Losing Weight And Building 6-Pack Abs

Losing Weight and Building 6-Pack Abs

Losing weight is a billion dollar industry in America, there are thousands of devices and programs you can buy that promise to get you "6-pack abs fast" but they don't work! If it were as easy as buying a pill, shake, or ab machine then the shopping malls across America would be filled with men who have abs-of-death like Mario Lopez, what do we see instead? Obesity everywhere! Please read The Truth About Abs!

If you want 6-pack abs, there is no need to buy anything. A common sense approach involving exercise and nutrition is all that is required. Just a warning, there is nothing fast about losing weight and getting ripped, it is simple but takes time and dedication.

I always get asked what I think of the P90X program. In my view anything that gets you excited about exercising every day is a good thing and many people swear by the P90X program. To lose weight and get six pack abs you can follow my program for free or buy P90X for $140. If you are someone who is self motivating, my program will work fine. If you are someone who really needs someone to force you everyday to workout then the P90X program might work better for you, you just pop the DVD in and follow along. Dont make the mistake of thinking that P90X is easier than my program though, there are no shortcuts to losing weight and getting ripped abs. All successful programs, including P90X and mine, require daily exercise and proper nutrition. If you need a very structured programto make sure you exercise everyday then a third option is sign up for an aerobics type class, you can sign up for these really cheap at your local community college or do them thru your local studio/gym (more expensive).

If you have questions that you want answered asap, you can ask them 24/7 on the free Losing weight and 6-pack abs forum!

6-Pack Abs by July 4th! This video gives you a quick overview of what's required to get 6-pack abs. In short, you need to do daily cardio and watch your nutrition carefully - its that simple (In theory at least) A valuable tool in helping you lose weight is a free iPod touch/iPhone application called "Lose It!" by FitNow which I demo in this video. If you are not good at reading nutritional labels or good with numbers then this application will really help keep your nutrition on track. This application lets you enter your current weight, your target weigh. You then enter how much cardio you do and it gives you a daily calorie allocation. Fullscreen version of 6-Pack Abs By July 4th video.
Resolution: Lose weight and get in shape! Are you completely new to fitness? You want to get in shape but don't have much time and have no idea where to start? This video is for you!!!! I will show you how to achieve your resolution of losing weight and getting stronger with a simple 30 minute home workout. This video assumes that you have no experience with fitness or weightlifting so don't worry, we are not going to use any intimidating equipment. You will feel better and have more energy after your very first workout! Fullscreen version of Resolution:Lose weight video
6-Pack Abs Fast! Part 1 Part 1: This video "6-pack abs fast" gives an introduction and some of the basics you need to know for losing fat and gaining muscle. There is no such thing as "6-pack abs fast". You cant buy 6-pack abs from an infomercial or get them from a bottle. Getting 6-pack abs is simple but takes alot of work - eat less and exercise more. This video shows you how to do both.(full screen version)
6-Pack Abs Fast! Part 2 This video goes into depth on nutrition for muscle gain and weight loss. I show you 8 very healthy meals that you can make in 3 minutes or less. (Full Screen Version) . There is no such thing as "6-pack abs fast". You cant buy 6-pack abs from an infomercial or get them from a bottle. Getting 6-pack abs is simple but takes alot of work - eat less and exercise more. In this video I try and help with the "eating less" part.

I'll let you in on the secret of getting 6-pack abs for free - are you ready? Here it is: eat less and exercise more! Lets clear up one huge misconception right now, ab machines will NOT get you 6-pack abs! 95% of the work in getting 6-pack abs is losing bodyfat and no ab machine will do that. You can have rippling muscular abs but if they are covered with an inner tube of fat then nobody is going see 'em.

You cant 'target' fat removal unless you are using a machete. All you can do is lose weight and let the body decide where the fat is coming off. When you have lost enough weight, the belly and love handles will disappear. Lets talk about expectations, you cant get ripped in 10 days or even 30 days. A good weight loss program will let you lose the weight gradually, a pound a week is a good rate. If you are 50lbs overweight count on a year to remove it. I know what you are thinking, that's not fast enough, I need to get the weight off before my wedding/reunion. And you are thinking that your second cousin Bob lost 50lbs in 2 months using the sawdust diet. Let me ask you this, what did cousin Bob look like a year later? Bingo! - his weight rebounded and he ended up even heavier than when he started. What's the reason? He went ON a diet and when he went OFF, all the weight came back - cousin Bob couldn't eat sawdust forever! To get ripped and stay ripped you need to change your lifestyle. Why only a pound a week? If you lose weight too quickly you run the risk of losing muscle as well as fat and its tough to maintain proper nutrition, gradual weight loss is better and its easier to maintain after you reach your target bodyfat.

Lets look at what its going to take to lose that bodyfat and get abs, remember I said "eat less and exercise more", lets start with the exercise more part. You lose fat by burning off more calories than you eat, pretty simple huh?. To burn off the calories you need to do at least 30 min of cardiovascular exercise EVERY day. What constitutes cardiovascular exercise, good question. First of all, if you have any health issues you need to consult your doctor before starting an exercise program. For a young person in good health, jogging or swimming is a great form of cardiovascular exercise. Walking and cycling can be good cardio but you need to push yourself. You need to get your heart rate up into the weight loss zone. Similarly with cycling, I shake my head every time I see people at the gym on the stationary bikes on level 1 reading the paper -what exactly do they think they are accomplishing? Listening to high BPM music that you really like is a great way to keep your heart rate up. If you find your iPhone/iPod cords too constraining during your cardio, get a iPhone remote or wireless headset. Remember 95% of getting 6-pack abs is losing the bodyfat, the rest is ab exercises to make the ab muscles bigger. For that we will do the crunch and you don't need anything except your carpeted floor.

A word of warning, don't fall into the trap of thinking that because you are exercising so much you can eat what you want - you cant. No matter how much you exercise, you can eat more than you burn off and end up gaining weight unless you accompany your cardio program with good nutrition.

First of all, don't think diet! If you are ON a diet then you are admitting to yourself that it is a temporary thing and you will go OFF it later. We want to change your eating habits permanently! Good nutrition, no calorie counting, no hunger, and you will still lose weight - sound too good to be true? Well, kinda.

Lets start with the basics - many small meals. You cant lose weight eating one or two meals a day, it puts your body in starvation mode and lowers your metabolism. You need at least 5 meals a day. I know your are thinking already, I CANT eat 5x/day I don't have time! I cant cook, heck, I even burn water and even I can eat 5 healthy meals a day. As I was saying we want to eat 5-6 small meals a day and each one needs to be well balanced - what does that mean? The bulk of every meal will be veggys and whole grains, some form of protein (beans, dairy, meat), and fruit. Your body doesn't store protein, you cant just have a big steak at dinner and call that your daily protein. This is especially important if you are doing a weightlifting program in conjunction with your weight loss program.

Lets talk about protein powders and weight gain powders. If you follow these nutritional suggestions, you don't need any supplements or protein powders - you will get plenty of protein and vitamins in the meals suggested here. If you have trouble eating 6 real meals a day then protein powder can be a valuable dietary aid because it lets you get the protein you need without any calories from fat or carbs. In a pinch, mix the protein powder with nonfat milk, soy milk, rice milk or orange juice for an inexpensive meal replacement. Remember though, real food with all its fiber, vitimans, and minerals is always best! "Weight Gain" powders never make good meal replacements, they would better be named "Fat Gain" powder and who wants to gain fat??? I am a pseudo-vegetarian - I only eat meat/fish/chicken about once a week. Because of my low meat consumption, protein powder in the form of dairy whey is my most important source of protein. I like dairy whey without any artificial stuff in it, the product from optimum nutrition is the one I have been using for seven years.

You need to eliminate those hidden garbage calories in your diet too, they don't fill you up but add calories. The main place these hidden calories lurk is in beverages. Those spoons of sugar you put in your coffee or tea really add up, switch to black coffee. Those mixed coffee drinks at Starbucks are calorie bombs, stick to black coffee. Eating fruit is far superior to fruit juice. Fruit juice doesn't contain the important fiber that fills you up without calories, all fruit juice has is the sugar. Many people can chug a quart of OJ without thinking about it and still are hungry, if they ate 17 oranges instead they would be so full they would be so full they would have a stomachache ache. The best thing to drink is water. If you don't like plain water, this video gives you a refreshing alternative.

Good nutrition is the secret to both losing fat and gaining muscle, in this video I show you how to eat 6 inexpensive, nutritious meals a day without cooking or shopping. This video is in response to the hundreds of people who have written me saying they knew their nutrition was horrible but felt powerless to improve it because of the schedule constraints of their work, school, or life. Eating 6 small, well balanced meals a day is easy when you know how and once your nutrition is on track you will find it easy to reduce bodyfat to show those 8-pack abs and gain muscle too.

Now obviously good nutrition alone wont make you gain muscle, you need a good resistance training program and similarly, nutrition alone wont make you lose fat as I mentioned earlier- you need to do 30 min of cardio daily. These meals are low fat, high in protein and high in fiber so you will never be hungry.

xxx

Most books and articles about nutrition give fancy, delicious recipes - who has time to shop, let alone cook? Chicken, broccoli, and brown rice might be a great nutritious meal but its just too complicated for people like me who use the smoke detector to figure out when dinner is done - let me show you some easier meals.

My recipes only require the following:

can opener
microwave
blender

Proper nutrition is key to losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time. Here are the nutrition guidelines:

eat 5-6 small, well balanced meals a day each with 15-25g protein
eat lots of veggies
eat less than 10% of your calories from fat
eat only whole grain carbs - no sweeteners or white flour products
lose weight gradually, about one pound per week

Lets talk about portion size although I hate to because most people focus way too much on calories and not enough on eating healthy. If you stick with healthy meals like the ones I show here and eat your 6 meals a day you wont NEED to count calories - you will lose weight naturally. OK, having said that I know that many of you still like seeing numbers, so here they are:

Current Weight	#cals/meal to lose 1lb/wk
280lbs (127kg)	610cals x 6 meals = 3700 cals
260 lbs (118kg)	560 cals x 6 meals = 3400 cals
240 lbs (109kg)	510 cals x 6 meals = 3100 cals
220 lbs (100kg)	460 cals x 6 meals = 2800 cals
200 lbs (91kg)	410 cals x 6 meals = 2500 cals
180 lbs (81kg)	360 cals x 6 meals = 2200 cals
160 lbs (72kg)	310 cals x 6 meals = 1900 cals
140 lbs (63kg)	265 cals x 6 meals = 1600 cals

Notice something really interesting here, as you lose weight you need to eat even less if you want to continue to gain weight. If you weigh 300lbs and eat 410calories per meal, you will lose weight rapidly at first then your weight will stabilize at 200lbs and you wont lose any more unless you decrease your intake further. Use this chart as a starting point to give you approximate portion sizes, stick with that a month and see what happens with your weight and adjust the portion size to help you zero in on 1lb/wk fat loss. With the meals I show, the portion sizes are appropriate for someone around 180lbs.

Some Suggested Easy Meals:

	2 biscuits (47g) 1.5 (360ml)cups nonfat milk 1 orange	365 calories 3% calories from fat 19.5g protein 7.7g fiber
	1/2 cup (40g) dry oatmeal 1.5 (360ml)cups nonfat milk 1 plum	315 calories 6% calories from fat 19.5g protein 5.7g fiber
	skinless chicken breast 3.5oz (100g) 1 cup (150g) broccoli 1 cup brown rice	330 calories 12% calories from fat 30g protein 4.4g fiber
	2/3 cup (95g) mixed vegetables whole grain tortilla 1/2 cup (130g) nonfat refried beans 1oz salmon	330 calories 7% cals from fat 19g protein 11g fiber
	1 low fat TV dinner 2/3 cup frozen veggies	320 calories 5% cals from fat 18g protein 6g fiber
	2/3 cup (95g) frozen mixed veggies 1 cup (260g) kidney beans	290 calories 0% cals from fat 17g protein 13g fiber
	2 2/3 cups (380g) mixed vegetables 1/2 can (70g) boneless skinless salmon	310 calories 3% calories from fat 28g protein 12g fiber
	25g whey protein (type I use) 1cup orange juice 1 frozen banana	315 calories 3% cals from fat 27g protein 2g fiber
Emergency Meals - No heating, refrigeration, or preparation required. Keep these in your backpack, car or office desk for times when you have "no time" to eat.
	3/4 can chili	315 calories 12% cals from fat 24g protein 10g fiber
	1/2 cup oats 25g whey protein (type I use)	260 calories 10% cals from fat 30g protein 4g fiber

Still have questions? You can ask them on the free Losing weight and 6-pack abs forum!