Post-workout meals from the Gourmet Nutrition

Post-workout vs. any time meals

Gourmet Nutrition: The Cookbook for the Fit Food Lover

Gourmet Nutrition: The Cookbook for the Fit Food Lover. Want to learn how to combine the science of nutrition with the art of cooking? Want to build a high performance body while eating great tasting food? Then try our brand new book, Gourmet Nutrition 2.0! We've come up with nearly 300 pages and over 120 recipes to show you how to build the body you never thought you could have by eating food you never thought you could eat.
Find out more about Gourmet Nutrition.

Dr. John M Berardi
PhD, CSCS
Precision Nutrition.

You'll notice, then, that all the meals in this book, and all the meals in the cookbook
contained in Precision Nutrition, are designated as either post-workout or any time meals.
The designation is listed right under the title of the recipe, so you'll be able to tell at a
glance what type of meal it is. Remember, post-workout meals are for the two to three
hours after intense exercise, while any time meals are for, well, any time. Want more of
the carb-containing post-workout desserts? Well, drag your butt to the gym!

Now go forth and eat Peach Mango Cobbler

Are You a Diet Addict?

The holiday season is a good time to critically evaluate where you are on the dieting spectrum. Find out how to get off the starvation/binge roller coaster...

by Janet Lepke, RD, CSP, CDE, LDN
for DietWatch

On the seductive path of dieting, supermodel wannabes, tortured souls, bruised self-esteems, and a living ambivalence toward food and body image (among others) all point the fickle finger of fate toward food restraint. Innocently intended, most of these efforts turn into tributaries flowing toward the river of disordered eating or eating disorders. And why not? Swift currents of white-knuckled food denial, neglect of hunger, and reframed unhappiness ("It's because I am fat...") quickly add up to the starvation/binge roller coaster and a wild ride of ups and downs, assuaged only by another dieting or purging effort. The result? Diet addiction.

The Cost of a Diet: More Than a VISA Swipe

"I'll just do this diet for a couple of weeks to get a jump start..." "My girlfriend is doing it and she looks great..." "THIS time I will stick with the diet - I just need more willpower..."

Sound familiar? Attractive diets, unfortunately, undermine the surface effort to lose weight and "feel better,” because they reinforce original injuries, including unmet needs, guilt, anxiety, and depression, to name just a few. In addition, the financial and emotional costs compound as efforts rise to meet standards presented in the media (most are unrealistic), exercise compulsion fuels perfectionism, and slowly but surely, an eating disorder rears its ugly head.

Regardless of the diet, shtick, or piece of equipment, the urgency to deny yourself a specific food or work a specific part of your body to be "OK" is a set-up for a crash. The problem is not your willpower, your results compared to a friend's, or the timeline for a particular program; it is the attachment of your self-esteem to the outcome of the latest and greatest diet fad.

Myths of the Madness

1. Myth: "I can make my body look exactly the way I want it to look." Fact: You were born with a specific body type, just as you have a specific eye color. A diet is as unlikely to change your body type as it is to change your eye color. Temporary fluid or muscle/fat losses will bounce back to the set point at which your body is programmed (the weight and size genetically pre-determined).
2. Myth: "My lack of willpower has caused me to fail diets." Fact: Your body's basic needs for calories and moderate exercise have caused the failure. Deprivation of basic nutritional needs leads to cravings and bingeing because the body is biochemically imbalanced in a semi-starved or totally starved state, and it wants to be fed.
3. Myth: "If the diet worked for my girlfriend, it should work for me." Fact: You don't know your girlfriend's metabolism, nutritional needs, and most importantly, psychological underpinnings and motives for dieting in the first place, do you? If the diet works for her, there may be more cause for concern than competition.
4. Myth: "If I just cut out carbs/protein/fat (pick one), I will lose weight." Fact: You need all food groups in balance to maintain body functioning and normal exercise requirements.
5. Myth: “I can prevent my body from gaining more weight after age 30 (40, 50), etc..." Fact: Your body will normally gain weight throughout the lifecycle. During menopause, it is normal for women to gain anywhere from 10-20 pounds with hormonal changes and subsequent metabolic adjustments.
6. Myth: "Eating disorders only happen to crazy people." Fact: If you are dieting, you are on your way to an eating disorder or disordered eating behaviors.
7. Myth: "If I don't diet but just exercise a lot, I am not doing anything unusual." Fact: The diagnosis "Anorexia Athletica" is designed for this syndrome — excessive exercise in the pursuit of thinness. The absence of a diet does not necessarily change motives; you have basically changed seats on the Titanic.

Truth be told, diets may look glamorous on the outside, but may cost a lot on the inside. For some, the dieting addiction works without consequences (at least, not for now) and provides results for the annoying weight problem. For others, fad diets are another rung on the ladder of despair. If you are not sure which is true for you, get off the ladder, seek the help of a Registered Dietitian, and decide for yourself: Is the diet worth it?

Janet Lepke, RD, CSP, CDE, LDN, is a journalist, author, and president and owner of Nutrition Network, a nutrition company in Charlotte. Lepke specializes in counseling and communications in the areas of eating disorders, weight management, and the non-diet approach to nutrition therapy.

Thanksgiving Food's Good for Your Brain!

By Hara Estroff Marano
Special for eDiets

Thanksgiving's upon us! The eating season is about to begin in earnest.

This may come as a surprise to you, but some of the foods most likely to enliven the holiday table are good for your heart and brain. As a matter of fact, generally speaking, what's good for your heart is also good for your brain.

From stuffing and cranberries to red wine and hot chocolate, and even that last sip of coffee, many traditional dishes can boost blood flow to your most oxygen-hungry organs. These foods can preserve and even enhance mood, memory and other mental functions. Call them brain savers!

Take stuffing. Turkey's traditional Thanksgiving partner -- what makes turkey interesting at all to most people -- is it is rich in antioxidants. Bread crust is packed with them, far more so than the less chewy inside of bread.

Antioxidants are premiere disease-fighters and anti-aging agents. They are compounds that scavenge free radicals of oxygen, unstable molecules given off by the body's many metabolic actions. Free radicals are thought to be responsible for making cholesterol harmful to arteries and the heart -- and for impairing memory and movement with age. They are particularly drawn to the fat-rich membranes of nerve cells through which all brain activity takes place. They are implicated in immune dysfunction and in cataracts and macular degeneration of the eyes.

The body manufactures some antioxidants, although the brain needs to import those it needs from outside. Under conditions of stress, the body's ability to produce antioxidants is impaired. Fruits and vegetables are the richest source of antioxidants.

Cranberries virtually top the list of antioxidant-rich foods. Scientists recently developed a way of measuring the antioxidant content of foods, called ORAC, for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. Cranberries outpulled some highly touted antioxidant rich goodies, including strawberries, spinach, raspberries, broccoli, beets, red grapes and cherries, among 11 others. High-ORAC food may help slow the aging process in both body and brain. Most Americans average about 1,670 ORAC units daily. Increasing fruit and vegetable intake can double antioxidant activity. One cup of blueberries -- first cousin to the cranberry -- alone supplies 3,200 ORAC units.

Studies in animals suggest that cranberries are particularly neuro-protective, good at protecting against chronic age-related afflictions like loss of coordination and memory. They protect brain cells from the free-radical damage that normally occurs over time, thereby preserving cognitive and motor functions.

Compared with animals fed a standard diet, aging animals given cranberries showed actual improvements in normal age-related declines in working memory, reference memory, balance and coordination. They were able to keep on learning.

The antioxidants in cranberries belong to a group of chemicals called phenols. The strongest of these, and most extensively studied, are procyanidins and anthocyanidins, which give cranberries and blueberries their deep color. They seem to be particularly adept at turning off a brain enzyme (xanthine oxidase) that actually stimulates the creation of free radicals of oxygen.

But there are many other antioxidants in cranberries, and they are just now coming under scrutiny for their function. Researchers increasingly believe the combinations of nutrients found in food are more protective than individual nutrients taken alone.

One antioxidant compound in cranberries actually helps ward off urinary tract infections. It actually blocks some harmful bacteria from attaching to the cells lining the urinary tract.

Cranberries are so powerful in preserving brain function, researchers recently found, that by their antioxidant action they can reduce the severity of brain impairment following strokes. They protect against the brain cell damage that usually occurs in the early stages after a stroke. Exposure to a concentration of cranberry extract equivalent to about half a cup of whole cranberries resulted in a 50 percent reduction in brain cell death.

And, go ahead, finish it all off with a cup or two of coffee. Researchers have recently identified a new antioxidant in coffee that is particularly potent in preventing colon cancer.

Or, savor a cup of hot cocoa. Made with about two tablespoons of pure cocoa powder, it tops both red wine and tea in antioxidant power -- two times more than red wine, two to three times more than green tea and up to five times more than black tea. Something about heating the cocoa brings out the antioxidants in it!

Hara Estroff Marano is Editor-At-Large of Psychology Today magazine and Editor-In-Chief of Psychology Today's Blues Buster, a newsletter about depression. An award-winning writer on human behavior, Hara's articles have appeared in publications including the New York Times, Smithsonian, Family Circle and The Ladies Home Journal. She lives in New York City.

Is Your Exercise Routine Keeping You Fat & Unhealthy?

Hi, it's Mike here from Truth About Abs

I just had a quick article today that my colleague Rob Poulos contributed, and wanted to share with you. This explores whether your exercise routines are actually counterproductive to the results you want to get.

Is Your Exercise Routine Keeping You Fat & Unhealthy?

by Rob Poulos, founder of Fat Burning Furnace

The majority of exercisers today still rely on long duration moderate paced aerobic exercise as their primary routine to burn fat fast. But recent studies have shown that this is a big, I mean big mistake .

In fact, you could say that the whole aerobics explosion of a few decades past was one of the biggest mistakes in the health and fitness industry. Why?

There are several reasons, but I'll focus on the two main issues here. When you exercise at a moderate pace for extended periods of time (as in the typically recommended percent of your target heart rate), your body is burning fat during the exercise.

While this may sound good, it's actually bad news. This sends a signal to your body to keep a certain amount of stored fat available for your next workout. You're essentially telling it that it needs fat available to burn, ‘because you'll be doing this exercise again.

So while we may be burning some calories during this exercise, after the exercise is over, our body begins storing up some fat for the next workout. Obviously not what we're looking for in terms of maximum ability to burn fat fast.

The other big concern with moderately paced aerobic exercise performed several times per week is that it trains your body (heart, lungs, muscles, etc.) to become efficient. Again, this may sound good, but what is actually happening is bad for long term health.

You are working only within your existing aerobic limits, without improving your aerobic capacity. This is important because your aerobic capacity is what determines how your body responds in times of physical, emotional, and mental stress.

If you reduce your capacity for work, as you do in this type of exercise, you're reducing your long term health, no to mention a poor chance of burning fat.

The good news is, you can reverse these effects by instead focusing your workouts on high intensity resistance training, with workouts that last 15-20 minutes on average, and can only be performed 2-3 times per week. These workouts will burn carbohydrates instead of fat during the workout, and will cause your body to use its fat stores to replenish the burned carbs over the next 24 hours, after the workout is done!

This type of work will also increase your reserve capacity and thus your ability to handle all types of stress, leading to lasting health and fitness...and 24/7 fat burning. Nice!

But the exercise must be performed correctly to be effective, and that means using sufficient intensity, and keeping your rest periods between exercises and sets down to 60 seconds or less.

The students of my Fat Burning Furnace know this, and are reaping the benefits. When you think about how little time you have to spend compared to the typically recommended methods to get these fat burning and health creating results, it's almost magical.

Check out the free gift "7 Forbidden Secrets of Fat Loss" Report that Rob is giving away.

That about it for today. Hope you're having a great one!

Don't forget to check out the EFA Icon Krill oil at natural. getprograde. com which is a major improvement upon normal fish oil. As if fish oil wasn't good enough already, this EFA Icon Krill oil has been tested as having 47x more antioxidant protection than normal fish oil.

Stay lean,

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer
Founder - Truth About Abs

Do you know your fats?

Good Fats vs. Bad Fats

From eDiets

USDA Fat Recommendations
The U.S. government changed the recommendations for their Dietary Guidelines. The old guidelines had fat way up top of the pyramid, in the narrowest part, next to sugar. Fat was to be kept to a minimum, which made consumers think that all fats are bad. However, some actually help lower cholesterol and prevent disease, leading the USDA to change the fat recommendation.

They've flipped the pyramid on its side, so that consumers understand that within the fat category, some fats should be included regularly, but others should only be eaten occasionally, if at all.

Good Fats/Bad Fats
Populations who eat their fat calories from nuts, seeds, olive and canola oil, avocado and fatty fish like salmon, sardine and mackerel remain healthier than those who eat a lot of fried foods, fatty meat and hydrogenated fats in packaged foods.

Fat tastes good, and makes food taste good. But, since fat has twice the calories of protein and carbohydrate, most people can't eat it indiscriminately. Fat needs to be fine-tuned, especially when you're trying to lose weight on a balanced program.

Take this quiz to see how much you know about fat.

1. The US Dietary Guidelines recommend what percentage of calories from saturated fat?

a. 0 percent
b. 5 percent or less
c. 10 percent or less
d. 25 percent or less

2. The U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend less than how many milligrams of cholesterol per day?

a. 100
b. 200
c. 300
d. 400

3. What is trans-fat?

a. Liquid oil that's solid at room temperature
b. Fat that's made from soybean oil
c. Fat that's gender challenged

4. What foods contain omega-3 fatty acids? (choose all that apply)

a. Salmon
b. Walnuts
c. Flaxseed
d. Canola oil

5. The USDA recommends what percentage of calories comes from total fat?

a. 0-5 percent
b. 5-10 percent
c. 10-15 percent
d. 20-35 percent

6. What fats will are listed on the new Nutrition Facts Label?

a. Monounsaturated fat, trans-fat and polyunsaturated fat
b. Polyunsaturated fat, cholesterol and trans-fat
c. Saturated fat, cholesterol and trans-fat
d. Trans-fat, cholesterol and monounsaturated fat

7. Which group of foods contains trans-fat? (you may choose more than one category)

a. crackers, cookies, cake
b. butter, cheese, yogurt
c. meat, chicken, fish
d. margarine, shortening, French fries

8. If you're trying to avoid trans-fat, you should avoid...?

a. Red meat
b. Packaged foods
c. Popcorn
d. Fast food

9. How does trans-fat affect blood cholesterol?

a. Raises the "good" HDL and lowers the "bad" LDL
b. Raises the "good" HDL and raises the "bad" LDL
c. Lowers the "good" HDL and raises the "bad" LDL

10. True or False: "Fat-free" means it's lower in calories.

Answers:

1. C.
Too much saturated fat, found in whole milk dairy, marbled beef and the skin of poultry contributes to high blood cholesterol. Choose nonfat or low-fat dairy, skinless poultry and lean cuts of meat.

2. C.
According to the American Heart Association, humans need cholesterol to form cell membranes and some hormones. But a high level of cholesterol in the blood is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease, which leads to heart attack. Research shows that foods containing dietary cholesterol including shrimp and egg yolks have less effect on blood cholesterol than formerly believed.

3. A.
According to the FDA, the majority of trans-fat is formed when liquid oils are made into solid fats like shortening and hard margarine by a process called hydrogenation. A small amount of trans-fat is found naturally, primarily in some animal-based foods.

4. All contain omega-3s... but differently. The FDA allows a qualified health claim for reduced risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) for foods that contain eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) omega-3 fatty acids, found primarily in oily cold-water fish such as tuna, salmon, and mackerel. Dark green leafy vegetables, walnuts, flaxseed oils, and certain vegetable oils contain a third omega-3, called alpha-linolenic acid (ALA).

5. D.
Keep total fat intake between 20 to 35 percent of calories, with most fats coming from sources of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, such as fish, nuts, olives and olive oil, avocado and vegetable oils.

6. All of these are now listed.

7. All these foods contain trans-fat, although in differing amounts. The products containing the most trans-fat are commercially made cookies, cakes, crackers, icing, potato chips, margarine and microwave popcorn. Snack foods are high in trans-fats. Fast food is generally fried in hydrogenated fat, and is full of trans-fat. Animal products, including meats, chicken and even fish contain small amounts.

8. D.
Actually, most restaurants, including fast-food outlets, fry in hydrogenated oil. But packaged foods, movie theater popcorn and microwave popcorn contain hydrogenated fat (that’s why I love my hot air popper) and even red meat contains some trans- fat. Some manufacturers are already replacing trans fat, or hydrogenated fat. Consumers can read the ingredient label and not buy foods with hydrogenated fat. Since restaurants are not required to label, consumers need to be proactive and ask questions.

9. C.
Saturated fat contributes to raising "bad" LDL cholesterol but the "good" HDL cholesterol is unaffected. Trans-fat is double-trouble, raising LDL and decreasing the beneficial HDL cholesterol.

10. False.
Be a smart consumer. Just because the new product is labeled "trans-fat-free" doesn't make it calorie-free. Manufacturers often add other ingredients, including sugar, to replace the texture when fat is eliminated. When manufacturers labeled cookies "fat-free," consumers interpreted it as a license to eat. Some health experts link the "fat-free" craze of the '70s and '80s to increased obesity. Read the label to first learn the portion size, so you can compare products; then read the total calories per serving, and make your choice from there.

Finally, remember fat's good points:

A major source of energy for the body

Aids in the absorption of vitamins A, D, E, and K, and carotenoids

Important for proper growth, development, and maintenance of good health

Provides taste, consistency, and stability and helps us feel full

Some high-fat foods including olives and olive oil, avocado, nuts and seeds, and fatty fish contain important vitamins and minerals and omega-3 fatty acids, immune enhancing fats.

Nutritionist Susan L. Burke (for eDiets) is a registered and licensed dietitian and a certified diabetes educator who specializes in both general and diabetes-related weight management

Fresh Herb & Quinoa Salad With Garden Tomatoes

Tomatoes are at the height of their season from summer to fall. During these months, farmers' markets boast an abundance of juicy, sun-ripened tomatoes by the barrel or basket. And if the taste of this colorful fruit isn't enough to sway you, consider this: Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, a powerfulcarotenoid that may help to prevent heart disease and cancer, especially prostate cancer. Incorporate a few tasty, cancer-kicking tomatoes into your next meal with this recipe.

Serves 2, with leftover quinoa

Description
Quinoa is a high-fiber grain that's loaded with protein. More good news: You can find it in your local supermarket or health food store, and it cooks in 6 minutes! Here we've substituted quinoa for bulgur in a version of the zesty Middle Eastern salad, tabbouleh.

Ingredients
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup quinoa
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
3 scallions (white and light green parts), thinly sliced
1 small cucumber, peeled and diced
3 tablespoons lightly packed fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
3 large beefsteak tomatoes, preferably a mixture of red and yellow
2 oz low-fat feta cheese

Instructions
1. In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil over high heat. Add quinoa and a pinch of salt; bring back to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer about 6 minutes, until nearly all the water is absorbed and quinoa is tender and chewy but not soft.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine juice, oil, salt, and pepper. Fold in quinoa, scallions, cucumber, and herbs. Toss until thoroughly coated. Season to taste as desired.
3. Thinly slice tomatoes. Arrange on serving plates. Spoon about 1 cup quinoa over tomatoes. Crumble feta on top. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Information:
350 calories
14 g total fat (4 g sat)
10 mg cholesterol
47 g carbohydrate
15 g protein
7 g fiber
410 mg sodium

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Soft Drinks Linked to Increased Risk of Insulin Resistance

Click here!

Carbonated, sugary soft drinks are ubiquitous in American society. They are practically a staple of the American diet. Now, new research is showing that soft drinks- both diet and regular varieties- are very unhealthy and may be linked to obesity, heart disease, and insulin resistance. Results published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association suggest that soft drink consumption could contribute to Insulin Resistance Syndrome, or IRS.

What is Insulin Resistance Syndrome?

Insulin is a chemical secreted by the pancreas. It helps the body’s cells process glucose, or sugar. Sometimes the body can develop insulin resistance. This means that the cells require more and more insulin to be able to process the glucose. Eventually this can lead to type-2 diabetes.

Insulin resistance is not well understood, but it is clear that it is aggravated by obesity and physical inactivity. Insulin resistance may be a genetic problem that is triggered by a poor diet and obesity. Obesity can be caused by a poor diet, including a diet high in soft drinks. However, even thin people who consume too much sugar can develop insulin resistance.

Basically, a diet full of unhealthy, high-calorie soft drinks can contribute to obesity, which is a large factor in the development of insulin resistance. It has been proven that people who drink one or more soft drinks per day, regardless of weight, have a 44% higher chance of developing metabolic syndrome than those who consume less than one soft drink per day.

Soft Drinks and Their Role in Insulin Resistance

Studies have shown that fructose used as a sweetener is more dangerous than glucose. Fructose is the main sweetener not only in soft drinks, but in many other artificially sweetened products. Soda accounts for a quarter of all the beverages sold in the US. This is especially prevalent in children’s diets.

• 56% of eight-year olds drink soda daily, and 1/3 of teenage boys drink at least 3 cans of pop per day.

It is not a coincidence that this astronomical consumption of soda is occurring at the same time as the obesity epidemic is growing among the nation’s children. Peer-reviewed independent studies are confirming that excessive soft drink consumption is a direct contributor to childhood obesity, and obesity is a direct contributor to insulin resistance and type-2 diabetes.

How Can I Avoid Insulin Resistance?

First of all, a healthy diet and plenty of exercise are crucial to maintaining one’s well-being. Choose water or natural fruit juices instead of soft drinks. If a healthy diet and exercise are not effective in controlling weight, there are safe, natural products available to help reduce insulin resistance and control weight. For instance, Glucofast is a product that restores the necessary cellular nutrients in order to readjust metabolism. It contains all-natural ingredients and has no negative side effects. Its ingredients include:

• Cinnamon, which helps to regulate insulin sensitivity
• Biotin, which assists in the regulation of insulin and the conversion of glucose into energy
• L-Taurine, a natural herb that encourages the proper function of insulin
• Bitter melon, a subtropical fruit that keeps blood sugar levels optimal

Sources

sciencedaily.com

stanford.edu

Alcohol and Nutrition

Nutrition is a process that serves two purposes: to provide energy and to maintain body structure and function. Food supplies energy and provides the building blocks needed to replace worn or damaged cells and the nutritional components needed for body function. Alcoholics often eat poorly, limiting their supply of essential nutrients and affecting both energy supply and structure maintenance. Furthermore, alcohol interferes with the nutritional process by affecting digestion, storage, utilization, and excretion of nutrients (1).

Impairment of Nutrient Digestion and Utilization

Once ingested, food must be digested (broken down into small components) so it is available for energy and maintenance of body structure and function. Digestion begins in the mouth and continues in the stomach and intestines, with help from the pancreas. The nutrients from digested food are absorbed from the intestines into the blood and carried to the liver. The liver prepares nutrients either for immediate use or for storage and future use.

Alcohol inhibits the breakdown of nutrients into usable molecules by decreasing secretion of digestive enzymes from the pancreas (2). Alcohol impairs nutrient absorption by damaging the cells lining the stomach and intestines and disabling transport of some nutrients into the blood (3). In addition, nutritional deficiencies themselves may lead to further absorption problems. For example, folate deficiency alters the cells lining the small intestine, which in turn impairs absorption of water and nutrients including glucose, sodium, and additional folate (3).

Even if nutrients are digested and absorbed, alcohol can prevent them from being fully utilized by altering their transport, storage, and excretion (4). Decreased liver stores of vitamins such as vitamin A (5), and increased excretion of nutrients such as fat, indicate impaired utilization of nutrients by alcoholics (3).

Alcohol and Energy Supply

The three basic nutritional components found in food--carbohydrates, proteins, and fats--are used as energy after being converted to simpler products. Some alcoholics ingest as much as 50 percent of their total daily calories from alcohol, often neglecting important foods (3,6).

Even when food intake is adequate, alcohol can impair the mechanisms by which the body controls blood glucose levels, resulting in either increased or decreased blood glucose (glucose is the body's principal sugar) (7). In nondiabetic alcoholics, increased blood sugar, or hyperglycemia--caused by impaired insulin secretion--is usually temporary and without consequence. Decreased blood sugar, or hypoglycemia, can cause serious injury even if this condition is short lived. Hypoglycemia can occur when a fasting or malnourished person consumes alcohol. When there is no food to supply energy, stored sugar is depleted, and the products of alcohol metabolism inhibit the formation of glucose from other compounds such as amino acids (7). As a result, alcohol causes the brain and other body tissue to be deprived of glucose needed for energy and function.

Although alcohol is an energy source, how the body processes and uses the energy from alcohol is more complex than can be explained by a simple calorie conversion value (8). For example, alcohol provides an average of 20 percent of the calories in the diet of the upper third of drinking Americans, and we might expect many drinkers who consume such amounts to be obese. Instead, national data indicate that, despite higher caloric intake, drinkers are no more obese than nondrinkers (9,10). Also, wh en alcohol is substituted for carbohydrates, calorie for calorie, subjects tend to lose weight, indicating that they derive less energy from alcohol than from food (summarized in 8).

The mechanisms accounting for the apparent inefficiency in converting alcohol to energy are complex and incompletely understood (11), but several mechanisms have been proposed. For example, chronic drinking triggers an inefficient system of alcohol metabolism, the microsomal ethanol-oxidizing system (MEOS) (1). Much of the energy from MEOS-driven alcohol metabolism is lost as heat rather than used to supply the body with energy.

Alcohol and the Maintenance of Cell Structure and Function

Structure

Because cells are made mostly of protein, an adequate protein diet is important for maintaining cell structure, especially if cells are being damaged. Research indicates that alcohol affects protein nutrition by causing impaired digestion of proteins to amino acids, impaired processing of amino acids by the small intestine and liver, impaired synthesis of proteins from amino acids, and impaired protein secretion by the liver (3).

Function

Nutrients are essential for proper body function; proteins, vitamins, and minerals provide the tools that the body needs to perform properly. Alcohol can disrupt body function by causing nutrient deficiencies and by usurping the machinery needed to metabolize nutrients.

Vitamins. Vitamins are essential to maintaining growth and normal metabolism because they regulate many physiological processes. Chronic heavy drinking is associated with deficiencies in many vitamins because of decreased food ingestion and, in some cases, impaired absorption, metabolism, and utilization (1,12). For example, alcohol inhibits fat absorption and thereby impairs absorption of the vitamins A, E, and D that are normally absorbed along with dietary fats (12,13). Vitamin A deficiency can be associated with night blindness, and vitamin D deficiency is associated with softening of the bones (6).

Vitamins A, C, D, E, K, and the B vitamins, also deficient in some alcoholics, are all involved in wound healing and cell maintenance (14). In particular, because vitamin K is necessary for blood clotting, deficiencies of that vitamin can cause delayed clotting and result in excess bleeding. Deficiencies of other vitamins involved in brain function can cause severe neurological damage.

Minerals. Deficiencies of minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc are common in alcoholics, although alcohol itself does not seem to affect the absorption of these minerals (15). Rather, deficiencies seem to occur secondary to other alcohol-related problems: decreased calcium absorption due to fat malabsorption; magnesium deficiency due to decreased intake, increased urinary excretion, vomiting, and diarrhea (16); iron deficiency related to gastrointestinal bleeding (3,15); and zinc malabsorption or losses related to other nutrient deficiencies (17). Mineral deficiencies can cause a variety of medical consequences from calcium-related bone disease to zinc-related night blindness and skin lesions.

Alcohol, Malnutrition, and Medical Complications

Liver Disease

Although alcoholic liver damage is caused primarily by alcohol itself, poor nutrition may increase the risk of alcohol-related liver damage. For example, nutrients normally found in the liver, such as carotenoids, which are the major sources of vitamin A, and vitamin E compounds, are known to be affected by alcohol consumption (18,19). Decreases in such nutrients may play some role in alcohol-related liver damage.

Pancreatitis

Research suggests that malnutrition may increase the risk of developing alcoholic pancreatitis (20,21), but some research performed outside the United States links pancreatitis more closely with overeating (21). Preliminary research suggests that alcohol's damaging effect on the pancreas may be exacerbated by a protein-deficient diet (22).

Brain

Nutritional deficiencies can have severe and permanent effects on brain function. Specifically, thiamine deficiencies, often seen in alcoholics, can cause severe neurological problems such as impaired movement and memory loss seen in Wernicke/Korsakoff syndrome (23).

Pregnancy

Alcohol has direct toxic effects on fetal development, causing alcohol-related birth defects, including fetal alcohol syndrome. Alcohol itself is toxic to the fetus, but accompanying nutritional deficiency can affect fetal development, perhaps compounding the risk of developmental damage (24,25).

The nutritional needs during pregnancy are 10 to 30 percent greater than normal; food intake can increase by as much as 140 percent to cover the needs of both mother and fetus (24). Not only can nutritional deficiencies of an alcoholic mother adversely affect the nutrition of the fetus, but alcohol itself can also restrict nutrition flow to the fetus (24,25).

Nutritional Status of Alcoholics

Techniques for assessing nutritional status include taking body measurements such as weight, height, mass, and skin fold thickness to estimate fat reserves, and performing blood analysis to provide measurements of circulating proteins, vitamins, and minerals. These techniques tend to be imprecise, and for many nutrients, there is no clear "cut-off" point that would allow an accurate definition of deficiency (4). As such, assessing the nutritional status of alcoholics is hindered by the limitations of the techniques. Dietary status may provide inferential information about the risk of developing nutritional deficiencies. Dietary status is assessed by taking patients' dietary histories and evaluating the amount and types of food they are eating.

A threshold dose above which alcohol begins to have detrimental effects on nutrition is difficult to determine. In general, moderate drinkers (two drinks or less per day) seem to be at little risk for nutritional deficiencies. Various medical disorders begin to appear at greater levels.

Research indicates that the majority of even the heaviest drinkers have few detectable nutritional deficiencies but that many alcoholics who are hospitalized for medical complications of alcoholism do experience severe malnutrition (1,12). Because alcoholics tend to eat poorly--often eating less than the amounts of food necessary to provide sufficient carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins A and C, the B vitamins, and minerals such as calcium and iron (6,9,26)--a major concern is that alcohol's effects on the digestion of food and utilization of nutrients may shift a mildly malnourished person toward severe malnutrition.

---

Alcohol and Nutrition--A Commentary by
NIAAA Director Enoch Gordis, M.D.

The combination of an adequate diet and abstention from alcohol is the best way to treat malnourished alcoholic patients. Nutritional supplements have been used to replace nutrients deficient in malnourished alcoholics in an attempt to improve their overall health. Dosages of nutritional supplements such as vitamin A that exceed normally prescribed levels may result in overdose.

Although various nutritional approaches have been touted as "cures" for alcoholism, there is little evidence to support such claims. However, renewed research attention to the nutritional aspects of alcohol leaves open the possibility that a role for nutritional therapy in alcoholism treatment may yet be defined.

---

References

(1) Lieber, C.S. The influence of alcohol on nutritional status. Nutrition Reviews 46(7):241-254, 1988. (2) Korsten, M.A. Alcoholism and pancreatitis: Does nutrition play a role? Alcohol Health & Research World 13(3):232-237, 1989. (3) Feinman, L. Absorption and utilization of nutrients in alcoholism. Alcohol Health & Research World 13(3):207-210, 1989. (4) Thomson, A.D., and Pratt, O.E. Interaction of nutrients and alcohol: Absorption, transport, utilization, and metabolism. In: Watson, R.R., and Watzl, B., eds. Nutrition and Alcohol. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1992. pp. 75-99. (5) Sato, M., and Lieber, C.S. Hepatic vitamin A depletion after chronic ethanol consumption in baboons and rats. Journal of Nutrition 111:2015-2023, 1981. (6) Feinman, L., and Lieber, C.S. Nutrition: Medical problems of alcoholism. In: Lieber, C.S., ed. Medical and Nutritional Complications of Alcoholism: Mechanisms in Management. New York: Plenum Publishing Corp., 1992. pp. 515-530. (7) Patel, D.G. Effects of ethanol on carbohydrate metabolism and implications for the aging alcoholic. Alcohol Health & Research World 13(3):240-246, 1989. (8) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Surgeon General's Report on Nutrition and Health. DHHS Pub. No. (PHS)88-50210. Washington, DC: Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1988. (9) Gruchow, H.W.; Sobocinski, K.A.; Barboriak, J.J.; and Scheller, J.G. Alcohol consumption, nutrient intake and relative body weight among U.S. adults. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 42(2):289-295, 1985. (10) Colditz, G.A.; Giovannucci, E.; Rimm, E.B.; Stampfer, M.J.; Rosner, B.; Speizer, F.E.; Gordis, E.; and Willett, W.C. Alcohol intake in relation to diet and obesity in women and men. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 54(1):49-55, 1991. (11) World, M.J.; Ryle, P.R.; Pratt, O.E.; and Thomson, A.D. Alcohol and body weight. Alcohol and Alcoholism 19(1):1-6, 1984. (12) Lieber, C.S. Alcohol and nutrition: An overview. Alcohol Health & Research World 13(3):197-205, 1989. (13) Leo, M.A., and Lieber, C.S. Alcohol and vitamin A. Alcohol Health & Research World 13(3):250-254, 1989. (14) Tortora, G.J., and Anagnostakos, N.P., eds. Principles of Anatomy and Physiology. 5th ed. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1987. (15) Marsano, L., and McClain, C.J. Effects of alcohol on electrolytes and minerals. Alcohol Health & Research World 13(3):255-260, 1989. (16) Flink, E.B. Magnesium deficiency in alcoholism. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 10(6):590-594, 1986. (17) McClain, C.J.; Antonow, D.R.; Cohen, D.A.; and Shedlofsky, S.I. Zinc metabolism in alcoholic liver disease. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 10(6):582-589, 1986. (18) Leo, M.A.; Kim, C.-I.; Lowe, N.; and Lieber, C.S. Interaction of ethanol with *-carotene: Delayed blood clearance and enhanced hepatotoxicity. Hepatology 15(5):883-891, 1992. (19) Leo, M.A.; Rosman, A.S.; and Lieber, C.S. Differential depletion of carotenoids and tocopherol in liver disease. Hepatology 17(6):977-986, 1993. (20) Mezey, E.; Kolman, C.J.; Diehl, A.M.; Mitchell, M.C.; and Herlong, H.F. Alcohol and dietary intake in the development of chronic pancreatitis and liver disease in alcoholism. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 48(1):148-151, 1988. (21) Korsten, M.A.; Pirola, R.C.; and Lieber, C.S. Alcohol and the pancreas. In: Lieber, C.S., ed. Medical and Nutritional Complications of Alcoholism: Mechanisms in Management. New York: Plenum Publishing Corp., 1992. pp. 341-358. (22) Korsten, M.A.; Wilson, J.S.; and Lieber, C.S. Interactive effects of dietary protein and ethanol on rat pancreas: Protein synthesis and enzyme secretion. Gastroenterology 99(1):229-236, 1990.(23) Victor, M. The effects of alcohol on the nervous system: Clinical features, pathogenesis, and treatment. In: Lieber, C.S., ed. Medical and Nutritional Complications of Alcoholism: Mechanisms in Management. New York: Plenum Publishing Corp., 1992. pp. 413-457. (24) Weinberg, J. Nutritional issues in perinatal alcohol exposure. Neurobehavioral Toxicology and Teratology 6(4):261-269, 1984. (25) Phillips, D.K.; Henderson, G.I.; and Schenker, S. Pathogenesis of fetal alcohol syndrome: Overview with emphasis on the possible role of nutrition. Alcohol Health & Research World 13(3):219-227, 1989. (26) Hillers, V.N., and Massey, L.K. Interrelationships of moderate and high alcohol consumption with diet and health status. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 41(2):356-362, 1985.

The Biggest Loser Premiere

Join My Team!

So you've seen me in action with my TV team — now join my online team and let me help you get into the best shape of your life! I've challenged my online team to lose 10 tons in 10 weeks, and they need your help! Join the challenge, and you could win a one-on-one workout with yours truly in L.A.! What are you waiting for? Join now!

Episode Recap: The Biggest Loser Premiere
So did you guys watch the show???

The newest season of The Biggest Loser kicked off last night with the most dramatic season premiere to date! If you missed it, here's a look at what we learned:

• "Age is just a number!" Jerry -- a 62 year old grandfather and the oldest contestant in Biggest Loser history — proved himself a SERIOUS competitor by not only dusting his younger competition in a mile-long foot race through the desert, but losing an incredible 31 pounds to take the title of Biggest Loser at the first weigh-in! The contestant that trainer Bob Harper kindly referred to as "Grandpa" not only proved he could hack it in the competition, but that he's the one the other contestants need to watch out for.
• The competition is stiff this year. 18 contestants were challenged to run a race through the desert to their trainers, Bob and Kim, who had parachuted from a plane 14,000 feet above. Jerry finished first and became the captain of Bob's Blue team, while Phil, an ex-football player, finished second and was named captain of Kim's Red Team. The captains were asked to select the five teammates they wanted by their side, and send six people home. The job proved no easy task, as each contestant shared their emotional reasons for being in the competition. There was Lezlye, a victim of Hurricane Katrina, and twins Jim and Bill, who each desperately want the other to get healthy. Isabeau, just 21 years old, said she wanted more than anything to finally run the road race her fit family participates in every year.
• It ain't over til it's over! The teams were chosen, and six people were left behind as the Red and Blue teams boarded a bus to the Biggest Loser campus. Just when they thought they were heading home defeated, guess who rides up on her big black motorcycle to give them the good news? Yup, ME. These underdogs are my Black Team, and we have two weeks of tough-as-nails training in the desert before we make our surprise return to the Biggest Loser gym. They only WISH they'd gotten to go home!
• "There is no 'I can't!'" Back at the Biggest Loser Campus, the teams began training hard. In the middle of a Red Team workout, Amber showed signs of weakness in the competition by asking to be sent home. The Red Team did pull together to win this week's challenge, but in the end Jerry's 31-pound weight loss led his Blue Team to victory at the first weigh in, and Amber's words came back to haunt her as the Red Team voted to send her home. (In an update after the show, we learned that Amber has lost 65 pounds and counting since leaving the Biggest Loser Campus!)

Next week: My Black Team makes their dramatic return to the Biggest Loser Campus! After two weeks of hard training in the middle of the desert, my team is ready to show the people who sent them home just what they're made of — you DO NOT want to miss the looks on Bob and Kim's faces when we crash their next weigh-in!

The Obesity Virus Facts

Infectobesity - Fact And Fiction About The Obesity Virus

Tom Venuto
Burn the Fat

It never ceases to amaze me how the media is so quick to jump on any study that has the slightest ring of "sensational or controversial news" written all over it, or how quickly the public accepts media reports at face value without further investigation. Case in point: Look at how much national publicity was given this week to something as esoteric as an in vitro study about an obesity virus…

Obesity viruses are not new news, as there have been 10 adipogenic pathogens reported in the scientific literature in the past two decades, including human and animal viruses, bacteria, and gut microflora.

In this case, adenovirus-36 (AD-36) was named as a potential culprit.

So far however, the theory of viruses causing human obesity is controversial and unproven, and the research has only been conducted in cell cultures and in chickens, rhesus monkeys, hamsters and rats.

Although antibodies have been found in some humans who volunteered for a screening, there is no causative evidence whatsoever, and we may never get such evidence because there are ethical considerations in infecting humans with a virus (thus the cell culture and animal research).

Human beings are very complex organisms and collections of complex systems which interact with one another, so research on cells in a dish does not prove cause and effect in humans. Rodent research is also often irrelevant to humans.

These types of studies only suggest an association, they allow scientists to form new hypotheses and provide insight on areas for potential future research about "such a possibility in humans."

An interesting twist to this story that not many people know about is that some of the virus research was supported by the corporation that owns the patents on and markets assays to detect the "infection" and is working to develop the vaccine.

Wouldn't it be "convenient" to convince the public that a virus is responsible for obesity? They'd be lining their pockets at the same time as they convinced everyone that "it wasn't their fault."

Coincidentally, one of the stories published by a major news web site was not their own investigative reporting, but came straight from a press release from the aformentioned corporation.

If an obesity virus (aka "infectobesity") ever turns out to amount to anything in humans, it will most likely be a very small minority of cases, similar to the tiny percentage of cases where there is actually a gene defect which causes obesity.

Infectious pathogens are not the reason so many people are overweight, although it gives people yet another reason to blame their condition on something other than themselves.

Viruses (as with genetics) could indeed explain a rare case, so they should not be completely ruled out, but they certainly don't explain the increases in obesity over last several decades.

Fat loss always did and always will boil down to calories in versus calories out… and the acceptance of personal responsibility necesary to make sure that the calorie balance equation is obeyed consistently.

You can learn more about the law of calorie balance and the fat loss truth in Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle.

Tom Venuto, CSCS, NSCA-CPT
Burn The Fat

It is possible to become cellulite-free

Cellulite-Blasting Secrets
By Sheri Strykowski
eDiets Contributor

Cellulite. An estimated 90 percent of women have it, experts say. And most women fear it. Can you get rid of it or not? And if you can zap it, how do you do it?

Want flatter abs? Leaner legs? A better butt? Let eDiets help you shape up and slim down for summer with our NEW Summer Fresh Diet! Visit eDiets to get started today with a free diet profile!

More on cellulite - click here

We consulted two fitness experts who gave us the lowdown. New York Times best-selling fitness author and certified physical trainer, Joyce Vedral, Ph.D., and exercise physiologist and former supermodel trainer, Teresa Tapp, are in the trenches day in and day out with women in the battle of the bumps.

"Is it possible to become cellulite-free?" we asked our experts. The good news is yes, they say -- you can kiss most, if not all, of your cellulite goodbye. How? Through good old-fashioned diet and exercise. That's a balanced diet and the right kind of exercise.

The bad news? You guessed it:"You mean I have to work at it?" we hear you saying.

"I get furious when I hear fitness and medical professionals say you can't get rid of cellulite," said Vedral, who at 50-plus, has the tight, toned body of an in-shape woman half her age. When the fitness guru appeared on a talk show with a physician who said that nothing could remove cellulite, she did everything she could to maintain her composure.

"Cellulite is just bunched-up fat," she says."Build lean, shapely muscle underneath those dimply thighs, and the skin will become smoother and firmer as the fat melts away."

Most experts agree that cellulite owes its waffled appearance to strands of tissue that connect fat to your skin. As soft fat bulges through these connective fibers, it pushes against your skin to produce the dreaded rippling effect.

Vedral used to have cellulite. She found her secret weapon in weight training, in her 40s, and says she has coached hundreds of women to do the same.

Tapp, on the other hand, says she has helped hundreds of women become cellulite-free through a preventive wellness program that took seven years to develop. The copyrighted T-Tapp workout combines dance theory, tai chi and theories of Western strength training in a regimen that is designed to fatigue muscle groups layer by layer.

"My system works from the inside out," she says, because the carefully planned moves stimulate the body to rebuild its digestive system, flush out toxins and improve lymphatic function and neuro-kinetic flow. The movement sequences affect multiple muscle groups, organs and body systems. The result: You burn calories and develop muscle density instead of muscle mass. No equipment is necessary. As a bonus, says Tapp, the workout is rehabilitative, especially for the lower back and knees.

You may be surprised to learn that both fitness experts believe just about any healthy, balanced eating plan that avoids refined carbohydrates will aid in reducing cellulite. Tapp also advises staying away from carbonated beverages.

If you want to see sleeker thighs and buttocks in as little as three weeks and near perfection in 12 weeks, Vedral says, try her Cellulite Be Gone package. It consists of three workout videos that are designed to be used in rotation to shock the body for maximum fat-burning and body-shaping results.

Tapp, who has helped supermodels such as Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell get and stay in top shape, says you can tighten up and drop a dress size in two weeks with T-Tapp. Other skin-tightening solutions she recommends are body brushing and specially developed supplements. Tapp recently released a book about her program, Fit and Fabulous in 15 Minutes.

For more cellulite-busting tips, visit Vedral's and Tapp's Web sites:
www.joycevedral.com
www.t-tapp.com

The health benefits of black pepper

Q: Are there any health benefits of black pepper?

A: Black pepper is a potent antioxidant with antibacterial properties and stimulates the breakdown of fat cells. It improves digestion, prevents heartburn, gas, diarrhea, and constipation. It also promotes sweating and acts as diuretic helping to get read of excessive water accumulated in body tissues.

Black pepper (Piper nigrum in Latin) contains in large quantities manganese, potassium, fiber, iron, and vitamin C. However, its nutritional quality is not limited to just these four components.

Also important is that it's just so good!

Tanya Zilberter, PhD

How to create your body and your entire life

Metaphysics & Brain science merge and prove that positive thinking and goal setting literally create your body and your entire life experience

Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
Author, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle

Last week on a special edition of CNN's Larry King Live, Mr. King interviewed a panel of "mind experts" about how the thoughts you think literally turn into the events you experience, the material things you possess... AND even the health of your body.

For years, "positive thinking" and goal-setting were often criticized as "pollyanna" and "the law of attraction" was relegated into the category of "new age" fluff

On last week's show, panel experts Bob Proctor, John Assaraf and others who were featured in the movie 'The Secret' explained that recent breakthroughs in neuroscience along with understanding mental laws, reveals why goal setting, the "law of attraction" and "positive thinking" all work, regardless of whether you look at them from a metaphysical or a scientific perspective.

Scientists have even identified specific parts of the brain, such as the reticular activating system (RAS), which works with the visual parts of our brain to call our conscious attention to things that are important to reaching our goals and to filter out those things that are unimportant.

The RAS is activated by "programming" goals into our sub-conscious minds. Our sub concscious mind is the "power center" and THIS is the mechanism that explains why goal setting and positive thinking are now being accepted as scientific methods for change.

We are discovering that our brain is cybernetic in nature, which means that it is literally like a computer, waiting for a program to be installed.

Here's the kicker - the subconcsious is completely neutral and impartial - it will carry out any instructions you give it.

Unfortunately, many of us are still running negative programs we picked up from others as children when our non-conscious minds were totally open and impressionable, or which we developed over the years as a result of repetition of our own negative thinking.

As it turns out, our own thoughts, repeated daily, are one of the primary ways that our "mental computer" is programmed on a sub-conscious level, which is the level of beliefs, habits and automatic behavior.

To change your results, you must overwrite old negative programming and install positive new programming into your subconscious.

This can be achived through such techniques as written goal setting, positive self-talk (affirmations), and mental imagery (visualization).

In the 1970's, the Soviets and East Germans were the first to formally use structured mental rehearsal, and at that time, they dominated in several olympic sports. Today, virtually all elite athletes use visualization extensively, as we now know that the brain cannot differentiate between real practice and practice that is vividly imagined.

If you are getting more of the same negative results in your life - such as the same health problems, or the same body fat continues to return even after you lose it, then you have probably been un-consciously running old negative programs and re-inforcing them with negative thought patterns.

You can begin the positive mental reprogramming process by writing down your goals, changing your internal dialogue and taking a few minutes to relax, quiet your mind and perform a session of visualization or mental rehearsal every day (seeing yourself in your "mind's eye" not as you currently are, but as you ideally would like to be).

These methods, repeated often enough, will begin to program the non-conscious portion of the mind, which is the same part of the mind that controls your heart beat, digestion and new cell production, all on "automatic pilot."

In the last decade, neuroscientists discovered that you have the capacity to create an almost infinite number of new neural connections in your brain when you run new thought patterns.

The Old neural pathways are like grooves in a record, and if you are struggling with your health related behaviors or behaviors in any other area of your life, you have been playing the "old records" over and over again.

If you were to carve a new groove into that record, it would never play the same way again. the old pattern would weaken and the new one would take over. Brand new, positive thoughts, feelings and images begin to create new
neural patterns.

Psychologists estimate that it takes 21 to 30 days to establish a new pattern in your brain. During this time, the focus on sticking with your practice and repeating your new thought patterns is critical.

Is this easy? For most people, no it's not. In fact, controlling your thinking and keeping it constructive may be one of the most difficult challenges you have ever faced. Fortunately, writing goals and reading affirmations can help get you started.

You can take some of the pressure off yourself by simply accepting that negative thoughts and self criticisms will pop up from time to time. Just observe them, without mulling over them or adding to them, and change the polarity of the thought by quickly repeating one of your positive affirmations or by changing your mental pictures.

So is there something to this whole "positive thinking" thing?

The philosophers and theologians have been saying yes for the entire span of recorded history: "As you think, so shall you be." Variations on this proverb can be found in every spiritual and philosophical tradition.

But... if you are the left-brained, "prove-it-to-me" type, you dont have to go on faith anymore. Scientists are beginning to prove more and more convincingly that thoughts are powerful things. Even Larry King seemed impressed with what his panel of "mind mentors" had to say. In fact, I just found out that larry will be airing part two of this "Power of positive thinking" show next week.

So how soon are you going to begin your mental training right alongside your physical training? When are you going to learn how to harness this power locked up inside your mind?

Guess what? You're already using this force every day because you cannot turn it off. Whatever you are thinking and picturing in your mind repeatedly on a daily basis is on it's way to you already, so it's simply a matter of HOW you are using it, not IF you are using it.

What do you say to yourself every day? Do you say, "I am becoming leaner, healthier and more muscular every day?"... or do you say "I am a fat person - Ive tried everything, nothing ever works?"

The fact is - you can think yourself thin and healthy or you can think yourself obese and ill. Maybe not in the literal sense...but most certainly as the critical part in the chain of causation...

You see, there's a lot of talk these days in the personal improvement world about law of attraction, manifesting, intention, visualization and of course, positive thinking

Without understanding that there is an orderly, scientific basis underneath all of this, many people will simply remain skeptics, while on the opposite extreme, others may get the idea that you can sit around meditating and visualizing, then expect a mystical "law of attraction" to kick in and then "poof!" a great body materializes out of thin air... along with the perfect relationship, a nice bank account and career success.

What really happens is "Positive thinking" and related methods quite literally re-program your brain, which in turn creates new behaviors that move you physically toward whatever you have been thinking about and focusing on.

So success is achieved through positive thinking + positive doing... attraction + action. There are two sides to the coin. Without paying attention to both, you may continue to struggle... often against nothing but yourself.

If you want to transform your body or any other aspect of your life, then you have to change on the inside (the mind) first and then everything else will follow.


Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
Author, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle

PS This process of *scientific* goal setting and mental reconditioning through emotionally charged mental imagery (visualization) and internal mental dialogue (affirmations) is the very first thing I have always taught my clients and the first thing I wrote about in my book,Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle You can learn all of these techniques in detail in chapter 1. Learn more about the psychology of body transormation inside theBurn The Fat, Feed The Muscle ebook

Daily Calorie Reduction Doesn't Always Work

The way to cure Obesity is not always by lowering your Daily Calories, and here's why...

Haven't you ever wondered why some people are naturally overweight while other people can remain skinny while eating twice as much?

The truth is that your total "daily calories" is not the deciding factor in whether you're overweight or skinny.

You see, there are 3 main types of calories that you can eat each day.

First, there is protein...

Next, there are carbohydrates (carbs)...

And finally there are fat calories...

The truth is that your body doesn't pay attention to how many daily calories are eaten, but rather your body pays attention to how much of EACH TYPE of calorie that you consume.

For example, if you eat too many sugar based calories (sugar is common in fat free foods) then your body won't be able to use all of those sugar calories, and the excess calories will be stored as fat tissue.

This can happen even if you didn't eat very many daily calories, because if you eat too many "wrong" calories then you'll get fat. This is why many obese people remain overweight their whole lives even though they eat less than some of their skinny friends and family members.

...And it doesn't have to be this way, because even though it's true that some people have slower metabolisms (and suffer from obesity) they can still get just as skinny as their friends if they just
learn to EAT THE RIGHT TYPES OF CALORIES EACH DAY.

You see, your body needs protein, carbs and fat calories too. Your body needs all 3 types of calories, but it does not need them all in the same proportions at every meal.

Certain types of fat calories can speed up weight loss believe it or not, while other types of "fat free foods" will actually make you overweight if you eat them too often.

Why else do you think that losing weight is so difficult? Why else do you think that our society is suffering from a serious obesity problem which is getting worse?

It's because the ANSWER to weight loss is the OPPOSITE of what most people think. Most average people have been brought up to believe that eating "fat" is bad and that eating "fat free foods" is healthy.

That may "seem" logical at first, but in reality the opposite is often true. Eating "fat" does not automatically turn to fat tissue on your body, and eating "fat free" does not automatically cause weight loss to happen either.

To begin losing weight you must realize this fact and open your mind to a new way of dieting.

If you want to lose weight fast then you must learn to eat foods which have fat burning properties, and these are foods which keep your blood sugar level more stable throughout the day.

You see, if you eat foods which cause your blood sugar level to spike upwards too sharply then you'll feel "energetic" for a short while -- but then afterwards your blood sugar level will drop way too low and you'll feel tired and lethargic for the rest of the day.

The higher your blood sugar rises after a meal, then the lower it will drop afterward. ...And when it drops you'll feel tired and hungry all over again. This is why obese people often suffer from "highs and lows" in their energy level.

But if you begin eating fat burning foods (which keep your blood sugar level stable throughout the day) then your energy will be steady all day long, you'll have plenty of energy and you won't ever feel tired of lethargic.

Also, when your blood sugar level is kept stable then your body's natural fat burning engine will begin burning more fat tissue. That's why these are called "fat burning foods".

To learn which fat burning foods you need to eat to begin losing weight, we recommend using our new online diet right here.

Obesity is not About Daily Calories

The way to cure Obesity is not always by lowering your Daily Calories, and here's why...

Haven't you ever wondered why some people are naturally overweight
while other people can remain skinny while eating twice as much?

The truth is that your total "daily calories" is not the deciding
factor in whether you're overweight or skinny.

You see, there are 3 main types of calories that you can eat each
day.

First, there is protein...

Next, there are carbohydrates (carbs)...

And finally there are fat calories...

The truth is that your body doesn't pay attention to how many daily
calories are eaten, but rather your body pays attention to how much
of EACH TYPE of calorie that you consume.

For example, if you eat too many sugar based calories (sugar is
common in fat free foods) then your body won't be able to use all of
those sugar calories, and the excess calories will be stored as fat
tissue.

This can happen even if you didn't eat very many daily calories,
because if you eat too many "wrong" calories then you'll get fat.
This is why many obese people remain overweight their whole lives
even though they eat less than some of their skinny friends and
family members.

...And it doesn't have to be this way, because even though it's true
that some people have slower metabolisms (and suffer from obesity)
they can still get just as skinny as their friends if they just
learn to EAT THE RIGHT TYPES OF CALORIES EACH DAY.

You see, your body needs protein, carbs and fat calories too.
Your body needs all 3 types of calories, but it does not need them
all in the same proportions at every meal.

Certain types of fat calories can speed up weight loss believe it or
not, while other types of "fat free foods" will actually make you
overweight if you eat them too often.

Why else do you think that losing weight is so difficult? Why
else do you think that our society is suffering from a serious
obesity problem which is getting worse?

It's because the ANSWER to weight loss is the OPPOSITE of what most
people think. Most average people have been brought up to
believe that eating "fat" is bad and that eating "fat free foods" is
healthy.

That may "seem" logical at first, but in reality the opposite is
often true. Eating "fat" does not automatically turn to fat
tissue on your body, and eating "fat free" does not automatically
cause weight loss to happen either.

To begin losing weight you must realize this fact and open your
mind to a new way of dieting.

If you want to lose weight fast then you must learn to eat foods
which have fat burning properties, and these are foods which keep
your blood sugar level more stable throughout the day.

You see, if you eat foods which cause your blood sugar level to
spike upwards too sharply then you'll feel "energetic" for a short
while -- but then afterwards your blood sugar level will drop way
too low and you'll feel tired and lethargic for the rest of the day.

The higher your blood sugar rises after a meal, then the lower it
will drop afterward. ...And when it drops you'll feel tired
and hungry all over again. This is why obese people often
suffer from "highs and lows" in their energy level.

But if you begin eating fat burning foods (which keep your blood
sugar level stable throughout the day) then your energy will be
steady all day long, you'll have plenty of energy and you won't ever
feel tired of lethargic.

Also, when your blood sugar level is kept stable then your body's
natural fat burning engine will begin burning more fat tissue.
That's why these are called "fat burning foods".

To learn which fat burning foods you need to eat to begin losing
weight, we recommend using our new online diet right here.

Fundamental truth about your body

Your Ticket To One Minute Wellness

By Glenn Mueller
Senior Writer
Get help losing weight with eDiets.com

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EDITOR'S NOTE: The views expressed in this article are those of the featured expert and not necessarily views shared by eDiets.

Imagine if you could discover the true secret to health and happiness in just one minute. Though this may sound impossible, it only takes a single moment of revelation to see beyond conventional thinking and unlock your true capacity for wellness.

"Those moments of revelation lead you to start thinking differently," Dr. Ben Lerner tells eDiets. "And it is thinking differently that creates wellness."

Making a series of small changes that promote wellness in every aspect of your life is just what One Minute Wellness is all about. In his newest book, the author of the New York Times best-seller Body By God empowers his readers to take responsibility for their own health and happiness. Ultimately, the book does for natural health what One Minute Millionaire did for personal finance. And like that other classic, Dr. Ben's latest book is actually two stories in one.

The left-hand pages contain a fictional account of some individuals whose lives were completely transformed after they discovered the secrets of wellness and put them into practice. On the right-hand pages, Dr. Ben provides all the information you need to transform your own life for the better.

Throughout the book, Dr. Ben uses the H.G. Wells story "The Country of the Blind" to refer to the present-day society in America. In his view, our health-care system has blinded people from seeing some fundamental truths about their bodies.

"We're quick-fix minded," Dr. Ben says. "The quick fix always seems to be medication or surgery."

In the book, Dr. Ben provides startling research suggesting that our health-care system is actually the major contributor to our poor health. He also examines a phenomenon the British Medical Journal once referred to as medicalization: the medical industry's frequent practice of turning commonly found symptoms into a disease and then prescribing medications for it. According to research from the Kaiser Family Foundation, a startling 3.1 billion retail prescriptions were filled in the United States during 2003 alone.

"Our healthcare system isn't getting any better," Dr. Ben says. "We aren't getting better. It is time to stop following the wave of the culture and create a new one. It is time for a cultural revolution."

Instead of taking a purely mechanical approach to health-care solutions, Dr. Ben insists we must adopt a system that recognizes people as "complex, vital, biological beings capable of self-healing." According to Dr. Ben, everybody is created with a God-given capacity for healing.

"People are born with the intention of being well," Dr. Ben says. "The human body has a natural capacity to heal and function, but we keep interfering with that."

According to Dr. Ben, we need to move beyond our current definition of the word wellness. Though unprecedented amounts of diet, exercise and motivational products are currently being sold, obesity has reached epidemic proportions in this country. Wellness is commonly associated with being thin and looking good. People also generally assume they are healthy as long as they don't show any outward symptoms of disease.

"Heart disease, cancer and many other major health problems are present initially without any symptoms," Dr. Ben says. "Rather than waiting for disease or pain to set in, you have to build and maintain your health."

True health is not the absence of anything but the presence of well-being, he said. A state of well-being can only be achieved through something he calls Maximized Living. According to Dr. Ben, Maximized Living includes "exercise, a thoughtful diet, discovering a compelling purpose for your life, building strong relationships and the use of nontoxic, noninvasive forms of health intervention, such as prayer, chiropractic care, supplementing missing nutrients and rehabilitative techniques."

The 5 Essentials of Maximized Living include:

1. Avoidance And Reduction Of Medications. "In time, you must begin to judge for yourself whether your medications are keeping you alive, merely palliating symptoms of an unhealthy body, or actually causing some of the ailments you suffer from," Dr. Ben writes. "With the guidance of your prescribing physician, you need to make your own best decisions on medication. As you heal, work with your medical doctors to help you reduce or eliminate the drugs you're on."

2. Maximum Nerve Supply. According to Dr. Ben, the spine is your lifeline. From the time you are born, your brain sends power through the spinal cord and nervous system to control all function and healing in the body. "If the spine out of place, it interferes with proper nerve supply and your muscles can't function the way they are supposed to," he says. For this reason, everyone should have their spine checked for proper alignment by a chiropractor, he says.

3. Quality Nutrients. Dr. Ben says an inadequate supply of certain nutrients can interfere with the normal function of your body. To make sure you are being properly nourished, he recommends eating as much Food By God as possible. "Food by God is the food God designed for you to eat," he says. "Your body knows exactly what to do with that food." Just as medications can cause adverse side effects, eating too many synthetic or modified foods can disrupt your body's natural processes. As a general rule, 75 to 85 percent of the foods you eat should be Food By God instead of Food By Man, he said.

4. Optimum Oxygen Levels and Lean Muscle. "Every vital system in your body that keeps you alive -- your heart, lungs, spinal cord, muscles and arteries -- requires that you move on a consistent basis," he writes. "They need this to function properly, or in some cases, to even function at all." Every exercise program should include a combination of aerobic exercise and resistance training.

5. Peace of Mind and Strong Relationships. Health is actually a state of physical well-being, mental well-being and social well-being. "If you're not having a good time living in your body, it's hard for that body to be well or for you to call it healthy," he writes. "The fact is, you cannot separate your wellness from your emotions. Every feeling you have affects some part of your body." If you are currently programmed for stress, depression or low self-esteem, you can reprogram your perceptions through a combination of stress management, time management, prayer and relationship-building techniques, he says.

Once your eyes have been opened to the truth, Dr. Ben assures people it is possible to "achieve maximized living in a minimized world." In fact, he is confident a small group of people committed to the principles of true wellness can and will change the world.

"I love what I do, and I know God has a purpose for my life," he says. " I hope to have a long time to fulfill that purpose. I want to be as resonant of a vessel for God as I possibly can be."

If you are finally ready to unlock your true capacity for wellness, get your copy of One Minute Wellness