Sweet Potato Nutrition Facts

“My dream is to become a farmer. Just a Bohemian guy pulling up his own sweet potatoes for dinner.” –Lenny Kravitz

I probably should have posted this article before Thanksgiving.

However, I thought about it after my family decided to opt for sweet potatoes instead of traditional mashed potatoes this Thanksgiving. We made baked sweet potato wedges and they were a big hit. Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite dishes around the holidays, or anytime really. The bonus, of course, is that sweet potatoes are among the most nutritious foods you can eat. The following are some sweet potato nutrition facts that should make anyone want to include them in their diet.

There are plenty of good reasons why sweet potatoes are known as a "superfood".

Sweet potatoes are low in calories, but filling creating excellent satiety value. Continue reading →

Simple Weight Loss Tips You May Be Afraid To Try

“Obesity is really widespread.” –Joseph O. Kern II

Are you thinking outside the box when it comes to weight loss?

If you eat three meals every day, believe fasting is unhealthy, and “wing it” when it comes to managing your calorie intake, then you probably aren’t. If this is the case, you’re not alone. The majority of people eat too much for their activity level without even realizing it. What’s worse is that they convince themselves that this is the healthy thing to do because they have been brainwashed into believing that skipping a meal or two is not okay. My aim is to offer 3 simple weight loss tips that will change the way people think about eating. I go into more depth on each of these tips in my free 12-page report called “3 Simple Tips for Weight Loss”. You can access a free download link by “liking” my Facebook fan page.

“Every creature deserves a warm meal.” Dr. Evil is definitely thinking outside the box with his “sharks with lasers” idea. If he can do it, you can.

Tip #3: Three meals per day may be too much. Continue reading →

Coffee Protein Shake That One-Ups Starbucks

“There is a Starbucks across the street from another Starbucks. And ladies and gentleman that, is the end of the universe.” –Lewis Black

Are you hooked on Starbucks?

I must admit, I do enjoy the occasional frappuccino. But if you’re drinking these regularly, chances are your wallet is getting thinner and your waistline is getting bigger. Fortunately, I’ve got a solution that fits in with a healthy lifestyle. It’s another homemade concoction much like my homemade sports drink I wrote about a few weeks ago. I’m even more proud of this one, though, because it tastes like a delicious dessert but it’s actually a nutritious coffee protein shake.

Starbucks across from a Starbucks!

Here’s what you need: Continue reading →

How to Become Lean and Toned

“If you wish to grow thinner, diminish your dinner.” –Henry Sambrooke Leigh

Getting lean and toned isn’t a one-way street.

In my last post, I talked about how to become lean and toned and why it requires a two-pronged attack. As I mentioned, I choose to focus five days a week on fat loss and two days a week on muscle building. I haven’t always followed this approach in the past, but lately I have and I’ve been extremely happy with the results. In this article, I’m going to go into detail on what exactly I do during each of these types of days. What might surprise you is how very different the characteristics of these days are and this is exactly why you can’t do both at the same time.

Becoming lean and toned is a two-way street because you need to focus on burning fat and building muscle which require different tactics.

The fat burning days are all about discipline. Continue reading →

The Best Zig Zag Diet for Fat Loss

“I don’t know about you, but I’m not in to eating dried chicken breast and veggies six times a day, day after day, week after week, month after mind-numbing month.” –Joel Marion

Calorie restriction will take you a long way.

But it will only take you so far. Once you get to a certain point, your body starts taking measures to prevent fat loss and promote fat storage because this is what it thinks will help you survive. Your body can’t really tell the difference between a calorie restricted diet and starvation except that the former is simply a milder form of the latter. This is why the leaner you get, the more difficult it becomes to lose fat. You can create a massive calorie deficit by eating very low-calorie and low-carb for a few days, but take it any further than that and you will hit a fat loss brick wall. Your body will trump all your efforts by reducing levels of fat burning hormones and increasing levels of fat storing hormones. However, a zig zag diet will keep your fat burning hormones running solid.

You can eat like this and have a body like this too.

The main hormone that controls all the others is leptin. Continue reading →

The Best Fitness Workouts for Women

“My guess is that most women would MUCH rather have a physique similar to a ‘Bond Girl’, than the typical fitness model.” –Rusty Moore

This post is for all the ladies out there.

What if I told you that the majority of fitness advice targeted towards women is counterproductive to their goals? Unfortunately, this just happens to be the case. The fact of the matter is that men and women have different objectives when it comes to achieving a certain look. As a result, they should train differently. Most women want to achieve a sleek feminine look. So what are the best fitness workouts for women to accomplish this? Surprisingly, there has been a gaping lack of information on this subject… until now.

Which of these female physiques is more appealing?

Visual Impact for Women: the first fitness product of its kind. Continue reading →

Cut Calories to Maintain Weight During the Holidays

“What I don’t like about office Christmas parties is looking for a new job the next day.” -Phyllis Diller

Tis the season to be jolly… and gain weight.

You might as well call the holidays weight gain season. After all, this is pretty much what it is. During the last couple of months in the year, we are being constantly bombarded with food. Let’s face it. When you’re standing in front of a firing squad and getting shelled, you’re going to get hit. The goal of this post isn’t to encourage you avoid holiday foods altogether. This will just make you miserable. The objective is to show you some easy ways to do damage control so that you don’t turn into the next Jabba the Hutt this Christmas. Here are three easy ways to cut calories to maintain weight during the holidays.

Beware of excessive milk and cookies this holidy season.

Modify intermittent fasting to include shorter and more frequent fasts. Continue reading →

Healthy Meal Plans for Busy People

“I love Thanksgiving turkey… it’s the only time in Los Angeles that you see natural breasts.” -Arnold Schwarzenegger

Eating healthy can be a big challenge when you are really busy.

I hope everyone had a happy and satisfying Thanksgiving! I’m sure everyone ate plenty today… I know I did. Right after Thanksgiving is a great time to talk about some healthy meal plans since everyone will be looking to get back on the healthy eating track. There are many healthy meal plans available today. But how many of them are actually practical for busy people? Today, many people fail to make healthy eating a priority simply because it’s kind of a hassle to do so.

Happy Turkey Day!

Anyone can prepare healthy meals if they have a few hours a day to cook. Continue reading →

How to Lose Weight Really Fast After a Vacation

“A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you’ve been taking.” –Earl Wilson

I don’t know about you, but I usually let myself go when I’m on vacation.

This usually means pigging out and doing little to no exercise. Why am I talking about this on a fitness blog? Because it’s inevitable. People are going to stuff their faces and be lazy while they’re on holiday. These are the things that make the holidays enjoyable, so don’t deprive yourself. Eat a lot and get plenty of R&R. If you’ve been working hard and sticking with your fitness and diet program, then you deserve it. The key is to know how to rebound afterwards. In this post, I’m going to talk about how to lose weight really fast after a vacation.

Enjoy your vacation! You deserve it!

In my last post, I talked about how I got event ready for my friend’s wedding. Continue reading →

Do You Need a Fiber Supplement?

“I can eat a man, but I’m not sure of the fiber content.” –Jenny Eclair

Are you getting enough fiber in your diet?

I used to think I was too good for supplements. Now, my thinking has changed. I believe that eating a healthy Primal diet with lots of lean meats, fruits, and vegetables will provide you with most of the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients your body needs to function optimally. However, there is one supplement that I take regularly to make sure I’ve got all my bases covered and that is fiber. A high fiber diet is one of the most underrated components of healthy eating.

Looks like someone got their 25 grams.

Why should you care about fiber? Continue reading →

Intermittent Fasting: The King of Easy Diet Plans

“I had literally starved myself for four months – not a morsel of food – to get into that pair of size 10 Calvin Klein jeans.” – Oprah Winfrey

Intermittent fasting is one of the easiest ways to lose weight.

Let’s face it. There aren’t many easy diet plans out there. It’s ironic that so many people focus on what to eat in order to lose weight when one of the best ways to lose weight is to simply not eat anything. I began intermittent fasting about a year ago and since then, I have reduced my body fat percentage by over 65%. Sure, there were other factors that contributed to this, but intermittent fasting was a big one. There are two main reasons people don’t consider intermittent fasting when trying to lose fat. First, they are afraid of causing their body to go into “starvation mode”. Second, they think it’s too difficult.

Maybe you should keep this sign up in your kitchen while you're fasting.

First, let me address the starvation mode myth. Continue reading →

My Favorite Healthy Fast Food Choices

“I walked into McDonald’s and asked for fries. The woman at the counter said, ‘Would you like fries with that?’” – Jay Leno

Fast food is everywhere.

Whether we like it or not, it’s become part of our culture and it’s here to stay. Ideally, we would steer clear of fast food altogether and only eat healthy meals that we prepare at home. But let’s be realistic. Sometimes, we just don’t have time and need to grab a quick bite. Fortunately, there are some decent options out there that won’t blow up your gut. Here are my top three favorite healthy fast food choices. Just to clarify, when I say “healthy” I mean low-calorie. I realize this may be a somewhat controversial definition of the word, so I’ll elaborate later in the post.

Ronald McDonald: the face of fast food.

#3. McDonald’s McDouble with small fries Continue reading →

A Healthy Grocery List for Your Fitness Lifestyle

“I can spend hours in a grocery store. I get so excited when I see food, I go crazy. I spend hours arranging my baskets so that everything fits in and nothing gets squashed. I’m really anal about it, actually.” –Cameron Diaz

Cameron Diaz loves grocery shopping, so you should too.

After I went grocery shopping this weekend, I thought some grocery tips might make a good post topic, so here goes.

When it comes to strategic eating, grocery shopping is a key element in your success. In fact, if you are preparing most of your meals at home (as you should if you are trying to get lean), then the foods that you keep on hand will make our break you. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that grocery shopping is a skill that should be learned by anyone who is serious about sticking to their fat loss goals. So having said all that, I’m now going to reveal a few tips on what I do when I go grocery shopping. I start by making a healthy grocery list.

Make a healthy grocery list.

In my opinion, this is by far the most important element of grocery shopping and it happens before you even set foot in the store. Continue reading →

Vary Your Daily Calorie Intake to Lose Weight

“Rules were meant to be broken.”

I’m going to tell you how to cheat on your diet without cheating on your eating plan.

I’ve heard some experts claim that the more you eat healthy foods, the less you crave unhealthy foods. Personally, I have found this statement to be completely untrue. Right now I’m eating healthier than I ever have and I’m also craving junk foods more than ever. So what do I do? I cheat. I’m able to get away with this by varying my daily calorie intake to lose weight.

Who doesn't like to cheat?

Continue reading →

The 7 Day Diet Plan – Part 3

Eat Less Frequently and Prepare Most of Your Meals

In Part 1 of The 7 Day Diet Plan, I talked about how much to eat and in Part 2, I talked about what to eat. Now, I’ll go into when and where you should eat. First, I’ll focus on the when.

How many meals should you eat per day?

If you’ve read anything about nutrition recently, I’m sure you’ve heard the whole six small meals per day doctrine. The argument is that you need to be constantly eating so that your body doesn’t go into starvation mode and start storing fat. I used to buy into this but once I quit and went back to three meals per day, I experienced the best results I have ever seen. If you eat six small meals a day, then your meals will probably look like this:

Not very satisfying...

Here is where I believe the six small meals a day routine goes wrong. Continue reading →

Fitness Breakout

Break Free From the Average Body Type

Category Archives: Strategic Eating