SPAM!!!

Ok more like newsletters. Here is the latest one and I pretty much knew a lot of this but just wanted to pass the info onwards because I know most of you their think I am crazy, paranoid, nuts, bonkers, and evil.....or some kind of combination of those. Enjoy and Feast on Knowledge!!

3 So-Called "Healthy" Foods that You Should STOP Eating (if you want a lean healthy body)

by Mike Geary, Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition SpecialistAuthor of the best-seller: The Truth About Six Pack Abs

I was reading a statistic in a nutrition book recently, and this is going to shock you...
Now before I tell you the statistic, let's keep an important fact in mind... according to well renowned nutrition author Michael Pollan, and his amazing book called In Defense of Food, humankind has historically consumed approximately 80,000 different species of edible plants, animals, and fungi, and approximately 3,000 of those have been widespread foods of the human diet.
Now get ready for a shocking and appalling statistic...
Currently, the average adult in the US consumes approximately 67% of their total caloric intake from only 3 foods -- CORN, SOY, AND WHEAT (and their derivatives).
What would be considered a reasonably healthy amount of corn, soy, and wheat in the human diet? Based on 10's of thousands of years of human history, and what the natural diet of our ancestors was (indicating what our digestive systems are still programmed to process), this would probably be in the range of about 1% to 5% MAX of our total calories from corn, soy, and wheat.
Considering that modern humans are eating 67% of their total calories from corn, soy, wheat... you can see why we have massive problems in our health, and our weight!
It's not a surprise that we have so many intolerances and allergies, specifically to soy and wheat (and gluten intolerance)... the human digestive system was simply never meant to consume these substances in such MASSIVE quantities.
Keep in mind that these massively high levels of corn, soy, and wheat in our modern human diet is a relatively new phenomenon that originated from the economics of the multi-billion dollar corn, soy, and wheat industries. It really HAS been all about the money.
By "derivatives" of corn, soy, and wheat, this means the food additives such as:
high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
corn oil
soybean oil (hydrogenated or plain refined)
soy protein
refined wheat flour
hundreds of other food additives such as maltodextrin, corn or wheat starch, soy lecithin, mono and diglycerides, etc, etc
This doesn't surprise me... consider how much soda or other sweetened drinks (with loads of HFCS) that the average person drinks daily... this is a LOT of calories from just 1 sole corn derivative. Even marinades, salad dressings, ketchup, breads, and 100's of other foods contain loads of HFCS!
Also think about how many processed foods we have that are either fried in soybean or corn oil... and even if the foods are not fried in these oils, these oils are additives to almost every processed food... chips, candies, cakes, salad dressings, tomato sauces, burrito wraps, corn chips, breaded chicken, etc, etc. This is a LOT of calories from these 2 other corn and soy derivatives... both of them EXTREMELY UNHEALTHY!
On top of that, think about how much breads, cereals, pastas, muffins, and other highly processed wheat products that most people consume each day. Again, this is LOADS of unhealthy, blood-sugar spiking, nutrient-poor calories, that more than half of the population has some degree of intolerance to anyway.
It gets even worse!
Not only are we eating 67% of our total calories from corn, soy, and wheat... but because of the economics involved (specifically with cheap corn and soy) we are also feeding most of our farm animals corn and soy now too... again amplifying the amount of corn and soy that ends up in our bodies.
Probably the 2 worst examples of this blatant mismanagement of our food supply is how our factory farmed chickens and cows are fed.
Cows are fed mostly corn in factory feedlot farms, even though their digestive systems are only meant to eat grass and other forage. This makes the cows sick (hmm... E-coli anyone?), alters the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio of the fats to unhealthy levels, and also diminishes the healthy CLA fats that would occur naturally in grass-fed beef. All of these problems go away if our cows are fed what they were made to eat naturally - grass!
Our chickens are also fed a diet of mostly corn and soy and crowded in tight pens in horrendous conditions... when the fact is that a chicken was meant to roam around the outdoors eating a mixture of greens, insects, worms, seeds, etc. When chickens are kept inside in tight quarters and fed only grains, it leads to an unhealthy meat for you to eat, and less healthy eggs compared to free-roaming chickens allowed to eat an outdoors diet.
Our food supply has gotten so screwed up that we're even feeding our salmon and other farmed fish corn and soy...again because of the economics involved. How ludicrous is this, considering that fish are meant to eat a diverse diet of smaller fish, worms, bugs, etc. Again this makes farm raised fish unhealthy in terms of nutrition compared to the wild counterparts. If you want to see something even scarier about farm raised fish, watch this quick video about the toxic fish you might be buying.
So even when you're eating chicken, beef, and fish, you're still essentially getting even MORE corn and soy into your body...considering that the cows, chickens, and farmed fish ate mostly soy and corn.
So it's actually WORSE than just 67% isn't it!
Why is it so unhealthy to consume 2/3rds of our calories from corn, soy, and wheat?
Well, this section could encompass an entire book, so to keep this short, I'll just throw out a few random reasons...
Skews the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats in our diet to as high as 30:1, when a ratio of 1:1 to 2:1 is considered healthy.
Problems with gluten intolerance (related to heavy wheat consumption)
Problems with weight gain, blood-sugar swings, and reduced insulin sensitivity (and progression of diabetes) due to excessive refined corn and wheat flours, as well as HFCS in our diet
Soy and corn are the most genetically modified crops (which also allows more pesticides and herbicides to be used, which are usually xenoestrogens)
Many of the pesticide and herbicide residues in these crops are xenoestrogens, which can increase "stubborn" belly fat
Soy products and derivatives contain a double-whammy of xenoestrogens as well as phyto-estrogens... again creating an environment in your body for fat storage, carcinogenic effects, and even "man boobs" in very severe cases
The feeding of corn and soy to animals reduces the health and nutritional benefits of those animal products
and the list could go on and on and on...
So how do you avoid all of this overwhelming amount of corn, soy, and wheat in our food supply, and finally take control of your weight and your health?
1. Don't purchase processed foods! It all starts with your grocery cart discipline... choose only 1-ingredient foods such as fruits, veggies, beans, eggs (free roaming), nuts, seeds, and meats from grass-fed or free roaming animals that are raised correctly. Only resort to junk foods or processed foods on a 1-day per week "cheat day" but ONLY when dining out... that way, the processed foods aren't in your house to tempt you.
2. Get most of your carbs from fruits and veggies instead of grains.
3. Avoid store bought salad dressings as they almost always contain soybean oil and HFCS (instead, try my homemade healthy salad dressing)
4. Make sure that your tomato sauces don't have HFCS and soybean oils... look for sauces made with olive oil instead. Remember to avoid unhealthy canola oils too!
5. Try veggie sticks with guacamole instead of corn chips
6. Try veggies sticks with hummus instead of pita chips or other bread
7. Reduce your cereal, bread, and pasta intake by having these foods only on "cheat days" and stick to more of the 1-ingredient foods I mentioned in #1 above. Try some of these healthy snacks as good alternatives (yes, I know that one of the 13 snacks on there has sprouted grain, which is fine on occasion).
I could go on with more examples, but I think that's good for now.
So with all of this said... Is my diet perfect? Well, no of course not! Nobody is perfect, and I can give in to temptation on occasion just like anybody else.
However, I'd estimate that my corn/soy/wheat consumption is only about 2-4% of my total caloric intake compared to 67% for the average person. The way that I achieve this is to simply not bring any corn, soy, or wheat products into my house, so I'm never tempted by it. Therefore, at least 6 days/week, I eat virtually no corn/soy/wheat, except for the occasional piece of sprouted grain toast a couple times a week (which is a better option than typical "whole grain" bread).
I do, however, give in and sometimes eat breads, pasta, and even corn chips, etc. when I'm dining out. I see these as my cheat meals and try to do this no more than once per week. I still completely eliminate sodas and deep fried foods though...they are just TOO evil!

If youre not eating them...

Youre not living right...
This is a great newsletter article that was emailed to me that I wanted to share with you.
Enjoy!!

The Truth About Eggs!!

Are Whole Eggs or Egg Whites Better for You?
by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal TrainerAuthor - The Truth About 6-Pack Abs

I was on a weekend trip with some friends recently and one of my friends was cooking breakfast for the whole group. I went over to see what he was cooking and saw he was getting ready to make a big batch of eggs.
Well, to my shock and horror, I noticed that he was cracking the eggs open and screening the egg whites into a bowl and throwing out the egg yolks. I asked him why the heck he was throwing out the egg yolks, and he replied something like this...
"because I thought the egg yolks were terrible for you...that's where all the nasty fat and cholesterol is".
And I replied, "you mean that's where all of the nutrition is!"
This is a perfect example of how confused most people are about nutrition. In a world full of misinformation about nutrition, somehow most people now mistakenly think that the egg yolk is the worst part of the egg, when in fact, the YOLK IS THE HEALTHIEST PART OF THE EGG!
By throwing out the yolk and only eating egg whites, you're essentially throwing out the most nutrient dense, antioxidant-rich, vitamin and mineral loaded portion of the egg. The yolks contain so many B-vitamins, trace minerals, vitamin A, folate, choline, lutein, and other powerful nutrients... it's not even worth trying to list them all.
In fact, the egg whites are almost devoid of nutrition compared to the yolks.
Even the protein in egg whites isn't as powerful without the yolks to balance out the amino acid profile and make the protein more bio-available. Not to even mention that the egg yolks from free range chickens are loaded with healthy omega-3 fatty acids.
Yolks contain more than 90% of the calcium, iron, phosphorus, zinc, thiamin, B6, folate, and B12, and panthothenic acid of the egg. In addition, the yolks contain ALL of the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K in the egg, as well as ALL of the essential fatty acids (EFAs).
And now the common objection I get all the time when I say that the yolks are the most nutritious part of the egg...
"But I heard that whole eggs will skyrocket my cholesterol through the roof"
No, this is FALSE!
First of all, when you eat a food that contains a high amount of dietary cholesterol such as eggs, your body down-regulates it's internal production of cholesterol to balance things out.
On the other hand, if you don't eat enough cholesterol, your body simply produces more since cholesterol has dozens of important vital functions in the body.
And here's where it gets even more interesting...
There have been plenty of studies lately that indicate that eating whole eggs actually raises your good HDL cholesterol to a higher degree than LDL cholesterol, thereby improving your overall cholesterol ratio and blood chemistry.
And 3rd... high cholesterol is NOT a disease! Heart disease is a disease...but high cholesterol is NOT. Cholesterol is actually a VERY important substance in your body and has vitally important functions... it is DEAD WRONG to try to "lower your cholesterol" just because of pharmaceutical companies propaganda that everyone on the planet should be on statin drugs.
If you're interested in this topic of cholesterol specifically, I have another article listed at the bottom of this page about why trying to attack cholesterol is a mistake, and what the REAL deadly risk factors actually are.
In addition, the yolks contain the antioxidant lutein as well as other antioxidants which can help protect you from inflammation within your body (the REAL culprit in heart disease, not dietary cholesterol!), giving yet another reason why the yolks are actually GOOD for you, and not detrimental.
To help bring even more proof that whole eggs are better for you than egg whites, I recently read a University of Connecticut study that showed that a group of men in the study that ate 3 eggs per day for 12 weeks while on a reduced carb, higher fat diet increased their HDL good cholesterol by 20%, while their LDL bad cholesterol stayed the same during the study. However, the group that ate egg substitutes (egg whites) saw no change in either and did not see the improvement in good cholesterol (remember that higher HDL levels are associated with lower risk of heart disease) that the whole egg eaters did.
So I hope we've established that whole eggs are not some evil food that will wreck your body... instead whole eggs are FAR superior to egg whites.
But what about the extra calories in the yolks?
This is actually a non-issue and here's why... even though egg yolks contain more calories than just eating the egg whites, the yolks have such a high micro-nutrient density in those calories, that it increases your overall nutrient density per calorie you consume. Essentially, what this does is help to regulate your appetite for the remainder of the day, so you end up eating less calories overall. In addition, the healthy fats in the egg yolks help to maintain a good level of fat-burning hormones in your body.
Overall, this means that the extra fats (healthy fats) and calories from the yolk are so nutrient-dense that they actually HELP you to burn off body fat!
Also, your normal supermarket eggs coming from mass factory farming just don't compare nutritionally with organic free range eggs from healthy chickens that are allowed to roam freely and eat a more natural diet. Your typical cheap grocery store eggs will have lower nutrient levels and a higher omega-6 level and lower omega-3 level. On the other hand, the cage-free organic eggs from healthier chickens allowed to eat more natural feed and roam freely will have much higher vitamin and mineral levels and a more balanced healthier omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acid ratio.
I recently compared eggs I bought at the grocery store with a batch of eggs I got at a farm stand where the chickens were free roaming and healthy.
Most people don't realize that there's a major difference because they've never bought real eggs from healthy chickens... The eggs from the grocery store had pale yellow yolks and thin weak shells. On the other hand, the healthier free range eggs from the local farm had strong thick shells and deep orange colored yolks indicating much higher nutrition levels and carotenoids... and just a healthier egg in general.
This is due to the fact that a free-roaming hen allowed to roam on plenty of land will eat a variety of greens, insects, worms, etc transferring MUCH higher levels of nutrients to the eggs compared to an unhealthy hen that is trapped inside a dark factory farm hen house in horrible conditions and fed nothing but piles of corn and soy. It's a DRASTIC difference in the nutrition that you get from the egg.
So next time a health or fitness professional tells you that egg whites are superior (because of their "fat-phobic" mentality towards dietary fats), you can quietly ignore their advice knowing that you now understand the REAL deal about egg yolks.
And can we all please STOP with this sillyness about eating an omelete with 4-5 egg whites and only 1 egg yolk... If you want real taste and real health benefits, we'd all be better off eating ALL of our eggs with the yolks.
After all, do you REALLY think that our ancestors thousands of years ago threw out the yolks and only ate the egg whites? NOT A CHANCE! They intuitively knew that all of the nutrition was found in the yolks. But our modern society has been brainwashed with misinformation about fats and cholesterol.
Another interesting study about eggs...
I read a study recently that compared groups of people that ate egg breakfasts vs groups of people that ate cereal or bagel-based breakfasts. The results of the study showed that the egg eaters lost or maintained a healthier bodyweight, while the cereal/bagel eaters gained weight.
It was hypothesized that the egg eaters actually ate less calories during the remainder of the day because their appetite was more satisfied compared to the cereal/bagel eaters who would have been more prone to wild blood sugar swings and food cravings.
Oh, one last thing I almost forgot... I personally eat 4 whole eggs almost every day with breakfast, and I maintain single-digit bodyfat most of the year.
Enjoy your eggs and get a leaner body!

Stolen from the North!!

Those awesome peeps up north in Chico at Norcal Strength and Conditioning wrote a pretty good article: check it out (if you still visit this site. And if you do please let me know)

Soda....Are you STILL drinking it?!?!

By Katie

I have watched so many people come through the gym who are completely hooked/addicted to soda. After all of the diet changes that we implement I feel soda is one of the last things that people actually ditch.

They hold onto it for dear life and even lie quite frequently about its consumption. I’ve found that the reason for this is that there is just no substitute for it! At some point most folks think they are doing fine if they choose diet over regular....but after that...they just can’t make the break because there’s nothing else as satisfying!

So here are few things to consider---if you are still having a daily dose of soda: Even if it is sugar free, it is pumped full of chemically derived artificial sweeteners, which have been proven to have the same effect on your blood glucose as regular sugar. But that’s ok, because they’re calorie free, right? Wrong! Even if they may have no calories, the artificial sweeteners still illicit a response from your body the same as you eating regular sugar. This drives your blood sugar up, creating an insulin spike, creating a blood sugar crash!

I can think of some other uppers and downers that are way more fun, then having a can of soda ! So, once your blood sugar crashes, what happens? Oh, that’s right, you crave more sugar. Your body receives a message that you are low on carbohydrate--and hungry or not--you decide to eat more carbs to fill the void. It is a vicious cycle that ultimately leads to you never getting off the sugar! This cycle is a hard one to break, so get on board and do something about the sugar attacks and ditch the soda! Cold turkey it, and substitute for mineral water, tea or black coffee! As if the constant roller coaster effect isn’t enough for you to end your soda habit...here are a few more interesting tidbits I found in the post on blisstree.com:

Below you will find what soda does to your body in the first sixty minutes of consumption.

* In The First 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down.

* 20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat. (There’s plenty of that at this particular moment)

* 40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, as a response your liver dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness.

* 45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.

* >60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.

* >60 Minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (It makes you have to pee.) It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolyte and water.

* >60 minutes: As the rave inside of you dies down you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, pissed away all the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like even having the ability to hydrate your system or build strong bones and teeth.

This will all be followed by a caffeine crash in the next few hours. (As little as two if you’re a smoker.) But, hey, have another Coke, it’ll make you feel better.
*FYI: The Coke itself is not the enemy, here. It’s the dynamic combo of massive sugar doses combined with caffeine and phosphoric acid. Things which are found in almost all soda.

Do you know what youre eating??

Pug Soup---Oh yeah! Its cute, delicious and paleo!!



Interesting list of things that are placed in our products which do nothing but harm.


Look for them in the foods you buy and enjoy the benifits! :) (<--- That is sarcasm by the way)





9 Ingredients to avoid in processed foods:


Check out the article here and get your mind blown!!


And then of course get super pissed at me because Im trying to save your life.


Go ahead, get mad.


http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/9-ingredients-to-avoid-in-processed-foods-1268429/

Drink More!!

Water!!! YEAH!!!

<---This guy LOVES his water. This is actually the background of my desk computer. Why?

Cause its a koala bear in a bowl of water!! What?!? Cause its Awesome!!!

Guys make sure you are hydrated throughout the day. Water is like, UBER important to have in the system for all kinds of crazy reasons. Mainly before workouts you want to make sure you are coming in REALLy well hydrated. Not so much that you are peeing your pants during the workout or running to the bath room but to prevent dehydration, dizziness, passing out, feeling like trash, and getting smashed in the wods. This could explain why you are preforming sometimes the way you do.

How much H2O??

I dont know or care about the glasses per day or gallons or liters just drink the fracking water!!

A little thing that I do that helps out with making sure I get enough water for the day is to drink 1 glass before my meal and 1 glass after. This helps me feel more full and also aids in digestion. If I eat 4 times a day then I know thats 8 glasses. Thank goodness I eat more than 4 times. Also if you do use protein shakes use water with the shake instead of some other bs. I use coconut milk and water mixed with the powder.

So drink up!! And if you were really hoping I was talking about alcohol, you may want to get some other kinds of help.

CHEERS!!

Challenge Over!!

Howdy!

For some reason, even before I have finished this post, I am afraid that this post is going to backfire. I fear that this is going to be THE downfall for most of you. Ill post it anyway but if I start seeing food logs with just these items on it there is going to be literal HELL to pay. BUT! If one of you wants to cook a sweet batch up for me, cause I pretty much only leave myself time for the hunting and cooking of animals, there would be hugs in it for you. Enjoy and let me know how it goes.

Paleo Muffins: Ingredients: * 2 cups almond flour (almond meal) * 2 teaspoons baking powder * 1/4 teaspoon salt * 1/4 coconut oil * 4 eggs * 1/3 cup water *Add blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, peanut butter, chopped nuts, or any other fruit as desired, cinnamon/coco and other similar ingredients can be included. Preparation: 1) Preheat oven to 350 F. 2) You can really do it with any size, but I'm basing the recipe on a 12-muffin tin. 3) Mix dry ingredients together well. 4) Add wet ingredients and mix thoroughly (You don't want strings of egg white in there and you don't have to worry about "tunnels" when you are using almond meal). 5) Put in muffin tins (about 1/2 to 2/3 full) and bake for about 15 minutes.

Paleo Doughnuts: Ingredients: * 1 cup flax meal * 1 cup almond meal * 1 T baking powder * 1/4 t salt * 1 and 1/4 t nutmeg * 1 t honey * 1 t cinnamon * 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted * 4 eggs, beaten * 1/2 cup plus 2 T water Preparation: Makes 12 regular-size muffins 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 2. Mix dry ingredients well (exclude those used for topping). 3. Add beaten eggs, melted butter, water, and sweetener to the dry mixture. Mix well. 4. Fill muffin cups a bit more than half way with the mixture. 5. Bake for about 20 minutes, until tops are golden brown. Allow muffins to cool in pan for a few minutes, then remove. 6. Mix the cinnamon and powdered sweetener for the topping in a clean bowl. 7. When the muffins are cool enough to handle, dip the tops in the melted butter you allocated for the topping, followed by the sweetener/cinnamon mixture.

Paleo Pancakes: Ingredients: * 1 cup almond flour * 2 eggs * 1/4 cup water (for puffier pancakes, you can use sparkling water) * 2 T coconut oil * 1/4 teaspoon salt * 1 T honey Preparation: Mix ingredients together and cook as you would other pancakes. I like to use a nonstick pan with a little oil. The only real difference is that they won't "bubble" on top the same way as regular pancakes. Flip them when the underside is brown.

Paleo Winners!!

Hey Gang!
So the Paleo Winners have finally been announced. Sorry that it took so long hee hee;)
I just wanted to share the results of the winner at Bodies In Motion and verbal statements from other challengers.
The Winner of the BIM Challenge was Aline who stuck with the diet fairly well (she was very honest but did paleo probably about 87-90%) but still got banging results. She also trained her butt, almost literally, off with me, which from what I hear helps a little. She lost a total of 12 pounds-ish (from 175 down to 163). Went down 5% body fat (from 31% to 26%)Lost 3 inches in my waist (35 to 32)Lost 3 inches in my hips (39 to 36)Lost 10 pounds of body fat (from 53lbs to 43lbs).

Other results that people mentioned were:

Client 1 Results:

Hey Chris,

I cant believe I made it through these past 7 weeks haha. Im really glad i made it all the way through with messing up as little as possible. I really believe that if you can dedicate yourself to eating right and exercising, you can just about do anything else and I feel like this is the first time that i have actually reached a goal of mine with my physique. I am feeling great and am not planning on stopping the paleo lifestyle anytime soon. I am now about 172 pounds, give or take half a pound, and was originally 187 pounds when i first started the challenge. I am feeling healthy and can not wait to hit the weights now to build up a little bit. I also wanted to let you know that my dad has been very successful with his results from the diet also. Honestly, i am kind of happy he isn't in the challenge because i think he would have been some really tough competition haha. He lost a total of about 17 pounds and has gone from a size 38 pant size to about a 33 now. He is very happy with the results and wanted me to say thank you for all this great information on his behalf as well.

Client 2 Results:
Hey Chris!!
Its finally done!! I am grateful to you and Aline for introducing me to the challenge. I always kind of knew what to do but actually being determined and implementing Paleo into my life has changed my life in a positive way. I want to keep going with this Paleo lifestyle except have some chocolate here and there and some alcohol to celebrate.
I have lost a total of 15 pounds and it was basically all due from diet. I didnt really work out a lot. I wanted to but my schedule didn't really allow me to do as much as I wanted. I still worked out mostly doing my Pilates tapes at home but as for hard core gym workouts no. I didt measure my body fat or muscle content but I have been fitting almost all of my pants..even the ones from highschool. I would say I have from 2 dress sizes as well. I dont know what that is in inches. I feel great but when I took these new picture I still dont like what I see. I still want a lot more change in my body..this is just the beginning for me.