Setting the Stage: Creating the right hormonal envronment for weight loss

(Note to reader: I've started this blog post over at least 4 or 5 times.  Every time I write it, I end up deleting what I've just written because it becomes too technical -- aka "boring and confusing."  I'm trying to take a very complicated topic (one that makes grad students curl up in the fetal position) and break it down into some practical advice for you. So I decided to start with the practical tips and "sprinkle" the gobbledygook over the top of it.  Let's see how I did!)

Read The Evolution of Weight Loss Here

There are my top 9 tips for creating a fat-burning hormonal environment.  There is still much to learn about this topic.  You can research it further on your own, but this should be a good start.

Inefficiency of Cardio Conditioning

Here's a video that throws a monkey wrench into the mainstream thinking about fat loss and aerobic exercise. Officially, it's not the stance taken by Core Fitness Solution, but he sure makes a lot of sense. Tell us what you think in the comment section below.

I'll post more tomorrow about hormones and the effect exercise has on them.

Johns Hopkins Cures Cancer ... only a hoax!

Several campers recently sent me the same forwarded message about an apparent update from Johns Hopkins regarding cancer prevention.  I am not usually a skeptic, but something about this email seemed fishy...

Click here to read more...

The Truth About Photo Shoots - Part III

Here's part three of the video series on photo shopping pictures. I hope you have found this as enlightening as I have. There is still hope for all the "normal" people out there!

The Truth About Photo Shoots - Part II

Here's part two of the video series on photo shopping pictures. Stay tuned for part three tomorrow.

The Truth About Photo Shoots - Part I

This is part one of a three-part series about the photo shopping done in magazines and how it affects the consumers in terms of self-worth and the like. I'll post part two tomorrow and part three on Friday.

A Punch in the Face

by Doug Betts

(Note to the reader: I’m going to go off on a pretty big tangent, but I will reveal my point about mid-way through this piece. Stay patient while I go on and on, there is a pretty big payoff at the end! Also, you should know that I don't advocate violence. I'm only using it here to demonstrate a point!)

Everybody gets mad sometimes. Every once in a while you get really, really angry. I’ve ticked off a few people in my day (sometimes by doing nothing more than being a morning person!).

Read the rest of this article on the CFS Fitness & Weight Loss Camp Blog

Let Sonee Get Your Upper Body in Shape!

Try This

by Doug Betts

Here's a cool idea to try on your next workout.

Best & Worst BBQ Foods

By David Zinczenko,  via Men's Health

Last July 4, Joey Chestnut earned his third consecutive victory in Coney Island’s Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest—the gustatory champ downed 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes. That jaw-dropping stat is made scarier still when you realize that Chestnut consumed over 20,000 calories in that time. 

That’s a whole day’s worth of calories ... per minute. Read more here.

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Sign up for the free Eat This, Not That! newsletter.
Check out these cutting-edge guides to fast and easy weight loss, the brand-new Men’s Health Big Book of Exercises and Women’s Health Big Book of Exercises.

Doug Shows Us How To Stretch

Falling Off the Wagon

By Doug Betts
Director of Training, Core Fitness Solution

Have you ever fallen off the proverbial diet and exercise “wagon?” It can be tough to stay the course when the results seem to stagnate, or worse, back slide.

Click Here to read the rest of this article on the CFS Fitness & Weight Loss Camp Blog

The Worst Chips and Dips via Men's Health

By David Zinczenko
Consider the potato: It’s heavy. It’s brown. It’s gnarly. It grows in the dirt. It’s hardly the most appealing food on earth.

Now consider the Pringle: It’s light. It’s golden. It’s crispy. And it comes in a can! A tremendous improvement on the earthbound spud, right? Except for one thing: Pringles aren’t potatoes.

In fact, they’re only 42 percent potato, which means that every time you pop a Pringle, what you’re mostly eating is...um...something else. But what?

Oil. In fact, a single serving—just 14 chips—will grease up your innards with 11 grams of fat, as much as you’d get in a Burger King hamburger. And that’s exactly the problem with most chips: Food marketers have done to the potato and the ear of corn what British Petroleum did to the gulf: They took a great source of natural food, and covered it in oil.

Does that mean you can’t accompany your summer barbecue with a side order of chips and dip? Absolutely not. (I have a friend who followed the advice in Eat This, Not That! and lost 10 pounds of belly fat in six weeks and kept it off—without ever dieting!) There are plenty of healthy options out there. If you love potato chips, check out the Kettle Bakes line (the closest you can get to an unadulterated spud). If you’re into corn chips, Sun Chips Original is made from whole grains—meaning you’re upping your heart-healthy fiber intake with each bite. Below, I’ve listed some simple swaps you can make to help you stay slim all summer long—so you can literally “chip away” at your belly!

WORST REGULAR POTATO CHIP
Boulder Canyon Malt Vinegar & Sea Salt (~14 chips, 28 g)
150 calories
7 g fat (1 g saturated)
410 mg sodium

Boulder Canyon might boast “Natural Foods” on the packaging, but these chips contain nearly double the sodium of all the other major brands in the grocery store. To cut back on the sodium, opt for Popchips Salt & Pepper, instead. Popchips are neither fried nor baked—the potatoes “pop” with heat and pressure. It’s delicious ingenuity.

Eat This Instead!
Popchips Salt & Pepper (~20 chips, 28 g)
120 calories
4 g fat (0 g saturated)
290 mg sodium

Pay attention to how you chase your chips, too. Pick up the latest book in our series, Drink This, Not That!, and find out how watching what you drink can save you more than 400 calories a day.




WORST FLAVORED POTATO CHIP
Ruffles Cheddar & Sour Cream (~11 chips, 28 g)
160 calories
11 g fat (1.5 g saturated)
230 mg sodium

Ruffles are cut thick and crinkled, which means more fried potato is stuffed into each bite. Think of it this way: If you stretched out the crinkles, you’d have a massive hunk of fried potato. If you want a flavored crisp, go for anything from the Baked! Lays line, which has about 10 fewer calories per serving than almost any other brand of baked chips.

Eat This Instead!
Baked! Lays Barbecue Flavored (~14 chips)
120 calories
3 g fat (0.5 g saturated)
210 mg sodium

And remember: Not all food that sounds healthy is healthy. See for yourself—read 30 “Healthy” Foods That Aren’t.





WORST REGULAR CORN CHIP
Fritos Original (~32 chips, 28 g)
160 calories
10 g fat (1.5 g saturated)
160 mg sodium

Beloved Fritos are great for transporting bean dip to your mouth. But they’re decidedly not great for keeping off the belly fat. Choose the Baked! Tostitos Scoops! instead. They scoop just as well as the Fritos, with less than half the fat. And if you crack them in half, they’re roughly the same size, too.

Eat This Instead!
Baked! Tostitos Scoops (~15 chips, 28 g)
120 calories
3 g fat (0.5 g saturated)
130 mg sodium



WORST FLAVORED CORN CHIP
Tostitos Hint of Lime (~6 chips, 28 g)
150 calories
8 g fat (1 g saturated)
160 mg sodium

For Tostitos, a “hint of lime” includes partially hydrogenated soybean oil and artificial coloring. If you want lime-flavored chips, your best option is easily the Guiltless Gourmet line. It has fewer ingredients, less fat, and double the fiber of the Tostitos.

Eat This Instead!
Guiltless Gourmet All Natural Chili Lime (~18 chips, 28 g)
120 calories
3 g fat (0 g saturated)
200 mg sodium





WORST CHEESE DIP
Kraft Cheez Whiz Original Cheese Dip (2 Tbsp, 33 g)
90 calories
7 g fat (1.5 g saturated)
440 mg sodium
This glowing orange goop is pure junk. If you have a taste for cheese, save your calories for the real thing. We're especially fond of Tostitos Salsa Con Queso Medium. With the nutritional perks of tomatoes and peppers, salsa con queso beats straight cheese dip every time. Plus, you can eat twice as much for the same caloric punch (not that you should, of course!).

Eat This Instead!
Tostitos Salsa Con Queso Medium (2 Tbsp, 34 g)
40 calories
2.5 g fat (1 g saturated)
280 mg sodium

For life-changing nutrition and health secrets you can use instantly, follow me on Twitter. And for a more comprehensive list of disastrous beverages, and what to drink instead, check out the new losers on the 2010 list of the 20 Worst Drinks in America.




WORST PARTY DIP
Lay's Creamy Ranch Dip (2 Tbsp, 33 g)
60 calories
5 g fat (2.5 g saturated)
240 mg sodium

Make ranch your staple dip and you could be adding hundreds of low-quality calories to your snacking. Instead, choose hummus. This fiber- and protein-rich Mediterranean staple is perfect for dipping and slathering, and it has only a little over half the calories as nutritionally void ranch.
Eat This Instead!
Wild Garden Hummus Dip Roasted Garlic (2 Tbsp, 30 g)
35 calories
2 g fat (0 g saturated)
70 mg sodium


 

WORST SALSA
Tostitos Creamy Salsa (2 Tbsp, 32 g)
35 calories
3 g fat (0 g saturated)
150 mg

Salsa is typically the planet's finest condiment because it's packed with antioxidants that help prevent cancers and macular degeneration. Another benefit? It's typically no more than 10 meager calories per 2 tablespoons. Any salsa labeled "creamy," however, has been polluted with a dose of fatty oil. This Tostitos Creamy Salsa is more than three times as caloric as the Ortega Thick & Chunky. Maybe not such a big deal after one scoop. But after 10? You're looking at the caloric difference of four McDonald's McNuggets.
Eat This Instead!
Ortega Thick & Chunky Salsa Medium (2 Tbsp, 31 g)
10 calories
0 g fat
210 mg sodium

For the healthiest packaged foods around, check out 125 Healthiest Packaged Foods for Women and 125 Best Packaged Foods for Men.




WORST GUACAMOLE DIP
T. Marzetti Guacamole Veggie Dip (2 Tbsp, 29 g)
130 calories
13 g fat (2.5 g saturated)
240 mg sodium

Real guacamole is an incredibly healthy spread for chips and sandwiches alike. That's because avocados are rich with oleic acid, a healthy fat that helps to lower the bad cholesterol and raise the good. The problem, however, is that guacamole imposters are hiding in ever cooler in the country. This one from T. Marzetti is made up mostly of oil and sour cream.
Eat This Instead!
Wholly Guacamole Classic (2 Tbsp, 30 g)
50 calories
4 g fat (0.5 g saturated)
75 mg sodium
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FOLLOW DAVE ZINCZENKO ON TWITTER and get FREE live-better secrets every day!
Sign up for the free Eat This, Not That! newsletter.
Check out these cutting-edge guides to fast and easy weight loss, the brand-new Men’s Health Big Book of Exercises and Women’s Health Big Book of Exercises.

Lessons from The Biggest Loser

By Emily Gilly

This week I watched a recent episode of The Biggest Loser.

What I saw was shocking. Read the full article here.

Bella Braised Chicken Recipe

1 tbsp unsalted margarine
2 medium onions chopped
2 stalks celery diced
1 carrot diced
2 cloves garlic minced
3 tbsp flour
¼ tsp ground pepper
Six 4oz boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 tbsp olive oil
One 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
½ cup dry white wine
2 tbsp minced parsley
1 tsp dried thyme


Click here for recipe directions...

Stretching: the Truth

By Lisa Ann Smith
Via Women's Health Magazine

Stretching is like backing up your PC: You know you should do it, but it's easy to blow off. Besides, you never really learned how. Stretch before you sweat? After? Are a couple of toe touches enough? If you're anything like us, you're so confused you may not bother stretching at all.

But that kind of play-and-pray strategy is risky. Unlike your computer, your body doesn't auto-save. You risk losing your range of motion and stability if you skip out on stretching. So we asked experts to analyze the research and give us the real deal.

What we learned: There are three key kinds of stretching. Combine them strategically (yet simply) and you'll prepare your muscles to expand and contract quickly so you can finesse your way around the field, up your flexibility, and promote healing between workouts.

Benefits of Morning Exercise

There are some real benefits to morning exercise. There is just something about starting your day off with a good fitness routine that can really set a good pace for the day...

Click here to learn more about the top three benefits of morning exercise.

How to do a Dead Lift

What to Do if You Plateau

Interesting Comparison between a 250 lb Woman and a 120 lb woman

This is an amazing thermal comparison of a 250 lb woman and 120 lb woman and what that extra weight does to the muscloskeletal and visceral system.
Having no medical education, you should still be able to see, just by comparison, what 100+ pounds does to the body.

New Years Resolution Guidelines by Charles Poliquin

Click here to read the full article...