No Nonsense 6 pack abs

Just a quick note today.

If you're interested in the truth about 6 pack abs, then you may like this post.

Basically, I tell you about my experience with getting a 6 pack.

No Nonsense 6 pack abs

BP

MEGA-Simplify your meal plans

This question kept me up late last night:

Why don’t you make shopping lists for people instead of meal plans? let people make what they want, when they want it. when the food is out, you’re done eating until the next shopping list is published.

Really, its a very good idea.

A predetermined weekly shopping list that contains a set number of calories, fruits and vegetables provides an incredible amount of flexibility while at the same time helping people ‘target’ a certain calorie intake.

Basically, take a weekly calorie goal, and eat it through out the week in any manner you like. Once meal per day, three meals per day, 32 meals per day….what ever suits you best. BUT, when the food runs out..the food runs out.

This would be a great way to learn what a certain calorie intake ‘feels’ like.

The simplicity and logic makes this an intriguing idea.

I checked with John Barban and his meal plans do indeed include a weekly shopping list. So if you are interested in meal plans, but crave diet-flexibility the same way I do, then this approach (as suggested by Travis) may be something you want to experiment with.

BP

PS - If you want to check out johns plans visit www.qualitymealplans.com

PPS - Obviously there are certain limitations to this plan, like if you shop for a family of four, but if you can manage it, it might be worth the experiment.

Fat Loss Meal Plans

NEWS FLASH: Over the next couple days your email in-box is going to be FLOODED by people promoting Meal Plans.

My guess is your going to get a MINIMUM of 5 emails over the next week.

You’re going to here all kinds of stories of why you absolutely MUST get a meal plan.

And, surprisingly (under the correct circumstances) even I am going to be one of those people!

Here’s the deal:

I’m not just blindly promoting some random product - I am promoting it for a specific purpose AND
for a specific reason.

That reason is I lost a HUGE debate with Eat Stop Eat science editor John Barban.

This debate led to John creating meal plans.

It was about 2 months ago, we were sitting in Williams Coffee Pub in Burlington Ontario, I was having a cappuccino and John was having a black coffee (he was fasting).

Out of the blue, John drops this line on me

John: “You know, you basically turn your back on people who don’t want to fast”

Obviously, my first thought was a good right hook…but seeing as John outweighs me by about 25 pounds, I decided that might not be the brightest idea.

Brad: “What are you talking about?” (this was my substitute for the right hook)

John: “Well for people who don’t want to fast, you simply tell them to eat responsibly”

Brad: “Exactly”

John: “Well, for people who have been completely confused by the obsessive compulsive advice from diet books and diet gurus…no one has a clue what eating responsibly means anymore”

Now, this made me really angry. I go to great lengths in this blog trying to explain what ‘eating responsibly’ means…but in reality, I could see John’s point.

Brad: “Well, what would you suggest?”

John: “Meal plans”

This is where I almost walked out of the coffee shop.

Brad: “F&*ck Off” (I’ll be honest, this was the most intelligent thing that I could get out of my mouth at this point)

Brad: “No. No way. Meal plans are a perfect example of OCE, they force people into a style of eating because of some BS pseudoscience rational of why people MUST eat one way…I don’t care what you say, meal plans ARE NOT the answer”

John: “Well, what if they were just simple plans that are made up of whole foods and mixed meals and some cooking instructions, no science story, just meals at various calorie levels.”

Brad: “nope, still way to restrictive, I want people to be flexible with their diets..that’s the whole point of Eat Stop Eat”

John: “Brad, some people need some form of schedule in their lives, especially when they are attempting to diet. You have to admit, even people following Eat Stop Eat sometimes ask for help trying to figure out WHAT to eat when they ARE eating.”

Brad: “OK , that’s true, but still….I can’t condone eating according to a meal plan for the rest of your life, that’s just…torture”

John: “OK, so what if it wasn’t a ‘rest of your life thing’, what if it was meant as a guide to follow for 12 weeks to get back on track with your eating style’

Brad: “12 week meal plans?”

John: “Yes, 12 week meal plans. The exact same type of meal plans that are used successfully in hospital settings…you have to admit, they have an excellent track record for effectiveness”

Brad: “OK, under those circumstances yes. But to be a respectable idea it would have to have ZERO pseudo science, no magic hormone manipulation stories, and it would be perfectly blunt that is ONLY a 12 week plan to be used to learn how to eat a certain amount of calories in a day?”

John: “yes”

Brad: “Fine…actually, yes…that would be something I could stand behind…I still prefer people be flexble with their eating habits, but for those people who REALLY want some sort of structure to work with this could be useful…but only if you make sure it’s done properly…you can market the hell out of it, but make sure the product is just as good as you say it is”

That is pretty much how the conversation went…I’m sure I missed some random thoughts and a ton of tangents (and I’ve edited out a bit of swearing), but that is basically it.

It was a debate, and a debate I lost. John had a valid point, a valid problem and a valid solution to that problem.

Therefore I can support this product because in my own way I was involved in its creation and because John gave me his word that it wouldn’t have any crazy pseudoscience or any misleading marketing.

(Obviously there was going to be marketing, I just didn’t want it to be misleading - all diets work if they create a calorie restriction; it’s the people who make up false reasons WHY their diets work that infuriate me!)

Now, I wasn’t involved in the design of the plans or any of the marketing (John teamed up with a guy named Pat McGuire and a guy named Vince Delmonte for this project), but I trust John enough to believe he’s done a good job following through on his idea.

So if you want to check out the meal plans the John helped develop then visit www.qualitymealplans.com

Again, I encourage you to be flexible with your eating, however If you are having a hard time figuring out how much to eat, or have been so confused by diet books and diet advice that you would like a simple 12-week refresher on what to eat, then again these plans may be helpful.

I’m not saying they are magic by any means, but they could be a valuable tool in your weight loss tool box.

www.qualitymealplans.com

BP

Good Foods, Bad Foods

The following Post is a Guest Post from John Barban - Scientific editor of Eat Stop Eat and author of The Adonis Effect. (Please direct all comments towards John)

***

Good Foods, Bad Foods

I was recently reading some comments about ESE and some other diets and people seem to keep using the words “Good foods” and “Bad foods” .

I think this is a dangerous distinction to be making because it presents the potential for us to label almost anything good or bad depending on our focus and opens the slippery slope towards full blown Obsessive Compulsive Eating.

Let’s look at a mythical example of a ‘good food’ and a ‘bad’ food.

Our mythical “Good’ food = Orange Juice

Our mythical “Bad” food = Cake

If you label orange juice a “good food” you might want to consider all of the following points:

1) Do all brands of orange juice get this distinction?

2) Would the nutritional label of your ‘good’ orange juice have to fit into a certain parameter of sugar, salt, calories, additives etc, per serving? (you could simply adjust the serving size to make it fit, half cup vs full cup)

3) What about the source of oranges used and whether or not they are genetically modified

4) Pesticide use on the oranges used to make your juice

5) Artificial flavors and colors?

6) Political implications of where the oranges came from; was any farmer or region exploited in order to get these oranges into the juice you are drinking, were they paid a fair price, were there government subsidies etc.

7) Environmental impact and fuel usage of transporting the oranges and manufacturing the juice and the container that ended up on the store shelf in your town

…and on and on and on…you could take this more in the political direction, or more environmental, or more biological and the specific effects the juice has on your body (this last one is what I am assuming most people mean when they say ‘good’ or ‘bad’ food).

My mythical ‘bad’ food =A slice of Cake

If you label cake as ‘bad’ food you might want to consider all of the following points:

1) Is store bought pre made cake the same as home made cake even if it contains the same amount of fat, sugar, salt etc?

2) is it only bad because of the amount of calories or fat or sugar it contains? (is one bite just as bad as a whole slice)

3) Does the frequency that you eat the cake make a difference for how ‘bad’ it is. Ie: only once every couple months at a celebration is ok, but once a day is bad?

4) Environmental impact and fuel usage of transporting all the ingredients to the store then ending up in a mixing bowl on your counter then the oven then on your plate.

5) If it were the only piece of food you ate today would it still be ‘bad’

6) If you are in good health, happy with your weight and have no measurable ‘health’ issues before and after you eat the cake is it still ‘bad’

…and on and on and on…

It is my contention that there is no such thing as good and bad foods, there is only this…

The food you choose to eat, and the impact this food has directly on your body (both physiologically and emotionally) and the environment impact if purchasing that particular food item.

When you look at it this way food choices become much more personal than general lists of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ and you can start to become a much more responsible, eater, shopper, consumer, citizen, parent, spouse, person.

John

(please feel free to leave a comment, however, if you want to talk to me directly, feel fee to email me at john (at) adoniseffect.com)

How to lose baby fat

Here's a great email from a women who used Eat Stop Eat to help her get rid of her post-pregnancy baby fat.

She combined Eat Stop Eat with a solid workout plan and responsible eating, and deserves an amazing amount of credit for her hard work.

A great 'real life' success story ==> lose Baby Fat

BP

A bone to pick with Brad Pilon

NOTE: This is a Guest Post by John Barban, Science Editor of Eat Stop Eat and the Nutrition Help Blog.


As you know Brad does a wonderful job simplifying the concept of diet and weight loss to a point that is straight forward, easy to understand and frankly very difficult to argue with. But I have a bone to pick with Brad.

I feel like he stops short and doesn’t quite take it as far as it can go.

I think there is one more step Brad could take explaining how weight loss and diet really work. And so far this is most effective and simple way I can explain this (although it does seem to make some people uncomfortable)…so here goes.

Take 5 minutes at some point today (preferably alone) to take all of your clothes off and go stand in front of a full body mirror and then say this one simple statement out loud while you are looking at yourself in the mirror:

“The amount and kind of food I eat, and the amount of exercise and activity I do, make me look like this”

If by the end of this statement you are feeling pretty good about yourself and like what you see in the mirror then that is great. Give yourself a pat on the back even.

If on the other hand you see a few spots where you would like to see some improvement (specifically losing some fat, or maybe even building up a few muscles) then you only have two courses of action…and those are…

Eat slightly less calories (on average) than you are currently eating…to lose fat

Do more targeted weight training than you are currently doing…to build muscle

It really is this simple.

How you arrive at a calorie deficit is up to you. I personally choose Eat Stop Eat because A) I spent almost two full years editing the darn thing and B) it really is hands down the simplest way to eat less calories long term without going nuts about it.

And weight training is absolutely essential to building and maintaining firm and youthful like muscle long into your life.

This might be a bit harsh, but it’s really what we’re all dealing with. The way our bodies currently look and our ability to change and manipulate it with diet and exercise.

I have found Eat Stop Eat to be the only truly effective long term solution for lasting fat loss/weight loss. And as always weight training will be a staple in my weekly routine for the rest of my life.

Weight loss nutrition and exercise should never be more confusing or consuming that these two simple steps.

People like Brad have taken the burden upon themselves to sort through all of the nutrition and diet industry media hype and rhetoric as well as rooting through all of the dry and tedious research.

Once this information has all been analyzed and broken down we realize that our multiple ways to 'eat for weight loss' yet they all revolve around eating less (and hopefully weight training more).

When you simplify this down to it's core the result is the beautifully simple nutrition and lifestyle of Eat Stop Eat.

Eat Stop Eat in Scientific American

Here an Interesting take on the research behind Intermittent fasting and longevity from Scientific American's Podcast "60-Second Science".

You can listen to the podcast here:

http://www.sciam.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=fasting-may-equal-calorie-restricte-08-12-26

BP

PS- I just put the finishing touches on my presentations for my 1 day seminar coming up on January 17th. All I can say is that I've even surprised myself with how many nutrition myths I manage to tackle in this presentation!

It's going to be an amazing day, and there are still a couple seats left so make sure you sign up soon ==>

http://www.ttmembers.com/products/item14.cfm

First EVER Eat Stop Eat / Turbulence Training seminar

I have big, big news that will really help kick of 2009 with a BANG.

I have agreed to do a 1 day seminar with Craig Ballantyne where we are going to give away ALL of the secrets you need to know to dramatically change the way you look in 2009 -

Why team up with Craig? Well I beleive exercise is a vital component to weight loss, and I think Craig is the best in the Biz at simple and effective weight loss programs.

Craig is going to cover weight training strategies so you can get the most out of your workouts in the least amount of time, and I'm going to help you discover how to burn bodyfat and get in shape without falling for misleading weight loss scams or nutrition marketing hype.

This is the part that is really exciting for me - Other than national television, this will be the first time I will be sharing this type of information LIVE in a non-academic setting!

I'm gong to hit the hard topics -

• why metabolism has become nothing more than a marketing term,
  
• why green tea will simply NOT help you lose weight,
  
• and the surprising truth about low insulin levels and burning body fat.

It is going to be awesome - it's going to be a great time, and really open forum - if you have questions you need to ask me, I will be ready and willing to answer everything.

But hurry! only the first 20 folks get the EARLY BIRD admission price of only $99. And it's Canadian Dollars too, so that is like $14 USD! (Just kidding...but it is a little cheaper...)

***UPDATE: There are only 2 spots left at the EARLY BIRD RATE!!!***

Date: Saturday, January 17th

Time: 9-3

Where: Mississauga, a suburb just west of Toronto.

Topics: Please check the website for more details!

BONUSES: Don't miss the $250 worth of free gifts we are giving away to ALL seminar attendees.

It's going to be a blast, and there's going to be even MORE surprise goodies given away at the event.

Reserve your spot here:

=> http://www.ttmembers.com/products/item14.cfm

We can't wait to meet you and help you burn fat in 2009,

PS - You have our Canadian Strength Guarantee.

If at the seminar's lunch break, you feel the seminar wasn't worth your time and energy, you can just let us know, return your free bonus gifts, and we'll return your registration. We'll even give you an extra $50 for your time and travel costs.

That's how much we know you are going to love the 1st-ever TT Seminar!

=> Click here to reserve your spot

Weight Loss Exercises

I don't believe in Starvation Mode (If you've read my book you know why).

However, I do believe in diminishing returns when it comes to weight loss exercises like running or walking.

The amount of calories running or walking causes you to burn (above and beyond your normal resting metabolic rate) is dictated by how much you weigh and how far you move.

If you lose weight then these exercises burn less calories. And, it doesn't matter if this weight is fat OR muscle.

The bottom line - The more weight you lose the less effective these exercises become at burning calories.

You can watch my video for more details:

BP

Protein, Carbs and Insulin

I always find it confusing when I read things like:

"Protein slows insulin levels, which you want to keep in balance to avoid weight gain."

I find it confusing for two reasons.

1) I'm really not sure how you can 'slow' a level

2) I'm really not sure how they define 'balance'.

Honestly I really dislike vague terms..especially when applied to science.

What I do know is that from the research conducted on sports supplements we know for sure that a protein/carb meal can have just as big an effect on insulin as a carb only meal. And, that as long as you are eating your insulin levels are going to go up and down...

Watch the Video for more details:

BP

Bad News about Blog Comments

I've decided that I am going to have to moderate the comments on my blog.

There is just too much spam, and its ruining it for everyone.

I will continue to allow different opinions, arguments, snide comments...really anything goes, as long as it is not robot-generated spam.

It sucks that I have to do this, but its the best option to keep this blog an informal but beneficial area to share and gather knowledge.

BP

More Best Evers for You

Here are three more 'Best Evers' that I want to share. When it comes to the food and hospitality industry, I am very particular about what I like and don't like, and these three places exceeded my expectations every time I visited them:

Best Hotel Ever:

I was involved in a lot of exercise physiology & nutrition research that was being conducted at the University of Nottingham. Before I left the supplement industry we were deep into looking into cellular protein signaling and muscular growth…super interesting stuff.

Whenever I was in Nottingham I made a point to always stay at Hart’s Hotel.

No real gym, barely a lounge…and the rooms were of a mediocre size at best.

BUT, the garden rooms opened up to their garden terrace, essentially making your room “3 walled” – the perfect way to just relax and just chill after a long day of working and being “on”.

If you have ever traveled for work, then you know how tiring it can be to always be “on”.

You are “on” during meetings, “on” during the dinner after the meetings and you are even “on” during drinks, after the dinner, after the meetings.

If you can’t find a way to relax on business travel you will burn out quickly.

I’ve stayed in much fancier hotels, but Hart’s is my Best Ever hotel, simply based on atmosphere.

If you ever visit Nottingham I suggest Hart’s.

http://www.hartsnottingham.co.uk/

Best Restaurant Ever:

The three Chimneys, Isle of Skye, Scotland.

If I wasn’t in Nottingham for research I was in Glasgow, and I grew so fond of Scotland during my business trips there, my wife and I chose Scotland as our honeymooned destination.

During our honeymoon B&B and Distillery tour across Scotland, one of my favorite dinners was at the Three Chimneys.

If you ever get a chance to visit Scotland (go during the summer months) I highly recommend the Three Chimneys Restaurant.

http://www.threechimneys.co.uk/

(In North America, my favorite still has to be Dragon Fly Sushi and Saki Company. A Sushi Fusion restaurant in Gainesville, Florida.)

Best Tea Ever:

Hands down, runaway favorite has to be “Tea at the White House” in Waterdown Ontario…huge selection of tea, great people, great atmosphere…just a class act. Worth the visit, but you’d be best to make a reservation.

My advice would be to order the high Tea and split it between two people…with a pot of sticky toffee tea…( mmmmmmm..sticky toffee tea)

http://www.teaatthewhitehouse.com/

Looking GREAT at 44! (Eat Stop Eat in Austria)

Here's a great interview with Jennifer from Austria, a long time friend of Eat Stop Eat.

Jennifer is living proof that you can look amazing in your 40's with the right attitude, the right workout routine and a little help from Eat Stop Eat.

Jennifer's Interview

BP

My Best Ever Workout Advice

In keeping with my December theme of sharing my list of "Best Evers" with you, I'd like to share some 'Best Evers' that have really helped me with my workouts.

The first is a technique, the second is advice.

The technique I want to share with you is the hook grip.

If you are a big-time dead lifter then you most likely use an overhand/underhand grip when the weights start to get heavy.

I was the exact same way.

Any time I attempted a dead lift above 400 pounds, I moved to an over-under grip. I did my best to make sure I evened this out each set (left hand over, right hand under, followed by right hand over, left hand under).

After years of dead lifting using this grip I had developed chronic lower back pain, and a NOTICEABLY more developed right erector muscle and right trapezius muscle.

(Noticeable to the point that every time I took my shirt off, someone would feel the need to point it out that the right side of my back was bigger than the left side of my back...).

Long story short - My back is now fine (and symmetrical), but it took some rehab work and about 5 years off from dead lifting.

So my best ever for you is this - If you love dead lifting, then try the hook Grip.

It is an awkward but effective way to handle big weights without having to resort to the dreaded over-under grip.

Basically, you grip the bar with a standard overhand grip, but with a hook grip your thumb goes UNDER your first two fingers....imagine making a fist with your thumb tucked in.

Essentially, your first two fingers "hook" your thumb into place so the bar doesn't role out of your grip.

It's a really tricky technique, but if you love dead lifting and are pulling big weights then the hook grip may be useful to you.

I found great benefits from this grip, (including finally being able to dead lift again), so hopefully you may also find some benefit.

OK...on to my best ever workout advice...

My best ever workout advice is to understand WHY you are working out. You need to define your purpose.

My workouts improved IMMENSELY when I finally figured out why I workout.

I lift weights to try to build muscle.

I do NOT go to the gym to burn fat.

This realization has saved me from hours of wasted time in the gym. My workouts build muscle and the WAY I EAT burns fat. (or, more correctly the way I DON'T eat burns body fat)

By keeping this focus, I am able to constantly remind myself WHY I am in the gym, and WHY I eat the way I do.

I've admitted to myself the awful truth that you can't correct a bad diet with an hour of 'cardio' a couple times a week.

(Treadmills are a great way to stay in your comfort zone, but a BAD way to lose body fat)

I'm not sure why I ever thought an extra 20 minutes of walking on a treadmill after my workout would be anything other than a complete waste of 20 minutes, but by admitting this and keeping my focus in the gym, it saved me a lot of time and frustration.

Plus, it kept me honest with my diet...once you admit that cardio can't fix a bad diet, you will get hit with a HUGE incentive to watch how you eat and make sure you are doing the things you need to do to lose weight and keep it off.

No more using exercise as a weight loss crutch.

(This is EXACTLY why Eat Stop Eat is a combination of flexible intermittent fasting AND resistance training)

So my best advice workout is to not get side tracked, and do your best not to fall for the "comfort zone" mentality and believing that all is standing between you and your ideal body is an hour
on the elliptical a couple times a week.

Remember your purpose - workout for muscle, eat for weight loss.

BP

Weight Loss Goals

As we approach Jan 1 2009 (Far, far too quickly in my mind), I think its best we took a second to consider our weight loss resolutions.

I'm all for goals. I think they're great, and an INTEGRAL part of success, but it is important that we KEEP IT REAL.

Take the picture below. Same pic, just pre- and post- photoshop work. (I think the original photo is from www.celebritysmackblog.com).

This kind of work is standard in almost all magazines, and movies (ESPECIALLY the new trend of etching in guys abs in action movies...).

So when you are setting your goals, hopes and dreams for 2009 remember, if you want to look like Jessica Alba in 2009, then focus your attention to the gorgeous woman on the left, not the barbi-doll on the right.

BP
PS- if this photo turns out to be a fake, the message still stands. Stay realistic in 2009.

My best advice for weight loss success

December is a month for giving and sharing, and this entire month I am going to share with you my personal list of "BESTS"...

I only know of 3 people who I consider to be truly successful in business.

None of them became successful by taking shortcuts. None of them were the "right place, right time" stroke of luck success story either.

In fact, they all became successful the EXACT same way.

They used the EXACT same method that worked for me in my life, and its the EXACT same method that will work for you no matter what you goal is.

All 3 people had to move outside of their comfort zone in order to become successful.

I had the same thing happen to me...twice.

The first time was when I was in my third year at university. Back then my goal was to bench 300 pounds. Both my workout partner and I were mid-200 benchers and 300 seemed like 'the ultimate bench press goal'.

By the end of my 3rd year I was benching 280 pounds. It wasn't 3oo, but I thought it was pretty darn good. After all, in my group of friends, I was one of the top benchers.

That summer I decided to stay at University and take some extra courses.

I can remember the first day I went to the gym during the summer semester - It was a COMPLETELY difference crowd.

My usual crew was not there, instead the gym was almost empty, except for 4 or 5 guys who were A LOT bigger and A LOT stronger than me.

Adam, Steve, John and Big Jer were all 50 or 60 pounds heavier than me, and they were ALL high 300 pound benchers.

At this point I had 2 options:

Stay in my comfort zone, workout by myself and try to hit 300 pounds on the bench.

Move out of my comfort zone, Start training with the big boys, and accept the fact that 300 pounds was no longer an acceptable goal.

I picked the later. It was uncomfortable. Actually, that's not true. It was darn right SCARY.

But I'm glad I did it.

By moving outside of my comfort zone 300 pounds was no longer a mental block, and by the end of August I was bench pressing 355 pounds for sets of 2.

55 pounds more than what I previously thought was the 'perfect' Bench Press.

This was the first time I reaped the rewards of moving out of my comfort zone.

The second time was when I walked away from my career in the supplement industry.

I had a great job, a great title, a massive office, financial stability, good co-workers, a great staff, even the commute wasn't too bad.

But I knew it wasn't what I was meant to do.

I moved out of my comfort zone the day I resigned. And while this isn't a rags to riches story, I am now doing something I love. And this wouldn't have been possible if I didn't move outside of my comfort zone.

Most likely it is YOUR comfort zone that is keeping you from reaching your goals. ESPECIALLY if you goal is weight loss.

Doing an extra 20 minutes on the elliptical two or three times a week isn't going to help you become noticeable leaner - What it IS going to help you stay in your comfort zone.

Switching from a white bagel to a whole wheat bagel for breakfast isn't gong to help you lose weight- all it will do is keep you in your comfort zone.

The number one reason why most people have not tried Eat Stop Eat is because it is too far outside of their comfort zone. They miss out on hitting their weight loss goals simply because they are afraid to try something different.

Make a commitment to move outside of your comfort zone. Do the things you need to do to become successful.

Here is THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE I have ever been given:

If you want to be successful you have to do the things that unsuccessful people aren't willing to do.

Your comfort zone is what is keeping you from attaining the success you want. Move out of your comfort zone and you will FORCE change and you will see results.

Unsuccessful people do the same ineffective things over and over because they are the things they are comfortable doing. To be successful you have to break this habit.

BP