Sunday

This chemical turns men into "girly men" - BPA

If there's one message I try to keep hammering home in this newsletter, it is the danger present in some of the harmful chemicals that we are exposed to in our food supply, our cleaning supplies, our environment, as well as lotions, shampoos, etc.

As you know, one topic I talk about often is how we are being bombarded by chemicals known as "xenoestrogens" in our new modern chemical-laden world, and the harm to BOTH men and women with these chemicals.

Read this new article to protect yourself from this potential harm:

This chemical turns men into "girly men" (how much exposure are you getting?)

As you can see in that article, we are exposed to this chemical in some weird places, included that shiny paper receipt that you get from almost any store when it touches your skin, or touches your food (yes, even common receipts are one of your exposure points).

Also, if you missed this article, you can read here how you are exposed to this harmful chemical in canned tomatoes as well as bottled drinks.  You NEED to know what to watch out for to protect yourself from these harmful "xenoestrogens".

And although we should always do our best to avoid exposure to BPA and other xenoestrogens, some exposure is going to happen anyway, as these chemicals are all around us.  There is a specific class of vegetables that can help fight against xenoestrogens and belly fat.

PS - if you thought today's articles were beneficial, please share this page with any of your friends, family, or co-workers to help protect their health too.

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer

Friday

The REAL reason Paula Deen got diabetes

If you've been following the news lately, I'm sure you've seen that celebrity chef Paula Deen (known for her notoriously unhealthy dishes) has announced that she has type 2 diabetes, and has known about her condition for at least 3 years, while continuing to promote her unhealthy recipes on her show.

She's been taking some serious heat in the media for all of the sudden partnering with a pharmaceutical company that sells diabetes drugs as opposed to her promoting a healthy lifestyle instead.

I'm always amazed that type 2 diabetics decide to take dangerous drugs as opposed to just changing their eating habits and lifestyle.  Remember that type 2 diabetes is 100% reversible simply by eating a very healthy low carbohydrate nutrition plan and exercising regularly.

I couldn't help but catch part of Ms Deen's show the other day where she said they'll be trying to show how to modify some of her recipes to be better for diabetics.  The problem is that they seem to be clueless on what changes you actually need to make for a diabetic.

First of all, I think it's ridiculous that she tried to blame her type 2 diabetes on "genetics"... sorry, but humans aren't programmed to get type 2 diabetes, and even if you have family history of type 2 diabetes, eating right and avoiding excessive carbohydrates will prevent it 100% of the time ... people get type 2 diabetes by abusing the blood sugar regulation system in their bodies for years and years with excessive amounts of carbohydrates, particularly too much sugars, corn syrup, and refined grains.

Ok, so back to why their modifications for a diabetic made no sense...

One of the things that they kept saying on the show was how they could reduce the butter, sugar, or egg yolks in a recipe.  Now you can see how confused they are about nutrition... Reducing the sugar is a good thing, but what does butter or egg yolks have to do with type 2 diabetes?  In fact, NOTHING at all!

Type 2 diabetes is COMPLETELY about excessive carbohydrates throughout one's life... not dietary fat or cholesterol.  So why did they keep talking about reducing the butter and egg yolks in recipes?  Just shows how most of society is confused about nutrition.

In fact, the butter and egg yolks in a baked product are in most cases the healthiest part of that product, while the sugar and flour are the ingredients that CAUSE diabetes!  You can read this article to see more of the health benefits of grass-fed butter.

And as you can see, the Deen crew obviously hasn't been reading my newsletters, so they don't understand that egg yolks are actually the healthiest part of the egg!

The point here is that reducing the sugar and refined carbohydrates is what she really needs to do to reverse her diabetes...not reducing butter or egg yolks!

In fact, I think Paula could easily reverse her type 2 diabetes in as little as 6 months by simply eating more healthy fats, more proteins, and less carbohydrates, while getting all of her carbs from veggies instead of grains and sugars. Add some healthy spices like cinnamon too which are known to help control blood sugar... and throw in some reasonably intense exercise along with that reduced carb nutrition plan, and she'd be good to go!

Want to know something else that fights type 2 diabetes and controls blood sugar...

Read this article for another nutrient that fights diabetes


Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer

Monday

Does jogging make you fatter?

As you probably know from reading my book and a lot of my articles, I'm not a fan of steady pace "jogging" in terms of health benefits... in fact, I've even read about a few emerging studies that have shown heart scarring on people that do long distance jogging at the same heart rate frequently (marathoners for example).

Remember that it's ALL about heart rate variability, as opposed to training at the exact same heart rate all the time.  That's why highly variable interval training, bodyweight training, kettlebell training, wind sprinting or hill sprinting, and weight training are all such great forms of exercise... besides the muscular component and metabolic stimulus, they all employ a high degree of heart rate variability, which is what you want for the strongest possible heart.

Read this article to see why "jogging" may even make you fatter.

One interesting thing to note from that article is how your body burns less calories the more frequently that you run, as your body becomes more efficient at it.

Also, take note of the high potential for joint injury from "jogging", as opposed to exercises like kettlebells, weight training, or bodyweight training that can all make your joints stronger when done correctly.

And another major aspect that this article talks about is the reduced metabolic rate as you lose lean muscle from excessive jogging.

On a related topic, make sure to read my article on 5 reasons why treadmills and ellipticals are a WASTE of time for the most part, and my top 10 best alternative workout styles.

Also, read this new article about the ONLY good use I've found for a treadmill.  This is actually a GREAT workout!

I hope you are kicking butt in your 2012 fitness goals!

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer
TruthAboutAbs.com

This "sweet" food can help you fight belly fat

About 3 weeks ago, I sent a newsletter recommending a new healthy ice cream product that I've really been enjoying personally, and it's a high protein, high fiber ice cream formula called FitFreeze, that also tastes incredible!

Well, according to my help-desk staff, while a lot of people really enjoyed this new healthy ice cream alternative, a few others questioned the ingredients and if they are truly "natural" or not.

Also a few other people were wondering if I actually use FitFreeze myself, or if this was simply an "advertisement". Well, the answer to that is YES, I love this stuff, and I've even made 2 batches of it since Christmas.  Hey, I'm not gonna lie...I love ice cream, but I pretty much never buy regular ice cream because of the high loads of sugar. I usually only enjoy ice cream once per month as a treat out at a restaurant, but I don't bring ice cream in my house usually since I might be tempted to eat too much of it at once. 

But FitFreeze has allowed me to enjoy a serving of ice cream each night after dinner without having to worry about loading up on massive amounts of sugar in regular ice cream, or the nasty artificial sweeteners that are in typical "light ice cream".  FitFreeze, on the other hand, is naturally sweetened with zero-calorie stevia, while also having 15 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber per serving!  There's not a single ice cream at the grocery store that can claim that.

Now to answer the question about whether it contains truly "natural" ingredients...

Although there are a few minor ingredients added for texture and extra fiber that might not sound "natural", it doesn't mean that they aren't technically natural. According to the food scientist that helped develop FitFreeze, the product does indeed qualify to be labeled as "natural", and any minor ingredients such as polydextrose or cellulose gum that may sound questionable are in such small quantities, that it is irrelevant.

Personally, to answer those that questioned a few of the ingredients in FitFreeze, I have no problems at all with the FitFreeze formula... My main goals are to avoid ingredients with MAJOR issues such as hydrogenated oils (trans fats), refined omega-6 oils (inflammatory), harmful artificial sweeteners, or added sugars or high fructose corn syrup.  And FitFreeze doesn't contain any of those harmful ingredients. 

And the cool thing is that you can customize Fitfreeze by adding your own extra ingredients to the vanilla or chocolate flavors that they currently sell. Since you mix FitFreeze in the blender before freezing, you can add a few extra healthy ingredients in you want to customize.

For example, during Christmas week at my mom's house, I made a batch of chocolate FitFreeze and added a little bit of banana and peanut butter to make a chocolate-banana-peanut-butter ice cream. It was great! And just this week at my house, I made the vanilla FitFreeze with some added frozen organic black cherries and raw walnuts to the blender to make a Vanilla-cherry-walnut ice cream... mmm, delicious!

Lastly, my help-desk told me that a few people also complained about why they had to pay shipping despite the offer being for free samples of FitFreeze.  Geez, cut them a break... they would go out of business if they shipped thousands of cartons out without at least covering their shipping costs. I think it's completely fair for them to charge for shipping if you want to try out the free samples.  After all, this is a unique product and isn't something that you can find in any store.

You can try FitFreeze free samples here for only S&H.

If you want to read my initial post about FitFreeze, you can read here the delicious details about this healthy lean-body ice cream.

I think you'll enjoy this new high protein, high fiber ice cream as much as I have!

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer

Tuesday

How to lose your lower abdomen fat (stubborn fat)

I've got something really cool for you today... it's a 14-day sequence to lose significant amounts of lower abdomen fat, and these are some powerful techniques!  And it focuses on what's been termed "stubborn fat".

You can grab this report (with no email opt-in required to get access) here:

The Stubborn Fat Protocol: Your 14-Day Sequence to Lose Your Lower Abdomen Fat

This is a BRAND new report that you are going to LOVE... and it contains some extremely powerful techniques for getting rid of lower abdomen fat in a smart and scientific way.

I met the author, Shaun Hadsall, at a fitness conference last summer and I was instantly intrigued in some of the methods that Shaun told me he was experimenting with.  And one other thing... Shaun doesn't preach a good game and then not take care of himself...the dude is ripped, so you know he follows his own advice.

Make sure to check this out here:

How to lose significant lower abdomen fat in 14 days
Enjoy!  And please pass this email on to your friends and family and help them improve their health and body in 2012!

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer