Who else is sick and tired of chicken and broccoli and wants to ELIMINATE bland diet foods from their diet?
What’s in your kitchen? Foods that burn fat, or fake health foods that turn off your fat burning triggers?
It’s a VERY serious question that you should be asking yourself if you really want a lean and healthy lifestyle.
One of the biggest problems with fat loss and healthy eating is that I get really bored of the same ole’ food. You?
I guess that’s probably why most people resort to a LOT of fake diet foods. They’re convenient. They’re different. They seem healthy, right?
Think again.
This may sound a little controversial, but sometimes I can’t help but feel like the whole food industry is completely against us. (ESPECIALLY us women).
You may be surprised to find out that the simple way you approach and consume your so-called “healthy foods” could actually be making you put on ugly fat and unwanted weight.
These so-called “healthy foods” stimulate hormones and chemical reactions in your body that actually force your body into a fat storing zone.
The diet industry and the fake, healthy foods they promote are one of the main causes of the obesity epidemic. I don’t know if they do it on purpose and are really “against us”, but sometimes it sure does seem that way.
The main problem with these fake diet foods is that they don’t contain anything natural. Almost everything is processed and full of chemicals that our bodies are simply not designed to consume and digest.
So, what REALLY is in your kitchen?
We’ve reviewed hundreds (if not thousands) of food journals from our clients over the years and have been shocked by what people consider healthy choices.
Almost every time we look through their food journals (and kitchen), they are loaded with toxic food combinations and diet foods that are full of hidden, fat storing chemicals.
I’m not trying to freak anybody out and be all about the controversy. I’m just an advocate for spreading the truth. I hope you see my point and this makes sense.
These companies spend millions of dollars to deceive the consumer (all of us) into believing this stuff is healthy, when they’re really just fat storing foods in disguise.
We typically see foods listed such as:
soy milk
soy foods (tofu, veggie burgers, etc.)
juices (orange juice, apple juice, etc.)
regular or skim milk
energy drinks (Gatorade, Powerade, etc.)
diet sodas
low carb foods (we call them “fake” foods)
low fat processed cheeses
low fat yogurts
canola oil, soybean oil, corn oil
wheat pastas
protein bars (really just like a Snickers with a little protein added)
unhealthy nuts
peanut butter
diet foods (desserts, ice creams, chips etc.)
corn products (found in almost everything that says low carb)
diet crackers
diet cereals
granola bars
diet drinks
frozen diet dinners
rice cakes
whole wheat products
margarine or alternative fake butter products
the list goes on and on…
We see this pattern continuously year after year with almost every person we work with. Their cupboards are loaded with foods they think are healthy for them.
The problem is they don’t realize these are the same exact foods that are actually causing them to gain weight, suppressing their fat burning hormones and destroying their energy all at the same exact time.
This means even if they lose weight initially, chances are they’ll gain all the weight right back if these foods are a part of their plan.
This goes back to one of our core philosophies here at GL-12.
AWARENESS.
Again, we’re all going to consume some of these foods no matter what. The key is awareness and moderation.
Even Shaun admits (as a male) that he can still consume most of these foods and still stay lean. But, he makes sure to avoid them at least 5 days a week. Why? He feels malnourished and doesn’t get the healthy vitamins and minerals he needs.
After giving birth to my 4 kids, it became very difficult for me to keep up with my healthy eating. I actually started resorting to using all kinds of these healthy fake foods. It really seemed like the only option.
Then several weird things started happening.
My body started putting on fat…in really weird places.
My brain started feeling foggy and unfocused.
I started losing my drive to workout and my energy levels dropped drastically.
Something just wasn’t right.
Then I started reading books and learning from my husband about how to take recipes from the Food Network and make them healthy.
People like Rachel Ray, Bobby Flay, Sandra Lee, Ina and all the Food Network cooks make delicious recipes, but they have too many hidden calories, sugars and unhealthy fats.
So, I took my education and literally became a “Food Network” recipe addict. (Now you know where I got the nickname, Krazy Karen.)
I started compiling dozens of healthy recipes and “coding” them with our fat burning code “key”. The same one Shaun and I gave you on yesterday’s blog post.
Then we started inserting them directly into our GL-12 macro-patterning meal plans and all of a sudden our healthy eating became fun again!
Before I knew it, Krazy Karen’s Fat Burning Cookbook And Recipe Boot Camp was born.
We call it: A Fun, Long-Term Solution for Delicious Healthy Eating that Automatically Facilitates and Promotes Fat Loss – Forever.
I’m not much of salesperson, but I’m pretty dang excited about my cookbook.
Shaun’s favorite recipe is the Mexican Lasagna and he loves the homemade protein bars. I’m a big fan of the grilled fish recipes. My husband always says I’m going to grow fish gills.
If you’re one of the first 100 people to take action today, we’re going to enroll you in a special Fall 2010 Extreme Fat Loss Webinar and Group Coaching Call with a Special Surprise Guest.
Eating for weight loss (even if it’s summer) seems easy – doesn’t it?
Just make healthy choices consistently, watch for hidden fats and sugars, avoid the white stuff, and exercise…right?
Wrong.
Although it will help you tremendously if you make healthier choices, watch for hidden calories and engage in regular exercise…a whopping 75% of your fat loss results will come from understanding a few key food factors, such as:
The right combinations
The right foods
The right (sometimes precise) times
The right quantities
By monitoring these properly, you can control fat loss by manipulating the 2 big kahunas of fat loss: Leptin and Insulin. (More on this in a second.)
Food Combinations: Every time you eat a meal, the right food combinations will determine whether or not your body burns fat or stores fat throughout the day.
Almost everybody, and I mean everybody, combines all the wrong foods. In fact, the majority of people (over 90%) consistently combine their food so their bodies are actually releasing fat storing hormones almost every time they eat.
Even if the foods are actually healthy (and most times, they’re not), the wrong food combinations trigger fat storage almost immediately.
We’re going to show you a simple way to combine your foods so you know – for a fact – that your body is always in a fat burning environment.
Meal Timing: Most people time their meals too close together or too far apart and end up sabotaging their fat loss efforts by stimulating their appetite instead of suppressing it.
Timing your meals properly is crucial to controlling insulin and consistently accessing body fat. There are certain fat burning windows that you can instantly access once you understand how to time your meals properly.
We’re going to show you how you can kill food cravings and have instant control of your appetite and your fat loss with our meal timing tricks.
Portion Control: Most people try to monitor portion control by counting calories or trying to stay within a certain range. This is a BIG mistake.
There are certain times when you should actually “over-eat”. I know it sounds hard to believe, but once you understand this you’ll actually burn more fat by stimulating fat burning hormones like Leptin.
There is also a simple and easy way to eliminate counting calories and grams forever.
Just read below and you’ll learn about a simple and easy method to constantly be forcing your body to feed on fat by manipulating your fat burning hormones with our unique portion control tricks.
What ends up happening with most people (even though they’re trying to make healthy food choices) is that glycogen levels never drop low enough to do 2 very important things.
Stabilize Insulin
Prime Leptin levels
It’s a double-edged sword because you can’t go low carb all week long. Your thyroid won’t respond. On the other hand, you can’t burn fat if your glycogen (energy) tank is always full from always consuming carbs.
You have to bring your glycogen levels up high enough to spark your metabolism, but low enough to find and consistently burn fat.
Good news! We have a fun and realistic solution.
Below is a simple way to approach eating so that you’re programming your body to always be burning fat without worrying about calorie counting or weight gain all summer long.
Once we show you how to control Insulin and Leptin by using the right timing, the right combinations and the right portion control, you’ll know every time you feed yourself that you’re burning fat and promoting life-long health and weight loss.
Here’s a Macro-Patterning “key” we’ll use over the next couple of days to help you unlock your fat burning potential.
P = Protein
S = Starch
V = Vegetables
O = Fat
A = Fruit
FF = Free Food
SA = Sweets and Alcohol
Here’s a typical week that reveals a very simple, yet extremely effective way to wear your bathing suit all summer without caring what other people think.
We call it the GL-12 Summer Metabolic Disruption Plan
Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays (Maintenance):
You still get plenty of starches and a little fruit so you don’t get bored. There are a thousand different recipes you could use on these days so variety is NOT an issue. This is huge for fat loss longevity.
Wednesdays (Strategic Cheat to spark thyroid and leptin):
This plan completely eliminates guesswork and you’ll never get bored. Why?
You get a midweek break with a Strategic Cheat Day (SC) on Wednesdays (We try to have “date night” on this day. The one day of the week where we “just say no” to kids and business. This will also help keep you disciplined until Friday.)
You have a ton of variety (and energy) on your maintenance days by not going too low carb too many days of your week (Carbs are NOT the enemy!). You just have to manipulate your glycogen levels by monitoring carb intake if you want to burn fat).
You empty your glycogen tank during the day on Friday so you can enjoy every Friday night for the summer (We love our Happy Hour Martinis and Friday night barbeques.)
You still get your normal Cheat day on Saturdays (or you can swap it our for another day). Your Leptin will reset and your body will thank you later.
You still get to enjoy the typical summer barbeques, family picnics, events, recreation, vacations, etc. (That’s why it’s called summer – right?)
If you follow this, you’ll have fun AND burn fat at the same time. Wow. Who woulda thunk it?
There are several dozen more aggressive tactics (like our Ultimate Summer Fat Loss Cycle) you can use during this time of year, but this one is definitely the most realistic while being fun to follow at the same time.
This is the one we like to use for most of the summer.
IMPORTANT HINT: The actual food choices you make to follow this plan can actually make ALL the difference.
You probably should ask yourself: “Do I have a kitchen that’s loaded with foods that burn fat, or store fat?”
Most people have wayyyyy too many fake, healthy foods in their kitchen.
These hyped-up and over-marketed so-called health foods actually make your body store fat instead of burn it. They have hidden chemicals and nasty fillers that turn off your fat burning triggers by messing up your fat burning hormones. We see this over and over and over again.
If you like today’s post, just hit the Facebook “Like” button below and we’ll be back tomorrow with a list of these so-called healthy foods that could be making you fat. You’re probably using more of these fat-storing foods than you think.
This list of foods will probably shock you a little bit, but if you really want to see them we need you to hit the “Like” button below.
Have an awesome day!
Shaun and Karen
P.S. Pay close attention tomorrow at EXACTLY 3pm EST. We have a special announcement for you.
HINT: Krazy Karen has been in the kitchen and on the grill throwing down on some new fat burning recipes.
Oh ya! Be on the lookout tomorrow. If you like today’s post, you’re going to love Krazy Karen’s Fat Burning Cookbook and Recipe Boot Camp.
An Eye-Opening Article On The REAL Science Of Summer Alcohol Intake And Fat Loss
The subject and information in this article may seem negative or depressing at first, but it’s very appropriate for this time of year.
Plus, we’ve been bombarded with questions regarding the subject of alcohol and fat loss, so we wanted to take the time to answer all these questions.
There’s actually a very positive, long-term take-away at the end of this article, so take this information seriously because it can really make the difference.
We actually give you a list of action steps that you can proactively start taking today. Whether you’re a beer lover or just a social drinker, these action steps will help you on your fitness journey.
Ok, time for the negative and depressing stuff first.
Aside from the fact that alcohol decreases reaction time, slows muscle contraction, digestion and thinking, people perceive it to be a stimulant.
That’s probably because it knocks down your inhibitions and makes you act like an idiot. Even though we do like to drink occasionally, our opinion is there’s very little to be said for the positive “benefits” of alcohol.
Although many of us have our “moments” where we celebrate a little too much, lets look at what it does to you nutritionally.
Alcohol is a carbohydrate, or a simple sugar, void of any vitamins or minerals. Since it is a carbohydrate, one ounce of alcohol provides 70 calories. The problem arises because these calories don’t have any vitamins or minerals so the alcoholic finds his hunger satisfied without ever getting proper nourishment, leading to serious deficiencies.
One gram of alcohol yields approximately 7 calories, almost twice as much as protein and carbs. From a health standpoint, these calories are empty and useless.
Alcohol is such a simple sugar that it actually enters the bloodstream through the walls of the stomach as opposed to most nutrients, which are absorbed in the small intestine.
This quick absorption explains why you may feel the effects of alcohol shortly after having just one or two shots.
It also goes directly to work on the central nervous system and starts to damage valuable brain cells.So far alcohol consumption doesn’t seem like the greatest idea in the world, does it?
But wait! There’s still more. Alcohol damages these brain cells by withdrawing water that is essential for cellular health. Next, it moves on to other cells in your body, which leads to dehydration. That’s the primary reason you’ll get the famous “hang-over-headache”.
We’ve already educated you on how simple sugars impact insulin and fat mobilization.
Alcohol is the equivalent of the most notorious simple sugar, carrying with it all of these other dastardly effects. It requires no digestion. It is a form of fuel, but in this case, that’s not necessarily a good thing.
Your cells uptake it because it is so simple, your body will use it for fuel before using other carbs, proteins, or ingested fats. It is considered “nutrient sparing.” Since it becomes the quickest available food source, it spares all other nutrients that follow it.
When calories are prevented from being used as food, what do they likely become?
You know the answer by now. Accumulated body fat stores!
If you’re trying to reduce body fat, you should also know that alcohol is very rapidly synthesized into triglycerides and stored as fat. It is also an appetite inducer! If anyone you know has ever gotten drunk (l would presume you might even have ), the first thing they wanted to do when the excitement slowed was EAT!
So is alcohol really a stimulant? By now you should see that it isn’t, and in addition to all the effects listed above, it does a number on your motivation and sense of well-being. Of course, this is what we call the famous “hangover”.
Can you really drink alcohol and still stay lean?
In the final analysis, this topic seems to be a common struggle we hear from a lot of people…they want to get lean and stay lean, but they don’t want to give up drinking alcohol.
Will a few beers during the football game destroy your fitness program? Probably not. It comes down to a matter of commitment. If you are totally committed to health and fitness, you will probably minimize your alcohol intake.
You’ve heard rumors of the positive cardiovascular effects a daily glass of wine might have because of the antioxidants. Just remember, you can get these antioxidants in many supplements and even from whole food sources without getting all the sugar from the red wine.
We love a glass of red wine with a lean piece of steak just as much as anybody else, but it’s just advertising and marketing hype that makes people think red wine should be part of a fat loss plan.
If you enjoy an occasional drink or two, that’s fine. Just be aware of the whole picture when alcohol enters your system.
First, we believe the best thing anyone can do is live alcohol free until you reach your initial goals or a maintenance type of schedule and then add alcohol back in 1 or 2 times per week in moderation. A LOT easier said than done, especially during the summer.
The second best option is to limit alcohol intake to once a week after the first 4 weeks of beginning any serious fat loss lifestyle.
We believe most of us can drink in moderation, and still stay perfectly healthy and lean after some initial sacrifice to get to our goals, but there are a few tricks that can help you not pack on the pounds.
Your Alcohol Intake Damage Control Plan
Get plenty of water to prevent the dehydration.
If you decide to drink beer after working up a sweat, I suggest killing your thirst with a few large glasses of water first. Or if you pull a late-nighter, make sure you have damage control in place by drinking extra water before bed and having a water bottle by your nightstand.
If you know you’re going to consume more alcohol than you’re supposed to, it helps to make sure that dinner is based only around protein and vegetables.
Eating a good portion of appetite-satisfying protein along with nutrient-rich vegetables can help to control your appetite and give your body the nutrients it needs.
Just like we explained above, too many carbs + alcohol intake = “fat-spill-over”.
Make sure you stay away from syrupy, fruity drinks that are loaded with sugar.
This has a two fold negative effect for your belly and butt fat. You’re not only getting all of the empty alcohol calories, but also loads of empty sugar calories. These drinks can have as much as 500-600 calories per serving!
The best thing to do is stick with a clear alcohol mixed with water or club soda. Vodka with fresh squeezed grapefruit or lemon juice is my favorite, but I make sure I add water too. Another option is vodka with club soda and extra lemon/lime. This is easier if you’re at a restaurant, bar, or nightclub.
Also, most people don’t realize that tonic water is loaded with just as much sugar as soda pop. Stick with club soda because it contains zero calories.
If you’re a beer drinker, you’re better off choosing just 1 or 2 dark beers rather than 5 or 6 light beers. Although dark beers have more calories than light beers, they also have more B vitamins and antioxidants than light beers, so you actually get more nutrition from the dark beer.
As long as you keep it to just 1 or 2 dark beers you’ll be ok, but if you go beyond that you should start counting calories and go with a low-calorie light beer option instead.
Try to get in a high intensity, full body workout or some type of GL-12 or HIIT before your night out of drinking or socializing.
This is always a great way get your metabolic rate cranking for some extra damage control.
Also make sure to get in some long duration cardio the morning after your night out along with extra water intake. Your energy will probably stink, that’s why you should stick with lower intensity and focus on sweating and rehydrating.
Avoid late night fast food or junk food after drinking.
This will sabotage your fat loss efforts big-time! The worst thing for your body is loading up on burger, fries, pizza, ice cream, or other junk foods after consuming alcohol.
The best method is to plan ahead. Make sure you have an alternative healthy option planned ahead of time so when you get home you can heat it up and satisfy your late-night cravings.
There’s also been plenty of times late at night when we will prepare a whey protein shake with natural peanut butter to help “fill us up” because we didn’t have any other food planned ahead. It’s not the ideal situation, but it’s better than eating junk.
Alcohol is very good at depleting your body of the vitamins and minerals we need to be healthy and feel normal, so it’s important to replenish these key compounds to help us recover.
Although ridding alcohol intake from our lives is definitely the BEST option, we also have to be realistic. Most people are going to consume some type of alcohol at least socially. If that’s you, why not do it the healthiest way possible and keep yourself on track by using the steps above?This is also a great way to possibly prevent a “hang-over”.
What’s your favorite summer party drink? Leave a comment below and let us know.
Your fat burning friends,
Shaun and Karen
P.S. Here are the secret ingredients we both use to replenish key nutrients and cure our hangovers. Click here to check it out.
We regret every time we run out of this stuff and drink a little too much.
A simple and easy way to decipher your food labels to burn more fat…
How to instantly know if your food label is lying to you…
The hidden ingredients on food labels that could be making you fat…
The extraordinary difference between “lean” and “extra lean” and what it means for your fat burning potential…
Pay close attention because right around the 6-minute mark I reveal an easy way to cut calories while eating the same amount of food…this is REALLY simple and cool.
Enjoy!
Shaun
P.S. We would love to hear what you know about food labels. Leave a comment below and let’s help each other be more healthy!
Give Yourself A Powerful Fat Burning Check-up (from the Neck-up) With The GL-12 Circle of Life
If you’re anything like us, sometimes life gets a little hectic and out of balance. This is usually when exercise and nutrition slip to the bottom of the “to do” list and the next thing we know it’s 10 pounds later. Yikes!
Let’s just look at all the areas we have to pay attention to on a daily and weekly basis.
Family and Relationships
Love Life or Marriage
Health and Fat Loss
Career, Hobbies, or Passions
Personal Growth
Money and Finance
Spiritual Growth
Hmmmmm…it gets me overwhelmed just looking at the list. You?
This is something that typically affects everyone. In other words, if you breathe and have a pulse, you probably struggle with balance in your life. Welcome to the reality of today’s fast moving day and age.
What if there was a simple, 5-minute exercise that you could do to get your life right back on track?
Today, I’m going to share a very powerful little tool you can use to automatically keep your life balanced.
We call it the Circle of Life, and it’s a great “wake-up” call for a lot of people.
But first, I want to focus on the one key area that will positively impact and fuel every other area.
What is it? Health and Fat Loss.
If you give your health and your fat loss consistent attention, several things will happen – automatically.
You’ll create more time in your schedule for the other areas.
You’ll have more energy and focus to serve the other areas.
You’ll always maintain a P.M.A. and avoid P.L.O.M. disease.
You’ll live longer, feel better, and exude unstoppable confidence.
We have found over the years that the discipline and energy you use to make time for your health and fat loss will automatically move into the other areas.
Most people think the exact opposite. They say:
“I don’t have time to exercise.” Or
“I’m an emotional eater.” Or
“I don’t have enough energy or motivation to follow through” Or
“I’ll start next week.” Or
“I’m just not into it right now.”
Sound familiar?
Please don’t fall for this trap. Make exercise and healthy eating a priority and your life will become MORE balanced…not LESS.
It’s a weird phenomenon, but it works.
Ok, back to the Circle of Life. You’re gonna love this…
Here’s how it works.
Rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 for each of the key areas of your life on the Circle. (See below.)
The number 1 means you’re failing miserably and not giving that area any attention.
The number 10 means you’ve achieved everything you want to achieve in this area you’re giving it your full attention.
Shaun always tells me that you should never be a “10” in any area because you should always be improving. In other words, if you’re a “10”, it should mean that you’re dead because you’re either regressing or growing. Nothing stands still.
After you’ve rated yourself on a scale of 1 to 10, connect the dots.
You’ll automatically see where your circle is off-balance and you can arrange your schedule to give the neglected areas the attention they deserve.
We recommend that you use this tool at least 3 or 4 times a year to give yourself a check up from the neck up.
No matter how hard we try, some areas will always be out-of-balance a little bit. It’s the nature of the beast.
BUT, just by using this tool you can track what’s going on before your life gets out of control.
It’s one of the secrets of the journey!
Now it’s comment time again. Here’s what I need you to do.
Let me know what area needs your attention.
How do you keep your life balanced?
Anything else that you like about this post…
If I get a couple dozen comments, I’ll be back in a couple days with a special, eye-opening article on food label lies.
Talk to ya then!
Karen
P.S. Thanks for the warm welcome here on the blog! It’s really helped me get motivated again. Motivation is always a huge struggle for me during the summer months. I’m sure you can relate.
), the first thing they wanted to do when the excitement slowed was EAT!
