Whey Protein Powder

About

Whey protein powder is without a doubt in my opinion the most important supplement for anyone who wants to maintain or gain muscle size, lose body fat or just be healthy overall! Let’s look at why…

Benefits

Whether you are someone who wants to lose weight or gain muscle size and definition, there are a countless number of benefits when it comes to supplementing your diet with whey protein. Another huge bonus is that it is easy to digest and has high bio-availability for your body to make use of. So let’s look at some of the benefits.

Most importantly, whey protein contains essential amino acids, branched chain amino acids (BCAA’s) as well as glutamine. All these help you to enhance your muscle definition and function, build endurance, and slow down muscular deterioration.

As a result, your muscles will be able to recover from exercise more quickly.

Likewise, taking whey protein powder helps balance blood sugar levels to help you lose weight. The way it does this is by curbing your hunger for junky foods such as chips, cookies and your biggest no-no’s.

Furthermore, whey protein is incredibly helpful in building up muscle tissue. The amino acids also help your body to perform in peak condition. Not only that, but they encourage healthy functioning right down to the hormonal and cellular level as well. If you plan on exercising and increasing your muscle strength and size, whey protein powder is a must.

So where are you left now? Well, you are left with complete control over what you eat. Having a protein shake as a snack is the most powerful weapon in your arsenal against the fat which covers your muscle definition and kills your self confidence.

Did you get that? Your most powerful weapon! I cannot stress this enough!

Those who supplement with whey protein are able to gain more lean muscle and lose more fat weight then those who don’t take it. There isn’t really much else that can be said, but are there any side effects???

Possible Side Effects

Well no side effects have been shown although most doctors suggest that you shouldn’t be going overboard with protein shakes (i.e. a dozen protein shakes a day)! This is one thing I see some people get carried away with. Unless you are a serious bodybuilder you want to go for 2 -3 protein shakes a day at the most.

And remember this one rule, generally your body cannot absorb more than 30grams of whey protein in one sitting. Anything more and your liver is going to go into overdrive to try to process it all. The excess which it can’t absorb will just go right through you.

Conclusion

Frankly, I recommend whey protein for everyone, including my mom! I have found it to be the one single diet supplement that has helped me the most when it comes to fat loss and gain in muscle strength, definition and size. It’s a great snack any time you’re hungry, and great for keeping you full until you have time to make a meal.

Major benefits again:

• Easy to digest
• Curbs cravings for junky foods
• Contains essential amino acids to help you repair and build muscle tissue
• Great replacement for unhealthy snacks and will in turn help you lose body fat
• Very safe with no side effects

So, if there is one thing to add to your diet, it’s definitely got to be whey protein, especially if you have a hard time controlling your food cravings.

Take a look at my fruit smoothie recipes to get an idea of what you can mix your whey protein with to make it even yummier!

Please leave your comments below with how your experience with whey protein has been.

Here are some of the top whey protein products I recommend:

Optimum 100% Whey Protein (Flavors include: Chocolate Malt, Cookie’s N’ Cream, Extreme Milk Chocolate, Vanilla Ice Cream)

BSN Syntha-6 (Flavors include: Vanilla Ice Cream, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Mochachino)

CytoSport Cyto Gainer (Lactose Free & includes Creatine!)

MuscleTech Nitro-Tech Hardcore (Flavors include: Vanilla, Cookies & Cream, Triple Chocolate Milkshake)

• No related posts.

Daniel Craig Workout

As James Bond: Quantum Solace is released everyone wants to know what kind of program Daniel Craig is on to get so buff. At age 40 he has the physique most guys would kill for!

Well I did some research and his trainer Simon Waterson is an elite personal trainer in the UK who has put together a strength & conditioning program as well as a nutrition plan for Simon Craig.

Let’s take a look at the details of his design…

Simon’s Philosophy for Daniel Craig:
Don’t beat around the bush. Train hard, be consistent and concentrate on every exercise making sure to shock your body with every exercise. With this in mind Daniel put together a circuit training total body workout routine where one exercise is done after another. The idea was to burn tons of calories and at the same time jump start muscle growth.

Daniel Craig’s Workout:
The circuit consisted of 7 exercises and 4 sets where the first set is the warm-up set to allow Daniel to warm up his muscles and get the correct posture and form. 15 reps of each exercise is done and all 7 exercises are done back to back with minimal rest to really get the heart rate going.
1.The Clean and Jerk: Stand with your heels on the ground. Grab a barbell like you are going to do a deadlift. Lift it to your mid thighs, flip to your chest, then press overhead.

2.Squat: Traditional squats with wide stance and toes pointing out a bit. Just go down to 90 degrees. Don’t lock out at the top.

3.Bench Press: Basic barbell bench press, but take 3 seconds to lower and one second to raise the weight. Don’t lockout at top.

4.Pull Ups or Chin Ups: Take an overhand grip, and make sure you go up high enough to where your chin goes over the bar. If these are too difficult use a chin up machine or lat pull down machine.

5.Dips: Basic dips and go down to where your elbows reach 90 degrees before going back up. Use a Gravitron machine that assists you with dips if you are not strong enough.

6.Bicep Curls: Use a straight bar if possible and use a full range of motion.

7.Dumbbell Lateral Raises: Bend your arms 90 degree’s and use a strict motion to raise the dumbbells to shoulder level. It is best to use a light weight and be strict with these

This circuit session was followed by an Ab Routine:

The first set was 15 reps, 2nd was 20 reps, and 3rd was 25 reps.
1. Crunches - Normal everyday crunches. Knees bent, slide your hands to the top and repeat.
2. Crunches Legs Raised -Straight away legs up and crossed hands on temple bring elbows & knees together .
3. Ab Leg Raises- legs straight in the air lift with no momentum. Your lower back 3 inches off the ground.

And last the Cardio blast:

1000M Row as fast as possible on level 10!

Daniel Craig Diet:

Daniel Craig Ate 3 Meals Per Day and 2 Snacks. His diet was pretty strict with no refined Carbs after 2pm (e.g. white bread, pasta & rice). He also didn’t eat any starchy carbs after 5 pm (potatoes, bread, rice, sugary drinks, etc). He ate several servings of vegetables, 2 pieces of fruit and drank 2 Litres of water each day. It was important that he had a post workout energy snack after every workout. Alcohol was restricted to Friday and Saturday only.

A Typical Day on This Diet

Breakfast: 2 Poached Eggs and 2 pieces of Toast
Snack: Protein Shake or fruits/nuts and raisins
Lunch: Meat or Fish with small amount of Brown Rice or Baked Potato
Snack: Protein Shake -or- Yogurt with some Nuts
Dinner: Meat or fish with some type of leafy green vegetables like salad, asparagus, spinach, or broccoli.

Supplements Daniel Craig Took:

Creatine for volumizing and strength gains (Try this: Gaspari Nutrition SuperPump250)

Glutamine for immunity and muscle recovery (Try this: Higher Power Micronized Glutamine)

Whey protein for muscle tissue development (Try this: Nature’s Best Zero Carb Isopure)

• No related posts.

Benefits of Acai Berry

Many online health sites are recently claiming that the Acai berry is a miracle weight loss fruit which also helps you lower your cholesterol and gain energy.

Are these claims true or fiction?

Well according to my research from medical journals and university studies, these claims have not been tested scientifically in a double blind study. In fact, we are just beginning to understand the complexity and beauty of the health promoting effects which the acai berry holds.

The acai berry is small round purple berry found from the palm trees of the Brazilian Amazon and only contains a little amount of flesh around a large seed (the size of blueberries).

Because the Acai berry contains a high percentage of fatty acids the fruit is hard to transport as it is prone to degradation rather quickly. Therefore, it is usually transported as frozen, freeze-dried powder or as juice. For this reason, products made with processed acai berries have only been available to to researchers in many parts of the world for less than 7 years and little is known about all of its benefits.

So what are the benefits of Acai that we know thus far?

Well for one the Acai berry is one of the most antioxidant rich fruits on the planet with 10 times the antioxidant benefits of grapes and twice that of blueberries. These antioxidants are thought to be important for our vitality by preventing diseases such as cancer and heart disease, help support our immune system, and even help combat premature aging.

Acai is also a fiber rich fruit which can help with digestive or colon problems and with such a great berry flavour and aroma of chocolate you can tell right away why it is the superfood which is attractig so much attention these days. In fact the sales of acai berry over the past few years have multiplied more than 10 fold and it has created a multi-million investment by supplement companies to expose it’s benefits to the public.

Conclusion:

Although I would not state Acai berry benefits to include weight loss, its richness of antioxidants is conclusive and I would recommend it as a great addition to your fruit smoothies. I will be looking forward to further double blind scientific studies not done by food corporations to see the other hidden benefits of acai that we are not sure of yet today.

Here are some Acai Products I would Recommend:

NOW Acai Juice

LifeTime 6 Blend Juice.

LifeTime Acai Juice Plus.

• No related posts.

Benefits of Eating Vegetables: Weight Loss and Training Video Health Tip 1

I hope you enjoyed this health tip. Please leave your comments below!

Here is the transcript for this video:

Now by now you probably already know that nothing really matches vegetables when it comes to the vitamins and minerals they supply your body.

These vitamins and minerals act as antioxidants and help boost your body’s ability to combat health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, loss of eye site, osteoporosis and a number of other ailments that we are more susceptible to as we age.

If you find yourself feeling tired more often, providing your body with fresh vegetables can also help increase your energy levels.

But… Did you know that recent research has shown that when you boil vegetables you actually damage the cellular structure of them and these vitamins and minerals leak out into the water which we usually drain.

So the tip for today is to make sure to steam your vegetables, put them in a stirfry or even microwave them for a short period of time. This will help you maximize the benefits of eating vegetables.

P.S. Another way of cooking vegetables and keeping all the benefits is to grill them for a short period of time on a grill or barbeque! With a little olive oil and some herbs you can add a lot of flavor to your dishes.

• Ripped Abs - The Secret
• Quick Weight Loss Tips

What is CLA?

CLA stands for Conjugated Linoleic Acid which is a naturally occurring free fatty acid that is found in dairy products and meat (such as beef and lamb).

What are the Benefits of CLA?

CLA has been shown to increase muscle mass while at the same time reducing body fat and acting as an anti-catabolic agent (i.e. slows down your bodies break down of muscle tissue).

But that’s not all. CLA has also been shown to be a powerful antioxidant which has anti-cancer properties where studies have shown the hindrance of tumor growth in mice.

Furthermore, CLA has also been shown to enhance your immune system and help your body fight off colds.

This sounds like quite a remarkable supplement doesn’t it?

Well there is a catch, in order for you to get enough from dairy and meats you would have to consume a significant amount of food. An interesting point though is that grass feed animals contain up to 300-500% more CLA then grain fed animals. But science has helped extract and develop CLA in quite an effective manner and luckily we can get them in gel capsules which allow for optimal levels of absorption by our bodies.

Are there any side effects of CLA?
There are some concerns that CLA can aggravate insulin resistance with highly overweight people, but this research is extremely controversial and non-conclusive. More research is currently being done with high levels of CLA intake, however, for the most part the benefits seems to outweigh the possible negatives especially if taken at recommended doses (about 2-6000mg/day depending on potency)

Recommended CLA Supplements
Here are a few CLA supplements that I would recommend:

PrimaForce Max CLA Softgels

Ultimate Nutrition CLA Softgels

MRM CLA 1250 Softgels

NOW CLA Extreme Softgels

• No related posts.

About Vitamin C

Let’s do a quick overview of the importance of Vitamin C.

Well firstly, Vitamin C (aka ascorbic acid) is a water soluble vitamin that humans must obtain through our diet. It is required for the synthesis of collagen which forms the structural component of bone, blood vessels, tendons, and ligaments.

Vitamin C also plays a critical role in our brain in the synthesis of neurotransmitters which directly affects our mood. Furthermore, Vitamin C has two other important functions. It helps transport fat to cells for conversion to energy (i.e. fat burning), and is a highly effective antioxidant.

Benefits of Vitamin C

As an antioxidant, Vitamin C is important because it protects our tissues from harmful toxins, pollutants and even our bodies own free radicals which are by-products of normal metabolism. As such it is believed by the scientific community that people with diets high in Vitamin C will be less susceptible to many kinds of cancer.

There have been many scientific studies with Vitamin C and its effects on the common cold. Most have found Vitamin C supplementation to improve the prevention of colds but not necessarily reduce the duration of a cold. Therefore, it’s important to always be aware of your Vitamin C intake.

Natural Sources vs Supplementation

Natural sources of Vitamin C include citrus fruits (such as oranges, grapefruit, lemons), broccoli, sweet red pepper, tomatoes and strawberries. Surprisingly, there is little scientific evidence to show natural sources of being more effective then Vitamin C supplements. So if you find you can’t get enough fruits/vegetables on a daily basis then Vitamin C supplementation is not such a bad idea.

Side Effects of Too Much Vitamin C

Because Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin, any excess is eliminated through our urine. There isn’t much conclusive evidence therefore that too much Vitamin C is a bad thing, but some studies have shown that if you are regularly taking more than 1000mg of Vitamin C every day then you have a greater likelihood of getting kidney stones.

The only other negative effect of Vitamin C could be drug interactions such as with some birth control pills. So always consult with a physician if you are taking medication and any kind of supplementation.

Conclusion
Try and get at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily to get your Vitamin C. However, you may want to supplement your diet with Vitamin C especially during the cold season.

Here are some Vitamin C supplements which I recommend:

NOW C-1000, 250 Capsules

Higher Power Vitamin C 1000, 250 Capsules

NOW AlphaSorb-C 1000, 120 Tablets

• No related posts.

The most common question I get is “how do you stay motivated?” So here are some great tips on being successful in your goals:

- Set weekly goals.

- For extra motivation train with a partner or join a group.

- Swimming is an excellent way to get you started, switch things up a bit and to reduce impact on your body.

- Seek the advice of a certified fitness professional and make sure it’s someone you feel comfortable with.

- If you don’t get time to the gym one day or you are traveling you can do a heck of a lot at home with stability balls, resistance bands and videos

- In the beginning, aim for 3 exercise sessions/week with no more than two days rest in between. Increase duration of each session as your fitness level improves.

- Add a lot of variety into your workouts. If you find you are getting bored of running on the treadmill for 30mins, switch it up! Try 10mins run, 10mins eliptical trainer, 10mins stairmaster. For weight training, never do the same workout! Just mix it up as you go and make sure you challenge yourself.

- Start slowly and build up to fitness programs and better eating habits. Really enjoy that feeling you get after your workout. Try to relax, free yourself from stress and most importantly have fun!

• No related posts.

Recently many around us are getting the flu, so what steps can we take to make sure we don’t get sick?

Let’s start with 8 hours sleep. Lack of a good deep sleep is one of the biggest culprits which weakens our immune system. Research indicates that tv right before bed isn’t the best idea because we are presented with so many different images and sounds that it keeps our brain actively processing all this info.

Instead try:
- Reading a book or even a health magazine for 15mins on the couch before you go to bed.
- Drinking chamomile or licorice caffeine free tea and listening to soothing music.
- Meditating (this is a good challenge to see if you can relax your mind)

The next step we can take is to make sure we are getting enough exercise and also allotting enough time for our bodies to recover from it.

Also, and perhaps most importantly is making sure we are getting enough fruits and vegetables in our diets, staying away from processes foods. Some good ideas to supplement your diet include multivitamins, omega 3’s, CLA, green tea or green tea extract, and vitamin C.

Immune System Boosters I Recommend:

Optimum Opti-Men, 180 Tablets

Optimum Opti-Women, 120 Capsules

NOW C-1000, 250 Capsules

PrimaForce Lean Green Tea Extract

Stash Premium Ginger Peach Green Tea Bags

Weil Omega-3 Complex, 90 Softgels

Some other great tips:

-Drinks lots and lots of water. Try and get at least 8 glasses a day especially if you are exercising.
-Replace all processed foods with natural raw foods including vegetables and lean meats which you need to cook.
-Eat yogurt with no artificial colours and sugars. Yogurt helps support the healthy natural bacteria environment in your body.
- Don’t stress. Only you can control your stress levels and how you react to things.

Do you have any other tips to help boost immune system?

• No related posts.

Many people ask me where they should start if they want to start getting into better shape so I thought I’d make a quick post I can refer everyone to. This is a post that was asked in my Facebook group and we had some great replies so here are some ideas to get you started:

Get a gym membership and if you can afford a personal trainer, he/she will set up a program that is right for you. A good personal trainer will go over your medical history, your current health status and physical activity level and develop a plan which will slowly build as your body adapts to exercise.

However, like one of my group members Jeni mentioned in the discussion, you don’t need a gym membership to get you started and on your way to lose weight and tone up those muscles.

Walking is a safe way to start especially if you are quite a few pounds over your ideal weight. If you take public transportation get off a few blocks early and get walking. Gradually increase your pace over time making sure you are breaking a sweat.

Hiking is another great activity which doesn’t even seem like exercise if you allow yourself to really enjoy nature and the environment around you. There are tons of web sites for hiking trails so take a few minutes and do some research and get out there.

Get an exercise ball (also known as a Swiss ball). Just sitting on an exercise ball instead of a chair activates your core muscles and forces you to keep proper posture. When you take breaks you can do some ab crunches and burn even more calories. In a future post I will talk about some more exercises that can be done with the swiss ball.

Take stairs wherever you can! Stairs are a great way to boost your metabolism even if you are in great shape. Take a heavy backpack with you to push yourself to the next level when this gets easier.

Hope you enjoyed these easy exercise tips. If you have any other ideas please post them below

Our bodies have a circadian rhythm which follows patterns of light and darkness which has been essentially ignored by the evolution of mankind. Nevertheless, our ability to rest our body at night has a major effect on our ability to learn, to remember, to handle stress and even maintain a healthy appetite the next day.

But you know what the real kicker is? That lack of sleep has been linked with depression, in fact insomnia appears to be the biggest trigger of depression! This backs up the fact that adequate sleep is extremely necessary for our mental health (a problem a lot of university students unknowingly face when cramming for exams).

Chronic insomnia or lack of sleep has also been shown to bring on irritability, headaches and muscle pain. It creates a serious weakness in our ability to cope with everyday stresses and our concentration. And what’s more is that people with sleeping problems also have weight issues, not being able to control their cravings.

Is this ringing a bell with you? Are you finding that you are cursing a lot internally throughout the day? Are you having problems with your partner/family/kids/colleagues that you can’t seem to cope with? Do you get uncontrollable cravings for junk food? Maybe this triggered an “aha” moment for you.

So what do we do to make sure we have great sleep and feel fully refreshed the next day? Here is a list that I’ve collected from reading many articles (including Psychology Today & PubMed). I’ve included side notes as to the reasoning behind these points.

1. Try and get at least 7-8 hours of sleep every night

2. Don’t eat anything for at least an hour before bed (one exception would be a small fruit)

3. Sleep and wake up at the same hour every day (this will create a healthy cycle where you will naturally feel asleep at night and even wake up without an alarm in the morning)

4. Don’t take a nap during the day (if you do make sure it is less then 30mins and before 3pm)
5. Make sure your bedroom is adequately ventilated and that your sheets/blankets will not make you too hot (body temperature naturally drops as you fall into a deep REM sleep, and if you get too hot you will find that your sleep will be disrupted)

6. Refrain from exercise at least 4 hours before bed time (people who exercise late at night will have a heart rate which is accelerated above normal and not allow you to get into a deep sleep)

7. Don’t have any caffeine or alcohol at least 4 hours before bed time

8. Take a warm bath an hour before bed (the warm bath corresponds with your body temperature being warm immediately after a bath and then dropping as you cool off, therefore inducing sleep)

9. Don’t watch tv or work at the half hour before bed (tv and work usually will lead to a clutter of information in your head as you sleep and this has been proven to reduce the quality of sleep)

10. Read or try meditating half an hour before bed (reading is very calming and in a low light room will relax you right into sleep. Meditating before bed is the golden key though. If you can unlock the power of this door then you can be in such a relaxed state that nothing will disrupt your sleep).

Ok, so you may have heard all this before but have you actually implemented it into your life? Looking from all the 50+ posts it seems like not many or none of you have. But you can’t just all of a sudden one day just change your habits, your body/mind will simply not allow it as you have been doing things a certain way all your life. So, I want to take this challenge on with you, but not until next week. Over the next few nights lets all start implementing one or two of these suggestions before going to bed. Our goal is to gradually adjust our body to having 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night.

• Ripped Abs - The Secret
• Burn Fat Now!

You read that right, the concept behind eating more and losing weight is to split up your meals into 5-6 smaller meals rather than 3 large meals or even 2 meals/day.

And yet, the biggest MISTAKE a lot of people make is they skip their breakfast because they think that starving themselves for a little longer will mean their body will burn more fat.

In fact, the opposite is true after your 8hour fasting period also known as sleep!

Bottom line is after sleep your body is looking for nutrients to replenish your muscles with protein, sugars and essential vitamins & minerals.

This not only for every day muscle function but especially true if you had any exercise the day before as your muscles have been trying to repair themselves over night and have utilized the stored proteins, sugars and vitamins/minerals.

Skipping breakfast means whatever meal your body gets next it will try and STORE as much of it as possible especially as fat. Skipping breakfast means you made your body believe it may not get another meal for an extended amount of time. So….DON’T skip breakfast!

Here are some healthy breakfast ideas

• Healthy Breakfast Ideas
• Diet Pills - Top 5
• Diet Pills - My Sincere Advice