Fast Fat Loss For Life

Ladies do you struggle to find time to exercise?

Ladies I know you struggle to find time to exercise and today I want to show you how 2 workouts will melt body fat and develop sexy muscle tone in only 3 short workouts per week.

No Time!

Now the key to an effective muscle toning workout is to exercise as many muscles as you can. You have probably heard of circuit training yeah?

I think I can hear a few of you saying “James I don’t want to get bulky and muscly” and ladies I promise you, you wont.

Another key to having an effective workout is high intensity interval training, sometimes knows as HIIT for short.Have you ever spent time on a boring treadmill or exercise bike? Well I don’t want you to ever spend time doing boring cardio training again.

Let me walk you through 2 super fast and results effective workouts that you can do anywhere.

This post fits perfect for the below circuit training workouts so be sure to have a look. Now keep reading

Everybody wants to be able to exercise as effective as possible right? Nobody wants to be hitting the gym and not getting optimal results.

Now this is always a big concern with new clients that approach me. They’ve been exercising for x amount of time and are not seeing the results they thought they would and are worried that they are not doing the right things.

Time is always an issue and I find that most people have already set aside an amount of time they can train per week and can’t afford to train for any longer or more frequent.

Have you heard of circuit training or high intensity interval training? That’s ok if you haven’t.

The one thing that these two workouts have in common and the reason why they work so nicely together is that they are designed for your body to be pushed to a limit that you have trouble sustaining for a lengthy period of time but then give you a rest to recover.

Work hard then rest. These workouts are so effective because you work your entire body and boost your metabolism, so you’re burning fatty calories while you’re at rest. Awesome!

So this is more effective than a 30min session on the treadmill where you will burn minimal calories and do so only while you are on the working.

A study in the Journal of Applied Physiology and conducted by a team at Canada’s University of Guelph found that just two weeks of alternate-day interval training increased moderately active 22-year old women’s fat burning ability by 36%.

Below I’ve given you an time effective, fat melting, muscle toning workout you can do today and the greatest part of this workout is you do not need to go to the gym.

This workout can be completed in your living room, your backyard, even the park. Just make sure you have an even ground and lots of space.

Circuit Training Workout (30 – 40min)

Equipment Needed: 2 x Dumbbell (DB) – 6 or 8kg

Warm Up (5min)

EXERCISE	REPS OR TIME
Skipping or jogging on the spot	1min
Bodyweight Squats	10 Reps
Kneeling Push Ups	10 5 – 8 Reps
Star Jumps	15

1 minute rest between your warm up and your workout.

Workout (25 – 30min)

EXERCISE	REPS OR TIME
DB Squats	22 Reps
Standing DB Shoulder Press	16 Reps
DB Lunges	11 Reps (each side)
Kneeling Tricep Push Ups	12 Reps
Standing DB Bicep Curls	15 Reps
DB Bent Over Row	20 Reps
Prone Hold	30sec – 90sec

Repeat 2 – 4 times depending on your level of fitness and strength with 60 – 90 sec rest in between circuits. Be sure to sip on water in your rest period.

Cool Down (5min)

COOL DOWN	TIME
Slow Walk	2 Min
Hamstring Stretch	45 Sec (each leg)
Chest Stretch	45 Sec
Hip Flexor Stretch	45 Sec (each leg)
Shoulder Stretch	45 Sec

I don’t want you to think that you will get big and bulky from this workout.

As a woman, your body does not produce enough testosterone to build big muscles so please don’t worry about it. This workout is designed to tone and sculpt your body, not build muscle.

High Intensity Interval Training (20-30min)

Don’t be worried about the heading, what this means is that the workout revolves around you pushing your

High Intensity Interval Training

cardio vascular limits for a short period of time then resting. See, I told you its nothing to worry about.

These kinds of workouts can be done at the gym on either an exercise bike, cross trainer or treadmill but I recommend getting outside.

Your body works much harder when jogging outside as apposed to the treadmill. If you think about it the treadmill actually helps you run but jogging outside, the momentum you have built is 100% by you.

Grab your jogging shoes and come on out in the fresh air. High intensity interval training can be done my time or by distance but this workout is by distance using a 400m running track.

Warm Up (7min)

Exercise/Stretch	Time
Jog on the spot	1min
Hip Flexor Stretch	45sec (each leg)
Hamstring Stretch	45sec (each leg)
Quad Stretch	45sec (each leg)
Calf Stretch	45sec (each leg)

Workout (15min)

Jog at a comfortable/easy pace for 400m
Run at 80% of your max speed for 100m

Repeat 4-5 times.

Cool down (7min)

COOL DOWN	TIME
Slow Walk	2 Min
Hamstring Stretch	45 Sec (each leg)
Quad Stretch	45 Sec (each leg)
Hip Flexor Stretch	45 Sec (each leg)
Calf Stretch	45 Sec (each leg)

Set aside 3 sessions per week for no longer than 40min, alternate between workouts and I promise you’ll be seeing results in 3 – 4 weeks.

Of course a healthy balanced diet is an essential component of losing weight and developing muscle tone. Make sure that you’re eating well 6 days per week and treat yourself on the 7^th.

Ladies I hope you enjoyed this post as much I enjoyed writing. Time is a massive issue for everyone and usually the exercise is the first thing to go so I do hope these workouts help.

I also recently wrote a post on 3 secrets for women and circuit training. I think you may like.

Yours in health,

James Ramage

P.S – Gents if you’ve just read this post and you’ve only now just realised it was meant for ladies then don’t worry, i have something for you. Circuit Training for Men. Let me know what you think.

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Circuit Training for Men

Circuit training for men. Really? Yep circuit training is not only for the elderly and members of Curves but for anyone serious about shedding fat and building lean muscle.

Circuit Training For Men

So let me first off ask the question, “how is circuit training for men better than cardio and weight training?”

Well thats a good question and you first have to establish what you want to achieve. Is it a bodybuilding type of body that your after or after you a lean muscular body?

If you want the lean muscular body then you’ve ticked the right box and circuit training is for you.

Circuit Training For Men

Miriam Nelson, the director of Professor John hancock Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition at Tufts Univerity states that yes heavy weight training will lift your metabolism but the combination of several exercises performed with little rest is much more effective to developing the lean muscular body of an athlete or a gymnast.

Due to the minimal amount of rest when you’re doing a circuit your heart spends its time being elevated.

Very similar to the HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) method of training where your cardio workouts are based around short burst of energy where the benefits are you’re going to shed body fat.

I recently wrote a post titled Burn Belly Fat with HIIT. Its a good read and explains in more detail the benefits of high intensity workouts.

So what makes a great circuit training workout?

Well iv prepared one for you below. Oh yea, one other great thing about circuit training for men is that, gents you don’t need a gym membership to do this. The below circuit is one you can do at home or the park with only minimal equipment.

So grab your skipping rope and swiss ball and my most favourite piece of equipment, the kettlebell.

Skip or jog on the spot for 1 minute
10 Bodyweight Squats
10 Push Ups
15 Star Jumps

Repeat twice with no rest

Rest 1 minute

10 Goblet Squats
10 Mountain Climber (10 Each Leg)
10 Swiss ball Jack Knives
10 Close Grip Push Ups
10 Prisoner Lunges (10 Each Leg)
10 Kettlebell Swings

Repeat with no more that 30sec rest but complete only 9 reps of each exercises. When thats done again rest for no more than 30sec and complete 8 reps. Work your way down to zero.

When it comes to circuit training for men the above workout is suited towards the intermediate to advanced

Circuit Training For Men

fitness level.

Several industry pioneers have stated that to get the most out of your exercise is to always change up your workout or routine as much as you can. The beauty of circuit training is that you can always vary your workout.

I recently did some research amongst you guys and i narrowed down 20 circuit training exercises that are most effective to achieving your ultimate body goals. Click the highlighted link and that will take you to the top 20 plus show you a short instructional video on each exercise.

As i mentioned in the beginning circuit training is better of for men who are wanting the lean muscular body. Bodybuilders need to stick with heavy lifting with ample rest as there goal is to build large mass and size. Once a bodybuilder has achieved size then circuit training workouts are an option to help lean down.

Circuit training for men highly recommend and a workout that i never fail to do not matter what my week is like.

To a kick ass circuit workout,

James Ramage

P.S – Gents if you enjoyed this post then i know you’ll love the Burn Fat Faster – MEN ONLY edition.

P.P.S – Have you ‘Liked’ the FastFatLoss4Life Facebook page? Click that link to stay up to date with all our awesome posts.

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Eat Carbs, Lose Fat and Build Your Ideal Physique

Ladies and gents, today we are very lucky to have the super knowledgable Mr Craig Leonard as our guest blogger. Craig is the owner of the very well read blog www.rippedout.com

Make sure to read all the way to the bottom so you don’t miss out on the juicy bits.

Enjoy.

Carbohydrates will make you fat, right? Wrong! Carbohydrates consumed in excess and/or at the wrong times

Carbohydrates

will make you fat.

People kill themselves following boring diets containing little or no carbs, avoiding them like the plague, because they think they’ll get fat if they eat a cup of rice, a baked potato, or a piece of their favorite fruit.

If this describes you, I have good news…

You absolutely can enjoy some great tasting carbohydrate options when working on reducing body fat. In fact there are certain benefits of doing so, as I’ll discuss a little later on in this post.

Before I can adequately explain the proper role of different carbohydrates, and how to use them to your muscle building and fat loss advantage, you’ll need to have a basic understanding of how consumed carbohydrates are used once inside the body.

Carbohydrates and Their Effect on the Body

I’ll do my best to not make this too boring, but the next several paragraphs are going to be somewhat technical, so try to bear with me

After consumption, the body immediately begins breaking down carbohydrates.

This process begins as soon as the saliva in the mouth comes in contact with consumed carbohydrates and continues as they progress through the digestive system.

As carbohydrates are broken down they’re turned into glucose. Glucose is the simplest form of energy and is the easiest for the body to oxidize and use to fuel the body’s immediate energy needs. As such, it’s the body’s primary source of energy.

Glucose

When the body detects that glucose is present in the blood (e.g. blood sugar) the pancreas responds by releasing insulin.

Insulin forces the sugar in the blood to be transferred and stored in the liver, muscle tissues and fat cells in the form of glycogen.

Glycogen stored in the body’s muscle tissue has several benefits. Most notably, it’s used to fuel intense physical activity, such as exercise.

It also helps to prevent the catabolic breakdown of muscle tissue that occurs when intense physical activity is performed without an adequate amount of stored glycogen present in the muscles of the body.

This is why diets that restrict carbohydrates for prolonged periods of time actually result in a decrease in muscle mass, which is always undesirable.

Muscle mass reductions can wreak havoc on the metabolism, cause losses in strength and functional ability, and is less than desirable for anyone concerned with building the ideal physical appearance.

The Two Types of Carbohydrates Explained

There are two types of carbohydrates that each cause slightly different reactions once ingested in the body:

Simple Carbohydrates
Complex Carbohydrates

Simple carbohydrates are those that have an un-branched molecular structure, which is where they get their name. I realize this doesn’t mean much to the average person, so let me put it into terms that are easier to understand…

Simple Carbs

Simple carbohydrates are those that consist of sugars. Examples include fruits, juices, honey and dairy. Simple carbohydrates are quickly broken down in the body and cause a rapid rise in blood sugar.

Simple carbohydrates are great for supplying the body with a quick shot of energy before and after performing physical activity, but should be mostly avoided at any other time than these (more on this in a moment).

Complex carbohydrates have a branched molecular structure and are much more difficult for the body to break down.

It is for this reason that complex carbohydrates provide a slower rise in blood sugar, which takes place over a longer duration of time than simple carbohydrates.

This is why complex carbohydrates are the ideal type of carbohydrate to consume with meals that do not precede or follow intense physical activity.

However, there is one caveat… Starches can actually be broken down and absorbed quickly, so they are actually best timed before or after physical activity like simple carbs.

Sorry, but there’s always an exception for every rule.

Examples of complex carbohydrates include breads, pastas, grains, starches and rice.

Now that we’ve gotten the boring scientific sounding stuff out of the way, let’s get into the actionable information and go over how to time and track your carbohydrate consumption when focusing on fat loss.

How to Properly Time Your Carbohydrates

As I’ve already alluded to, diets that restrict carbohydrates to significant degrees will eventually lead to muscle

Complex Carbs

atrophy.

So, while low carb diets are an effective way to lose body fat in the short term, they shouldn’t be considered by anyone looking for a viable long-term fat loss solution, or those concerned with maintaining their hard earned muscle mass while cutting fat.

A more realistic and healthy fat loss option is to integrate carbs into your daily meal planning, but to be intentional about timing them in a manner that’s conducive to fat loss.

Now I’ll break down when you want to consume the different types of carbohydrates and why you should structure your carb consumption in this manner.

Even though simple carbs provide a rapid rise in blood sugar, consuming them within an hour or two before exercising won’t lead to gains in body fat.

Since your body will have an immediate need for this sugar energy as fuel for your workout the majority of the sugar will be sent to your muscle tissue, not the liver and fat cells.

After you exercise, assuming you’ve exerted at least a moderate level of intensity, your muscle’s glycogen reserves will be mostly depleted and in need of replenishment.

Including mostly simple carbohydrates with your post-workout meal will quickly build back the glycogen in your muscles.

This will serve to prevent muscle loss and also aid in the growth and recovery process as your body sends nutrient rich blood to your stimulated muscles.

And since your muscles will have an immediate need for storing this sugar energy as glycogen you won’t need to worry about it being stored in the form of fat.

Muscle Growth

Now that we’ve covered the right way to time simple carbohydrate consumption, it’s time to break down the complex carbohydrate side of things…

Because complex carbs are digested much more slowly than simple carbs, and provide a relatively slow rise in blood sugar, they should be consumed at all other times throughout the day (i.e. other than before and after your workouts).

The slow digesting attribute of complex carbs serves to keep the body’s glycogen levels from falling too low throughout the day without causing the kind of magnitude in blood sugar spike, and corresponding insulin release, that’ll cause gains in body fat.

Again, this is only true as long as complex carbs aren’t eaten in excess. If you pound back a high number of complex carbs in a given meal it will cause extreme spikes in blood sugar that can last for hours.

This is a horrible scenario for anyone concerned with reducing body fat that you’ll obviously want to avoid.

Don’t worry if you’re still a little confused with how to time your carbs for fat loss. I’ll provide you with a sample daily meal plan in just a moment. First, I want to explain an extremely important aspect of any fat loss nutrition plan.

Tracking Your Calories and Carbohydrate Consumption

As with any fat loss diet plan, tracking the number of calories you’re consuming each day will be fairly important. You don’t have to know what you’re eating to the exact calorie, but you’ll want to know within a hundred or two each day.

As a general rule, to determine the number of calories you should be consuming each day to reach your goal weight you should simply multiply your goal weight in pounds by 0.6 and multiply this number by 24.

So, if you’re a woman who desires to weigh 130lbs, your daily caloric intake would be calculated as follows:

(130) x (0.6) x (24) = 1,872 Daily Calories

Bear in mind that this is a generic way of calculating a person’s daily caloric needs. There are several factors that will affect the true number of calories needed by each individual person to reach their goal weight.

So, you can use this calculation as a starting point, but will need to decrease this number as necessary if your weekly fat loss stops.

In order to simplify things I usually advise my clients to consume one gram of protein for every pound of their goal weight and then consume their remaining calories using carbohydrates and healthy fats from sources like olive oil, fish oils, nuts and legumes.

Using the example above, a woman desiring to weigh 130lbs will always consume 130g of protein per day.

If she were to decide that she needed to reduce her daily caloric intake from the 1,872 starting point, she would simply reduce her carbs and fat, while leaving her protein intake at 130g per day to get to her reduced daily caloric allowance.

Example Daily Meal Plan

Now that I’ve hopefully done a great job of breaking everything down for you I want to wrap things up by giving you a sample meal plan just to make sure there isn’t any confusion with how your meals should be structured in order to consistently cut fat while eating carbohydrates with each meal throughout the day.

Meal 1

Eggs and Lightly Buttered Whole Wheat Toast (Complex Carb)

Meal 2

Grilled or Baked Chicken Breast and Pasta Noodles (Complex Carb) with Olive Oil

Meal 3

Grilled or Baked Salmon, Steamed Broccoli (Low Volume Complex Carb) and a Side of Almonds

Pre-Workout Meal

Sirloin Steak and Grape Juice (Simple Carb)

Post-Workout Meal

Whey Protein Shake, Baked Potato (Starchy Carb) and Banana (Simple Carb)

I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling hungry

Carbohydrates aren’t just healthy, but can also provide some great tasting meal options as well. I’ve followed low carb diets in the past and they’re an absolute drab!

I would find myself constantly craving fruits, breads and other foods that were considered off limits.

I hope that after reading this you realize there’s a better way to reach your fat loss goals without depriving yourself of some of your favorite foods.

By properly timing your carbs and keeping your calories consistent with your goals you no longer have to worry that eating a piece of bread is going to make you fat.

Carbs are not the enemy of fat loss. In fact, when properly integrated they can be an extremely effective tool for quickly lose body fat without sacrificing muscle mass and decimating your energy levels.

Craig is a certified nutritionist, personal trainer and author of Ripped Out – The Ultimate Guide for Getting Ripped. He has a passion for helping others transform their physiques through expert instruction

Craig Leonard

and inspiration. For more inspirational articles to help you reach your fitness goals you’ll want to check out his blog at RippedOut.com.

Thanks so much Craig, that was fantastic. Ladies and gents if we’re super nice to Craig he just may pop by again.

As always, please leave comment below or you can contact me on fastfatloss4life@gmail.com

Yours in Health,

James Ramage

P.S – Now i now you enjoyed this so i sure you would also like Boost Metabolism & Burn Fat – The 10 Commandments.

P.P.S – Actually while you’re at it check out my post workout meal smoothie recipes and the 38 super foods that burn belly fat

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The NEWEST Exercise Craze Part 2

Can you believe there are more to add to the newest exercise craze list? If you’re a little out of the loop here let me get you up to speed. last week i posted a pretty funny article on some crazy workouts that people actually really do.

Today I’ve found a few more for you to have a giggle over but 2 of these will hit the hip pocket a little more than a frisbee or a hula hoop.

Cocooning

Newest Exercise Craze

It resembles those 80′s sci-fi movies funnily enough called Cocoon. Remember them? Cocooning is you suspended in the air, inverted, floating and really just chillin out.

It was invented by professional gymnast Christopher Harrison, who wanted to develop an exercise routine which was beneficial for the body as well as the mind.

To do this newest exercise craze you will need a hammock which is connected to a chain or something to keep you upside down, but of coarse safe from falling. You perform exercise with such names as inverted sit-ups and side-ups.

But all in all its a form of balancing traditional workouts with some trapeze sort of suspension which supposedly compliments the daily usual workout but in a Zen sort of way. Confused? I am.

Spelunking

I have a friend in the Appalachians of the U.S. that “Spelunk” every weekend and he’s in pretty good shape.

Newest Exercise Craze

“Spelunking” is a fancy name for cave exploring.

Known as Potholing or Cave climbing in the U.K and Ireland. The exploration can be really high tech with ropes and pulleys and with all the cool climbing gear.

If you don’t like closed spaces, terrifying heights and dark, damp environments I would probably stay away from this newest exercise craze.

Zumba

Well i don’t know if Zumba is the newest exercise craze but its certainly a craze. There are 12 million people taking weekly Zumba classes in over 110,000 locations across more than 125 countries! Wow! Still it’s comparatively new compared to the more traditional forms of exercise.

Newest Exercise Craze

Zumba is a Latin dance-inspired fitness program created by dancer and choreographer Alberto “Beto” Perez in Colombia during the 1990s. Zumba involves dance and aerobic elements. Zumba’s choreography incorporates hip-hop, soca, samba, salsa, merengue, mambo, martial arts, and some Bollywood and belly dance moves. Plus some squats and lunges.

Zumba is made up of 8 different workouts. What you need to get started is an instructor and a class and i believe you can also buy a DVD to do at home but for motivation purposes i recommend finding a local class.

Last one on the newest exercise craze list and ladies its for you. Its called Gyrotonics.

Gyrotonics

Juliu Horvath created Gyrotonicsequipment and exercises after many years of intense study and self

Newest Exercise Craze

exploration. This unique method offers the same benefits you get by practicing yoga, doing dance, performing gymnastics, going swimming and tai chi.

Breathing and freedom of movement are emphasized in this newest exercise craze, and judging from the increasing market, its quite a hit.

The only downfall is that you have to have access or own the designed Gyrotonic Expansion System. I don’t know how much it costs but I’m guessing its more than a 16kg kettlebell and swiss ball.

Hope you enjoyed these last 2 posts and i hope it gave you a little a giggle with a few of them.

If you know of another one to add to the newest exercise craze list then drop me a line at fastfatloss4life@gmail.com

To Spelunking & Good Health,

James

P.S – Click the link and check out a recent post of mine Boost Metabolism and Burn Fat - The Diet 10 Commandments. Iv had a massive response and would love to hear your thoughts.

P.P.S – Have you heard of HIIT workout? No? Well check out this super effective workout that guarantees to burn belly fat

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The Newest Exercise Craze

Well i was surfing the web over the weekend and i stumbled across some crazy ass newest exercise craze workouts that people actually really do.

I couldn’t believe how many are out there. After i had a little laugh i thought id put together some of my favourites so you could have a laugh too.

Let me know what you think.

Hula Hoop Workouts

Hula hoops for working out? Absolutely! Massive in the 70′s or hang on was it the 60′s? Anyway a recent study by the ACE (American Council of Exercise) found that 30 minutes of hula hooping was just as intense a workout as a bootcamp class or cardio kickboxing.

Newest Exercise Craze

Can you believe that? When was the last time you tried hula hooping?

If you got kids, you may even have one stashed away somewhere at the back of the shed, if not you can find them at Toy World or the discount shops like the Reject Shop or Sam’s Warehouse for a couple of bucks.

Next time you see a personal trainer taking a bootcamp in the local park sneak over and give them the hula hoop hot tip.

Circuit Frisbee

Ok so everyone has a frisbee, I think I’ve got 3! Also found in toy and discount shops for only a few bucks. The best models weigh 181 grams or above. Anything lighter kind of does its own thing when up in the air.

The exercise benefits to this newest craze is that your always moving. Usually either jogging or sprinting so its a form of HIIT training.

If your throwing the frisbee at the beach then thats an entire different workout and much harder than on grass or pavement.

You may have heard of Ultimate Frisbee? Thats a team sport of 7 and its played like touch footy, so its non-contact and the aim of the game is to get over the try line with frisbee in hand. There’s also frisbee soccer and frisbee golf and its played exactly like you imagine.

More of a bit of fun than workout but its better than sitting on your backside wishing you where more active.

Mov/Nat – UK Monkey Emulation

This newest exercise craze, developed by Erwan Le Corre has people getting back to their crazy primal roots. The Mov/Nat is all about crawling, running, jumping, climbing, hanging and dangling. This crazy ass workout is actually growing in popularity in the Emerald Isles. Maybe they don’t have TV or Internet there?

Imagination is key with this workout. Have you heard of Barstarzz? Its a group of extremely fit and unusually strong people that workout out in parks all around the U.S.A.

Anyway just thought of it as its similar but in my opinion much cooler than Mov/Nat.

The whole philosophy of this workout is to enjoy movement for movement’s sake, while not being so OCD about getting killer abs, calorie counting and beach bodies.

Check out a few of my favourite bodyweight outdoor workouts.

Laughter Yoga

Newest Exercise Craze

Well this may be the most bizarre newest exercise craze just yet. Apparently laughing not only burns calories but tightens ab muscles, and we already new that laughing reduces stress.

This newest exercise craze is being spear-headed by a laughter professional Dal Kular………..yep i said a laughter professional based in Sheffield, UK. Dal is actually gaining some welcome admirers in her “workout” sessions, from such places as The University of Sheffield.

The university invites her to bring her sessions to the students for stress relief, light exercise, and to develop a sense of balance.

Participants claim that it will change your life. Dal Kular says “Laugh on the toilet, or laugh in the shower. Just laugh anywhere you want. It’s life changing”

Well i s’pose you can’t knock ‘em until you try them can you?

Believe it or not iv found a few that makes the newest exercise craze list and In part 2 ill cover some of the more expensive crazy workouts out there.

To laughing on the toilet,

James

P.S – Do you know the benefits of circuit training? Check the top 20 circuit training exercises.

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Boost Metabolism and Burn Fat – The Diet 10 Commandments

Boost Metabolism and Burn Fat

Boost metabolism and burn fat. Keep your metabolism ticking over at a higher rate, thats your aim.

Recently we’ve been talking about pre workout meals and post workout meals, as well as some of the best workout snacks out there. So today I’m going to use a little of what you already know and combine it together with a few other game changing hot tips.

Below are my 10 Commandments to boost metabolism and burn fat! That sounds awesome doesn’t it? Maybe a little over the top? haha

1. Eat smaller, more frequent meals – By doing this you’re creating a thermogenic effect inside your body and a sure fire way to boost metabolism and burn fat.

By combining lean protein with the correct types and most importantly, amounts of green leafy green vegetables (super foods), good carbs, and fats (almonds, dried fruits and nuts, bananas, etc.) you’ll shift gears into metabolism overdrive and turn your body into a 24/7 fat burning lean and mean muscle machine.

Ideally try and eat every 3 hrs.

2. Eat Breakfast – This IS the most important meal of the day, i know your mum or in my case my grandma would always remind me of this and she was right!

By eating a well balanced breakfast you kick start your day and your metabolism so if you’re one of those people that skip breaky you’ve got to change your mindset because as soon as you do you’ll boost metabolism and in turn burn fat at a high rate.

I’ve recently posted some awesome smoothie recipes in my pre work out meals that are perfect for breakfast on the run.

3. Don’t buy food or beverage temptations! - You know if you stash a case of VB’s in the fridge, chocolate cookies in the cupboard, ice-cream or a frozen pizza in the freeze –sooner or later, human as we are, you will indulge.

This is just common sense: how can you cheat if there is not temptation? Get rid of the temptations.

4. Eat to avoid being hungry, not because you are hungry – This ties back to the 1st commandment. You’ve got to keep in mind that if you eat when you’re starving the chances are that you’ll over eat, right? Look I’ll put my hand for this one and say that iv been guilty of this.

If you over eat you’re body becomes sluggish and simply just won’t operate at the level you need to keep your metabolism burning unwanted fat. You’ll also most likely find that you won’t eat for some time so again you’re breaking the 1st Commandment.

5. Meal Preparation – Just as you prep for a workout, prepare your weekly meals in advance. Ideally Sunday is best or the day before you start you’re week of work. As i always say, “fail to prepare then prepare to fail”.

Click the links at the beginning of this post and check out my smoothie plans for on the go meals.

You’ll find that your cutting out junk food that you grab on the run, we’re all guilty of this from time to time.

My 6 P’s applies here: Proper Planning Precludes Piss Poor Performance! Preparing your meals and snacks is just another tool you should be using in your battle to boost metabolism and burn fat.

6. Shop Wisely – So tying in with commandments 3 and 5 – this is one hot commandment – make plans for your visit to the supermarket. Sounds silly but i promise it actually really works.

Katie and i tend to stay in the fruit and produce section for most of the visit then we mozie (you know what cowboys do?) on over towards the nuts, then off to the yogurt section and we finish in the meats, fish and poultry section.

The middle aisles are usually packed with junk and fatty foods and we’ll be tempted if we go down there so we avoid these as best as we can.

7. Water, Water, Water – The best thing you can put in your body and a sure way to boost metabolism and burn fat.

Boost Metabolism and Burn Fat

By drinking the proper amounts of water you flush unwanted toxins out of your body. Did you know that your body is 80% water?

Now by keeping your body hydrated your muscles will repair much faster as opposed to if you where dehydrated and the more muscle you have in your body the faster your metabolism operates.

When trying to lose weight your body will only let you burn fat if it feels safe. Your body has a safety mechanism meaning that if your body feels threatened it shuts down. Your body must be well hydrated if you are to burn excess unwanted fat.

Your body thinks “hey you know I’m real thirsty and I’m lacking nutrients, I’m locking down and not letting anything go”

It’s also a medical fact that hydration imbalance increases your vulnerability and risk of disease.

8. Avoid Bad Sugars, at all Costs – No soft drinks (yes that goes for diet soft drink too), no crap energy shots or anything with a high fructose level (found in corn syrup). These will not boost your metabolism and burn fat but confuse your metabolism rate.

Healthy carbs cause the pancreas to produce insulin, which acts as a signal to the brain to stop you from feeling hungry. Pretty cool hey?

When you eat high fructose corn syrup however, the brain never gets this signal so you are more likely to overeat and then gain weight. The high fructose crap is extremely low in nutritional value and extremely high in calories. Just stay away, trust me.

9. Stay out of the “Sugar-Free” Trap – These foods are full of artificial ingredients. In other words toxins they’re toxins and should be avoided. Your body actually need good sugars found in fruit to boost metabolism and burn fat.

All the sugars you need can be found in most fruits and veggies

Boost Metabolism and Burn Fat

10. Omega 3′s – I once read that not having enough Omega 3′s in your diet was as bad as smoking is for you. After i read that i began to take notice of this essential fatty acid.

Omega 3′s regulate your body and similar to commandment 7 your body needs to feel balanced and have correct amount of nutrients for it work at high level.

Quality Omega 3′s can be found in fish but if you don’t eat enough fish and unless you’re an eskimo you probably don’t then your best option is in supplement form.

Be sure to get yourself a high quality supplement not the cheap crap they sell at Swiss.

Oh you’ll also find that your memory improves as essential fatty acids are a wonder drug for the brain box.

Well, that was Boost Metabolism and Burn Fat – The Diet 10 Commandments, let me know if you think i missed one.

Yours in Health,

James Ramage

Fitness Professional

P.S – Stay up to date and ‘Like’ the Fast Fat Loss 4 life Facebook page

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Best Workout Snacks

Welcome to Best Workout Snacks. I hope you get some great info and learn lots.

Best Workout Snacks

From some of your recent emails, I’ve found that a lot of you out there want to avoid foods that give you that comatose feeling of eating a big meal. It simply slows you down, right? You feel lethargic and in most cases tired.

I know it can be sometimes tempting to just smash a big feed and over indulge, get cosy and sleepy and fall asleep but gang its a bad idea.

As a nutritional alternative try snacking or eating smaller meals of the right foods (5 – 7 times a day), including my pre workout meal smoothies and of my never miss post workout meal smoothies.

Eating regularly throughout the day keeps your metabolism going and will turn your body into a 24/7 fat burning machine!

Click this link and read how to boost your metabolism with food.

Include healthy doses of water and caffeinated green tea and that will help boost your metabolism and keep you super-charged for your work outs.

Below are some of the best work out snacks which you kind peeps have sent through.

“I stock up on dried fruits and nuts from a local whole-earth grocer, that and a chocolate whey protein based smoothie keep me satisfied and motivated.” (circuit running and swimming)

–Monique F, San Francisco

“Whenever I feel a lull in my day and feeling of emptiness in my gut, and knowing I have circuit training coming up in an hour or two, I find that a banana and a handful of almonds, with a tall glass of water is exactly what I need to start doing reps.” (Circuit Weight Training)

–Bruce, Sydney

“I think that some of the best work out snacks are simple and light, small piece of salmon with spinach pineapple, and low fat cottage cheese, helps my stamina and endurance in my workout.” (aerobics and light weights)

–Sylvia T, Atlanta

“Apples and Low Fat Yogurt are the best work out snacks, for my training which requires at least a 2:1 carbs to protein ration, if not 3:1.” (High Intensity Interval Training – HIIT)

–Chris C, London

Chris brings up an interesting point about the carb to protein ratio, which I think needs some further discussion, especially in relation to the best work out snacks.

The research findings is complex and full of scientific talk which would baffle anyone, but the easy reading version is pretty simple and goes like this:

Depending on the intensity and duration of your workout, the best work out snacks would consist of at least a 2:1 ratio of carbs to protein.

14g protein, 27g carbs from

1 apple and 1 1/2 cups low-fat yogurt.

A 2:1 carbs-protein ratio is enough for a light to medium workout session, but you will need a 3:1 carbs-protein

Best Workout Snacks

ratio for a heavy workout session because the extra carbs are needed to help refuel your energy stores.

Keeping this in mind, the best workout snacks should consist of a combination of 15-30 grams of protein and 30-90 grams of carbs before and after your workout.

See my pre work out meals and post work out meals for smoothies which fit the bill in this department.

Yet here are a few other workout snack ideas;

Dried fruits and nuts
Oatmeal and Fruit
Fruit Salad with Almonds
Low Fat Yogurt and Fruit
Leafy Green Vegetables and small piece of lean meat or fish
English Muffin and Honey

Those are a just a few suggestions for the best work out snacks but take a couple of minutes to do your research, determine your carb-protein ratio which is best for you and keep geared up and at it.

Yours in health,

James Ramage

P.S – Please ‘Like’ our Fast Fat Loss 4 Life Facebook page

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Post Workout Meals – 3 Sensational Smoothie Recipes

Today i’m going to share with you 3 smoothie post workout meals.

Earlier this week I posted 3 kick ass pre workout meal smoothie recipes, all contain the vitamins and nutrients needed for a prefect workout preparation meal.

Post Workout Meals

Now if you thought pre workout was important for optimal gains and a speedy recovery post workout meals are of the high most importance.

Think Obama compared to the mayor of Ballarat. Now I’m actually from Ballarat and the major as a very important job but I’m just trying to get my point across, I hope that makes sense. Haha! (its really early)

Ok so let me get all scientist on you and explain the 7 R’s of Recovery

Try and keep hydrated throughout your workout but if you can’t for whatever reason then immediately afterwards Rehydrate as fast as you can. Ideally drink water and avoid any sort of marketed sugary workout drinks.

Your post work out meal is all about reduction: Reduce cortisol levels, Reduce muscle protein breakdown, Reduce muscle soreness and fatigue.

By doing that your body will be Revitalised and Rejuvenated.

Another aim is to Replenish muscle glycogen that was depleted during your workout and help Repair and build your muscles.

The primary goal of the ultimate post work out meal is to accomplish all the above so your body Recovers in the quickest time possible with the best muscle and definition gains.

Now some of the best foods and dishes for a proper post work out meal are:

Dried fruits and nuts, tuna and whole wheat crackers, whole grain cereal and skim milk, Salmon and a Salad,

Post Workout Meals

Egg White and Spinach Omelet, Chocolate Milk.

I bet you’re asking yourself, “chocolate milk? is that right?” I wrote a great post a few months back, check it out here Burn Belly Fat - Milk does What?

Just like the pre workout smoothie its all about the blender.

All the below ingredients serve 2, and the first 1 i had was when i visited the small island of Huatulco, Mexico. –Its exotic and sensual (not sexual), and packed with all the vitamins and minerals needed to look after the 7 R’s of post work out meals.

Enjoy.

MAI TAI VOLCANO

1/2 cup 1% milk

2 tablespoons low-fat plain yogurt

1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate

1/2 banana

1/4 cup strawberries

1/4 cup cubed ripe mango

2 teaspoons vanilla whey-protein powder

3 ice cubes

Nutritional Info

Calories	154
Carbs	31g
Protein	7g
Fat	2g
Saturated Fat	0.5g
Sodium	50mg
Fiber	2g

Im a sucker for chocolate and between you and me this is my favourite.

CHOCO-HAUL-IT

3/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese

3/4 cup 1% chocolate milk

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/2 banana

2 tablespoons low-fat vanilla yogurt

2 teaspoons ground flaxseed

2 teaspoons chocolate whey-protein powder

6 ice cubes

Nutritional Info

Calories	349
Carbs	30g
Protein	16g
Fat	18g
Saturated Fat	5g
Sodium	184mg
Fiber	3g

A friend of mine from over the ditch in New Zealand emailed me this crazy delicious kiwi fruit based smoothie. As a post work out meal it contains all the nutrients needed.

The Down Under and Over

1 cup 1% milk

2 tablespoons low-fat plain yogurt

1 medium peeled kiwifruit

1/2 cup strawberries

2 teaspoons vanilla whey-protein powder

3 ice cubes

Nutritional Info

Calories	110
Carbs	16g
Protein	8g
Fat	2g
Saturated Fat	1g
Sodium	83mg
Fiber	2g

What do you think? On paper or on computer screen that sound pretty good hey? Trust me they’re great. Now all the calorie info is included as you can see but team you don’t need to worry about counting calories with your post workout meal.

If you have a post workout meal recipe that you’d like to share then please leave it in the comment section below.

Yours in health,

James Ramage

P.S – If you enjoyed this post then I’m sure you’ll enjoy my post on Workout Nutrition. Let me know what you think.

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Pre Workout Meals – 3 Delicious Smoothies

Pre Workout Meal

As we all know, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Having breakfast gets our body ready for the day ahead.

For those getting and staying in shape pre work out meals prepare your body for workout ahead and are a must if you serious about getting results.

Getting your day started, you need something besides a cup of coffee to get cracking.

The primary goal of a pre work out meal is to reduce muscle glycogen depletion, reduce muscle protein breakdown, and reduce post workout cortisol levels.

Remember back to an earlier post where we spoke about pre and post work out meals and basically that they need to have a mixture of carbs and protein depending on your type of work-out.

The essential nutrients needed for a pre work out meal are found in:

Bananas, Fruits, Apples, Peaches, Pineapples

Yogurt, Oatmeal, Almonds, honey, flaxseed – among other foods

You can always grab a banana or a handful of almonds on the way to the gym, you know iv done this plenty of times before but If you want to cover all the bases, and being on the go, there is nothing more accommodating than my blender.

I love my blender!

With a tight schedule and always on the run I can concoct the perfect pre work out meal in less than 5 minutes by whipping up a smoothie which gives me all my nutrients.

For some more ideas on basic nutrients then click this link and read and the 13 foods that burn belly fat.

My 3 Favorite Smoothie Pre Work-Out Meals

These are my favorite pre work out meals, and the below ratios serve two.

Almond Joy

1/2 cup 1% milk

1/2 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt

1/4 cup sliced almonds

2 teaspoons chocolate whey-protein powder

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon ground flaxseed

6 ice cubes

Nutritional Info:

Calories	178
Carbs	18g
Protein	10g
Fat	8g
Saturated Fat	1.5g
Sodium	79mg
Fiber	2g

OJ on the Run

1 cup 1% milk

1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate

2 tablespoons low-fat plain yogurt

1 banana

2 teaspoons whey-protein powder

6 ice cubes

Nutritional Info

Calories	241
Carbs	48g
Protein	10g
Fat	2g
Saturated Fat	1g
Sodium	84mg
Fiber	2g

The Watermelon Man

1/4 cup 1% milk

3/4 cup ready-to-eat cubed seedless watermelon pieces

1/2 cup strawberries

1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt

2 teaspoons vanilla whey-protein powder

3 ice cubes

Nutritional Info

Calories 92

Carbs 13g

Protein 7g

Fat 2g

Saturated Fat 1g

Sodium 66mg

Fiber 1g

There ya have it, three awesome smoothies as an option which give you all the essentials for your pre

Pre Workout Meal

work out meals. Will give you a real kick start. I love em!

So you can see all the calories are listed above so there’s no reason you should be consuming extra calories. From the ingredients above you can find the proper mix of carbs and protein, and design your own pre workout meal depending on the type of workout you’re doing.

These smoothie pre work out meals not only cover all the bases, get ya up and moving, but are delish.

Stay tuned cos later this week ill be dropping some absolutely scrumptious smoothie post work out meals, to replenish and rejuvenate.

If you have a pre workout meal that you love then please leave a comment below.

James.

P.S – Like our Facebook page and keep up to date with all new posts ->

P.P.S – If you enjoyed this post then you’ll love this – Boost Your Metabolism with Food

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Jen in Real Life – Q & A

What a better way to learn about health, fitness, weight loss, personal journey and persistence then someone who has been there and experienced it.

You know its all well and good to get help and instruction but i believe its so much more powerful when its from someone who has been in the position of not being happy with their body and how they went about changing that around.

Recently i had the pleasure of meeting a lovely girl named Jen and she was more than happy to answer a few of my questions.

You can read the full interview below.

Hi Jen. Lets start with the basics can you tell us what do you do for a living and where you’re from?

I’m from chilly Melbourne and I currently work in admin and I am also starting my career in Personal Training.

So Jen thinking back to way before all your success when did you realise it was time to make a lifestyle change?

It was something that I had realized for a long time I just never knew HOW to go about changing my lifestyle..

Thats probably the No.1 reason why people don’t start this journey, they don’t know how! Now was there a “ Ah-ha” moment for you? If so can you tell us a little bit about it.

There were quite a few.. I had become very frustrated and depressed because of my weight and in turn I managed to chase away quite a few of my friends who basically let me have it and told me how difficult I had become and how I had changed for the worst.. Also, a series of rejection from a few guys also made me wake up to myself.

Ouch! That must have been terrible Jen. Tell me about your first step towards your new life? Do you remember your first workout?

My first step was when I had just moved in with my sister and I joined up at Goodlife Balwyn which is really close to my home. I immediately felt comfortable there and I started to workout 1-2 times a week just on the cardio equipment

Thats great that you felt so comfortable so quickly. A lot of people have trouble getting into that routine and usually need an extra dose of motivation.

In your own words can you tell us a little more about your weight loss journey and if you could start from your that “Ah-ha” moment you had until now.

Ok so I started off with my 1-2 sessions a week on the cardio equipment. Then I bit the bullet and tried a few classes.

Zumba was one of the first classes I tried and I loved it. Eventually I moved on from the cardio equipment and started to attend the classes. I had tried Body Attack, Body Combat, Body Pump and Pilates.

Once I started doing the classes I felt more confidence and also started making friends at the gym which also helped with motivation (and accountability!)

After I had lost 40kg (WOW!! – Jen thats amazing) I decided it was time for a personal trainer. He really pushed my limits and got me to try things I would have never imagined I would do. Such as a dead lift. He eventually moved on and my new trainer has been amazing.

I now leg press 235kg and am getting stronger every day. I have cut down on my cardio classes and my general routine consists of 2 PT sessions and a few cardio sessions and lunch time walks.

My favourite class of all time is my Groove class which has replaced Zumba. We get to dance around in a way that feels good so it’s become my fun weekly therapy and a nice break from all my “serious” exercising.

During this journey I had helped a lot of friends with their own weight loss journeys and found that I had exceptional motivational skills and thought ‘why don’t I become a Personal Trainer and help others achieve their goals just like how I’ve achieved my own’ so in October 2011 I started my course and am about to finish.

If anyone told me 2 years ago that I would have lost 60kg and was a qualified PT I would have laughed in their face.

Jen that story is so inspirational. Can you tell us What you found harder, the diet or the exercise?

Diet. For years I abused my body with addictive, salty, fatty, sugary foods. It took me most of my journey to get the food part right. And food is the most important part of weight loss. (80% Diet, 20% Exercise).

Last year I joined the Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation which really opened my eyes to how amazing healthy food can be. I didn’t feel like I was missing out AT ALL.

What’s the greatest part of your new lifestyle?

Being able to walk into ANY non Plus Size shop and try on the clothes there and they fit. I will admit, I was quite sad when the City Chic clothes became too big for me.. I quite like their style!

Did you have someone help you or support you along the way?

I did most of this on my own but last year I started dating someone who has lost 50kg and he has been very supportive. He’s been there himself and also my healthy lifestyle is helping him maintain his weight so we’re a good team. He also liked me when I was bigger and has supported me every step of the way.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone who has gone down a similar path you, what would it be?

Find something that is fun. Whether it’s Groove or any type of dance class, Combat, Martial Arts, Bike Riding, rock climbing etc. Just find something that interests you and GET MOVING!

What’s your favourite workout at the moment?

PT Sessions, Combat, MMAXFIT (MMA based) and TRX workouts.

Do you have favourite meal?

Anything from the Michelle Bridges crunchtime cookbook (Get this if you struggle with food or if you find healthy food ‘boring’) or her 12wbt program!

Ok so now that your super fit and healthy, tell us about a typical workout for you?

In my PT sessions we split it up into upper and lower body and super set 2 exercises per set. I attend Groove once a week and also try to get in an Attack or Combat class as well as a pilates/yoga class as well.

Jen could you walk us through a typical week for you including your diet, training and any planning you do.

I try to make big batches of food on Sunday so I don’t have to cook during the week as I am quite busy. I buy fresh veggies and fruit from the markets and generally cook my dinners with spices and herbs. Throw in some chicken or other lean meat and ta-dah!

Lunches I just have a chicken and salad mountain bread wrap. Snacks consist of nuts, cottage cheese, healthy crackers, yoghurt, carrots, etc. I try to mix it up a bit.

I try to plan as much as I can but luckily most of my weeks are the same. I work, I go to the gym, I eat. Keeping it simple means it’s easier to stick to. Training varies week to week to keep things interesting.

Thank you so much for your time and wisdom Jen. You’re life experience is super inspirational and with your own journey i know you’ll be an amazing personal trainer changing lives for the better.

Team, Jen has been kind enough to supply her email address if you wish to ask her anything else. You contact Jen at jencresp@gmail.com

I hope you get as much out of that as i did.

I recently finished writing a 3 part series on motivation and it really goes well with what Jen said.

You can find those 3 posts here;

Getting motivated to exercise and lose weight, getting motivated to exercise and getting motivated to lose weight

Ladies do you struggle to find time to exercise?

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The Newest Exercise Craze

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Boost Metabolism and Burn Fat – The Diet 10 Commandments

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Best Workout Snacks

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Post Workout Meals – 3 Sensational Smoothie Recipes

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Pre Workout Meals – 3 Delicious Smoothies

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Jen in Real Life – Q & A

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