering from lactose intolerance).

3. Pasteurization also makes the major part of the calcium contained in milk insoluble, in other words making 50% of milk’s calcium unusable by the body (This contributing to the high rate of osteoporosis).

4. Milk sugar (lactose) converts into sugar your body uses very quickly, leading to blood sugar highs and lows and an up and down energy rollercoaster ride for you.

Click-Here to read the rest of this post.

I couldn't be any simpler with my nutrition recommendations for fat burning. You will get have the most energy and the best body and fitness level possible if you eat whole, natural foods. I always ask Dr. Chris Mohr, author of the Turbulence Training for Fat Loss Nutrition Guidelines if I ever need help with nutrition information.

You must avoid processed foods, which is pretty much anything in a bag or a box. So cut out muffins, donuts, pre-packaged cereals, white bread, pasta, chips, crackers, cookies, etc.

We need to return to a time of simpler eating, focusing on fruits, vegetables, nuts, lean proteins, and healthy fats. It will take some "bad habit breaking" to rid yourself of your addiction to processed foods, but in your journey you will learn to appreciate the taste of REAL food again.

You don't have to eat meat to lose fat and build muscle, but it's not unhealthy to eat beef, chicken, and fish. In fact, fish contains essential fatty acids we can't do without.

You might have heard about the importance of healthy fats, which is a big turn-around from the low-fat mentality of the 80's and 90's. We now know eating fish and nuts won't make us fat, but will in fact make us healthy and help control our appetite.

So just focus on foods that haven't been processed, and you'll start to see changes in your body and energy levels in a matter of days. Get rid of the processed foods and you won't be tired anymore!

I strongly believe nutrition is the MOST important factor in fat loss and in health. If you're eating processed foods, trans-fats, and too many calories, you won't get maximum benefits from your exercise program, no matter what you are doing. Nutrition can either heal you or kill you, so choose wisely. Fortunately, the right choices are the simple choices.

I've had clients that switched to whole, natural foods and almost overnight they've reported changes in their bodies and huge increases in mental energy. So stick with the simple nutrition approach for fat burning.

About the Author

Learn about the "Dark Side of Cardio" in the free report from Craig Ballantyne at www.TurbulenceTraining.com . Craig is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com

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