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Posted by Joel Marion on May 2, 2011
151 Comments
On Friday I got a package in the mail.
It was a BIG package.
It was also an unexpected package.
Don’t you just love it when that happens?
Well, turns out that a friend of mine decided to send me about 20 lbs of organic grass fed beef as a thank you for some consulting I helped him with the other week.
Pretty freakin’ sweet, eh? (He’s from Canada, so he’ll appreciate that)
Of course, I made a point to defrost them immediately while planning to fire up the grill several times over the weekend for a 2-day feast of fresh burgers and NY strip steaks (and broccoli, and grilled asparagus, and a few huge salads :-)
Who says low carb meals can’t be fun?
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Posted by Joel Marion on May 1, 2011
69 Comments
Last week I told you how my buddy John Romaniello royally kicked my butt with an insane full body workout last weekend.
I woke up the next day sore as @#$%^&*.
Translation: quite sore. Thanks, John.
So naturally, I did as a good boy should and worked out the very next day.
Huh?
Now, I’m sure you’ve been told that you should wait until all that soreness subsides before stepping in the gym again.
How can I be sure? Easy, I’ve been told that same crap more times than I can count.
Fortunately, I don’t adhere to that silliness anymore, and as a result, I’ve got more muscle and less body fat to thank for it.
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Posted by Joel Marion on April 21, 2011
2 Comments
Now, you may think that someone dropped a weight plate on my head for me to make such a controversial statement, but the reality is that you don’t “need” weight training to annihilate body fat and obtain a lean, attractive body.
Does this mean that I now feel that weight training is worthless? Of course not. But I do feel that bodyweight training has a LOT of benefits, and even a number of benefits that conventional weight training does not.
Benefit #1 – No equipment or gym membership required. With bodyweight training, you don’t need a single piece of equipment. Not a single dumbbell, exercise ball, or resistance ball. No gym membership or even “home gym” required—the only thing you need is you…brining me to the next “benefit”.
Benefit #2 – You can burn fat ANYWHERE. Whether you are traveling or at home, in a hotel room or your own room, outside or inside, you can perform bodyweight workouts exactly as they are meant to be performed.
You don’t have to worry about what gym you’re going to train at while on the road, or how you’re going to manage to get an effective workout in that crappy hotel fitness center—you just do the same exact fat-burning workout you’d do while at home…even if you don’t have access to ANY equipment…because you don’t need it.
But if convenience and portability aren’t the only benefits of bodyweight training, in fact bodyweight possesses functional benefits that most weight training workouts don’t. For example:
Benefit #3 – You’ll build Relative Strength. That just means you’ll be very strong relative to your weight. Relative strength is directly correlated to high performance, injury prevention and functionality in everyday life
Benefit #4 – You’ll ignite your nervous system. Bodyweight training allows you to move in every possible range of motion. To do this, you have to improve the timing and coordination of your movements. This means you’ll force your nervous system to work harder, recruit more muscle and burn more fat.
Benefit #5 – Unmatched metabolic demand and calorie burn. Stringing bodyweight exercises together is the BEST way to create a super intense metabolic workout that will burn tons of fat both during and AFTER your session. Because you don’t have any cumbersome equipment, you can quickly move from one exercise to another without rest.
Those are some pretty serious benefits.
And if those benefits sound good to you, my good friends Adam and Ryan are making their top FIVE bodyweight workouts available for one more day for the price of one.
That’s FOUR no-equipment necessary workouts FREE.
Fat-burning workouts you can do ANYWHERE <——- Four FREE
I’d serious take advantage of that deal today. Five for the price of one rarely comes around.
There’s one day left to grab yours.
No-equipment necessary workouts <—– Four FREE
Keep rockin’,
Joel
Posted by Joel Marion on April 18, 2011
12 Comments
In Part I of this blog post we discussed four of my top methods to crush cravings, and today I’m back to round out the group of 8 with 4 MORE killer methods:
Craving Crusher #5 – Mouth Wash/Tooth Paste: Another interesting way to overcome a craving is to create an undesirable “craving” situation in your mouth, which can be easily done by brushing your teeth or swishing some mouth wash around in your mouth for a minute or so.
Not only does toothpaste and/or mouthwash occupy your taste buds in lieu of the craving, but it’s highly unlikely that with a minty fresh mouth you’ll still be reaching for those chocolate chip cookies.
Craving Crusher #6 – Down a glass (or two) of water: The minute you being to start feeling hungry, down a glass (or two) of water. Filling your stomach with a large volume of water will immediately calm your hunger urges and bring your appetite back in to control.
In fact, I use the hunger crushing power of fluids regularly to make fast days much more manageable, and often find all out fasting a relative breeze when constantly filling my belly with fluids.
The more you drink, the fuller you’ll feel, and the easier controlling your appetite will be.
Craving Crushing #7 – Slow-Digesting Foods: There are many reasons and benefits from a fat loss perspective to choose slower digesting foods, and one of them is certainly the benefit of staying fuller longer.
If you’re still feeling full from your last meal, it’s much less likely that you’ll go hog wild when your next feeding runs around. Feeling full also curbs between-meal cravings and the desire to indulge in “non-diet” foods.
So what are the best “slow-digesting” foods? Whole foods, particularly very low glycemic carbohydrates, higher fiber veggies, healthy fats, and whole-food proteins (i.e. meats). Reach for these types of foods at each feeding and you’ll probably forget what “cravings” are.
Craving Crushing #8 – Supplementation: There are a lot of supplements that claim to suppress appetite, and I’ve both researched and experimented with most of them myself. Personally, the only thing that I’ve found to have a substantial impact on my own appetite is 5-HTP. If you’d like to add it to your arsenal alongside the other 7 tips, it may be worth experimenting with.
Want to learn 3 other specific fat-burning tips that you can start using today? Check out the below link:
Enjoy the above tips!
Joel
Posted by Joel Marion on April 15, 2011
135 Comments
A few weeks ago I exposed the benefits of eating breakfast, particularly a BIG, protein-rich breakfast, and wouldn’t ya know, researchers from The University of Kansas Medical Center and another team from Virginia Commonwealth University decided to give us even more proof and reason to be following those exact recommendations for the most rapid weight loss.
Study #1 – University of Kansas Medical Center
This study analyzed the effect of a protein-rich breakfast on appetite and overall daily calorie consumption among teens who typically skip breakfast.
In the study, teens either consumed a protein-rich breakfast of solid foods, a protein-rich breakfast beverage (i.e. meal replacement shake), or a breakfast meal containing minimal protein. All meals were 500 calories each.
The result?
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Posted by Joel Marion on April 14, 2011
67 Comments
Being hungry sucks. In fact, it’s the #1 reason people struggle to follow diets.
Think about it: When is the last time you “cheated” on your diet when you WEREN’T hungry?
Exactly.
Simply put, the key to sticking with any diet is learning how to control hunger and manage cravings.
And that’s what I’m here to discuss today – four of my top EIGHT craving crushing tips:
Craving Crusher #1 – Volumize your meals: A 400 calorie meal can be exceptionally filling or extremely unsatisfying depending on the types of foods that make up the meal.
For example, a single Dollar Menu fast-food burger can easily pack home 400 calories. Same for 4 Reese’s Cups.
I don’t know about you, but neither of those items are leaving me “full” and satisfied.
At the same time, a HUGE salad chock full of veggies galore and topped with an ample portion of lean protein such as grilled chicken or fish can be a struggle to finish, while containing even fewer calories.
Want to walk away from every meal feeling full, but without packing on the pounds? The solution is simple: make sure to always choose foods that provide a lot of volume without a lot of calories. Huge salads, lean proteins, and even more veggies to fill out the ol’ plate make for a wholesome, high volume, low calorie meal every time.
Craving Crusher #2 – Chew gum: Feeling hungry between meals? Reach for a piece of sugar-free gum. The simple act of chewing and keeping your mouth occupied will have an immediate effect on your level of hungry and quickly have you forgetting about being hungry.
Craving Crusher #3 – Eat MORE fat: Out of the three macronutrients, the most satiating is fat. By adding healthy fat to a meal in the form of healthy oils, nuts, avocado, organic butter, etc, you’ll automatically increase the acute and long-term satiety of the meal. Feel fuller faster and stay fuller longer – a great combo!
Craving Crusher #4 – Eat more frequently: The longer you wait between feeding, the more hungrier you get. Simple solution: eat more frequently. I recommend a frequency of 5 to 7 feedings per day, spaced out approximately 2 – 3 hours apart.
It’s probably a “rule of thumb” you’ve heard before, but likely one you could be following a LOT closer.
Alright, that’s 4 of 8. I’ll be back with four MORE craving crushing tips later this week. In the meantime, would you like to learn 3 other specific fat-burning tips that you can start using today? Check out the below link:
Enjoy the above tips!
Joel
Posted by Joel Marion on February 10, 2011
9 Comments
In yesterday’s post we talked about a really cool concept my buddy Dan Long calls “Kill Mode” and the extreme importance of really pushing yourself each and every workout.
Simply put, if you’re not feeling “uncomforable” often throughout your workout, you’re barely skimming the surface of your fat loss potential, if at all.
Are you happy with your results? If not, one of the things you need to be doing is ensuring that your workouts are set up to burn maximal fat, and that’s exactly what today’s post is about — 3 “staple” components of fat-killing workouts:
1. BIG Movements – The only movements that should be included in a fat burning workout are those that include multiple muscle groups and cross multiple joints. For example, with a Dumbbell Bench press there is movement at the shoulder joint and the elbow joint. For a DB squat, there is movement and the hips and the knees. Contrast those BIG movements with a bicep curl in which you’re working just one teeny tiny muscle of the upper arm, and movement is only occuring at one joint.
The difference? With big movements you tax much more musculature around many more joints and ultimately create a much greater metabolic effect. BIG movements burn BIG calories; small movements not so much…
2. Alternating Upper and Lower Body – Now that you know that big movements are key, here’s a little trick to get your heart working even harder: alternate BIG upper body movements with BIG lower body movements. When a muscle or group of muscles work, the heart works to pump blood to those muscles in order to deliver oxygen and other nutrients necessary to perform the exercise and for recovery after. If you just finished a big lower body exercise in which the heart is working hard to send blood to that region, and then follow it up with a BIG upper body exercise, you’re heart will then need to work even harder to deliver nutrient rich blood to the entire body.
The result? Heart rate is elevated, your heart works harder, and you burn more calories.
Want an even greater caloric burn? Mixing in full body movments like a plyometric medicine ball slam where you start with a full squat holding a medicine ball then explode up jumping as high as you can lifting the ball overhead and slamming it down on the ground…fun stuff =) Combination lifts like a lunge and press work well as full body movments as well.
3. Limited rest – BIG movements, full body movments, and alternating upper and lower body exercises is all phenomenal, but the trick to keeping heart rate up and calories incinerating throughout the entire workout is limiting your rest periods. This has two benefits. Number one, you’ll obviously be able to do more work in a 45 minute workout with 30 second rest periods than with 90 second or 60 second rest periods between exercises, which means way more calories burned. Secondly, your heart rate won’t fall off as much as your conditioning improves and you’re able to limit rest, and a higher average heart rate = more calories burned.
Some of the best workouts that incorporate all three of the above components can be found at my friend Craig Ballantyne’s site here. In fact, Craig just put up a “secret” page where he’s got 31 different interval training workouts for you that require practically no equipment:
Keep rockin’!
Joel
Posted by Joel Marion on February 8, 2011
286 Comments
Here’s a little-publicized fact:
If you want fast results, you’re going to have to work out HARD. Oops…looks like I just lost 99% of the world as a potential customer.
Nevertheless, it’s a FACT. Effective fat burning workouts are uncomfortable by nature.
Let me ask you this…
When is the last time you felt “uncomfortable” during a workout? I’m talking about “hands-on-your-knees, sucking-wind, sweat-dripping-on-the-gym-floor” uncomfortable? For most people it ain’t recent.
But it’s absolutely necessary.
Why? Because it’s not about how many calories you burn during a workout – it’s about how many calories you burn after.
Classic example: For the last two weeks I’ve been working out with a guy by the name of Dan “The Machine” Long. He doesn’t call himself that, but I do. Why? Because he’s a machine. Pretty self-explanatory.
Well, yesterday Dan put me through a workout that resulted in me burning 647 calories in 45 minutes. Not too shabby. But that’s not where the real magic happened – no, the real magic happened about 20 minutes later when I pulled in to my garage and that same calorie monitor read 1009 calories.
That’s 362 additional calories burned while sitting on my butt driving home – that’s more than most people burn in a 30 minute workout, and I did it while sitting around.
Had I left the calorie monitor on for another hour, it probably would have read somewhere around 1500 calories (nearly TRIPLE the caloric burn of the actual workout).
And I attribute that kind of dramatic “afterburn” directly to the intensity of the workout, and more specifically to a concept that Dan refers to as “kill mode”.
What is kill mode? Well, allow me to define it for you, straight from Results Dictionary:
Kill Mode (‘kil · mōd) noun – a mental shift that occurs approximately half way through a work set in which fatigue is ignored, adrenaline prevails, and all-out max effort fat loss domination begins
Boom!
A practical example:
Let’s say you’re doing a timed set of jump squats for one minute. The first 30 seconds is auto-pilot. The final 30 seconds is when you enter kill mode – you forget about how you’re feeling, you allow adrenaline to take over, and you give it your all. You push. You go harder. You dominate.
That’s kill mode, and it works — bigtime.
Is it uncomfortable? YES. Is it HARD? Absolutely. Does it require mental toughness? You better believe it.
But as I stated at the very beginning of this post, you’re NEVER going to get the results you’re after without truly, genuinely working HARD.
Think about it – are you truly pushing yourself during your workouts? Does each set end with a “kill mode” moment? If not, you’re barely scratching the surface of your fat loss potential!
So here’s what I want you to do: If you’re willing to commit to giving “kill mode” a go in your next workout, respond by leaving a comment below. At least 200 comments and I’ll be back tomorrow with 3 more workout tips for maximal fat loss.
Time to DOMINATE.
Joel
P.S. This is your opportunity to show your commitment to pushing yourself and taking your workouts (and results) to the next level by commenting below. Step out and make the commitment – I’m first in line, and I want you with me. Talk to you in the comments section!
Posted by Joel Marion on February 3, 2011
40 Comments
You may have heard that a high salt/sodium intake causes high blood pressure and should be avoided. Well, that’s…not true.
You see, a high sodium intake does not cause hypertension (high blood pressure). The hormone aldosterone acts on the kidneys to conserve sodium for bodily functions; however, when sodium is consumed in high amounts, aldosterone release is blunted and any excess sodium will simply be excreted. As a result, sodium balance remains normal over a large intake.
Eat less of it and your body retains more; eat more and your body gets rid of what it doesn’t need. This is the case with all apparently healthy individuals who do not already have a blood pressure condition.
The only circumstance in which individuals may benefit by monitoring their sodium intake is if they have already been clinically diagnosed as suffering from hypertension and are also salt sensitive. I stress “and” because only 20% of the population is salt sensitive; so for 4 out of every 5 people suffering from hypertension, lowering sodium intake isn’t going to do much, if anything at all.
And even for those that are salt sensitive, the actual magnitude of the decrease in blood pressure as a result of the lowered intake may not even be substantial enough to warrant decreasing sodium consumption as a method to treat high blood pressure.
Now, I normally wouldn’t kick a myth when it’s down, but a high sodium intake can actually benefit athletes and fitness enthusiasts for the following reasons:
- A higher sodium intake yields a greater overall blood volume and blood flow to the working muscles. With increased blood flow, the amount of oxygen and nutrients delivered to the working muscles is maximized. This is particularly important when an amino acid containing beverage is consumed prior to the workout, as more aminos will be delivered to the working muscles, resulting in greater rates of protein synthesis and recovery. Also, increased blood flow will actually increase performance in that removal of various fatigue toxins (lactic acid, CO2, etc) will occur at a faster rate.
- It is the responsibility of sodium to deliver potassium into the cell membrane of muscle tissue. If not enough sodium is present, the body is forced to deliver the potassium via “active transport” across the membrane. In this case, active transport is not the preferred method of transportation and as a result less potassium will be transported across the membrane less often.
And yet another myth about sodium is that a high intake causes tons of water retention and a bloated appearance. While, yes, increased sodium intake will cause some initial water retention, the retention is only temporary. As soon as the body becomes accustomed to the higher intake, aldosterone release will be blunted and the excess water will be excreted.
So no, consuming high amounts of sodium does not cause hypertension (and is rarely effective by itself in treating the condition) and may actually a good idea if you want to optimize your workout performance.
My friend Isabel expands on the “salt myth” in this video and also shares 3 of her favorite fat burning foods:
3 Fat Burning Foods and more on sodium <——- watch here
Question or comment on today’s post? Drop your reply in the comments section below!
Talk to you in the comments section!
Joel
Posted by Joel Marion on January 31, 2011
9 Comments
The #1 Roadblock to Your Success
By Bill Phillips
After 20 years of helping over one million people transform their bodies and lives I know one thing for certain: As odd as it may sound to you right now, you can’t enjoy lasting weight loss, along with long-term health and happiness, without FIRST transforming what’s going on ‘beneath the surface.’ (I call this an ‘inside out approach’ and it’s making a world of difference for those who experience it.)
Sure supersized portions, addictive ‘nutrient dead’ foods, and inactivity are literally killing millions of Americans and robbing children of their healthy futures. But the truth is, unless you address excess body fat with a holistic approach—meaning you consider the mind, body, heart and soul—you’re not going to get lasting results.
Period… end of story.
That statement is so important I’d like to say it again in a more direct way…
Statistics Show That 95% of Dieters Are Never
Going To Lose Weight And Keep It Off If
They Only Focus On Food And Exercise Alone
Their old patterns, unresolved emotional blocks, addictive habits and limiting beliefs will, sooner or later, cause them to rebound and spiral out of control… again and again.
Has this ever happened to you: One day you’re following a diet, losing weight and feeling hopeful but the next thing you know you’re overweight and unhappy again?
If you’re like most people, this hasn’t happened to you just once… it’s happened many times over the years. In fact, I’m sure you know people who have been trapped on the weight loss rollercoaster for decades and the darn thing just won’t stop.
This brings me to a very important point that I want to really emphasize: Until you get to the root of what causes weight problems, you’re going to be stuck living the rest of your life in a body you’re ashamed of… along with the mental, physical and emotional health consequences that come along with it.
The reality is simple: Dieting is like clipping a weed at the ground surface—as long as the root is intact, it will come back. But I’m sure you don’t need to hear this from me—when you think about it, your past experiences have proven this to you over and over again.
You see, as long as you’re still the same inside–at the level of your thoughts, beliefs, patterns, and emotions–you simply haven’t undergone a true transformation. And any temporary weight loss results you do get will soon rebound and ‘snap back’ just like when you release a stretched rubber band.
What’s more, as you’ve probably experienced yourself, each time you try and fail to stick to a diet, it lowers your calorie-burning metabolism as well as your emotional well-being. As a result, you tend to gain even more weight until you want to give up completely.
And to make matters worse, science has shown that all of this negative emotional ‘baggage’ we carry around such as anger, frustration, stress, grief, shame, anxiety, depression, negative thinking and loneliness contribute to an imbalance in the brain which triggers cravings to eat, even when you’re not hungry. What’s more, these same emotions can negatively impact our health by lowering our immune system and increasing our risk of developing cancer and heart disease.
That’s the BIG roadblock with traditional diets—they completely ignore the root of the problem that’s driving you to overeat and feel bad. Fortunately there’s a new breakthrough…
The Bio-Balance Solution: How
to Lose Weight By Feeling Good
A leading Neurologist named Ronald Ruden, M.D., Ph.D., has done groundbreaking work in how emotions and thoughts impact something he calls ‘bio-balance.’ The simple explanation of ‘bio-balance’ is when you’re free from toxic emotions, negative thoughts, and you feel connected to other people in the world, your brain becomes much healthier and happier. This in turn allows you to feel good, enjoy a healthy state of mind, control your weight and experience more energy!
Bio-balance is a natural state of being that Mother Nature intended you to be in.
On the other hand, when your brain is out of bio-balance, it’s constantly working against you by causing cravings and stress, which of course lead to over eating, weight gain, poor health, low energy, and depression.
Here’s a question… Do you ever eat when you feel angry, stressed, anxious or lonely? If so, the cause may be coming from a lack of bio-balance.
The Serotonin Connection
To be more specific, a brain neurotransmitter called serotonin plays a big role in bio-balance. You see, when our bio-balance is off, serotonin levels become low, and not only are we not happy (actually, we’re depressed), but another one of our natural brain chemicals, called dopamine, can become overactive.
Dopamine is the ‘gotta-have-it’ neurotransmitter. It’s what makes us crave and strive for everything from certain foods, to alcohol, to nicotine, to unhealthy, compulsive behaviors.
When we ‘score’ one of those things, our brains release serotonin and for a short period of time we’re satisfied, we’re fulfilled. But then serotonin levels dip again and dopamine drives us into another cycle of craving, seeking, getting… and this addictive pattern continues, over and over again, unless our bio-balance is corrected.
The good news is that there’s a scientific, safe and natural way to restore healthy bio-balance so we can lose weight, feel better, and enjoy life more than ever.
If you’re looking for THAT answer – the real secret to end yo-yo dieting and the “falling off the wagon” phenomenon once and for all – then please make sure to watch your email closely tomorrow. I’ve got a really big surprise for you, and you’re not going to want to miss it.
All the best,
Bill Phillips
#1 NY Times Bestselling Author – Body-for-Life®
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Got a question or comment on today’s article? Drop it below and we’ll be here to interact with you personally!
Hey, it’s Joel! So you want to know a little more about me, huh? Well, I’d be happy to oblige :-)
I guess it all started back in 2001 (my freshman year of college) when I was just a “skinny fat” 19-year old kid. At the time, I was spending close to 2 hours a day in the gym (now my workouts last about 30 minutes), and despite my efforts, you’d probably never guess I worked out a day in my life by looking at me...