The TRUTH about Belly Fat

Losing belly fat and maintaining a lean midsection can be simple, but unfortunately there are many myths out there, or short cut ideas that people believe are true. Here are some common myths to be aware of when striving to obtain a tight, shapely waist.

1. Fat makes you fat.

Fat is not the devil. Fat is a necessary macronutrient needed in our body to maintain adequate health. Good fats produce a thermogenic response that actually burn fat as your body breaks them down. Also, good fats are essential to maintaining cardiovascular, muscle and joint health, therefore making your workouts stronger and fat burning more effective.

2. Doing many abdominal exercises will burn belly fat.

Spot training does not exist. Unfortunately, flat abs are a result of 80% diet, 10% cardio and 10% abdominal exercises. therefore performing repeated crunches will not give you the midsection you desire. On the contrary, excessive abdominal exercises, especially if not performed correctly, can result in building a thicker abdominal region, creating the illusion of a wide waist. Keep in mind to draw in the belly button towards the spine while performing crunches etc, to insure a flat abdomen.

3. Gluten free = good for you

Sure eliminating gluten consumption may initially cause some drop in weight, but all foods labeled "gluten free" do not equal "healthy". In some products, gluten or wheat may be replaced with starch or sugar substances that cause an insulin spike and crash, and fat retention. Be sure to read the label carefully. If you cannot pronounce ingredients listed, chances are it lacks nutritional value. Furthermore, completely eliminating wheat/gluten from your diet may cause a residual intolerance when you introduce the food back into your system 

  

4. Low fat diets are best.

Similar to the gluten free fad, products that are labeled/modified to be "low-fat" trend to be high in sugars or starchy carbs. If the ingredients contain anything ending in "ose" (glucose, fructose etc.), you are ingesting forms of sugars, or insulin spiking materials. The idea to obtaining a lean midsection is to maintain a consistent insulin level, and minimize a spike/crash effect. Insulin is a transport/storage hormone. Sugars/starchy carbohydrates create a spike in the insulin levels, causing insulin to store calories as fat. Post insulin spike and storage, is usually followed by a crash, causing you to feel hungry and week, which in turn makes you crave more sugars/carbs. Avoid this phenomena by ingesting a healthy about of protein, fat and fibrous or slow digestion carbohydrates throughout the day.

5. Do not eat after suppertime/Before bed

Small frequent meals is optimal for fat burning, as it promotes a consistent insulin level. it is not necessary to fast before bed, as you will be fasted for the time you sleep. It is reasonable to eat every 3 hours that you are awake. 

6. Overexercising is best for burning fat

Overexercising can lead to stress on the body. Cortisol (stress hormone), breaks down hard earned muscle, retains water and limits fat burning in the abdominal region. Bottom line: stress is bad. Overexecising can also lead to burnout, which is negative to all fitness and life goals. Find a way to cope with stress, limit workouts and be aware of early signs of exercise burnout (fatigue, "the blues", moodiness, trouble sleeping/sleeping too much, pain etc). Remember rest days are just as important as workout days.

Easy Tomato Pesto Chicken

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in pieces
1 large red onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 can whole mushrooms
1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
4 tbsp tomato pesto

1. Heat 1 Tbsp EVOO in a large skillet pan on medium heat. Add chicken.
2. Sautee chicken until no longer pink, turning frequently, to cook/brown all chicken. Set chicken aside.
3. Add chopped onions to the pan, sautee approx. 2 minutes, add garlic. Once Garlic begins to brown, add mushrooms. Cook for another 5 minutes.
4. Add tomatoes, pesto and chicken. Mix and heat through.
5. Garnish with fresh Basil or Parsley (optional)

Goes well with herbed quinoa!

Isobolic High Protein Pumpkin Spice Latte

I love my Keurig, and love trying new flavors of coffee. Of course I love a Starbucks Latte, but the calories and sugar are just not worth ruining a diet for. This pumpkin spice version is my favorite that I have tried. However, you can take the same idea and mix different protein flavors and coffee flavors. This drink is perfect for on the go, and a great drink before a morning workout to prevent muscle loss and provide energy.

Ingredients:
1 cup brewed Timmothy's Perfectly Pumpkin Keurig Coffee cup
1 scoop Vanilla Isobolic
Sprinkle of nutmeg (optional)

Brew coffee and blend in a blender, serve!

Another great original is a brand of organic coffee (I like Van Houtte Mexico Dark Roast), blended with Chocolate Isobolic. Almost like chocolate milk! Give one a try today!

Burn Fat Fast! (with minimum rest)

Everyone seems to want to burn maximum fat, in a minimum amount of time. This can be possible, however it is not always easy. By adding intensity to your workout, cutting back rest time and challenging yourself... results you desire are achievable!

To change you workout routine and increase intensity, be open to new ideas and give some new techniques a try.

1. Decreasing rest time by supersetting
 Decreasing rest time between reps keeps the heart rate high, challenging your body to burn more fat. Try taking 2 or more exercises of the same body part, and performing them consecutively, with no rest. then once completed the 2 (or more) exercises, rest only 30 seconds before repeating the superset again. Repeat x4

ex: Pulldowns superset with Cable rows.
Pulldowns8-12 reps, (no rest) Cable rows 8-12 reps (rest 30seconds) repeat x4

2. Countdown reps
 Countdown reps are a great way to challenge you to push your body to the limit. Three exercises back to back, no rest, counting down from 10 until 0 reps left. Just as it sounds. You can choose a variety of exercises, bodyweight, dumbell or barbell exercises work best, as it can all be done in one workspace.

ex: Pushups/crunches/burpees complete until finished 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1.
     Cleans/deadlifts/pushups
     jump squats/ jump lunges/step ups on bench 

3. sets for time

Challenge yourself by completing your workout and timeing yourself. Choose some exercises with a set number of reps, write down the time it takes to complete it, try it nest week and break your record!

ex. 100 squats/100 push ups/ 100 sit ups

4. combining compound movements

Combining compound exercises can be used to target multiple muscle groups at once. Compound movements, such as squats, use the most energy to recover, burning the most calories even at rest. Furthermore, large muscle/multiple muscle compound movements produce the most growth hormone, which helps build lean muscle.

ex. Create into one rep using barbell: clean, press, squat, behind head press, burpee. Repeat x 10

5. finish with burnout/drop sets

After completing your workout, further exhaust the muscle by finishing with drop sets. Dropping the weight can allow you to continue the reps. Muscle growth and fat burn occurs when the muscle is pushed passed failure!

ex. On the last set of cable lat pulldowns, drop the weight by 30%, continue until failure then drop another 30% until unable to complete any more reps!

Marinated Oven Roasted Grass Fed Striploins with Lemon Parmesan Asparagus Spears

Grass fed beef is a meat stacked full of CLA, (Conjugated linoleic acid), which is a fat that actually helps burn bad fat! Red meat is also full of good protein to keep you feeling fuller, for longer, and is complimentary to a keto or competition diet. 

Ingredients:

2 Grass Fed Strip Loin Steaks

2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

2 tbsp Red wine

1 tbsp Montreal Steak Spice (Salt free preferably)

1 bunch fresh asparagus, ends removed

2 tbsp Walnut oil or Olive Oil

juice and zest of half of a lemon

3 tbsp shredded parmesan

freshly ground pepper

freshly ground sea salt

Steak

1. Mix worcestershire, red wine and steak spice in a small bowl, coat the steaks, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour (overnight is better).

2. Preheat oven to broil. line the bottom of the oven with aluminum foil to catch the oil from the steaks. 

3. Place the steaks directly on the oven racks.

4. broil for approximately 15 minutes, Depending on desired doneness. 

Asparagus

1. line a pan with Aluminum foil or Parchment paper. arrange the asparagus stalks so that they are not over lapping. 

2. Drizzle with oil, juice and zest of lemon, fresh ground pepper and sea salt, and sprinkle with parmesan chese. 

3.broil for 10-15 minutes, or until tender-crisp

So easy and so quick! Perfect meal when having guests over for supper!

Curry Chicken

2 lb boneless skinless chicken breast

2 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 large diced Onion

1 med diced Green apple

1 can Chopped Tomatoes (No Salt Added)

3 cloves diced garlic

1 tsp grated ginger

2 tbsp curry powder

½ tsp Cayenne pepper

2 tbsp Greek Yogurt

1.       Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2.       On med-high heat, sautee onions until slightly softened, add garlic, ginger and green apple, cook for another minute.

3.       Add the can of chopped tomatoes and spices. Simmer for approximately 5 minutes. Stir in the greek yogurt.

4.       Spray an 8x8 inch casserole dish with fat free cooking spray.

5.       Place the chicken in the bottom of the dish, pour the sauce over the chicken, cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

6.       Let cool 5 minutes and enjoy!

My fave Nutra Shakes!

Who says you cant have your ice cream and eat it too? Its summer, and ice cream is all around. But to maintain a great physique, ice cream is not on the summer menu. Here are some tasty blended Nutrabolic shakes I love to make in the summer. They’re cold, and when blended thick, have the consistency of the real deal!

Very Vanilla

1 scoop Vanilla Isobolic

¾ cup Vanilla no sugar Almond Milk

3 tbsp Plain Greek yogurt

Tsp pure vanilla extract

Ice

Pina Colada

½ scoop vanilla Isobolic

1/2c coconut milk

½ banana

2 oz fresh pineapple

1 tbsp unsweetened coconut flakes

ICE

Reese’s choco PB

1 scoop Chocolate Isobolic

¾ chocolate Almond Milk

1 tbsp PB2

ICE

After 8

1 scoop Chocolate Isobolic

1 tsp peppermint extract

¾ vanilla Almond Milk

Ice

St Pattys Green Shake

1 scoop vanilla Isobolic

¾ c Vanilla Almond Milk

1 tsp peppermint extract

3 tbsp Plain Greek Yogurt

Few drops green food coloring

Ice

Chunky Monkey

½ scoop Chocolate Isobolic

½ Scoop banana Isobolic

¾ cup Chocolate Almond milk

Ice

Frozen Apple Crisp

1 scoop Cinnamon oatmeal Isobolic

½ Macintosh Apple (chunks)

¾ c Vanilla almond milk

Ice

Strawberry Banana

½ scoop Strawberries and Cream Isobolic

½ scoop Banana Isobolic

½ banana

4 strawberries

¾ c almond milk

Ice

Bananacado

1 scoop Banana Isobolic

1-2 oz Avocado

1-2 oz Banana

¾ c Vanilla almond milk

Ice

Popeye shake

1 Scoop Strawberries and Cream Isobolic

¼ c blueberries

¼ c rasberries

¼ c strawberries

1 cup spinach

¾ cup Vanilla Almond Milk

Ice

Body Detox

1 scoop Athletes food Acai Berry

½ grape fruit

½ c spinach

¼ c Blueberries

¼ c pure blueberry juice

½ c water

Ice

Death by chocolate

1 scoop Chocolate Isobolic

¾ c chocolate Almond Milk

1 tsp cocoa

1 oz organic darck chocolate

Ice

Strawberry Kiwi

1 scoop strawberry and cream Isobolic

2 oz strawberries

1 kiwi, peeled

¾ c Vanilla almond Milk

3 tbsp plain greek yogurt

Ice