Principles Of Getting Shredded: 20 Nutritional Tips For A Leaner You

As you proceed along the fitness lifestyle path, it is inevitable that at some point you will desire to display your physique in the best way possible. Whether your goal is to compete, look better at the beach or at a special occasion, be more attractive to the opposite sex or take pride in your hard work and accomplishments, nutritional manipulation through dieting as well as dedication to a rational plan remains the best route to revealing the fruits of your labor.

Over the years, we have found that these are the most significant facets for eliminating bodyfat, which can obscure muscle definition. Consider them when putting together a dieting program that lets you exhibit your physique at its best.

1 Calories Are The Tipping Point

There are numerous tricks you can implement to help burn bodyfat. The key principle above all others is to create a calorie, or energy, deficit to stimulate the body to burn bodyfat as fuel. That means eating less, whether it be fewer calories from dietary fat, carbs or a combo of the two.

2 Calorie Deficits: Weekly Approach

Conventional wisdom states that you have to eat fewer calories daily to shed fat. Not true. On average, you have to eat fewer calories over a seven-day period to drop bodyfat. You can fudge a bit by eating fewer calories than normal for a couple of days, followed by a couple of very strict days and then a few days where you eat roughly what you did before starting the diet.

3 Protein Needs Rise During Dieting

When excess calories from dietary fat and carbs are removed from a diet, the body burns small amounts of amino acids from protein or, worse, muscle mass when calories decline. The extra protein protects muscle loss, because it can be burned in lieu of muscle tissue.

4 Aggressive Dieting Leads Nowhere

If you cut calories too drastically, the body tries to hoard energy by slowing down its metabolism, the calorie-burning mechanism in the body.
Moderate cuts in calories, such as decreasing daily caloric intake by 200-400 per day (or 1,400-2,800 per week), allows the body to tap into fat reserves without throwing the metabolism into a tailspin.

5 The Role Of Protein

Of the three sources of energy (carbohydrates, protein and dietary fat), protein has the least impact on fat storage. Overeating calories from carbs and dietary fat will lead to their accumulation as bodyfat. That’s not to say you can, or should, gorge on protein. It means you should add more protein from chicken, turkey or fish instead of snacking on additional carbs or fat to satiate hunger.

6 “Step-Up” Dieting Preserves Muscle & Promotes Fat Loss

Although reducing dietary fat and carbs results in fat loss, keeping carbs down for a prolonged period (more than seven days) can deplete glycogen (stored carbs) reserves in muscle. Low glycogen can trigger the burning of metabolically active muscle tissue. Increasing carb intake by 100-200 grams once each week should replenish glycogen reserves sufficiently to avoid muscle loss and may even increase the metabolism.

7 Thermogenics Offset Metabolic Downturns

Synephrine, evodiamine and capsaicin are common thermogenic agents. They stimulate the nervous system to increase the production of norepinephrine, which, in turn, causes fat cells to release and burn bodyfat. Thermogenics are predominantly helpful in preventing the metabolic slowdown that comes with long-term dieting.

8 Overdieting Has Its Place

Sometimes you have to go to the extreme. A very-low-carb day once every 10 to 12 days, during which you limit your carbs to just 50-80 g, can trick the body into greater fat loss by lowering glycogen reserves. That amplifies fat burning.

9 Disrupt The Regimen

Over time, all diets ultimately cause slowing of the metabolism. When you hit a true “nothing works” roadblock, get off your diet! Eat anything you want for a couple of days within reason. Load up on “good” carbs and fat before returning to the diet. This splurge will kick up thyroid hormones, which tend to spiral downward with long-term dieting. Once you’re back on your diet, your body will resume burning bodyfat.

10 Fiber Is A Wild Card

Let’s compare two diets with equal amounts of calories and carbohydrates, with the sole difference being the source of carbs. One diet comprises fast-digesting near-fiber-free carbs, such as rice cakes, white rice, white bread and cold cereals. The other comprises slower-digesting fiber-dense carbs, such as oatmeal, whole-grain bread, beans, brown rice and sweet potatoes. The fiber-dense approach will likely result in greater long-term fat loss. Why? Higher amounts of insulin are generally associated with greater fat storage and lower fat burning.
Fiber slows the digestion of carbs, which moderates insulin secretion.

11 Glutamine Boosts Recovery & Conserves BCAA’s

Glutamine spares the burning of branched-chain amino acids, which are used in greater amounts when calories decline. Glutamine has also been found to increase metabolic rate and fat burning. Try 5 g of BCAAs before training and another 5 g after training, as well as with breakfast and before bed.

12 Low Blood Sugar Amps Fat loss

When you train with restricted amounts of glucose from carbs in the bloodstream, the natural, training-induced release of the fat-burning hormone norepinephrine exerts a greater impact on fat cells. That’s why the pretraining meal should be a combo of easy-to-digest protein, such as whey protein, with relatively limited amounts of carbs (less than 20 g). Particularly, the carbs should be slow-digesting types, such as fruit, oatmeal, Cream of Rye cereal or whole-grain bread.

13 Fish: A Dieters Best Friend

Many types of fish are virtually fat free and when you deprive the body of the fatty acids found in dietary fat, it encourages the breakdown of bodyfat to make up for the fatty-acid shortfall. The result when you add fish to your eating plan: you will burn more fat.

14 Fatty Fish Also Assist

Even “high fat” fish, such as salmon, bluefish, mackerel and tuna steaks, are “leaner” than protein foods that have comparable amounts of dietary fat, such as red meat, cheese or eggs. These fish sources provide omega-3 fatty acids, which encourage the body to take glucose from carbs and repartition it, sending it down glycogen-storing pathways rather than fat-storing ones.
A four-month study demonstrated that 63 overweight subjects who ate higher-fat fish daily lost more weight than those eating fish only once per week.

15 Ratios Are Important

Calories count, and so does the source of the calories. Check out this study. Two groups of women followed a 1,600-calorie daily diet that included 50 g of fat. The difference was that one group went with higher protein and fewer carbs, while the other followed a higher-carb, lower-protein menu. After 10 weeks, both segments lost a similar amount of weight, but a closer look reveals that the higher-protein group had higher thyroid levels and metabolic rates, lost 18% more fat and retained 27% more muscle. The takeaway message: the type of calories affects fat loss. When in doubt, the way to go is more protein and fewer carbs.

16 No Carbs Before Bed

A secondary goal while dieting is to maximize GH output. GH spares the burning of muscle, thereby propping up the metabolism and encouraging the breakdown of bodyfat. GH levels rise in the first 90 minutes of sleep, but the total amount of glucose (from digested carbs) in the blood affects GH release. In short, a low blood-glucose level allows for maximal GH release. Abstain from carbs in the final meal (or two) before bed.

17 Frequent Meals

If you are eating fewer weekly calories than your body is accustomed to, nothing beats eating at least five times a day. Small meals impact fat loss by preventing the metabolism from slowing. They also keep energy levels more stable and ward off feelings of hunger, which is helpful to a dieter trying to get by on less food.

18 Fat Fighters: GLA & CLA

Gamma linolenic acid is an essential fatty acid common to borage oil and black currant seed oil. Conjugated linoleic acid is a fatty acid contained in dairy foods and beef (both are available in supplement form). GLA appears to induce the fat surrounding the spinal cord and organs, sometimes called metabolically inactive fat, to burn calories similar to muscle tissue. CLA likely affects hormone-sensitive lipase levels. HSL acts as a gatekeeper on fat cells to determine when to “open up,” so fat can be burned. CLA can upgrade HSL activity, making you leaner.

19 Never Emphasize Cutting Calories Over Muscle Retention

The minute you cut calories too far, you start compromising muscle mass. Burning muscle, in turn, significantly impairs your long-term objective by slowing down the metabolic rate. As metabolism slows, continued fat loss becomes nothing more than an exercise in futility.

20 Take A Total Break

The body simply does not respond well to continually pushing past the boundaries of lower-calorie intake, especially when implementing all kinds of diet and training strategies. When the body no longer responds, the ideal remedy is to take two or three days off from training while consuming a reasonable menu before beginning again. It’s a contrarian approach, yet it can be remarkably effective.

14 Laws of Fat Burning

1) Eat Less, Stupid

Step one in burning fat revolves around simple math. You have to eat fewer calories than the body is accustomed to in order to drop body fat. When a calorie short fall is created, the body responds by digging into body fat reserves to make up the difference. Presto; you become leaner. All other laws aside, this one heads the list every time, no matter what dietary approach you take. The easiest way to control calories is to eliminate excess dietary fat. That means no butter, oils, salad dressings (fat free is ok) – skin on chicken, substitute egg whites for whole eggs, get off whole milk dairy products and ditch the marbled red meats. 

2) Curtail Carbohydrates

Though calorie control is a must, hormonal control is nearly as important. Hormones, coupled with calories, govern fat burning. Control fat storing hormones and expect to ramp up fat burning and experience better results. The ideal way to suppress fat storing hormones is to control your carb intake because carbs kick up insulin, a hormone that inhibits fat breakdown. Eat less carbs and insulin levels tend to moderate leaving you free to burn more body fat. The common sense approach includes “halfing” your carb portions. If you tend to eat a large bagel for breakfast, eat a smaller one. If you eat a couple cups of pasta for dinner, just eat one. In time, you’ll see the effects of insulin control.

3) Stress Protein

Is a calorie truly a calorie? I guess so, but how different types affect your body and your results throws a monkey-wrench into that concept. Here’s why. Dietary fat is more “fattening” than protein or carbs because it is less likely to be used for something in the bodybuilding world. Carbs? Though they potentially make you fat, they directly fuel your training. Protein? That’s a no-brainer. It builds muscle. Fat? Hmm. It does neither. Not to say it is not needed at all. In small amounts it supports vitamin absorption and helps manufacture hormones. However, if you are trying to get ripped, skip it. Protein, on the other hand, not only adds to your muscle – which is key in boosting the metabolism - but it actually causes a small increase in metabolism. That’s one reason diets that include a lot of protein result in greater fat loss than diets with less protein, albeit the same amount of calories. The higher protein content creates a metabolic uptick which, over time, leads to greater fat loss.

4) Avoid Simple Carbs

If a calorie is not a calorie, heck a carb is not a carb. Different carbs create different hormonal states that affect fat loss. In short, fast acting carbs also known as refined carbs or those that head a glycemic rating list tend to create a larger insulin burst. Elevated insulin can seal off fat cells making fat loss difficult, especially in those who struggle to drop fat and inches. Simple carbs include white bread, cold cereal, rice cakes, jams, fat free muffins, and juice. Other poor choices include white rice, bagels, mashed potatoes and even white potatoes.

5) Slow Digestion

This insulin thing is really a big deal. The total amount of insulin the body releases is related to “how many” carbs you eat at a sitting. Refer to Law #2. If you were eating 2 cups of rice and switched to 1 cup, sure there’s a calorie reduction, but there’s an insulin drop too. Implement Law 4, and expect to produce less insulin by eating 1 cup of oatmeal yielding 50 grams of carbs then a cup of cold breakfast cereal. Why? Speed. Refined carbs, the cold cereal, digest quickly raising insulin levels. When you can get food to digest slower, less insulin is released. The result; a greater chance to burn fat. One way to slow digestion includes eating carbs with protein- never eat carbs alone. The other requires you eat a lot of veggies with meals such as; broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, and salads. They actually slow the breakdown or digestion rate of all carbs moderating insulin release. 

6) Never Eat Carbs At Bed

Once again, it’s about hormones. The body naturally produces a fat liberating hormone called growth hormone (GH) within the initial 90 minutes of sleep. GH not only increases fat burning but is required to build mass and strengthen the immune system. Turns out, carbs put a damper on GH release so it’s ideal to go to bed under two scenarios. One, on an empty stomach or two having consumed only protein, such as a whey drink or chicken or lean meat and a small amount of vegetables. No carbs. This allows blood sugar, the hi-tech name for digested carbs circulating in the blood, to remain low which facilitates the rise in nocturnal GH production.

7) Use a GH Releasing Product at Night.

GH is a hormone that increases levels of a fat freeing enzyme called hormone sensative lipase (HSL). Generally, within the first 90 minutes of sleep GH levels rise which, in turn increases HSL levels to promote fat burning .GH also interferes with muscle breakdown that can occur while dieting especially when calories are very low. By blocking musle breakdown, the body retains its muscle mass and greater muscle retention is correlated with an elevated metabolism. I formulated GH Accelerator to be used at night to enhance GH release which, over time, will help the body hold mass, maintain its metabolism and drop body fat

8) Meal Plans

Sure. It’s calories and hormones. But it’s also the way your body handles the food you eat and whether it deposits food into muscle or body fat. Meal frequency, how many times you eat each day, affects the overall metabolism. Every time you eat, the body’s calorie burning engine, also known as metabolism, slightly increases. So, if you eat 6 times a day, you’ll experience a greater metabolic uptick then 4 or 5 meals and 7 times would be even better then 6. That’s one way to lean down, without having to drastically reduce calories. Frequent feedings tends to increase the chance that what you eat makes its way towards and into muscle tissue rather then be packed away as body fat.

9) Prioritize the Post Training Meal.

After you train, it’s difficult to gain body fat. Why? Depleted, broken down muscles “soak up” both protein and carbs for growth and recovery. If you eat too little here, you may actually set your self backwards by impeding recovery. Supporting recovery and growth actually increases the metabolism while impeding it slows the metabolism. Try 40-50 grams of easier to digest protein like whey powder, fish or ground turkey breast along with a hefty serving of carbs; a large potato, 2 cups of rice or pasta. Point here: don’t be afraid to eat a generous portion of carbs, even simple carbs, along with lean protein. It jumpstarts growth and supports the metabolism.

10) Leverage Epinephrine Levels.

When you hit the gym, the body releases a fat liberating messenger called epinephrine. It attaches itself to fat cells allowing fat to be burned as fuel. Caffeine coupled with extracts of oolong tea, vinpocetine, and evodiamine augment the natural epinephrine blast creating a greater rise in this potent fat burning chemical. The idea; to maximize fat burning by elevating or prolonging epinephrine levels. (Chris’note: Nordrenalean is designed to increase Epinepherine levels) Carbs come into play here as well. Refined carbs before training suppress the exercise and supplement induced epinephrine rise compared to eating the same amount of carbs derived from slower digesting carbs. So make sure the meal before training contains protein, say 20-40 grams, and just enough carbs to help you train hard all the way thru your workout (30-50 grams). Stick with slow digesting carbs like oat bran, oatmeal, rye toast, brown rice and yams.

11) Empty Your Glycogen Stores Once Every 2 weeks

Glycogen is a term for the unused and stored form of carbs located in muscles. When glycogen stores begin to peak, from eating plenty of carbs, the body upgrades its fat storing ability. As glycogen stores fall, fat burning increases. One way to ensure you are burning through body fat is to take two consecutive days out of every 2 weeks and drag your total carbs down to less then 60 grams a day. This ensures you burn thru glycogen stores which, in turn, signals the body to burn more fat. After two days, you can return to a more normal, though not excessive, carb intake.

12) Do Cardio At the Right Time

Cardio exerts two benefits. It burns calories and it changes hormones in the body. Specifically, cardio helps raise norepinephrine levels. However, when you do cardio makes a big difference in the way your body handles the hormone change. Cardio on an empty stomach in a “hungry” state allows norepinephrine to readily target fat cells triggering maximal fat burn. On the flip side, if you eat, then do your cardio, the “hungry” state is disrupted, another fat blocking hormone, insulin, rises making norepinephrine less effective at liberating and burning fat. In a game of inches - no pun intended - every fat burning advantage is a must.

13) Train Until You’re Beat, Not Dead

The age old question: how many sets do you need and how long, time wise, should you spend in the gym each day. The answer will vary from person to person, but use this guide in burning fat. Always train until you are pretty beat up. After all , you have to train hard enough to stimulate muscle growth. However, don’t go overboard and train until you are flattened, dead, exhausted beyond hope. That type of kamikaze training may satisfy your ego, but truth-be-told, it kicks your anabolic hormones, those that build muscle, in the derriere. How’s it tie in to fat burning? Serious fat loss requires you to retain muscle mass because muscle is the body’s primary metabolic driver. If you train way past the point of feeling decent, hormones that support muscle repair free fall and the metabolic rate, the calorie burning engine which is intimately tied to muscle mass, follows suit.

14) Pump Up the Volume

Do more. Ok, sounds like it could violate law #13 and wipe you out, so you have to use this one judiciously. When you do more sets and reps, or do the same workout you typically do yet fit it into a shorter time frame, you ultimately end up forcing glycogen stores to drop. Once that occurs, muscles run low in carbs, fat burning increases and hormones that favor fat burning ratchet up a bit. The plus here is that you can get leaner by doing more volume, the potential downside is you may end up flattened and dead which could crush anabolic hormones. The solution is to simply implement the higher volume training on every 3rd or 4th week to ensure you benefit without taking a good thing too far.

by Chris Aceto

Guide To Achieving a Ripped Physique

Over the years, we have found that these are the most significant facets for eliminating bodyfat, which can obscure muscle definition. Consider them when putting together a dieting program that lets you exhibit your physique at its best.

1 Calories Are The Tipping Point

There are numerous tricks you can implement to help burn bodyfat. The key principle above all others is to create a calorie, or energy, deficit to stimulate the body to burn bodyfat as fuel. That means eating less, whether it be fewer calories from dietary fat, carbs or a combo of the two.

2 Calorie Deficits: Weekly Approach
Conventional wisdom states that you have to eat fewer calories daily to shed fat. Not true. On average, you have to eat fewer calories over a seven-day period to drop bodyfat. You can fudge a bit by eating fewer calories than normal for a couple of days, followed by a couple of very strict days and then a few days where you eat roughly what you did before starting the diet.

3 Protein Needs Rise During Dieting
When excess calories from dietary fat and carbs are removed from a diet, the body burns small amounts of amino acids from protein or, worse, muscle mass when calories decline. The extra protein protects muscle loss, because it can be burned in lieu of muscle tissue.

4 Aggressive Dieting Leads Nowhere
If you cut calories too drastically, the body tries to hoard energy by slowing down its metabolism, the calorie-burning mechanism in the body.
Moderate cuts in calories, such as decreasing daily caloric intake by 200-400 per day (or 1,400-2,800 per week), allows the body to tap into fat reserves without throwing the metabolism into a tailspin.

5 The Role Of Protein
Of the three sources of energy (carbohydrates, protein and dietary fat), protein has the least impact on fat storage. Overeating calories from carbs and dietary fat will lead to their accumulation as bodyfat. That’s not to say you can, or should, gorge on protein. It means you should add more protein from chicken, turkey or fish instead of snacking on additional carbs or fat to satiate hunger.

6 “Step-Up” Dieting Preserves Muscle & Promotes Fat Loss
Although reducing dietary fat and carbs results in fat loss, keeping carbs down for a prolonged period (more than seven days) can deplete glycogen (stored carbs) reserves in muscle. Low glycogen can trigger the burning of metabolically active muscle tissue. Increasing carb intake by 100-200 grams once each week should replenish glycogen reserves sufficiently to avoid muscle loss and may even increase the metabolism.

7 Thermogenics Offset Metabolic Downturns
Synephrine, evodiamine and capsaicin are common thermogenic agents. They stimulate the nervous system to increase the production of norepinephrine, which, in turn, causes fat cells to release and burn bodyfat. Thermogenics are predominantly helpful in preventing the metabolic slowdown that comes with long-term dieting.

8 Overdieting Has Its Place
Sometimes you have to go to the extreme. A very-low-carb day once every 10 to 12 days, during which you limit your carbs to just 50-80 g, can trick the body into greater fat loss by lowering glycogen reserves. That amplifies fat burning.

9 Disrupt The Regimen
Over time, all diets ultimately cause slowing of the metabolism. When you hit a true “nothing works” roadblock, get off your diet! Eat anything you want for a couple of days within reason. Load up on “good” carbs and fat before returning to the diet. This splurge will kick up thyroid hormones, which tend to spiral downward with long-term dieting. Once you’re back on your diet, your body will resume burning bodyfat.

10 Fiber Is A  Wild Card
Let’s compare two diets with equal amounts of calories and carbohydrates, with the sole difference being the source of carbs. One diet comprises fast-digesting near-fiber-free carbs, such as rice cakes, white rice, white bread and cold cereals. The other comprises slower-digesting fiber-dense carbs, such as oatmeal, whole-grain bread, beans, brown rice and sweet potatoes. The fiber-dense approach will likely result in greater long-term fat loss. Why? Higher amounts of insulin are generally associated with greater fat storage and lower fat burning.
Fiber slows the digestion of carbs, which moderates insulin secretion.

11 Glutamine Boosts Recovery & Conserves BCAA’s
Glutamine spares the burning of branched-chain amino acids, which are used in greater amounts when calories decline. Glutamine has also been found to increase metabolic rate and fat burning. Try 5 g of BCAAs before training and another 5 g after training, as well as with breakfast and before bed.

12 Low Blood Sugar Amps Fat loss
When you train with restricted amounts of glucose from carbs in the bloodstream, the natural, training-induced release of the fat-burning hormone norepinephrine exerts a greater impact on fat cells. That’s why the pretraining meal should be a combo of easy-to-digest protein, such as whey protein, with relatively limited amounts of carbs (less than 20 g). Particularly, the carbs should be slow-digesting types, such as fruit, oatmeal, Cream of Rye cereal or whole-grain bread.

13 Fish: A Dieters Best Friend
Many types of fish are virtually fat free and when you deprive the body of the fatty acids found in dietary fat, it encourages the breakdown of bodyfat to make up for the fatty-acid shortfall. The result when you add fish to your eating plan: you will burn more fat.
14 Fatty Fish Also Assist
Even “high fat” fish, such as salmon, bluefish, mackerel and tuna steaks, are “leaner” than protein foods that have comparable amounts of dietary fat, such as red meat, cheese or eggs. These fish sources provide omega-3 fatty acids, which encourage the body to take glucose from carbs and repartition it, sending it down glycogen-storing pathways rather than fat-storing ones.
A four-month study demonstrated that 63 overweight subjects who ate higher-fat fish daily lost more weight than those eating fish only once per week.

15 Ratios Are Important
Calories count, and so does the source of the calories. Check out this study. Two groups of women followed a 1,600-calorie daily diet that included 50 g of fat. The difference was that one group went with higher protein and fewer carbs, while the other followed a higher-carb, lower-protein menu. After 10 weeks, both segments lost a similar amount of weight, but a closer look reveals that the higher-protein group had higher thyroid levels and metabolic rates, lost 18% more fat and retained 27% more muscle. The takeaway message: the type of calories affects fat loss. When in doubt, the way to go is more protein and fewer carbs.

16 No Carbs Before Bed
A secondary goal while dieting is to maximize GH output. GH spares the burning of muscle, thereby propping up the metabolism and encouraging the breakdown of bodyfat. GH levels rise in the first 90 minutes of sleep, but the total amount of glucose (from digested carbs) in the blood affects GH release. In short, a low blood-glucose level allows for maximal GH release. Abstain from carbs in the final meal (or two) before bed.

17 Frequent Meals
If you are eating fewer weekly calories than your body is accustomed to, nothing beats eating at least five times a day. Small meals impact fat loss by preventing the metabolism from slowing. They also keep energy levels more stable and ward off feelings of hunger, which is helpful to a dieter trying to get by on less food.

18 Fat Fighters: GLA & CLA
Gamma linolenic acid is an essential fatty acid common to borage oil and black currant seed oil. Conjugated linoleic acid is a fatty acid contained in dairy foods and beef (both are available in supplement form). GLA appears to induce the fat surrounding the spinal cord and organs, sometimes called metabolically inactive fat, to burn calories similar to muscle tissue. CLA likely affects hormone-sensitive lipase levels. HSL acts as a gatekeeper on fat cells to determine when to “open up,” so fat can be burned. CLA can upgrade HSL activity, making you leaner.

19 Never Emphasize Cutting Calories Over Muscle Retention
The minute you cut calories too far, you start compromising muscle mass. Burning muscle, in turn, significantly impairs your long-term objective by slowing down the metabolic rate. As metabolism slows, continued fat loss becomes nothing more than an exercise in futility.

20 Take A Total Break
The body simply does not respond well to continually pushing past the boundaries of lower-calorie intake, especially when implementing all kinds of diet and training strategies. When the body no longer responds, the ideal remedy is to take two or three days off from training while consuming a reasonable menu before beginning again.
It’s a contrarian approach, yet it can be remarkably effective.

by: Chris Aceto

In Depth Look At Ketogenic Diets And Ketosis.

The main benefit of keto diets is that it increases the body's ability to utilize fats for fuel, which gets very lazy on a high carbohydrate diet. Learn the scientific facts!

What exactly is Ketosis? The metabolic state of ketosis simply means that the quantity of ketone bodies in the blood have reached higher than normal levels. When the body is in a ketogenic state this means that lipid energy metabolism is intact. This means that the body will start breaking down your own body fat to fuel the body's normal, every day functions.

What's So Great About Being In Ketosis?

Establishing this metabolic state of ketosis even for a short period of time has many outstanding benefits.

Benefit #1

The main benefit being that it increases the body's ability to utilize fats for fuel, which gets very lazy on a high carbohydrate diet. When on high carbohydrate diets the body can usually expect an energy source to keep entering the body. But in the state of ketosis the body has to become efficient at mobilizing fats as energy.

Benefit #2

Another nifty thing about being in a state of ketosis is that if the body has no further use for ketones they can simply be excreted through urine as a waste product. This means that at times your body will be peeing out body fat! This is a novel theme because you body is very efficient at storing energy substrates for later use.

Benefit #3

Ketosis has a protein sparing effect, assuming that you are consuming adequate quantities of protein and calories in the first place. Once in ketosis the body actually prefers ketones to glucose. Since the body has copious quanities of fat this means that there is no need to oxidize protein to generate glucose through gluconeogenesis.

Benefit #4

Another benefit has to do with the low levels of insulin in the body, which causes greater lipolysis and free glycerol release compared to a normal diet when insulin is around 80-120. Insulin has a lipolysis blocking effect, which can inhibit the use of fatty acids as energy. Also when insulin is brought to low levels many beneficial hormones are released in the body such as growth hormone and other powerful growth factors.

Benefit #5

Another small but very important benefit about the ketogenic diet is that when in the state of ketosis, ketones seem to blunt hunger in many people. I mean honestly, what is not better than being on a low calorie diet and not being hungry all the time like you usually are such as on a high carbohydrate diet. Since on the ketogenic diet you have to consume a lot of fat, which hold 9 calories, you are not getting much food volume. This makes not being hungry a very good thing when on the diet. When you add such thermogenics like the ECA stack and prescription appetite suppressants you won't even think about your next meal. It's kind of funny that when the Atkins' diet first came out one of the early criticisms was that the diet blunted hunger too much! What, is it mandatory to be hungry on a reduced calorie diet?

Benefit #6

The last benefit has to do with the fact that a ketone body is an inefficient fuel source due to the fact that when the fatty acid is converted to a KB it contains 7 calories. This means that the normal pound of fat has less than 3500 calories.

Where Is The Scientific Data?

The state of ketosis is to the most part controlled by insulin, glucagon, and blood glucose levels. Insulin is one of the hormones that the pancreas secretes in the presence of carbohydrates. Insulin's purpose is to keep blood glucose levels in check by acting like a driver, pushing the glucose in the blood into cells. If insulin were not to be secreted blood glucose levels would get out of control and this would not be good for the body.

Glucagon on the other side of the spectrum is insulin's antagonistic hormone which is also secreted by the pancreas when insulin falls to quite low levels, this usually happens when a person skips meals, or does not consume adequate amounts of carbohydrates for an extended period of time. When this happens glucagon is secreted by the pancreas to break down stored glycogen in the liver into a more usable form, glucose. But what happens if this continues and liver glycogen runs out? This is where the metabolic state of ketosis comes in, because the pancreas can also start breaking down free fatty acids into a usable energy substrate, also known as ketones, or ketone bodies.

What Is A Ketone, Or A Ketone Body (KB)?

A KB is formed in the liver through the Krebs cycle, or the citric acid cycle. When there is no glycogen for the body to run off of, the pancreas releases glucagon. Glucagon is a catabolic hormone, since it is used to break down body tissues for energy. In our case glucagon is very important since it is used to convert free fatty acids into the energy substrate called a ketone. Ketones are free fatty acids broken down through a process that involves carnitine and glucagon. After the free fatty acids are processed in the liver the fats have been transformed into beta-hydroxybutyric and aceto-acetic acids, or, what you and I know them as, "ketones".

Does Being In The Metabolic State Of Ketosis Present Dangers?

In reality the benefits of the ketogenic diet heavily outweigh the few pit falls it may have. Some of the points of arguments are:

Pitfall #1

During the first few weeks of the ketogenic diet the body has to go through the "metabolic shift", as Mauro DiPasquale calls it. While going through this the body will experience a small degree of fatigue and brain fog, but once the body gets used to manufacturing ketones as the main energy substrate the body actually has more energy than it previously had, and you won't have to be fighting through all those low blood sugar crashes that your high carb meals previously gave you. Also when in ketosis, ketones are the preferred energy substrate for the brain over protein.

Pitfall #2

Blood lipid profile is also a concern on the ketogenic diet due to the staggering amounts of saturated fats in the diet, although the diet can be centered around healthy fats, what is not as fun as eating a egg and cheese omelet fried in butter with bacon on the side! The issue of blood lipid profile is experiencing much debate due to the fact that for some people following the ketogenic diet, they will experience a drop in cholesterol levels, while for some it will increase.

Pitfall #3

Another point is that since carbohydrates are so restricted during the no carbohydrate portion the issue of micronutrient deficiencies can occur. The best thing to do to avoid this is to make sure you take a high quality multi vitamin /mineral twice a day to insure that you are getting 100% of the daily value. Also supplementing with a fiber supplement is a good idea to make sure you plumbing doesn't get clogged, if you know what I mean. Another course of action one can take is to make sure that on the high carbohydrate period of the diet you consume adequate amounts of fibrous green vegetables, and also quality carbohydrate sources such as brown rice, squash, sweet potatoes, and whole-wheat pastas.

Pitfall #4

This last focus point is the danger of ketoacidosis. This occurs when the level of ketones in the blood gets out of control, this happens because ketones are acidic only as long as they are floating around waiting to be burned. If the level of ketones in the blood rises out of control it would lower the pH of the blood and this could result in death. BUT, this is not a concern for the non-diabetic whatsoever because for the non-diabetic blood sugar levels are kept low by our bodies and it will only allow so many ketones to be manufactured at one time. In the diabetic person blood sugar can rise as high as 300-2000mg/dl, where as normal being around 80-120. Also when this happens the low insulin to glucagon ratio causes ketogenesis to be stimulated, this is where the person can run into ketoacidosis.

What About The Anti Catabolic Effects Of The Ketogenic Diet?

Every reduced calorie diet is Catabolic, meaning that they can cause you to lose muscle. It's a fact! This is largely due to the fact that on a reduced calorie diet many of the anabolic hormones in the body are significantly reduced. Added to that most dieters do copious amounts of aerobic exercise when dieting which is a very good way to catabolize muscle. So the main thing we can try to do is lose the least amount of muscle possible when dieting, or even possibly rebuild lost tissue, which is where the carb-up comes in. But that will not be discussed in this chapter.

Other than hormonal reasons the main reason why catabolism occurs is because protein will be broken down, or catabolized, to make glucose. This is because the brain uses a boat load of glycogen, upwards of 25% of the body's glucose. Now when carbohydrates are restricted, the body will still need glucose for the brain, so it is forced to breakdown protein mostly from your own muscle tissue.

Now, ketosis is different because when in the state of ketosis the brain will prefer ketones over glucose. For the dieter this is very good because the body will not have to break down protein for energy. In turn the body will be forced to use its fat reserves, a.k.a. your love handles, for its energy. This is why ketosis is such a good method ofdieting.

So What Is The Best Way To Get There?

Ultimately the best way to get into ketosis is to incorporate the use of performance enhancers into the diet. But that is a topic for a later chapter, for now I will explain the best way to get into ketosis using mostly dietary tricks.

Through experimentation I have found that the best way to get into the metabolic state of ketosis is starting off using a fairly high fat intake with small amounts of protein. After your body gets into ketosis I feel that the fat intake can be reduced and the protein intake can be increased.

During the first two days after the carb-up, I suggest the dieter use a ratio of 80% fat, 20% protein, and no carbs, except the small amounts in eggs, and the small amount in cheese. Due to the low amounts of protein, insulin will drop faster, because protein can be converted in to glucose with about 58% efficiency, allowing the dieter to reach ketosis quicker. After those two days the ratios are going to change slightly because the body will need more protein for muscle tissue.

After the two days the dieter should change the ratios to 65% fat, 30% protein, and 5% carbs. This will insure that the dieter stays in ketosis but also has enough protein for the muscles. The small amounts of carbs should mostly come from high fiber veggies to insure adequate bowel movements.

Now the no carb period can be used longer causing the carb up to be more infrequent, but for most people the carb up will be Friday night and all day Saturday. Before Friday's workout we want to insure maximal glycogen super compensation. To do this the dieter is going to drop his amounts of saturated fats and make sure that his intake is only of quality fats. This is due to the effects that saturated fats have on insulin sensitivity.

by Jonathan Deprospo 

How To Improve Your Gut Health And Speed Fat Loss

While the human body contains 100 trillion cells, our digestive tract contains close to ten times that amount in our intestines1,2. The activity of the gut so closely resembles the function of our organs that some have even termed it an "extra organ"3.

Just to give you an idea of how incredible the gut really is, scientists state that the gut has close to 100 times as many genes as the human genetic code.

If you didn't know and haven't been checking in for a visit, your digestive tract actually contains microorganism know as 'gut flora.' Recent research describes the relationship between the human body and gut flora as symbiotic⁴, which means that it is a close relationship with long-term interactions.

Holy Flora

So, why and for what does our body use gut flora? Such important activities as:

• Fermenting unused energy substrates
• Keeping the immune system strong
• Growing helpful bacteria
• Producing vitamins for the intestinal tract
• The production of hormones^2,5

You've no doubt heard the term "probiotic" before, yes? This word refers to the general bacteria that we know exist in the gut. If you've taken a probiotic, you probably took lactobacillus to get rid of some nasty bloating.

Great, you're thinking. What does any of this info have to do with your actual stomach and the abs that you want decorating it?


PROBIOTICS

Probiotics support your digestive health and wellness. Get the most out of any balanced nutrition plan with Probiotics!

Healthy Gut, Sexy Stomach

While gut flora has tremendous benefits to various aspects of health, we're going to focus in on its metabolic and immune properties since they help determine what you see in the mirror.

When you have trouble losing weight, you also more than likely have a gut health issue commonly known as 'leaky gut.' Your gut controls how efficiently you'll lose weight and, to a larger extent, your metabolism as a whole^3,6,7.

A study done in mice has shown that your gut flora differs depending on your current body weight⁸. The health of the gut was directly affected by weight, and the leaner subjects had the healthiest intestinal tract. Remember, we have millions of strains of different types of bacteria, and each type has different effects on your appetite and metabolism.

Changes in our gut health can speed up the rate that we absorb fatty acids and carbohydrates, and can even increase how many calories we store as fat. With a troubled gut, you could eat the same amount of food as someone with better gut health, but your body will handle the calories differently. There is also a connection between leaky gut and increased production of the fat-storing hormone insulin and the hunger hormone leptin⁹.

Quality Food, Healthy Gut

Your food quality might have the biggest impact on how healthy or unhealthy your gut truly is. The most common factors present in a bodybuilding diet that contribute to gut health issues are:

• A lack of fiber
• A diet high in wheat
• Frequent use of cooking seed oils
• Consistent and large intakes of sugar and refined carbohydrates

Since your body can't break down or properly digest the nutrients in the foods above, you won't feel as full or satisfied. Often, you'll consume up to 30% more calories during a feeding period to achieve the same level of fullness offered by better foods⁴.

If these factors are common in your diet, you might have a bit more to worry about. With a damaged gut lining, you're also more likely to become hyper-sensitive to various foods. Runny nose, joint pain, frequent illness, bloating and congestion are just some of the 'popular' issues that arise if our gut lining is damaged¹⁰.

Any foreign substance that makes its way into your gut through cooking oils, environmental toxins or diet will increase an inflammatory cytokine response. This leads to increased cortisol production¹¹, which is directly linked to stubborn lower stomach and thigh fat.

From here, you can see some more nasty issues such as lowered testosterone and slower thyroid conversion. Cytokine production also increases full body fat storage and decreases fat breakdown.

Happy Gut, Healthy Body

Now that we have an understanding of just how important gut health to losing stubborn fat, we need to address some issues in our diet to restore intestinal health.

My recommendations obviously depend on the length and severity of your gut health, but here's what I find to be helpful for most of my clients.

Step One

Remove all hidden dangers in your diet! You should be following a proper fat loss diet anyway, but you might not know that most refined carbohydrates and seed oils can cause leaky gut. Remove all carbohydrates that aren't fruit or vegetables for at least ten days.

If you don't regularly consume fruits or vegetables, start with a serving of either at every meal. Don't just start dumping a bunch of fruit into your system. You'll know you're repairing your gut health if you start to have an unusual amount of gas, which indicates that your gut flora is adjusting to the incoming fiber.

Step Two

You also need to watch your fats. Companies slap "high in omega-3" on the labels of everything these days, with the omega-3 typically coming from ALA, which the human body has a terrible time absorbing. If it's not olive oil or fish oil, don't eat it for at least ten days.

FISH OIL

Fish oil is a must have supplement for overall health and wellness. Whether you want to build muscle or burn fat - fish oil can help!

Step Three

Add some fermented foods in your diet! Fermented foods contain natural probiotics and digestive enzymes. Greek yogurt and cottage cheese are my favorites.

Your gut really is your second brain, and it's time you started noticing it. Make the proper adjustments that I suggested and continue training consistently. Not only will you probably feel better (and possibly smell better), but you might notice some extra fat loss that you couldn't achieve before.

by Jimmy Smith