Ketogenic diet for weight loss

One thing I love about diet and fitness is experimenting and seeing what works for me.  This is something I encourage everybody to do, as every BODY is different.  And different bodies react to certain foods differently.

One diet that I've been experimenting with over the last 6 months is a ketogenic diet. This site probably describes it better than I ever could, but in short, it's a very low carb diet high in fat and moderate protein.

I eat more protein than what your typical keto diet specifies as I'm trying to gain some muscle while losing fat.

Now, having done this diet now for a while I can tell you that I feel a lot less hungry than when I ate a moderate/high carb diet.  I am taking in more protein which helps with satiety, but I also feel like the added fat makes me feel more full.

I have this love hate relationship with carby foods! I certainly do enjoy them, but I can overeat carbs something fierce!  Especially late at night when I'm watching TV!

All in all, I'm feeling well-fed and I am the leanest I have ever been, so I think I will continue this experiment for the foreseeable future.

Oh, and another side effect is increased energy when your body starts using fat and ketones for energy! I've been really busy with getting my phlebotomy certification  and I have felt great! (Warning: RANT TIME! I had to get certified AGAIN! The first place I got "certified" through wasn't apparently recognized or wasn't reputable enough!  Grrr... so be sure to choose a highly reputable and recognized certification and save yourself some time.  I went through the ASCP, but here's a list of phlebotomy certification agencies that are all good.)

Sorry for the rant.  Anyways, I hope to hook-up with a company called IGGBO, which is kind of like Uber for phlebotomists, so on top of my day job I hope to be working more hours on the side, so I'll need all the energy I can get!

I'll keep you updated on the Keto experiment and if you have any questions please let me know in the comments below!

Don't Forget Your Dentist!

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately... I've been spending the bulk of my time online coaching others in fitness and nutrition on my facebook page.  I'll try to post here more often!

So, you're probably wondering why I chose the title of this post...

Well, I went to the dentist today for the first time in YEARS! Call me gross, but time flies and honestly I completely forgot about.

Luckily, there were no complications!  And my dentist here is wonderful!  So, my PSA (and my good deed for the day) is to remind you to setup a dentist appointment!

On a side note, having healthy teeth can also improve your total body health, as well!  So, get your butt's to the dentist! :)

Health Motivation Posters Part 1

I love those motivational posters you see on Facebook and fitness/weight loss websites!  with that said, here are a few of my favorites!

OK, so the first isn't so much motivational as it is TRUE! LOL

The last two really hit home with me.  I should print them off and hang them on my fridge as a constant reminder!

Enjoy!

Training For My New Job!

Ok, so I've given plenty of tips on this site to lower body fat and get in the best shape of your life!  But, now I need to get in shape another reason besides just my health and looking great!

I need to get in shape to be able to train for my new job as a phlebotomist!!

I just completed my phlebotomy training program and am working on getting certified!  I'm currently just a phlebotomist at a local plasma center, but would also like to do some on-call stuff for life insurance companies, etc! And when I get certified will look at a few hospitals for offers.

Anywhoozle, I want to be in the best shape of my life to make sure I can provide the best care for those in need!  I will keep you updated with my new career and still give calorie controlling tips as usual!

Thanks and take care!

Effective Tips To Get Ripped 6 Pack Abs

There are many of us who are trying to achieve that 6 pack abs look!  Unfortunately, it’s the last place on our body that we usually lose fat. 

So what exactly does it take to see your abs again?  Let’s take a closer look at exactly how to get abs and create a toned up and lean midsection.

First of all, poor posture may be the biggest issue with many people.  When you slouch over your stomach tends to bunch up, making it look larger than it really is.  Luckily, it doesn’t require hours of gym time to fix this problem.  Simply practice pulling your shoulders back and keep your head up and pull your abs in.

Many people think that in order to see their abs they have to do tons of ab work.  This just isn’t the case.  Instead, you need to burn calories through full body exercises, which will in turn burn body fat!  It’s ok to do ab work to strengthen your core, but you need intense full body exercises to burn fat! An elliptical machine makes it easy to get a great calorie burning and full body workout! 

If you really want to see your abs then you must follow a proper diet plan.  This is the single most important aspect.  Simply put, you need to eat less and move more.  Measure how many calories you’re currently taking in and aim to eat about 20 percent fewer calories per day. This diet combined with total body exercise should put you in the caloric deficit that is required to lose weight!

Now that you have learned how to sculpt a lean six pack, it’s time to put these tips into use.  Create an exercise and diet regimen that you feel you will be able to stick with in the long run.  And start slowly and make the necessary changes until you’ve reached your goals! 

Don’t Make These Calorie Cutting Mistakes!

	Cutting calories is a great way to lose body fat . Actually, recent studies show that it doesn’t matter what diet you are on, it's effectiveness comes down to burning more calories than you take in. However, if you make the following common mistakes you may be doing more harm than good . Three of the more common mistakes dieters make while lowering caloric intake include: 1. Cutting an excess amount of calories out of their diet and/or not getting a variety of healthy foods. Many people try to short cut the diet process and cut too many calories out at once, however, in this case more isn't better and can even be dangerous. Cutting too many calories out of your daily diet can cause a reduction in muscle mass, fatigue, nausea and other minor side effects. 2. Drastically lowering your caloric intake also goes hand in hand with the other common mistake; not eating a healthy variety of foods. When you drastically cut your calories to around 800 or so a day ( which is classified as a VLCD or Very Low calorie Diet) it's hard to get all the nutrients you need. 3. Another major downfall of cutting too many calories out of your diet, which is one that 95% of all dieters face, is regaining all the weight back they lost (and then some). This is because when you drastically lower your caloric intake your body's metabolism drops and it starts to store fat. So when these dieters return to normal eating habits they gain all the weight back and sometimes even more due to their lowered metabolism.

Controlling Calories: 4 Easy Techniques

	To lose weight your body needs to burn more calories in a day than you consume. Cutting a small amount of your daily calories is one way to achieve this. The process of cutting calories isn’t easy, however it doesn’t have to be hard either.  By utilizing a few simple techniques you can make cutting calories a lot easier. Use Smaller Plates – This may sound a little crazy, but studies have shown that merely swapping larger plates for smaller ones, you will eat less and not even notice.  Basically, you eat what’s given to you, and if less is on your plate, the less calories you eat. Save The Rest For Later - Restaurant dishes are loaded with calories and the plates just seem to keep getting larger and larger.  Ask for a to-go box right away and immediately place half your meal in it to take home. Eat These To Fill Up – Reports concluded that eating low calorie foods that are water-dense like fruits, veggies an broth-based soups actually give you that full feeling quicker, minus the added calories.  A good trick is to eat these foods at the start of the meal to fill up before you dig into the calorie dense main dish. Smaller Portions – An easy way to cut down on the amount of junk food you consume is to portion out these foods into smaller bags.  It’s easy to grab a full box of cookies and eat half of it in one sitting.  But if you have them portioned out in smaller bags you are more likely to eat just that.