In this blog post I wanted to highlight a group of fantastic grain foods that you should try to incorporate more into your diet. Each of these provides you with its own unique benefits. I’ve listed some of the standout properties that each food brings to the table (no pun intended) below. Enjoy! Amaranth 13.6% protein (complete) 59% available carbohydrates 6.7% dietary fiber 4.5% unsaturated fat A very good source of vitamin A, vitamin K, vitamin B6, vitamin C, riboflavin and folate A very good source of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper and manganese Contains no gluten Appears…
Author: Fabian
Fabian
Fabian Colussi is a women's Bikini and Figure competition coach for natural athletes, certified personal trainer and gym instructor, and women's fitness consultant. He also has a background in martial arts, is an NLP Master Practitioner, and has a certification in Hypnotherapy. Fabian is a co-owner and co-founder of Million Dollar Baby Fitness.
It flattens, firms and tones . . . how many times have you heard that expression? Heaps, I’ll bet! It usually refers to some workout plan or device that supposedly targets the abs, buttocks, or thighs. It sure sounds good! Who wouldn’t want their abs, tush and thighs flattened, firmed and toned? But what does it really mean? Well that’s a good question. Because the truth is, it’s all just marketing-speak. These are just some fancy words designed to make you believe that the product in question will directly target your problem area, and make your problem go away. But…
We’ve all heard about training zones for cardio exercise – these are basically ranges of intensity for doing cardio exercise, measured by your heart rate. The idea is that exercising within each of these ranges produces a different effect on your body, and therefore a different outcome. Generally speaking, there are 5 training zones, shown below: Training Zone %MHR Warmup Zone 50-60% Fat Burning Zone 60-70% Cardio Zone 70-80% Anaerobic Zone 80-90% Maximum Effort Zone 90-100% Probably the most well-known training zone is the Fat Burning Zone. This is defined as being 60-70% of your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR), and…
The question of whether it’s necessary to count calories to lose weight is one that I’m asked quite a lot by women. And I never cease to be frustrated by just how many women are completely and utterly misinformed about this topic. But of course, the widespread misunderstanding out there isn’t their fault. With so many things in the weight loss world, we’re all constantly exposed to marketing hype and lies, to the point where the truth gradually gets buried in a pile of garbage over time. There have been a number of diets and sources of information over the…
Curious to know how your body’s “fuel economy” compares to that of a modern motor car? Let’s do the math . . . One kilogram of body fat contains about 7,700 Calories. One liter of gasoline contains about 8,325 Calories. That means that in terms of energy, each 10kg of body fat is the equivalent of about 9.25 liters of gasoline. The table below shows a comparison of the fuel economy of various cars, bikes and humans – if humans burned gasoline instead of body fat for fuel: Vehicle Mileage(MPG) Mileage(l/100km) Cars Ford Fiesta 33 7.13 Volkswagen Golf TDI 34…
I was having a laugh with a friend of mine this morning, who was telling me about her son who loves to watch infomercials on TV. He regularly tells his mum that they should buy whatever it is that’s being advertised. (Just goes, to show, it’s pretty powerful stuff!) Anyhow, it got me to thinking about the piles of weight loss and fitness devices and programs that are advertised on TV and in magazines. It’s very sad, but one the greatest scams infecting the weight loss and fitness industry is that of marketing that employs fraudulent before and after photos.…
Lesson 1 Carbs can be categorized in a variety of ways, including complex and simple; natural and refined (or processed); and glycemic (also known as available, or digestible) and non-glycemic (also known as non-digestible). Regardless of which category a carb falls into, it can also be a High-GI, a Medium-GI or a Low-GI carb. Lesson 2 Starches and fiber are complex carbs and sugars are simple carbs. All these 3 types of carbs can be either natural or processed. Some examples – Natural Complex (these have starch and fiber): brown rice, potato, beans; Refined Complex (these have starch & usually…
Understanding the truth about how to sculpt ripped abs and a narrow waistline will save you a lot of needless effort and disappointment. This is something that unfortunately, too many women have to deal with. Why is that so? Well, it’s mainly because the stomach and waistline is such a common problem area for so many women, and an area that so many women want to improve, it has become a prime target for marketers selling diets, exercise programs and weight loss gadgets. Who do you know that’s overweight but has never owned an ab exerciser, for example? Personally, I’ve…
Juicing for weight loss may sound like a very fresh, healthy and delicious way to get great results, but in reality, it can actually cause you more problems than you might realize. Surprised? That’s totally understandable. After all, fruits and vegetables are lovely, natural foods, filled with healthy vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. And they’re a very important part of a healthy diet – especially vegetables. So then, how can juicing for weight loss be such a bad thing? Well, it doesn’t need to be, as long as you’re aware of the potential pitfalls (which actually aren’t that well understood…
A lot of women don’t realize this, but achieving a healthy Body Fat Percentage is in fact the number one goal of any serious weight loss program. Many women tend to obsess over their body weight, and set themselves a weight target when they’re trying to lose weight. This is exactly what I did myself for many years. But as you’ll soon discover, your body weight doesn’t paint the full picture of what’s happening with your body – not by a long shot. So What is Body Fat Percentage, Anyway? Well, as the name suggests, your Body Fat Percentage is…
Weight loss is all about controlling your calorie intake and maximizing your calorie expenditure every day. That being the case, it’s smart to add as much bulk to your meals as possible without adding calories. Why? Because the bulkier your meals are, the more they’ll fill you up, and therefore the easier it will be to maintain a sensible calorie intake. This is one of the reasons why dietary fiber is so good for weight loss. Liquid calories, on the other hand, do the exact opposite. You get the calories, but with none of the filling benefits. That means you’ll…
This is very motivational, it’s from a book called The Underground Guide to Warrior Fitness by Ross Enamait. I will train with the utmost intensity, dedication and desire. I will turn obstacles into opportunities to demonstrate my power and strength. No feat is beyond my reach, I will write my own destiny. The hell with genetics, I will determine my physical prowess and strength. I am an action taker not an action faker. I am a leader not a follower. There are no magic pills. My strength and power originate from my intensity and devotion. There are no shortcuts to…
Supersetting is a strategy used in resistance training which is aimed at making your workout as effective as possible. It does this by either efficiently increasing the intensity of the workout, or by maximizing the efficient use of time in the workout. The end result is that supersetting will enable you to do more work in less time and therefore achieve your desired results in a shorter period of time, whether they relate to building strength, increasing muscle mass, or maintaining muscle mass. There are several different ways in which supersetting can be done, so let’s take a look at…
Tabata training is an extremely intense HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) routine that has been touted by many as the greatest fat burning workout in existence. What’s most amazing about this exercise protocol however is that it’s only a 4 minute workout! So what exactly is Tabata training, and what makes it so special? Well, the Tabata workout routine was discovered by Dr. Izumi Tabata, together with a team of researchers from the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo, Japan. It consists of eight 20-second intervals of maximum-effort exercise, separated by 10-second rest intervals. An entire Tabata training…
Oats are one of the very best, if not the best, carbohydrate foods available. It’s a natural complex carbohydrate and should be a major player in your diet. Oats are most commonly available in 3 different forms: Rolled Oats – these are whole oat grains that are lightly steamed so that they can cook faster, or in fact, be eaten raw. Quick Oats – these are basically rolled oats that have been chopped up more to allow them to be cooked even faster still. Steel Cut Oats – these are whole oat grains that have been cut into smaller chunks.…
A very well-known rule relating to which carbs are good and which are bad is that you should avoid everything that’s white. This rule can be very misleading however, because it’s simply not always true. It’s mostly only white flour products that you need to be wary of, because they’re highly processed carbs and therefore of a low quality. White rice is another white food that’s processed. It’s processed to remove the bran and the germ from the grain, to give it a more appealing texture and taste. The problem is, the bran and the germ is the most nutritious…