• Cajun Turkey Jerky
• Cranberry Turkey Jerky
  

As a competitive cyclist, I am around athletes all the time. It's amazing to me what some of them eat, drink and fuel their bodies with before, during and after races. The myth of 'carb loading' is still there, as well as attempting to fuel with sugary, chemical-laden substances before and during and after races. Does it work? Well no, not really.

What do you eat to fuel your body properly for athletic performance? It's probably not what you think. Athletes and weekend warriors alike seem to always be looking for the latest powders, drink mixes, energy bars, supplements, gels, etc. to give themselves the 'edge' in competition.

We spend millions of dollars on 'energy' drinks and 'energy' bars each year. While food manufacturers would like you to believe there are all kinds of performance-related nutrients in these things, it all really boils down to two ingredients: sugar and caffeine. The rest of it is chemicals, chemically processed, and virtually useless ingredients as well as empty calories.

Fueling your body with sugar and caffeine eventually leads to a decline in energy, not an increase. Sugar starts with a quick high, but it is followed by plummeting energy levels. So, over the long run, any type of sugar used as a fuel will deplete you of energy. In fact, any kinesiologist or chiropractor will show you how sugar dramatically reduces strength.

So where should an athlete get energy to fuel the fires to compete?

For any event lasting longer than a half hour, energy is going to have to come from a better source. Eating simple carbs like sugar, honey, corn syrup-even processed white flour as in pasta, bread, cookies, doughnuts, etc. before an event will cause a spike in blood sugar followed by a fall and loss of energy. Simple carbs and even excessive complex carbs cause sluggishness and will hamper athletic performance in the long run.

Although many athletes still follow the 'carb-loading' principle, burning any type of sugar (carbs turn to sugar in the body) is not what the body needs over the long haul of an event. Controlling the blood sugar and insulin is actually key to athletic performance. When insulin levels are under control, the body will be more likely to burn fat for energy. This is called 'thermogenesis' and any elite athlete has a body that is highly capable of this.

Why do we want to burn fat for energy?

Read More...
 
Check out foods that can help you burn fat in The Fat Burning Kitchen; Your 24-hour Diet Transformation to Make Your Body A Fat Burning Machine.  Catherine and best-selling internet author of The Truth About Abs Mike Geary, have teamed up to help you burn fat effectively and eat the most nutrition-packed foods in the process. Change your kitchen and transform your body!

 

 

By: Al Sears, MD

 

Dear Reader,

Omega-3s may determine how long you'll live - and it's not just because they're good for your heart.
Omega-3s may now have a profound effect on anti-aging by slowing down the shortening of telomeres.

What are telomeres? They're protective tips that cap the ends of your DNA. Each time your cells divide, your telomeres get shorter. When your telomeres run down, cell division stops, and your life ends.

While this may sound like a clip from a science fiction movie, it's real. And it's about to change the world of medicine. Everything you've been told about aging is about to be transformed by this new science. You may not have heard about this new breakthrough yet. That doesn't surprise me.

Organized forces in the mainstream media and established medical community don't want you to know about this. Even though the Nobel Prize was awarded last year for telomere research, the importance of this life-changing discovery has been ignored.

In fact, they say anti-aging is impossible.

But the truth is it's now possible to slow down the shortening of your telomeres. I just read about it in a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association(JAMA), which confirmed the connection with Omega-3s.(1)

Just because you may not be hearing about this on the evening news, don't let that stop you from taking advantage of this important scientific breakthrough.

You already know the many benefits of Omega-3s. Now it's possible for you to add years to your life, simply by doing something you already believe in. It doesn't get much better than that.

Here are three steps you can take to bulk-up on Omega-3s right now:

Step 1: Eat fresh fish three or four times a week. I recommend coldwater, high-fat variety fish like:

• Albacore tuna
• Mackerel 
• Salmon 
• Sardines
• Lake trout 
• Swordfish 
• Herring
  

Step 2: Eat more raw nutsand seeds. For many years, nuts have gotten a bad rap for being high in fat. But in reality, nuts are a great source of Omega-3 and other life-enhancing nutrients. Here are some of my favorites:

• Flaxseeds and flaxseed oil
• Soybeans and soybean oil 
• Walnuts 
• Brazil nuts 
• Almonds
• Hemp seeds 
• Pumpkin seeds
  

Step 3: Take 3 to 5 grams of Omega-3 fish oila day. I recommend my formulation of Peruvian fish oil that packs two to three times the Omega-3s you find in leading brands, and five times more Omega-3s than a can of tuna - without the mercury. These oils can help you:

• Strengthen your heart and blood vessels
• Maintain blood pressure levels that are already within the normal range 
• Help support joint and muscle health 
• Keep your triglycerides (blood fat) in the safe range
• Sustain healthy HDL (good cholesterol) levels 
• Boost your memory and brainpower 
• Protect your blood vessels and nerves
  

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

Jane,

The excessive steady state cardio is teaching the body to store fat in many ways.  Without getting into a long scientific explanation - a combination of factors I can identify are increasing your fat storage hormones which also have a negative impact on metabolism.  Each year I have dozens of new female clients come my way in the same situation as you and correcting the problems involves a change in strategy.  Without the right changes you can expect matters to get much worse.

In most cases I can help female clients lose at least 10-15 lbs of body fat in the first 6-8 weeks and some times more pending the starting body fat percentage and degree of dedication.  Furthermore the dramatic improvements in daily energy, mood, and confidence I see amongst clients are something that is harder to put into a statistic, but these elements are the key to long term success.  The better you feel the more likely you are to make good decisions with exercise and food choices.


Yes, weight training will provide tremendous fat burning benefits.  Most women do not scratch the surface of their potential because they do not properly implement a weight training program.  It is not just about breaking a sweat and burning some calories, weight training in the right way will escalate fat burning hormones through the roof!  My customized consult clients earn progress very quickly with simple routines appropriate for their needs and skill level.  Building a strong base is important using proper form and program structures.  Over time the intensity increases as needed to bring on the results.


Interval sprints are far more effective for fat loss in comparison to steady state cardio while taking less time!  Intervals can be implemented in many ways just like weight training routines.  While running is one mode of doing sprints, stationary bikes, elliptical trainers, stair climbers, jump ropes etc are also very productive.  Drop me an email - scott@infinityfitness.com and I will send you the 10 minute fat loss interval routine so you can experience great success!


I am guessing that you are making use of a low calorie diet for an extended period of time and this is another reason why progress has ground to a halt.  Over time the low food intake will stall metabolism without the correct refinements.  My clients in the same situation as you have earned great success eating the correct food choices in proper proportions helping to accelerate metabolism allowing fat loss progress to be both rapid and permanent. A macronutrient cycling plan is perfectly timed for a situation like yours to break metabolic sluggishness, increase fat burning enzymes and to optimize other fat burning elements.  Please email scott@infinityfitness.com for your complimentary copy of Macronutrient Cycling Rapid Fat Loss Plan. 
       ______________________________________

Hi, I am Scott Mendelson, and I am here to help deliver solutions to all of your exercise challenges in 2010 and beyond! "My goal is to not only reach more people in 2010, but help them get to their goals in the fastest possible time frame using the best techniques for their unique needs." 

John,

We will will be trying the pot roast for the first time tonight. Already a big fan of the slow-roasted shredded beef.

In fact, if you ever stop making the shredded beef or the sugar-free beef franks (my husband's absolute favorite,) I don't know what I'd do! These are truly the greatest hot dogs we've ever had and my husband prefers them to any other meal!
 
Thanks,
 
D.C.
Pomona, CA

Farm photos on a late April evening in Northeast Missouri.