Archive for the ‘Diet’ Category

One Small Victory Reported in the War On American Childhood Obesity

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008

After a 25 year increase, it seems that the percentage of obese or overweight children has plateaued. This news offers us some hope that perhaps the future of America will not be riddled with diabetes and heart disease.

Fat KidOne expert, Dr. David Ludwig, has commented that even though he is encouraged by these findings, “it is still too soon to know if this really means we’re beginning to make meaningful inroads into this epidemic. It may simply be a statistical fluke.” Another expert maintains that there is at least a small level of optimism about these results.

Study Results

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Why Dieting Makes You Fatter – Popular Diet Reviews

Friday, May 23rd, 2008

Healthy living girlThere are so many fad diets out there these days. When you want to lose a quick pound, it’s hard to know where to turn. This is just a short review of popular fad diets, and a solution to the fad diet problem.

Fad Diet Principles

Many diets promote certain principles that will make you fatter. Super restricted calorie diets will only slow down your metabolism so that when you start eating again you will balloon right back up. Liquid or juice diets tend to follow this idea. High carbohydrate diets will just bulk you up with carbs and will negatively impact your insulin resistance over a long period of time, possibly leading to adult onset type II diabetes. Zero carbohydrate diets will leave you with no energy and nasty protein bi-products floating around in your system. Plus when you go back to eating normal, the increased carbs will be stored as fat right away and you will balloon back up again.

Proper Diet Principles

From now on your diet refers to the way you eat on a daily basis. Instead of going on a diet, you will change your daily eating habits. You will increase your protein consumption, decrease your fat and carbohydrate consumption, eat 5 small meals, and drink a gallon of water a day. These four actions will inherently function to both reduce your daily caloric intake, increase the calories burned by the metabolic processes in your body, and control your cholesterol. It is your responsibility to exercise 3-5 times per week for 45 minutes, and eat fewer calories than your body uses in a day.

Popular Fad Diets

Medifast – Read a great review of the Medifast Diet at DietsInReview.com

Low Carb Diet – The basic concept of a low fat diet is to replace the simple carbohydrates in sugary and starchy foods, with high protein, high fat, complex carbohydrate foods. Low carb dieting forms the basis for most successful personalized weight loss diet strategies. A-

Atkins Diet – An extreme version of the low carb diet that sets a limit on the amount of carbs in a day to 20 grams coming only from fibrous sources. This is generally considered to be a moderately dangerous diet, which should only be followed for a month at a time. C+

Low Fat Diet – Since fat has significantly more calories than carbohydrates and protein, this diet aims to keep calories low and eliminate harmful trans fats and saturated fats from the diet, opting to eat mostly carbohydrates instead. The low fat diet craze is single handedly responsible for the rise in Type II diabetes in Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers. F

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How Many Carbs Should I Eat in a Day?

Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008

Need protein powder?

Shakeology

Check out Shakeology – it’s not just your average protein shake!

  • Whole-food ingredients curbs cravings and burn stored fat
  • Over 20 phytonutrients and antioxidants
  • Reduces risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke
  • Probiotics to assist digestion and nutrient absorption
  • Tastes awesome mixed with plain cold water!!

Click here to order or learn more about Shakeology.

If you are looking for a pure protein powder, check out Optimum Nutrition. Optimum Nutrition protein powder comes in about 20 different flavors, and is available in 1 lb, 2 lb, 5 lb, and 10 lb containers.

Click here to order or learn more about Optimum Nutrition.

Everyone eats carbohydrates. You pretty much can’t get around it. We need carbs for energy after all.

But the questions still remain: how many carbs should I eat in a day?

Are there drawbacks from eat too little or too many carbs?

What are the side effects of eating carbs or abstaining from eating carbs?

Well once again, as with protein, it depends on what you do on a daily basis. Furthermore, ingestion of carbs should be focused more around the question:

WHEN should I eat carbs during the day?

As with how much fat to eat in a day and how much protein to eat in a day, it all depends on a couple factors:
High Carb Snacks

  • job
  • insulin resistance
  • activity level
  • target body weight
  • exercise goals
  • lifestyle

The most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans, as stated by the Department of Health and Human Services, suggest that roughly 50% of your daily calories come from carbs. Thus, a person who eats approximately 2,500 calories per day should take in about about 300 grams of carbs. This number is not altogether bad for the average American, but we have to take into consideration the sources of those carbs.

These are the kinds of carbs to avoid at all costs:
Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

  • sugary snacks and pastries
  • sugar-sweetened soft drinks or fruit juice
  • candy
  • cookies
  • regular fried greasy chips
  • processed, packaged snack foods
  • high sugar kids cereals
  • processed white flour products such as white bread and pasta

These foods offer virtually no nutritional value, and they contain far too many calories. Some of these foods also contain saturated and trans-fats that are bad for your heart, and sugary foods can lead to such maladies as type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Specifically if you are already insulin resistant, you should avoid these bad carbs as they will just ruin your day by making you tired, slow, dumb, and hungry.

Instead choose these kinds of carbs:
Fruits and Veggies

  • fresh fruit
  • vegetables
  • whole wheat and whole grain products
  • beans, nuts, and other legumes

When Do I Need More Carbs?

People that exercise with high intensity or with prolonged endurance, can benefit from a high carbohydrate intake before exercise. It is feasible to consume a high carbohydrate meal before a marathon, or a moderately high carbohydrate meal before lifting weights or martial arts training. It is not a good idea to consume too many carbs in one sitting, but 50 grams is not out of the question if you are preparing for a physically draining event.

During and after exercise is also a key time to consume carbs. In fact this is the only time it is recommended to consume sugary carbs. I tend to sip on Gatorade during a workout and my post-workout drink contains about 40 grams of carbs in the form of dextrose. If allowed to choose, I would choose Biotest Surge as my post-workout drink of choice. This is a product that is specially formulated to replenish lost glycogen stores and restart protein synthesis after a demanding workout.

When Do I Need Fewer Carbs?

There is no need to eat carbohydrates at night. Ever. Some folks believe in consuming a high-carb meal the night before an event like a marathon, but I just don’t see it. I would say eat that meal in the morning if the event is in the late morning or early afternoon. The best time for a high carbohydrate meal is in the morning, when your body is prepared to uptake glycogen for energy for the day. Lunch should be a moderate carb meal as you don’t want to get that ‘bonk’ feeling in the middle of the afternoon. Also consider that if you don’t plan to exercise during the day then there’s really no need to gulp down many carbs at any point in the day.

Carbs and Fat Loss

If you are on a fat loss diet, then there’s definitely no need to eat more than 100 grams of carbs in any one day. I don’t necessarily support Atkins, but there are valid points to that diet. When I am in the middle of a hardcore cutting phase, trying to get as lean as possible in a given time frame, I will only consume 20-30 grams of low glycemic index carbs for breakfast.

For lunch I will try to avoid most carbs, opting for whole grain bread or a salad if necessary. My pre-workout drink is typically 1/2 a serving of Biotest Surge, I sip on Gatorade during the workout, then finish off with 1 serving of Biotest Surge after the workout. On non-workout days, I skip all of that and choose a protein bar, cheese, or a meat snack instead.

Dinner is always low carb during a diet. Soup, meat and vegetables, and salad are all great choices for low carb dinners. Appropriate snacks are meats, cheeses, protein bars or shakes, veggies, and other super-low carb foods. Typically in the midst of a diet phase, I eat around 75 grams of carbs on a non-workout day, and maybe 120-140 grams of carbs on a workout day.

The Best Protein Powder
The Best
Protein Powder

In conclusion, I recommend that if you are moderately active, you should derive maybe 30% of your daily calories from carbs. Sure, my opinion differs from specialist government agencies, but that’s only because I have seen low carb diets work. I have also seen Americans grow obese and suffer from a long list of carbohydrate induced diseases.

A 200 lb man on a 2500 calorie diet would probably eat maybe 180 grams of carbs in a day, all from unprocessed whole food sources. A 140 lb woman on a 1500 calorie diet might only eat 100 grams of carbs in a day.

Someone on a strict diet might limit themselves to 50 grams of carbohydrates a day regardless of sex or weight. Just remember to avoid those nasty sugary processed carbs so that you can stay healthy, avoiding energy crashes and adult-onset type II diabetes.

See also:
How many grams of fat should I eat?
How many grams of protein should I eat?

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Acai Berry the New Weight Loss Superfood

Friday, August 10th, 2007


In recent years the acai berry diet has quickly become the most popular diet in the world, while the acai berry itself has become the most popular antioxidant diet supplement in world.

Combined with a colon cleanser, a sensible diet, and a moderate exercise routine, the acai berry can help you lose fat faster than you ever thought possible, and its antioxidant health properties will keep you feeling youthful and energized every day.
Beach Woman

  • With just Acai Pills you can lose up to 15 pounds in just 30 days.
  • Combine Acai with a Colon Cleanser to lose an additional 5-10 pounds.
  • Combine Acai with the diet and fitness routines I’ve outlined below and the fat will simply melt off you.

Navigating the Acai Berry Diet Review

What Are Acai Berries?

About Antioxidants

The ORAC Rating

Acai Berry Diet Benefits

Why Use Acai?

Weight Loss Testimonials

Step 1: Acai and Weight Loss

Step 2: Colon Cleansing

Step 3 (Optional): Fat Loss Workout Routines

Step 4 (Optional): The Intermittent Fasting Diet

Order a Free Trial or Full Supply

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Acai Berries?

Acai Berries

Acai berries – acai is pronounced ‘a-sigh-ee’ – are small, black, and round, and they resemble small grapes. There is not much acai fruit on each individual berry. Rather, each acai berry has a large seed that is surrounded by a small amount of pulp.

Harvesting. When harvesting the acai berries, harvesters must remove the pulp from the outside of the berry, and process it immediately into an acai product or flash freeze it for shipping to a manufacturing facility. The acai fruit will spoil if left unprocessed for several days.

Acai Products. The fruit from the acai berry is often used in a variety of dietary supplements, healthy foods, ice cream, sorbet, juices, and other common grocery store items. Best of all, the acai berry is the most important food used with the acai berry diet. With the highest antioxidant concentration of any known food, the acai berry is now known as the most important superfood for a maintaining proper health.

Bad Products. Some common commerical acai products, like Monavie and Amazon Thunder are just juices, which really don’t have a place in the acai berry diet. Juice is, after all, full of sugars and other un-diet-like ingredients. Some of the products like Leanspa Acai, Acai Burn, and Acai Plus are now known as scams. They get you to buy into a 6 month supply, send you an initial shipment, then take the rest of your money and run.

Good Products. One of the best products I’ve had a chance to use is Acai Berry Select, which contains is 100% pure concentrated acai – a complete antioxidant, weight loss powerhouse – plus high effective energy boosters and other great thermogenic ingredients.

Another awesome product is Pure Raspberry Ketone. This has a highly potent combination of 5 popular superfoods:

  • Acai Berry
  • Pomegranate
  • Green Tea
  • African Mango
  • Raspberry Ketone

African Mango and Raspberry Ketone are both fairly new to the super-food world. African Mango extract is really high in antioxidants, while Raspberry Ketone is an effective FDA approved fat loss supplement.

Raspberry Ketone

Sambazon acai juice is the best juice product I’ve tried, but it does contain extra calories so is not the best product for an acai berry diet.

The Health Benefits of Antioxidants

I am psyched because I am always talking about the benefits of antioxidants, and in particular how acai is currently the food with the highest antioxidant concentration in the world. The ORAC rating for acai beats out even that of pomegranate and blueberries!

The antioxidant benefits of the acai berry rival several other superfoods, including:

  • blueberries
  • goji berries
  • mangosteen
  • Amazon mango
  • pomegranate
  • strawberries
  • and pretty much any vegetable you can think of

The super healthy vitamin, mineral, and macronutrient concentrations in acai berries blend together in your diet and in your body, to exert a powerful effect on your mind, body, health and overall well-being. For those of us looking for protection from cancer, weight loss, help with diabetes, better cardiovascular health, or just to look and feel healthy, should consider giving the acai berry a try. Learn more about the history of the acai berry itself on WikiPedia.

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Oxygen Radical Absorbence Capacity (ORAC)

Oxygen Radical Absorbence Capacity, or ORAC, is the measurement of the antioxidant concentration of individual foods. The foods that have a higher ORAC value have a higher concentration of antioxidants, which means they are more effective at fighting the cellular damage caused by free-radicals. We want to load our diet up on fruits and vegetables if we wants to fight skin wrinkles, cancer, and various other diseases associated with toxins and aging.

As you can see by the chart below, the acai berry’s powerful 18,400 ORAC rating is the highest of any known fruit or vegetable. As a side note, I should let you know that the Maqui berry has taken over the ORAC crown, but acai berries are still better for weight loss.

When used in amounts up to 1000 mg a day, acai berry supplements will help to decrease the cell oxidization damage caused by free radicals pretty significantly, even when used for just 14 days. Of course, long term use is recommended since the antioxoidant benefits will cease a couple days after you stop using acai. Even WebMD agrees that the acai berry diet is the healthiest nutrition plan to follow for life.

ORAC

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Acai Berry Diet Benefits

Most people who use the acai berry diet report the following healthy effects:

Acai Ultraberry 160x600
  • Increased weight loss
  • Higher energy levels
  • Faster recovery from workouts
  • Faster recovery from injury
  • More strength and stamina
  • Digestive function improved
  • Full body cleansing
  • Better focus and mental clarity
  • Increased libido
  • Better sexual performance
  • Healthier immune system
  • Younger looking skin
  • Circulation is improved
  • Sleep patterns regulated
  • Better clarity of vision

Other known benefits of the acai berry diet:

  • Important vitamins and minerals
  • Decreased inflammation
  • High in fiber
  • Fights cancerous cells
  • Healthier heart function
  • Helps prevent atherosclerosis
  • Helps control diabetes
  • Anti-aging
  • Normalizes cholesterol levels
  • Helps control blood sugar
  • Helps regulate blood pressure

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Why Use Acai Berry Supplements?

In our generation, the world is full of chemicals, phytoestrogens, pesticides, herbicides, nuclear waste, and other harmful environmental toxins. Personally, I enjoy the acai berry diet because it allows me to maintain a healthy low body fat, and my antioxidant intake is sky-high. Even at age 33 I feel like I am still 21!

Anyone specifically looking to combat the effects of aging, recover from injury, and lose excess bodyfat should definitely looking into using the acai berry, temporarily if not indefinitely.

Other reasons you should try the acai berry diet:

  • again, if you need to lose body fat, and quick!
  • combat the pain and suffering caused by fibromyalgia
  • you are looking for better control over diabetes
  • you live with the daily strain of arthritis
  • if you have a desire to feel and look years younger
  • sexual dysfunction is getting the best of you
  • you have gastrointestinal or digestive problems
  • rehabbing and/or healing from a recent injury

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Acai Ultraberry

Acai Berry Diet Testimonials

Acai Berry Diet Testimonials
Acai Weight Loss Testimonial - Amy Acai Weight Loss Testimonial - Lisa

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Step 1: Speed Up Weight Loss With Acai

I wrote earlier that acai berry supplements are a great weight loss aid, but I didn’t get into all the details. Well, here are the specific details about why the acai berry is so helpful when you are trying to lose fat.

The acai’s natural concentration of fiber, fatty acids (including essential fatty acids – EFAs), raw amino acids, and phytosterols work in unison to assist your body with burning fat more efficiently. All of these nutrients will help your digestive system to process food faster and more efficiently, which will help your body to burn its stored fat quicker than diet and exercise alone.

Acai Ultraberry

Dietary Fiber

85% of the carbohydrate content of acai is dietary fiber. As we all know, fiber helps your body to move food through the digestive tract. Excess food and calories are therefore eliminated quickly, rather than being absorbed into the bloodstream and stored away as excess adipose tissue (fat mass).

A high fiber diet is also known to reduce hunger, curb the appetite, and eliminate cravings. Make sure your regular diet is full of healthy fruits, vegetables, and whole grains; then supplement with acai berry every morning and you’ll be virtually guaranteed to lose weight and maintain regular bowel movements.

Fatty Acid Content

56.2% of the fat content of acai is oleic acid, which in simple terms, is olive oil. Know how nutritionists are always telling us to use olive oil in our recipes because it’s so healthy? Well there you go! Supplementing with acai berry is like supplementing with olive oil. But that’s not the best part…

Additionally, your body is unable to produce Omega 3 or Omega 6 essential fatty acids (EFAs) naturally, which means you’ll have to make it a point to supplement with fish oil or eat foods with high concentrations of those EFAs. Conveniently, these EFAs are plentiful in acai berries, making up the additional 43.8% of fat. That means you can say supplementing with acai berry is like supplementing with fish oil!

Just some of the benefits of supplementing with EFAs include:

  • improvements in the cardiovascular and circulatory systems
  • reduction in the chance of developing blood clots
  • decreased inflammation and relief from arthritis
  • healthy cholesterol and triglyceride levels
  • healthy heart, brain, and memory functions
  • decreased insulin resistance, better control over diabetes
  • optimal development of a child’s brain, nerves and eyes while breast feeding and during pregnancy

Amino Acids

Acai berries are chalk-full of amino acids, widely known as the building blocks of protein. In order for your muscles to recover from workouts or even just to function properly, you need an adequate intake of amino acids. I recommend .8 grams of protein in your diet per pound of goal body weight, so that’s a lot of amino acids.

Furthermore, when dieting, a lack of amino acids leads to muscle catabolism (muscle loss), which in turn leads to a slower metabolism, less stamina, fatigue, and loss of strength. Supplementing with acai berry gives you those extra amino acids that your body needs to function at optimal levels, especially when following a regular exercise routine.

Phytosterols

Phytosterols such as ß-sitosterol, which is prevalent in acai, decreases cholesterol levels by inhibiting cholesterol absorption in the intestines. When phytosterols are absorbed in the intestines, they are transported into the cell membrane where they bind to micelles in place of dietary cholesterol. This means that when your diet contains cholesterol, it is more likely to be transported from the body, rather than absorbed into the bloodstream.

There are 2 ways to add acai berries to your daily diet:

  1. Order a free trial of acai so you can test it out for 14 days.
    Click here to order.
  2. Order a 1 month or 3 month supply and get a free bottle depending on how much you order.
    Click here to order.

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Step 2: Accelerate Fat Loss With Colon Cleansing

Colon Cleanse

Disgusting, harmful toxins infiltrate your body at work, at home, in the car, when you eat, when you sleep, and even when you breathe. They are on the vegetables and fruits you buy, they are in your meat, in your dairy products, on your clothes, in your deodorant and perfume, and even in the air.

Furthermore, in westernized culture, we eat more sugary, processed, and fried food than ever. We poison our bodies with a variety of sedatives, stimulants, pain relievers, and a million other medications. A high percentage of these medicine and food toxins build up in our liver, kidneys, and colon. They pollute our body and stress out our digestive systems.

To combat these toxins, we sometimes resort to enemas, detox diets, cleansing drinks, and colon cleansers. Our main goals is to cleanse the colon walls of stagnant toxic waste build up, which we can do cheaply and comfortably by using a colon cleansing dietary supplement.

By using a colon cleanser you will increase your vitality, improve your digestion, and lose weight. When combined with an acai berry diet, using a colon cleanser regularly will help to keep your intestines clean and your body free of toxins. It is recommended to use a colon cleansing supplement for 14-30 days, 4-6 times a year.

While not mandatory for the acai berry diet, using a colon cleanser will make the detox process much easier and faster, and it will help your efforts to lose weight. I’d choose a colon cleanser before I’d choose an enima, that’s for sure.

There are 2 ways to add colon cleansing to your daily diet:

  • Order a free trial of Colon Cleanse so you can test it out for 14 days.
    Click here to order.
  • Order a 1 month or 3 month supply and get a free bottle depending on how much you order.
    Click here to order.

Clear here to read more about colon cleansing on Project Swole.

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Step 3: Fat Loss Workout Routine to Use With the Acai Berry Diet

To maximize your weight loss on the acai diet, you should be working out at least three times a week for at least 30 minutes per session. Exercise is not mandatory on the acai berry diet, but it will help you lose fat even faster.

The best fat loss workout routines on Project Swole are:

These routines prescribe 6 days of exercise per week, and consist of 3 intense full body weight training workouts and 3 cardiovascular routines. Use these workouts to kick your fat loss into overdrive!

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Step 4: Intermittent Fasting to Accelerate Fat Loss Even More

An intermittent fast is the best approach to losing fat quickly on the acai berry diet. Intermittent fasting calls for a 6-8 hour feeding window, where you eat all of your calories for the day in 2 or 3 meals. Don’t eat after 8pm or before noon. Drink only water, tea, or coffee in between.

Like colon cleansing and the fat loss workout routines, fasting is not mandatory for the acai berry diet. However, intermittent fasting is a great lifestyle eating plan if you can get accustomed to it. Whole-day fasts are not typically recommended for those of us looking to build or maintain muscle mass, but intermittent fasting is a great solution.

Click here to read more about intermittent fasting on Project Swole.

How to Order a Free Trial or a Full Supply of Acai and Colon Cleanse

Once again, here are the instructions for ordering the best acai and colon cleansing supplements online. The free trial offers provide you with an inexpensive solution, while a full order will let you stock up and possibly get a couple free bottles. Just click on a link, submit your address, and away you go!

The 2 ways to add acai to your daily diet:

  1. Order a free trial of acai so you can test it out for 14 days.
    Click here to order the free trial.
  2. Order a 1 month or 3 month supply and get a free bottle depending on how much you order.
    Click here to order a full supply.

The 2 ways to add colon cleanse to your daily diet:

Acai Ultraberry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about acai. You can read the whole list here: Acai Berry FAQ

Q: How much acai berry should I take each day?

A: It is recommended to take between 500 mg and 1000 mg (1 g) each day. This can be taken all at once or divided into several doses. See the previous question for more information on timing your acai intake.

Q: How much weight will I lose by taking acai?

A: You can lose between 1-2 pounds a week on a healthy diet and exercise plan. When taking acai you may lose at least twice that many pounds. You could definitely lose up to 12 or even 15 pounds a month by using acai, as long as you continue eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly.

Q: Will I gain the weight back after I stop using acai?

A: As long as you maintain a healthy diet and keep exercising, you will not gain fat just because you stop using acai. You might experience decreased weight loss or a plateau in your fat loss progress, but you will not suddenly start gaining it back.

Q: Can my pre-teen or teenage, son or daughter use acai?

A: Acai berries are fruit just like blueberries, oranges, and apples. It makes sense that if you are old enough to eat other fruit, then you are old enough to eat acai. The one caveat is that the supplement must be 100% pure acai. If your acai pill or juice contains other ingredients like Hoodia, caffeine or another thermogenic compound, I can’t promise it will be good for your kid.

Q: What are the side effects of acai berry supplements?

For 100% pure acai supplements, there are no side effects, just as there would be no side effects to taking a highly concentrated blueberry supplements. Sometimes acai berry pills have added ingredients such as caffeine, green tea, or hoodia, which could cause some acai berry side effects like increased energy and heart rate. This doesn’t make them dangerous by any means, but it should be noted that some acai berry supplements do have added ingredients.

Q: When should I take my acai berry supplement?

A: If you have an acai supplement with added ingredients like caffeine and hoodia, then you should only take your acai berry supplement in the morning. If you have a 100% pure acai supplement, then it is OK to take it in the morning and before bed, however I recommend you consistently take your acai supplement once per day, in the morning with breakfast.

Q: How many calories are in the acai berry supplements?

A: There are a ton of calories in the acai juices. Upwards of 200-500 calories per serving, depending on the product. I don’t recommend the juices for a weight loss diet, although they can fit nicely into a regular breakfast or as a pre-workout drink. The acai berry pills have negligible calories in comparison, and even then the calories are attributed to fiber, healthy fatty acids, and amino acids, as I mentioned above.

Q: Is the acai berry a scam?
A: No! This question frustrates me, because the acai berry diet is now receiving unnecessary negative publicity thanks to a few shady businesses. The acai berry received a bad rap in recent years because some companies took huge orders over the course of several months, shut down their customer service departments, and ran for the hills.

When you consider the health benefits of the acai berry itself, the proof is in the pudding… the acai berry pudding. Antioxidants are very real, and the acai berry is very high in antioxidants. If you ever wanted to take a supplement that could help you lose weight, stay healthy, and feel young, then the acai berry is for you.

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Raspberry Ketone

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New Goal – Swole in a Month

Saturday, June 2nd, 2007

Candlebox!

I am going to Candlebox on July 6th. The show will be at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom (in NH), in the middle of summer, in a swarming crowd of people, and I refuse to be forced to wear a shirt due to man boobs and love handles! Therefore I have roughly one month to kick it up a gear.

The Plan

I will exercise five days a week for four weeks. This exercise will occur during my lunch break at work. I will lift heavy Mon/Wed/Fri and Tues/Thurs will be additional workouts of high intensity cardio or complexes. For cardio, I will occasionally participate in the elliptical machine, but more often than not I will choose to workout on the heavy bag. On elliptical days, I will toss in 20 rep, light weight sets to stimulate blood flow and assist recovery. Complexes are also quite enjoyable, as I will go and and hit up a deadlift/hang clean/push press/back squat/rear push press combination.

The Goals

When I am as out of shape as I am right now, a deadlift/hang clean/push press complex is difficult enough, but in a month I want to be in solid enough shape to complete 5 sets at 135 of the full complex. It would be nice to be able to rep 315 x 5 again in the squat. This is not that difficult to attain. My deadlift should get back up to 405 x 5, 455 x 1 in a month. Benching shouldn’t cause me any trouble to get 225 x 5 and 275 x 1. I would also like to increase my current level of leanness, which I know will happen along with my other goals. Due to my intensity and the muscle memory theory, I believe I can accomplish these goals by 7/5/2007.

Notes to Self

  • More protein and water, less everything else
  • You will arrive at work no later than 9:30 am on any given morning
  • Somewhere between 12:00 and 3:00 you must get in 30 minutes of exercise minimum, 5 days per week
  • Breakfast, snack, exercise, lunch, snack, dinner, snack(?)
  • Hello supplements! Welcome back Biotest Hot Rox Extreme, Xtend, NO-Xplode, Biotest Surge

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How Should I Eat?

Friday, April 27th, 2007

The first question you will ask yourself when you embark on a diet to either lose or gain weight is, “How should I eat?”. If you have ever asked that question, let me help to give you some guidance.

Diet is Responsible for 75% of Progress

Eating right is what fitness is all about. Did you ever think that daily trips to the fast food strip were good for you? Obviously they’re not. About 1-2% of the population has that natural metabolism that functions perfectly all of the time. They can eat whatever they want and still have a perfect physique. You know who I’m talking about out.

Unfortunately for you and me, we’re not those people. We have to make a strong conscience effort to eat correctly. Believe it or not, there are food companies out there trying to make a buck and they don’t care what they are feeding you.

It’s very tempting to just skip meals and head to the drive through because the food is so good, or you don’t have time to cook. Well, the majority of what we eat isn’t good for us.

Preservatives, high-fructose corn syrup, and other nonsense plagues the food Americans eat. Food that costs 29 cents and takes less than a minute to make is not good for you, no matter how or where you make it.

To make matters worse, everything you find in the supermarket comes in a box loaded with so many preservatives we could bury you alive today and you’ll look the same 10 years from now when we dig you up. Here’s a list of 20 foods that you think are healthy, but really aren’t.

One of the better quotes that I have heard in my times goes a little something like this:

“If it grows, or eats food that grows, then you can eat it.”

Basically we want to stick to the all natural whole foods like unprocessed whole grains, vegetables, fruit, eggs, meat, and the like. Keep away from foods in boxes or bags.

Important Meals

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! Don’t skip it.

Lunch is also important, and it provides an excellent opportunity to eat a small high-protein meal to sustain you until dinner.

Dinner should be small and compact, and light on the carbs.

Finally, don’t forget your 2-3 high protein snacks throughout the day, and drink water like it’s your job. Be sure to research how much fat to eat, so you can keep yourself full of healthy fats.

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