7 Personal Lessons for Losing Fat

(My Original Blog Post: http://ping.fm/oQ5EV)
There Are 7 Lessons From My Story That You Can Use Yourself To Lose Fat or Even Get Ripped Like I Did... - Guest Blog from Jason Ferruggia

I want to share these with you because even if you have a different personal history than I do (most of my readers are NOT bodybuilders), these 7 lessons are the keys to achieving any previously elusive fitness goal for the first time and I know they apply to everyone.

1. Set the big goal and go for it. If your goal doesn’t excite you and scare you at the same time, your goal is too small. If you don’t feel fear or uncertainty, you’re inside your comfort zone. Puny goals aren’t motivating. Sometimes it takes a competition or a big challenge of some kind to get your blood boiling.

2. Align your values with your goals. I understood my values and made a decision to be congruent with who I really was and who I wanted to be. When you know your values, get your priorities straight and align your goals with your values, then doing what it takes is easy.

3. Do the math. Stop looking for magic. A lean body does not come from ONE "magic" type of exercise or one "magic" type of food or food group, it’s the calories burned vs calories consumed that determines weight loss or weight gain. Don't get me wrong - the strength training is crucial for optimizing body composition, and you might do better by decreasing the calories consumed, whereas I depended more on increasing the calories burned, but either way, it’s still a math equation. Deny it at your own peril.

4. Get social support and social accountability. Support and encouragement from your friends can help get you through anything. Real time accountability to a training partner or trainer can make all the difference.

5. Be consistent. Nothing will ever work if you don’t work at it every day. Sporadic efforts don’t just produce sporadic results, sometimes they produce zero results.

6. Persist through difficulty and self doubt. If you think it’s going to be smooth sailing all the way with no ups and downs, you’re fooling yourself. For every sunny day, there’s going to be a storm. If you can’t weather the storms, you’ll never reach new shores.

7. Redeem yourself. Non-achievers sit on the couch and wallow in past failures. Winners use past failures as motivational rocket fuel. It always feels good to achieve a goal, but nothing feels as good as achieving a goal with redemption.

Note from Mike: This is flat out great advice. #6 and #7 are my favorite of the bunch and are rarely talked about.

Additional Resources from Jason

Two years ago I decided to start experimenting on a large number of my clients and coaching group members. I wanted to see if I could create an athletic based muscle building system and help average guys get the same kind of results elite athletes get from their training. The only difference is the average guy doesn’t have the genetics, recovery ability or schedule of a professional athlete. But they all want to look like them.

So I took it upon myself to create the ultimate system that would help Average Joe’s and weekend warriors get a little bit closer to looking and performing like Reggie Bush or Georges St. Pierre.

I know how to help skinny guys get jacked. That’s old hat to me. I can do it in my sleep. As long as someone listens and does what I say they will pack on size.

But Triple Threat Muscle is a little different. Not only is the program focused on size gains, but also the development of explosive power and unrelenting endurance. So you get the jacked, muscular physique and the athleticism to go with it.

Get Triple Threat Muscle now and save $30. Click Here to Get Started Now

In the process of updated my Naked Nutrition for Fat Loss Program - It is going to be so much more comprehensive.

Bodybuilding.com delivered my order in less than 24hrs! Wow

just answered some rapid weight loss diet questions in regards to carbohdyrates http://readnow.at/18mm3

Testing out ping.fm. Hope you're having a great weekend

We're Moving!!!

Well my wife and I aren't moving (yet). But this blog is. The entire contents of this blog have been moved over to a new site --> http://blog.nakednutritionguide.com

If you have subscribed via RSS feed don't worry about changing your feed or re-subscribing as I've already taken care of that for you. Head over to the new blog's home and let me know what you think!

This will be the last post here at the blogger account so if you have linked to the blog on your blog or webpage please update the link to http://blog.nakednutritionguide.com

See you over there,
Mike

Video Friday - Bob Paris

I'm going to be traveling tomorrow for Memorial Day Weekend so I thought I'd post the video for Video Friday early.

Bob Paris is one of my favorite bodybuilders of all-time. He isn't a mass monster. Bob has the kind of physique that many men would aspire to - symmetrical, proportional, and not over the top. Today's video is a great as it is one of Bob's posing routines. If you have read Bob Paris' book Gorilla Suit then I highly recommend that you check it out. It is one of the few good books written on bodybuilding.

Tags: bob paris, bodybuilding, youtube, good books

Rooibos - Better Than Green Tea??

I've been getting a lot of emails lately about Rooibos tea. People are wondering what it is and if it is better than green tea (especially because a talk a bunch about Green Tea in Your Naked Nutrition Guide).

Rooibos (pronounced Roy-bus) isn't necessarily better than green tea but it is good. Rooibos comes from a South Africian legume. It is naturally caffeine free and brews up a dark rich red cup of tea. Rooibos is also loaded with antioxidants. Many of the health claims surrounding Rooibos tea and Rooibos extract are from animal and cell culture studies and thus should be taken as suggestive and not definitive.

While reading up on the research regarding Rooibos, I found a study that showed that Rooibos tea inhibited the activation of the COX-2 enzyme in human cells. The COX-2 enzyme is a major gateway for inflammation. Aspirin, Advil, and DHA (one of the fatty acids in fish oil) all also exhibit anti-inflammatory actions through inhibiting COX-2. This research is interesting as it suggests that Rooibos has anti-inflammatory properties.

So should you throw out your green tea for Rooibos?? Nope. Drink them both. Because Rooibos tea is naturally decaffeinated and Green Tea is naturally caffeinated they both can find a place in your day. Green Tea in the morning and Rooibos at night. Plus they both contain different types of antioxidants so drinking them both will give you a nice blend of antioxidant in your diet.

On a completely different note - NSCA Strength Coach of the Year Robert Dos Remedios has just launched a blog and website - www.CoachDos.com

Tags: rooibos tea, green tea, anti-inflammatory, health, nutrition

Black Cohosh - uber Supplement For Women or Not?

One of the most popular supplements for females is Black Cohosh. Black Cohosh is a member of the buttercup family and was originally used by Native Americans. Black Cohosh is now commonly sold as a dietary supplement with the claim of increase estrogen production/action. As a result Black Cohosh is popular among women under undergoing menopause.

However, a recent study from the Annals of Internal Medicine showed quite the opposite result. 351 women ages 45-55 who had reported getting hot flashes at least twice a day were given 1 of 5 treatments. The treatments ranged from 160mg of Black Cohosh to multi-herbal mixtures containing 200mg of Black Cohosh to Estrogen replacement therapy, to nothing (placebo).

After 1 year none of the herbal treatment groups had any reduction in symptoms while the estrogen replacement therapy group did.

Tags: supplements, black cohosh, estrogen, menopause

Workout Music - myTunes Part II

My last entry prompted a lot of messages into my inbox wondering what else is on my training muscle playlist. Here are some more songs that will boost your workout intensity.


Blood Pressure - LOX
Where the Hood At (Remix) - DMX
There It Go (The Whistle Song) - Juelz Santana
Last Ones Left - Tupac
Bump Heads - Eminem feat G Unit
So Much Pain - Tupac (this is hard to find)
Is That Yo Chick - Memphis Bleek, Jay-Z, Twista
Trill Recognize Trill - Bun B
Touch It (Remix) - Busta Rhymes & DMX
Rite Where You Stand - Gangstarr & Jadakiss
Wu-Gambinos - Wu-Tang Clan
Certified Gangsta - Jim Jones
It's Mine - Mobb Deep feat Nas
Triumph - Wu-Tang Clan
I'ma Hustla - Cassidy
Blaze of Glory - Bon Jovi

...now that's good music.

Tags: workout music, ipod

Workout Music - myTunes

I've mentioned it previously on this blog that I currently workout at one of the gyms on the Penn State campus. It has A LOT more equipment and space that when I worked out in our basement in Vermont but I would give anything to be back in the basement with a wobbly squat rack, 450lbs of weight, 1 olympic bar, and two plate loading dumbbells. It was low budget but the atmosphere was amazing. Fast forward to now. The gym is full of fancy machines, guys in polo shirts talking on their cell phones between sets, other guys talking to girls during sets of dumbbell curls (I'm not making that up!), and the music...don't get me started.



Fortunately, I have Maximus. Maximus is my red 8GB iPod Nano. I currently have 86 songs on my Training Music playlist with more songs being added everyday. Here are some of my current favorites:

Ebonics - Big L
Sunday Bloody Sunday - U2
Hoody Hoo - TRU
The Ruler's Back - Jay-Z
Diamonds Is Forever - Jay-Z
Tell Me Where to Go - E-40
Break Ya Neck - Busta Rhymes
Wanted Dead or Alive - Bon Jovi
Deliverance - Bubba Sparxxx
Built this City - Diplomats
Quiet Money Anthem - AZ
Black Repulbican - Jay-Z & Nas
Blackout - DMX
Keep It Thoro - Prodigy (from Mobb Deep)
Why We Thugs - Ice Cube
Let's Go - Trick Daddy
Paradise City - Guns and Roses


Have a great weekend! Remember to take time to plan your meals this weekend. It will greatly improve your chances of success.

Tags: ipod nano, workout music, weight training

Plan Your Nutrition Ahead

A key component to nutritional success throughout the week is making your nutrition a no brainer. When I was in Washington DC at the Experimental Biology conference I came across a poster presentation by the graduate students of Brian Wansink (the author of Mindless Eating)

They were reporting the results of a study that showed how people think they make ~15 food decisions a day but in reality they make >200. Whether or not these numbers are accurate is debatable but you get the point. We make a lot of decisions about food whether we like it or not.

This is why planning your meals ahead of time is so important. It takes all the thinking out of nutrition for the week. In the morning you get up, pull your pre-prepared meals out of the refrigerator or freezer, put them in your mini cooler and you're off. No cooking, portioning, or thinking.

Take the time on Sunday to cook and prepare your meals. You will find that your nutrition is much more consistent and you'll stay on track during the week as a result. Here's a picture of what I grilled up this past Sunday.




If you want more information about nutrition planning and strategies for success check out my new manual Your Naked Nutrition Guide.

Resveratrol Does Damage Control

Resveratrol is one of the hottest up and coming antioxidants. Resveratrol is a polyphenol that is most notably found in grapes and red wine. For a long time many people believe that red wine was a superior type of alcohol because of its high resveratrol content. Recently I co-authored a scientific manuscript in which we found that resveratrol has little to nothing to do with the increase in "good" cholesterol found with moderate red wine (or any alcohol for that matter) consumption.

Regardless of resveratrol's lack of influence on HDL cholesterol it has been shown to have powerful anti-aging and anti-inflammatory effects in animal and in vitro studies. This is where I see the main problem with Resveratrol research to date. There is a complete lack of direct human data. The amounts of resveratrol being given to mice and rats in the animal studies far exceeds the amounts one can consume by drinking red wine. Resveratrol supplements are now becoming more popular and those dosages are more comparable to the ones used in animal studies.

Most recently I came across a new study from the Journal of Applied Physiology in which researchers found that when human endothelial cells were exposed to oxidized LDL cholesterol (oxLDL) particles (these are thought to be one of the molecules that begins the cascade of events leading to heart disease) in the presence of resveratrol. The oxLDL had a decreased ablilty to cause the generation of reactive oxygen species. Reactive oxygen species are molecules turned rouge that fly around our system causing cellular and DNA damage until are quenched by anti-oxidants. From this research is seems that resveratol can protect against oxidative damage by

1. Quenching reactive oxygen species
2. Slowing down the cellular machinery that produces reactive oxygen species

This is just another feather in the cap of resveratrol and with data like this being produced every month you can bet that resveratrol will have a central role in the prevention and treatment of many diseases in the future.

Tags: resveratrol, heart disease, antioxidants, DNA damage

Crockpot Questions

On a previous edition of Max-Out Radio I featured a recipe remix using a crockpot. Crockpots are a great tool for busy people as you can prepare the food ahead of time, leave it to cook during the day, and then when you get home your house smell great and dinner is ready. Here are some questions I received from a listener regarding using crockpots.


Can you prepare the food the night before? Yes, definitely. That is the beauty of using a crockpot. You can prepare all the food, put it in the crockpot liner, and stick it in the refrigerator until it is ready be used.


Is it only a matter of an hour or two longer cooking time if you do so? Yes. Because I leave the crockpot in the refrigerator over night it is a little cold and that may require a little longer cooking. What I do is remove it from the refrigerator when I get up and just put it on the counter. When I’m ready to leave the house I'll put it on the base and it is usually cooled down to room temperature (or close to it)


Does the crock-pot have a timer so you can put it to turn on itselfe, say 3 hours after you left home? They do have timers usually 8 and 10 hours. If you leave it longer than that then they will just go into warm mode. So if you are out of the house for 11 hours it won't matter.

What people are saying about Naked Nutrition

The launch of Your Naked Nutrition Guide has definitely generated some buzz. Here are some links to what people some people are saying:

http://forums.jpfitness.com/showthread.php?t=25142


http://alwyncosgrove.blogspot.com/2007/05/six-pillars-of-naked-nutrition.html


http://tonygentilcore.blogspot.com/2007/05/your-naked-nutrition-guide.html


http://billhartman.blogspot.com/2007/05/get-naked-nutrition-now.html

Tags: Naked Nutrition

It is time!

After months and months of writing, rewriting, planning, and drafting...Your Naked Nutrition Guide is now available at

http://www.NakedNutritionGuide.com

Click on the link and go pick up your copy.

Get "Naked".....Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the day that I know many of you (by the volume of emails in my inbox) have been waiting for. Yes, Your Naked Nutrition Guide will be available tomorrow at NakedNutritionGuide.com.

I was up late last night formating the bonus workout plans from Alwyn Cosgrove, Nate Green, and Jimmy Smith. This is a dynamite package that will allow you to stop with the nutritional guess work and get results.

10:00am EST Tomorrow.

See you there (figuratively of course)

I'm Hungry...How 'bout 1,000 calories?

I've had this article sitting in my bookmarks for some time now and thought I should post it. "Hungry Girl" (someone who blogs for Yahoo!) complied a list of +1,000 calories entrees that are served at various food joints. It is pretty scary and definitely worth reading.

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


Attack of the 1,000-Calorie Entrees!
Posted Mon, Feb 26, 2007, 6:00 am PST


Think salads are safe? That grilled always equals guilt-free? Even healthy-sounding entrees can be cleverly disguised diet disasters! Here are some of the worst offenders, courtesy of your pal HG.

SALAD INSANITY

Bob Evans Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad
(1,108 calories, 63g fat, 2,741mg sodium, 63g carbs, 7g fiber, 43g sugars, 40g protein)

Fruit, nuts, and sliced chicken...on lettuce? This salad sounds wholesome enough. But don't be fooled! Bacon, bleu cheese, and gobs of Italian dressing all play a part in this salad's pitiful nutritionals. Over 1,100 calories for a salad?! We're on to you, Bob.

Hardee's Southwest Chicken Salad
(1,100 calories, 83g fat, 1,910mg sodium, 59g carbs, 4g fiber, 6g sugars, 29g protein)

Yes, Southwest chicken salads are delicious, but one with 83 fat grams is embarrassing. You may as well have a fat hamburger and a giant order of fries. Sheesh!

Bob Evans Chili & Cheese Taco Salad
(1,381 calories, 72g fat, 3,263mg sodium, 182g carbs, 23g fiber, 30g sugars, 42g protein)

Aha! Another salad sure to screw up your day, courtesy of Bob Evans. This one's slightly more suspicious sounding, with a double whammy of chili and cheese right there in the title. Mounds of cheddar and sausage chili smothered in avocado ranch dressing make this plate of fatty goo one you don't wanna mess with!

Chili's Mesquite Chicken Salad with Dressing
(1,050 calories, 69g fat, 3,110 sodium, 56g carbs, 11g fiber, 58g protein)

You might have guessed that their famous Baby Back Ribs are bad for those battling the bulge (and you'd have guessed right), but a mesquite chicken salad, too?!? Yep. Layers of bacon and cheese, complete with a thick blob of fat-packed ranch dressing, all adds up to over 1,000 calories of horribleness.


CRIMES AGAINST CHICKEN

McDonald's Chicken Selects Premium Breast Strips (10 piece)
(1,270 calories, 66g fat, 3,100mg sodium, 92g carbs, 0g fiber, 77g protein)


Premium Breast Strips? That's just a fancy way of saying fried chicken fingers! Call 'em what you want, Ronald, but your Chicken Selects are a clucking MESS! And you KNOW people dip those things in your sugary BBQ sauce or creamy honey mustard, too. And those just take this already offensive meal FAR over the edge.

P.F. Chang's Orange Peel Chicken
(1,151 calories, 47g fat, 127g carbs, 61g protein)

Here's another seemingly healthful offering. Chicken "tossed with chili peppers and fresh orange peel" -- how bad could that be? Upon closer inspection, we uncovered that this particular chicken dish contains both Kung Pao and Sichuan sauces, two notoriously high-cal condiments. By the time this bird hits your plate, it's dragging more than eleven hundred calories with it. Yeech!

Macaroni Grill Honey Balsamic Chicken
(1,220 calories, 67g fat, 2,750mg sodium, 94g carbs, 10g fiber, 57g protein)

Think choosing poultry over pasta at Macaroni Grill will keep you fitting into your skinny jeans? Not if this dish is any indication. Here's a little tip: Instead order something called Pollo Magra (Skinny Chicken), and save yourself more than 900 calories and over 60 grams of fat!

Chili's Monterey Chicken
(1,170 calories, 71g fat, 3,530mg sodium, 70g carbs, 8g fiber, 72g protein)

Yet another of Chili's calorically challenged chicken dishes. Their Monterey Chicken, a cheese, bacon, and BBQ sauce smothered entree, packs in an alarming 1,170 calories and more than 70 grams of fat. Gross!


BROCCOLI BEHAVING BADLY

P.F. Chang's Beef with Broccoli (dinner portion)
(1,120 calories, 65g fat, 38g carbs, 93g protein)

Come on, Chang! Beef with Broccoli is one of those Asian entrees even WE were sure we could safely chew! But it just isn't so. P.F.'s meat 'n mini trees are suffocated with sugar, sauce, cornstarch, and oil. That's just wrong.

Ruby Tuesday Fresh Chicken & Broccoli Pasta
(2,061 calories, 128g fat, 109g net carbs, 13g fiber)

Yikes! It's official; we have a winner (well, actually a loser). This dish has broken the calorie barrier, racking up more than any other on the list. Chicken and broccoli were clearly assaulted over at Ruby T, and emerged as a freakishly fattening entree with more than 2,000 calories and nearly 130 fat grams! How on Earth can Ruby T's get away with this?!


GRILLS GONE WILD


Macaroni Grill Grilled Salmon (Teriyaki)
(1,290 calories, 81g fat, 6,600mg sodium, 79g carbs, 5g fiber, 57g protein)

Record highs were reached on the sodium scale the day this dish was born. There's nearly three times the daily recommended allowance of the stuff swimming around with this salmon. And even if we could get past the icky amounts of salt, we're deeply offended by the crazy calorie and fat counts attached to this simple grilled fish dish. Yikes!

Macaroni Grill Grilled Pork Chops
(1,800 calories, 107g fat, 4,950mg sodium, 92g carbs, 8g fiber, 115g protein)

Yep, a third entree on our thou-cal-plus list from those maniacs at Macaroni Grill. This one contains more than 100 grams of fat and a horrifying 1,800 calories. Uhh, pork, the other white meat?! Not in this case...


AFTERNOON OFFENDERS

P.F. Chang's Lo Mein Combo (lunch portion)
(1,740 calories, 122g fat, 98g carbs, 55g protein)


If you think ordering up the lunch portion keeps you safe out there, you are sadly mistaken. Chang's downsized order of Lo Mein includes beef, chicken, pork, shrimp, and enough fat and calories to feed an entire family. Can you even IMAGINE how many calories and fat grams the dinner size packs in?!

Burger King TRIPLE WHOPPER Sandwich
(1,130 calories, 74g fat, 1,160mg sodium, 51g carbs, 3g fiber, 11g sugars, 67g protein)

And rounding out our list is a true triple threat. This BK burger's a royal mess of a meal. But then again, would you expect anything less from a TRIPLE WHOPPER?!

Tags: 1, 000 calorie meals, yahoo, eating out, triple whopper

Move or Your Fat Cells Will!

I've got bad news....You can't ever stop exercising....Well, you can but you'll get fat.

What am I talking about? A recent study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology made rats run for about a month and a half increasing their distance such that the last week they were running 9km/d. The rats were then forced to be sedentary from anywhere between 5hours-7days on either a controlled diet or eating as much as they wanted.

The rats on a controlled diet had an increase in abdominal fat independent of food intake. The rats that ate as much as they wanted had an increase in fat cell number. Usually our fat cells just fill up - this is the better option because once a fat cell is produced it never goes away.

This study is interesting. Because it was done in animals it should be taken with a grain of salt. However, what are the implications of these findings?

*It could possibly mean that running is an even worse form of exercise than I previously expected. It would be interesting to have seen a group that did weight training but have you ever seen a rat trying to deadlift...not pretty.

*These findings could also caution us against overeating during periods of being sedentary as it could possibly result in fat cell hyperplasia (increase in numbers).

If anything this is a glowing recommendation for life long exercise and not a quick fix approach followed by being sedentary and overeating.

Tags: fat, weight gain, running, weight training, rats

I'm a knucklehead!

If you have tried to subscribe to my blog via the RSS feeds on the right hand column of the page but were unsuccessful I'm sorry. Last night it came to my attention that when you click the "add to google" or "add to yahoo" chicklets that you get subscribed to Max-Out Radio and not the blog. I've fixed the problem and do apologize.

-Mike