Scooby's Home Bodybuilding Workouts Losing fat and 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 dont 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!

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.

	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.  (full screen version)
	Part 2: This video goes into detail on nutrition and gives some quick and easy meals. (Full Screen Version)

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, thats 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?  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 dont need anything except your carpeted floor. 

A word of warning, dont 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, dont 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 dont have time!   I cant cook, I even burn water and I can eat 5 healthy meals a day.   As I was saying we want to eat 5 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 doesnt 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 dont need any supplements or protein powders - you will get plenty of protein and vitamins in the meals suggested here.   My issue is that 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 very important for me.  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 (I have no affiliations with Optimum Nutriton) you can click here to order it on Amazon.com.

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. 

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:

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.

 Meals: (Work In Progress)

	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) brocolli 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 lowfat 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