5 Tricks to Eat Healthier at Restaurants By Mike Geary

Dining out is a big part of most people's lives. Maybe you have to eat out frequently because you entertain clients at restaurants. Perhaps you don't even like eating out. Regardless, if you want to keep a nice fit body, restaurant meals will give you a huge obstacle to overcome. In fact, eating out at restaurants is one of the biggest reasons why so many people fatten up while traveling.

Below, I'll give you a few very simple tricks you can use to eat healthier and stay lean even while dining out at restaurants...

The 3 most important things to avoid that are everywhere at restaurants are:


deep fried foods (anything battered that got a scorching bath of trans fats)
  refined starchy foods
  any sodas, juices, or other sugary foods (except whole fruits, which are great)


If you can skip these major culprits, this eliminates the major food sources that do the worst damage in our food supply - trans fats, refined vegetable oils, refined starchy carbohydrates, and processed sugars.

This means you should try to skip the table bread, skip the french fries that come with every single sandwich on every menu known to man, and reduce all of the heaping portions of pasta and rice that are often loaded on the plates as well.

Instead, try to order just meat with side vegetables, and a salad, asking for the vegetables or salad as a substitute for the typical french fries, pasta, or rice, that most restaurant meals usually come with.

Almost every restaurant I have ever been to will always allow me to substitute vegetables or a side salad for the french fries or chips that almost always come with burgers or sandwiches.

On a side note, it always amazes me how many people scrutinize me because I substitute veggies for fries by telling me that I am "not living" because I refuse to eat french fries... are you kidding me! If that's your idea of "living it up", you need to get some better hobbies!

Ironically, these are also the first people to complain that they are overweight and have "tried everything", yet can not lose weight, no matter what. I am not sure why so many people think that eating french fries equals "living it up"... hey, I am all for moderation with many things, but if there are 2 things that should be totally removed from everyone's diet because these foods are simply that dangerous... it is sodas and fries!

Take a look at the typical difference this simple substitution makes between choosing smart and doing what most people do...

Most people will eat a meal out such as this:


Burger or sandwich or burger
  chips or fries
  soda or other sweetened drink (and no, diet sodas are NOT healthy!)


A MUCH smarter alternative if you care about your body and health is this simple change:


Burger or Sandwich
  Salad or veggies
  unsweetened iced tea or water (no diet drinks -- unless you like to drink poison!)


These 2 simple substitutions save at least 400 - 900 calories every time you dine out (depending on drink refills and fries portion sizes)... AND you are cutting out the most harmful foods to your body as well by avoiding the evil trans fats and high fructose corn syrup from the fries and soft drinks.

Another side note: a little-known way to eat full portions of pasta, rice, and breads and actually get away with it without packing on the body fat is to make sure to schedule a high intensity full body resistance training workout (can be free weights or body weight training) before your scheduled meal time.

Sometimes it may be hard to fit the workout into your schedule right before the meal, but if you can, the meal can be your "post-workout meal". After a high intensity resistance training workout, your body can handle a higher amount of carbs than normal to help replenish the muscle glycogen depletion you had during the intense workout.

A typical moderate intensity cardio workout will NOT cut it for this... it must be high intensity resistance training workout to deplete enough muscle glycogen to handle restaurant portions of carbs.

I hope these dining tips help you choose smarter and healthier for a leaner body next time you eat out.

Check out these unique <a target="_new" href="http://www.truthaboutabs.com/ezine-archives.html">fat loss & healthy diet tips</A>

Another article you may enjoy on the topic of food is located at <a target="_new" href="http://www.truthaboutabs.com/unhealthy-vs-healthy-cooking-oils.html">Unhealthy cooking oils</A>

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?5-Tricks-to-Eat-Healthier-at-Restaurants&id=1228655] 5 Tricks to Eat Healthier at Restaurants

The Top 3 Fat Burning Foods - Surprising Hidden Gems By Mike Geary

In all of my years as a professional Nutrition Specialist, I've noticed that most people are shocked to hear some of my picks for the top fat burning foods that are best for weight loss and good health.

I won't bore you with all of the typical "healthy foods" that you hear about all of the time such as fruits and veggies... everybody knows those.  Instead, I'm going to show you some shockers that most people don't realize are super healthy foods for fat loss.

1. Egg Yolks - yes, that's right... full fatty egg yolks with all of their fat and cholesterol.  By the way, you've been mislead about the cholesterol in egg yolks -- it actually raises your GOOD cholesterol and helps balance proper ratios, so don't be afraid of the fat and cholesterol in these little nutrition power packed gems.  And if you choose cage-free eggs from free roaming hens, the omega-3 content is higher with a more balanced fat profile.

Egg yolks are also one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet in terms of vitamins, minerals, and trace nutrients.  Trying to list all of the vital nutrients in egg yolks would take up an entire page so I won't even try that here.  Just realize that egg yolks should NOT be avoided in favor of egg whites.  Even the protein is more bioavailable when you include the yolks!

So don't be afraid to eat those delicious and healthy eggs and start burning belly fat faster.

2.  Avocados - This is yet another "fatty food" that is also one of the best fat burning foods! Not only that, but avocados make just about everything creamier and more delicious.  They are also power-packed with healthy fats, fiber, and antioxidants, as well as vitamins and minerals.  The healthy fat in avocados also helps control appetite and fat burning hormones in your body.

Try adding avocado slices or guacamole to everything from morning eggs, salads, sandwiches, and burgers, and starting burning body fat faster! I would definitely consider avocados one of the best   rel=nofollow [http://www.truthaboutabs.com/top-10-superfoods-great-health.html]healthy super foods.

3.  Grass-fed beef - While most beef you see at the grocery store is grain fed beef from cattle that are in poor health and has lower nutrition values and omega-6 to omega-3 fat ratios that are far out of whack, there is a better option... and that is Grass-Fed Beef!

Grass-fed beef is known to have much higher levels of healthy omega-3 fatty acids and lower omega-6 fats (which most people get too much of anyway).  Grass-fed beef also contains higher levels of many vitamins and minerals, as well as containing high levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which is a healthy fat that is known to help muscle building and fat burning.

So don't be afraid to live it up a little and eat more beef, as long as you choose healthy grass-fed beef instead of grain fed beef. Enjoy and start burning more body fat with these so called "fatty" foods!

If you want to lose body fat faster, check out these 5 tips to <a target="_new" href="http://www.truthaboutabs.com/">Burn Stomach Fat</A> the smart and effective way.

Enjoy, and good luck with your fitness endeavors!

Mike Geary

Author - The Truth about Six Pack Abs

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Top-3-Fat-Burning-Foods---Surprising-Hidden-Gems&id=2416335] The Top 3 Fat Burning Foods - Surprising Hidden Gems

3 Important Tips to Build Muscle Faster - Get Lean and Ripped By Mike Geary

Let's face it... building muscle is not the easiest thing to accomplish even despite regular hard workout schedules and trying every type of workout and supplement.

I struggled for years to gain any significant muscle mass, but over the years in my personal training business and with my own experimentation have found some important things that have helped make significant muscle gains possible even for hardgainers.

So, I'm going to give 3 important tips here so you can start building lean muscle mass faster and easier.

1. Make sure that 95% of the exercises you perform regularly in the gym are big multi-joint compound exercises.  It doesn't matter if your goal is fat loss or building muscle... big multi-joint exercises should comprise 95% of the exercises you do in your workouts if you want to get lean, ripped, and powerful.

It's easiest to think of it in terms of the major movement patterns such as these (focus 95% of your workouts on these):


upper body horizontal press (bench press, pushups, dips),
  upper body horizontal rows (1-arm dumbbell rows, seated cable rows, bent over barbell rows),
  upper body vertical pull (lat pulldowns, pullups, chinups),
  upper body vertical press (overhead dumbbell and barbell presses, barbell or kettlebell clean & presses)
  lower body squatting movements (front squats, back squats, overhead squats, bodyweight squats, etc)
  lower body deadlifting movements (regular deadlifts, sumo deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts)
  lower body single leg movements (lunges, step-ups, jump lunges, etc)
  abdominal and core exercises (these are important, but still are 2nd priority after all of the major upper body and lower body multi-joint movements... your abs and core will be worked from most major multi-joint exercises anyway)

The other 5% of your exercises can focus on single joint exercises (isolation exercises) such as bicep curls, tricep presses, calf presses, shoulder shrugs, shoulder lateral raises, pec flyes, etc, etc.  However, these exercises are only accessory exercises to do after the main focus has been the multi-joint drills.

2.  Train hard and intensely 3-4 days/week for 45-60 minutes per weight training workout.  Keep your workouts to no longer than 60 minutes as training too much beyond this point can trigger excess catabolism.  You want to stay anabolic, but you still need to train your body hard and intensely enough to trigger muscle growth.

Try a super-set style of workout program to maximize the intensity that you can train.  My favorite combinations are opposing upper and lower body movement patterns that don't interfere with each other, such as squats coupled with pullups as a superset, or bench press coupled with deadlifts as a superset.

Don't underestimate the effectiveness of these types of upper/lower body supersets done with heavy weights and a high intensity.  The first time in my life that I experienced significant   rel=nofollow [http://www.truthaboutabs.com/build-muscle.html]muscle mass gains were when I started doing these types of workout combos regularly (although still mixing up my training variables).

These are mainstays of almost any effective workout program -- caloric intake can simply be adjusted whether your goal is fat burning or gaining muscle mass.

3.  Eat clean with quality whole foods... REAL foods instead of highly processed over-hyped supplement powders and bars.

The quality of protein (and additional nutrition from vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants) are best assimilated by the body from real whole food such as eggs, meats, dairy (preferably raw), fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, etc. instead of from processed protein powders, chemical-laden bars, and meal replacements.

Forget about the hyped up workouts in the muscle mags that only work for pro bodybuilders or people on steroids. Forget about the over-hyped supplement "stacks" that pay the bills for almost every muscle mag... Instead, make these tips in this article part of your lifestyle, and you'll see muscle gains and a leaner, ripped body like you've never seen before!

If you want to get a lean chiseled body, check out these tips to <a target="_new" href="http://www.truthaboutabs.com/">Get Ripped Abs</A> the right way.

Enjoy, and good luck!

Mike Geary
Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist

Author - The Truth about Six Pack Abs

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?3-Important-Tips-to-Build-Muscle-Faster---Get-Lean-and-Ripped&id=2470916] 3 Important Tips to Build Muscle Faster - Get Lean and Ripped

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