Friday, April 20, 2007

Staying Fit After 40... It Can Be Done!

It's a common question, one I get often from visitors to UltimateFatBurner.com...

I'm over 40, and I'm trying to lose some weight and get in shape. However, I just find it SO hard. What am I doing wrong? It used to be so easy to lose weight before, but now I find it almost impossible. What do I need to do?

Well, let me assure you about one thing... it usually is harder to lose weight when you are over 40. There are numerous reasons for this -- for instance, your metabolism is a lot slower than it was 20 years ago. This isn't necessarily because you are older, but because of the lifestyle you may have adopted over the years. For example, if you are a "typical North American" as you migrated from high school to college/university to work to marriage and family, it's very likely you became less and less active. After all, the demands on your time did nothing but increase. Leisure activities, outdoor activities, ACTIVE activities were severely (if not completely) curtailed.

As a result, greater amounts of time were spent performing sedentary activities, which, without a corresponding reduction in caloric requirements, leads to weight gain. It also leads to a loss of muscle mass. This is important, since muscle is metabolically active tissue -- i.e., it burns calories even at rest (fat requires almost no calories to sustain itself). For every ounce of muscle you lose, your body requires fewer and fewer calories to sustain itself (that's why every successful "smart" weight loss program today includes some manner of resistance training).

Of course, there are other reasons as well -- the demands on your time are still overwhelming -- from kids, colleagues, spouse, aging parents, your job... the list goes on and on. Let's face it... when you get home at night, you're tired, and you do not want to exercise or deprive yourself of small joys -- like a nice meal.

So yes, it is hard. There is good news though...

First, as you get started, you will feel better than you have in ages. Invigorated, life will acquire a new "shine."

Two, there's a great publication that addresses the issue of "getting fit after 40." It's by Jon Benson and Tom Venuto. It covers all the issues you can expect, and then some. And it does it well. Very well indeed.

Instead of going into great detail here, I'll link to the review I wrote a little while ago. It's a great publication, and I highly recommend it...

Click here to read the Fit Over 40 review!

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

The Fifth Element!

I've just finished reading Tom Venuto's The Fifth Element.

If you haven't heard of him, Tom Venuto is a well known "weight loss guru" -- and a darn good one at that. He's the author of "Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle" which just happens to be one of my favorite diets of all time. (I reviewed BurnThe Fat some time ago. If you're in the market for a diet, one that really works, I highly recommend you read the review...

http://www.ultimatefatburner.com/burn-the-fat.html

The Fifth Element is a great read -- yes, even though it has no connection with the movie of the same name that stars Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich. Instead, Tom Venuto's Fifth Element is about his search for the last final "key" (or in this case, "element") that virtually guarantees weight loss for anyone. You see, Tom has been working as a trainer for years and has seen some people attain fantastic successes,while others struggled and failed.

So what was the differentiating factor between these two groups? After all, the first three elements were present in both groups' programs...

1) cardio
2) strength training
3) sound nutrition

That's a good question.

After some study and serious contemplation, Tom determined that "the mind" plays a serious role in success and failure (which is why his "Burn The Fat" diet contains a "positive mind programming" element to give you the right "attitude" to lose weight). That, he determined, was the fourth element. But there was still something missing. One critical piece of the weight loss puzzle -- one piece, that when combined with the other elements, increased any individual's chance of losing the weight and keeping it off by a huge factor.

That piece of the puzzle is The Fifth Element.

And it is revealed in Tom's Special Report, which you can download and read for free (right click the link below and select "Save Target As". Save to a folder of your liking)...

http://www.ultimatefatburner.com/pdfs/fifthelement-B.pdf

The Fifth Element is an Adobe PDF file, and you will need the Acrobat Reader to view it. Don't worry -- it's probably already on your machine. If not, there's no charge for it,and you can get it here...

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

And here's the link to The Fifth Element again...

http://www.ultimatefatburner.com/pdfs/fifthelement-B.pdf

I highly recommend you download and read this report... it will open your eyes!

Monday, April 16, 2007

Subway Selling Pizza? What Gives?

Maybe I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, but this news about Subway selling pizza to capitalize on the dwindling market share of Pizza Hut and Dominoes...

Click here to read the full news story!

... really aggravated the "you-know-what" out of me. Hey Jared? What's up with that? Like to try the "Subway diet" all over again, this time substituting your burgers and fries for pizza and pop?

What happened to the "heathy eating" alternative to fast food restaurants so crucial to Subway's corporate branding? 'Cause pizza, as delicious as it may be, isn't a healthy alternative to anything -- and I don't care how much lycopene is contained in the tomato paste. It's outrageously high in fat, it's chock-full of simple, high glycemic carbs, and its about as dense in calories as you can get.

So what does Subway's "about face" reveal to us?

It's simple really... the "healthy eating" image is nothing more than corporate branding, dreamed up by the people in their advertising department to differentiate themselves from their competitors. They themselves actually could care less about healthy eating and the good health of their clientele. It's all a sham, a facade. Because if Subway really did care, they wouldn't be falling over themselves in their haste to to market pizza -- they'd be coming up with healthy, tasty alternatives.

Thanks for the integrity, Subway. from now on, I'll be having Quiznos!

Monday, April 09, 2007

The Fat Burner Free Trial Scam!

Hi everyone...

Just wanted to throw up a quick post to tell you about a new article I recently completed and posted to UltimateFatBurner.com. It's on a subject near and dear to my heart... the 5-7 day free trial scam. You've probably seen these before -- they are common to weight loss products sold online -- the merchant offers the visitor a free 5-7 day trial of their product, just to prove "how effective" it is.

However, in order to receive the free trial, you must pay a small shipping and handling fee, thereby surrendering your credit card info. And that's what these scumbags really want... your credit data so they can add you to an autoship program. That's where you get a new bottle of the product each and every month (and your card is charged accordingly) until "you know what freezes over" (most retailers claim to honor cancellation requests promptly and professionally, but the feedback I've received indicates anything but).

Anyhow, if you're considering a product that offers such a program, or you know someone who is, you must read this article. Here's the link...

The 5-7 Day Fat Burner Free Trial And Why You Must Avoid It!

Enjoy!

Friday, April 06, 2007

New Reviews On UltimateFatBurner.com

What's new on UltimateFatBurner.com?

As usual, I've got a few new fat burner reviews for you to check out, and I'll get to them in a minute. Before I do, I'd like to introduce a product that I've been very excited about since I first tried it back in late 2005 (yeah, yeah, I know... it has taken me awhile to get to it).


That product is H+ Blocker.

No, it's not a fat burner or weight loss supplement, but a body building supplement. I don't write about these very often (although I'm seriously thinking about expanding this part of the site), because the main topic of interest of my site is fat burners. However, I'm pretty passionate about weight training and about supplements, and as you can imagine I experiment with as many as I can get my little hands on.


Once in a great while, a product actually works like its advertising claims it does. The first one I can think of is creatine, and it blew me away the first time I tried it back in 1996. Since then, I've been on the look out for another creatine. I like NO2 supplements -- like Dymatize's Expand, BSN's NOXplode, Ultimate Nutritions' HorsePower and the new Armageddon. But none of these had that "blow me away" quality that creatine had over 10 years ago.

Until I tried H+ Blocker. One word...

WOW!

And thats all I'm going to say for now. If you want to know more...

You can read the H+ Blocker review here!

As promised, I also have a few new fat burners for you to check out. They are...

1) Brazilian Slim, BugreLife, JungleBurn:

Apparently, the key to a beautiful Brazilian body is Chá de Bugre, the main ingredient in fat burners like TrimLife's Brazilian Slim, BugreLife, Jungle Burn and others. According to the advertising hype I've encountered, Chá de Bugre puts ephedra to shame, although no clinical studies are mentioned to validate this comment -- in fact, no evidence of any sort is brought forth to support any of the advertising statements.

Read the full review here!


2) Zylorin:

Reviewing the Zylorin diet pill made my day. You see, I haven't laughed so hard for quite a while.

Why?

The retailers of Zylorin don't seem to have any compunctions about "pushing the envelope" when it comes to making product claims. And the claims are so ridiculous, it's actually pretty funny.

Read the full review here!

Enjoy!






Tuesday, April 03, 2007

What The Heck Is Gastric Electrical Stimulation?

Man, oh man.

Things are getting freakier by the second. Here I was thinking that eating right and exercise were the key to weight loss, but nooooo...

... at least not when you have Gastric Electrical Stimulation at your beck and call. I know what you're thinking (no, no, this isn't a psychic hotline commercial)...

What the heck is Gastric Electrical Stimulation? Well, I know that's what I was thinking.

Are you ready for this?

It's the stimulation of the stomach with low level electrical charges.

The process begins by inserting an anti-obesity device into the abdomen. This "anti-obesity" device is a little pacemaker unit the size of a matchbox. It is attached to the stomach wall by electrodes. This device then sends a series of small electrical charges through the electrodes to the stomach.

How does this stimulate weight loss? Here's how, according to the Medtronic web site...

'While the exact way in which GES causes weight loss is not fully understood, it is believed that through low-level electrical pulses the therapy slows the intrinsic electrical waves in the stomach. Animal studies have shown that this electrical stimulation causes the stomach to relax, resulting in distension of the stomach. This distension triggers nerves in the stomach involved in digestion to send signals via the central nervous system to the brain that the stomach is “full”.'

Wow!

Oh yes... if you're thinking that this is one new electronic gizmo you could really go for, here's the bad news...

Gastric Electrical Stimulation therapy has not yet been approved for use in the U.S.

Currently it is undergoing clinical trials in the United Kingdom.

I guess until then, we're stuck with diet and exercise, eh?

Monday, April 02, 2007

Dieting? Watch The Tuna Consumption!

Tuna has long been the cornerstone of many a smart eating plan. Fitness fanatics, body builders, athletes and dieters the world over have enjoyed tuna as a cost-effective source of lean protein, devoid of carbs, and rich in Omega-3 fatty acids.

If you count yourself among this group, here's something to consider...

While it's difficult to argue against the benefits offered by tuna, it is a well-known fact that tuna can contain mercury -- an extremely dangerous substance. Consuming fish contaminated with high levels of mercury can affect the heart, brain and immune system. Of course, tuna prepared for the open market is tested to ensure it meets the minimum safe standard -- this varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but in Canada it is .5 parts per million.

What's alarming is that a recent CBC study (you can view the details of the study here!) found that 13% of the white/albacore tuna they tested exceeded these guidelines.

In light of this, Health Canada issued some new regulations...
  • Pregnant or breastfeeding women can eat up to four servings of canned albacore tuna per week.
  • Children between the ages of one and four years can eat up to one serving per week.
  • Children between the ages of five and 11 years can eat up to two servings per week.
Pregnant women and children are the ones most likely to be negatively affected by increased mercury levels, and should therefore limit consumption of tuna.

Two other important points...

While Health Canada has set its own levels of acceptable mercury consumption, not everyone is in agreement with them. Other countries and jurisdictions have different guidelines -- some insisting no more than a can a week is safe for pregnant women and children.

The bottom line is that no one really knows what the long term consumption of low levels of mercury contaminated fish will do to you, so I suggest you use your own judgment when it comes to determining how much tuna you will consume. Personally, I'm not comfortable consuming more than 2-3 cans a week.

The other thing to keep in m ind is that other types of tuna -- skipjack tuna, for example -- are lower in mercury and can provide you with an alternative, should you be unwilling to reduce your tuna consumption somewhat.

Regardless -- anyone dieting, training, or is using tuna as a significant part of their eating plan needs to be aware of the dangers of mercury contamination. It might be time to look for a new protein source too!