Frustrated by Your Fat Loss Efforts? Try These Essentials for Fat Loss

There are two keys to effective fat loss. Good nutrition and a good workout regimen. Ideally you'll want those workouts to be full body workouts as they are perfect for fat loss (I personally prefer full body workouts that I can do at home for a variety of reasons).

Each so called "expert" out there appears to disagree and contradict one another on what's the most effective way to eat for fat loss and overall good health. Typically though, it is the heavy processing of foods that wreak havoc within our bodies. I believe that if you combine the tips below with a good full body workout performed three times a week, you're sure to accelerate your progress towards your fat loss goals.

Here is what I consider the most significant nutritional aspects of your diet that can help to get you lean for life (and have any chance of getting those abs to show).

First, try and avoid refined sugars and refined grains as they are a key reason so many people struggle with body fat. I personally don't eat a lot of grains as I like to get almost all of my carbohydrates from vegetables and fruits.

I usually look for carbohydrate sources that have at least 2-3 grams of fiber per each ten grams of total carbohydrates. Remember that fiber helps fill you up and also slows down the glycemic response of the foods you eat, a key advantage in your quest for getting lean.

Second, too many people attempt to go much too low on their fat intake in their diet and this will adversely affect hormone levels in the body as well as actually cause more cravings. On that note, saturated fats from tropical oils are terribly misunderstood, even by plenty of diet consultants and other health "experts".

Third, you should avoid artificial trans fats from margarines, shortening, and hydrogenated oils that are in most processed foods. You should also avoid high fructose corn syrup, which is in pretty much all sweetened products on the market (more on that here if you're interested)

Again, if you elude processed foods, it becomes simple to keep away from these two worst offenders in our food supply. By following these nutrition tips you can finally gain total control over how lean you wish to get.
But to get the absolute best results, you'll want to combine a sensible diet with a great full body workout. If your goal is fat loss, you'll want to perform your full body workout three times a week for ideal results.

I personally have found that for me to stick to my full body workouts I am better off performing an at home workout. Performing an at home workout instead of going to the gym eliminates the vast majority of excuses for not exercising. Take control of these two parts of your life, and those abs might be showing in no time.

Choosing the Right Bread for Your Fat Loss Goals

Image by Jill - Glossy Veneer via Flickr

As someone who is ultra-busy and on a budget, I'm always looking for ways to both eat healthy and save some money, so more often than not, I brown bag it. My kids often take sandwiches to school also. I'm guessing I'm a lot like many of you in that respect. So I figured I'd give you some tips on how to pick the healthiest sandwich bread for you and your families.

As always, read the labels. May people have the misconception that because it's "wrap", it's healthy. I've seen way too many wraps with a ton of added sugar or artificial sweeteners. Yuck! Both are big no-no's. Don't be fooled into thinking that a wrap is a "health food".

Whether it's a wrap or sliced bread, make sure you look for whole grain bread with the fewest ingredients. Once you do that, take the following things into consideration:

• Read the label, read the label, read the label. Did I mention that you should read the label? Checking the ingredients is key and should be a strategy you use every time you go food shopping. Look for whole grains such as wheat, rye, corn or amaranth. The important thing here is that the whole grain is listed FIRST.

• Don't fall for clever marketing. Just because the name of the bread has the word "multigrain" in it doesn't mean it contains whole grains. Some of these "multigrain" breads contain refined grains and flours but not much actual whole grain.

• It's all about the fiber. When looking for a whole grain bread, make sure it provides at least two grams of fiber for every 100 calories.

• Shorter is better. The shorter the list of ingredients, the better. Your goal should be to come as close to the bread having only these ingredients as possible: whole-wheat flour, water and yeast.

Develop This Habit for Successful Fat Loss

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Achieving your fitness and fat loss goals should not be approached from just a workout/nutrition perspective, but also from the mind/body perspective. So much of what determines your success in any endeavor you choose to pursue has to do with your mindset and the perspective you take in achieving your goals. The battle is truly won or lost inside your own head.

We all live in two "worlds". The physical world and the world of your own mental attitude. I truly believe that your mental attitude attracts to you those aspects of the physical world which are in sync with your mental attitude. In other words, if you are constantly pessimistic, you're going to attract misery and "bad luck". If you truly believe losing that weight or getting that six pack is impossible, you will never, ever be successful. If you're enthusiastic and have a positive mental attitude, you will attract happiness and good fortune and it's a vital first step in accomplishing your goals.

What is Perserverance?

Regardless of whether it's your fitness goals or any goal you have in life, at one point or another most of us struggle reaching that goal. The important thing is to persevere and have faith in yourself that you CAN achieve whatever it is you want to achieve.

This video says it all...

Why You Should Ignore Magazine Covers

Countless articles have been written about the unrealistic expectations women are programmed to have about their bodies due to what they see in magazines and the media.

The truth is each and every one of us can get lean and fit, but there is nothing we can do about the genetics we're born with. Our height, body shapes, color of our eyes, how easily we add muscle and millions of other attributes are already determined for us.

However, just because you can't look exactly like some super model, doesn't mean you shouldn't continue to go all out in your efforts to lose weight, build muscle and live a healthy lifestyle.

Check out the video below to see why you should ignore what you see in the magazines and most fat loss and weight loss sites that hire professional photogrophers for their before and after pictures.

Eat smart, stay active and perform at least three full body workouts a week and you'll get YOUR best body.

If you want to see real people, who have achieved real results, check out these unedited pictures at http://busybod.com/

Six Ways to Lose Fat Easily

Go Low-Carb
It's the easiest way to drop weight fast. The cravings are hard at first, but it gets easier-especially when you start seeing the results.


Skip the Starches
Chips, pretzels, white bread, potatoes and pasta are what make you fat. If you must have pasta, make it whole-wheat, or even better, try this zero calorie noodle. Same goes for bread, and swap white potatoes for sweet potatoes. But even then, keep it to a minimum.



Perform a Full Body Workout Three Times a Week
Building muscles will not only improve performance in all aspects of your life, but they'll rev up your metabolism so you're burning calories way after your workout is over ( a benefit you won't get for long, boring, steady-state cardio).

How To Make Eating Fewer Calories Easier

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We all know that the only way to lose weight is to create a caloric deficit (expend more calories than you consume). However, eating fewer calories isn't always easy (or else everyone would presumably be much thinner).

When it comes to weight loss, we're constantly being bombarded by conflicting information. We hear anything from low-fat, to low-carb, to "stay away from fruit" to fasting as the "solution".

Today I want to give you just one piece of advice that will make eating fewer calories easier:
Don't stop eating carbs. Just be smart about what type of carbs you eat.


This ONE change in your lifestyle can make a tremendous difference. Let me elaborate:
The idea is to make the carbs you eat count. The goal is to eat carbs that are high in fiber and low in starch.

Why? Fiber helps you feel full and has minimal effect on your blood sugar. But foods like bread, rice and pasta that are high in starch can elevate your blood sugar significantly.

That becomes undesirable because when your blood sugar rises quickly it triggers your pancreas to release a flood of insulin, a hormone that lowers blood sugar but also signals your body to store fat.

Some foods that contain carbs that are high in fiber and low in starch are brussels sprouts, peppers, spinach and broccoli.

So choose your carbs carefully by selecting foods with the greatest ratio of fiber to total carbs. What this does is normalize your insulin levels and help reduce your hunger...thus making eating fewer calories easier.

Six Easy Ways to Lose About 1/2 Pound a Week

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Making simple swaps in your every day diet can go a long way in helping you lose weight and staying fit in the long term. A few painless ways that you can cut about 50 calories without making an huge changes to your diet are:

1. Leave the cheese off your sandwich.
2. Swap your cup of whole milk with skim milk.
3. Swap your donut with an English muffin.
4. Use one tablespoon less cream cheese.
5. Use one less pat of mayonnaise.
6. Spread one tablespoon of jam on your bread instead of one tablespoon of butter.

Two swaps like this a day and you can easily cut back 100 calories a day. If you could add another 100 calories worth of exercise every day and you could lose almost half a pound a week!

Post and share any of your own ideas to save 50 calories!

How You Too Can Lose 11.4 More Pounds

Losing weight can often be a lonely experience. Most of the times it's a journey you're undergoing alone and those around you really don't know what you're going through at any particular moment.

It's even more difficult when those around you are not helping.

More often then not, the environment you're in is not conducive to your fat loss goals (i.e. Your significant other brings home a gallon of your favorite ice cream and eats in front of you or you have children in the house which usually means lots of cookies and other junk).

Going it alone is tough. I've always known that being held accountable to someone (or a group of someones) has been a key success factor for many when it comes to getting in shape. I believe that in many cases, this is why personal trainers get better results for their clients vs. them going it alone. People show up because they KNOW someone is keeping an eye on them and their progress and they don't want to "let them down".

Why does this happen?

First of all, we don't want to let others down, it makes us feel bad. Second, once we put ourselves "out there" and share our goals with others, we're psychologically more likely to follow through on them. Furthermore, these reasons help with an area that I've been saying is a key success factor for fat loss for a long time now...consistency. The more consistent you are with your workouts and sticking to healthy eating, the better the results.

In fact, according to a new study published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, researchers in the Netherlands studied a group of obese adults which they asked 1/2 to enroll in a group class and the other 1/2 to increase their physical activity on their own.

After four months, guess who lost 11.4 more pounds. Yup, the people who were in a group.

So here's what I want you to do today:

1) Find someone to share your goals with. It could be a friend, a relative, or an online group.
2) Tell them, in precise detail, exactly what you're looking to accomplish.
3) Ask them to check up on you once a week and ask you for details.
4) Even better, get them to join you in reaching your goals.
5) Tell your significant other, your family, your co-workers and anyone who cares, what you are trying to accomplish (this is more of the "put yourself out there" part).
6) Get started! Make sure you start your workout and your plan immediately. If you don't know what to do, you can sign up for my free Quick-Start Fat Loss Kit on th right side of this page.

I'd love to hear what you're going to do today to get the support you need. Leave a comment!