Here are some surefire ways to burn off an additional 100 calories to help you burn extra fat and attain a leaner physique.

1. Raise Your Intensity

It’s a well known fact now that increasing your intensity during your workout will create an “afterburn” effect.  If you haven’t heard of the term “afterburn” in the fitness world, it simply means a disturbance in your metabolism causing you to burn more calories after an intense strength training or interval training workout.

2. Ditch The Sugar

One 8 oz glass of juice has an average of 28 grams of sugar and 120 calories. One packet of sugar is 4 grams and 16 calories. Do the math. In one glass of juice you just consumed 7 packets of sugar. Get rid of the white stuff; your body will appreciate it.

3. Ditch The Sugar Substitutes

Research has shown that our body reacts the same way to sugar substitues (sucralose – aka Splenda, aspartame – aka Equal, saccharin – aka Sweet’N Low). Insulin levels still spike, wreaks havoc on our metabolism and causes the body to store more fat.

4. Eat Healthy Fats

Studies have shown that consuming more healthy fats, aka essential fatty acids, allows our cells to burn more fat and shrinks existing fat cells. A supportive diet rich in healthy fats also helps to break down the visceral fat around our organs, which is the dangerous body fat.

5. Turn On The Heat

If you’re into the hot stuff (get your mind out of the gutter) research has shown that adding more spice (hot sauce and chili peppers) to your meals can elevate your caloric burn by 25%.

6. Stand Up and Let Go Of The Handles

If you’re one of the machine cardio goers, let go of the handles on the elliptical already! If you’re stuck on the bike, change it up and get on another machine that has you standing instead.

7. Sleep Well

A lack of sleep and poor quality sleep drastically affects your fat burning hormone, leptin, and your appetite controlling hormone, ghrelin. A good eight hours of sleep will keep these hormones working full-time versus part-time. If these hormones aren’t operating optimally it can cause cravings.

Did this post help? There are a lot of other tips out there, let us know what else you’ve heard. Share in the comments section below.

- Rommel

I have just been recently featured in Craig Ballantyne’s Turbulence Training Fat Loss Blog.  Craig is a fat loss expert and writes for Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines.  When he speaks about fat loss, listen up!

He also has a strong stance on how cardio is a waste of time in regards to fat loss.  This is something we’ve preached to you guys over and over.  

Check out my blog post and download Craig’s “Dark Side of Cardio” report.

Enjoy!

- Rommel

My new blog ==>http://www.fitinahurry.com

Last Saturday I held a grocery store tour for a few clients.  As we approached the meat section one client mentioned that they’ve pretty much cut out red meat from their diet, that people should stay away from meat, it causes a lot of problems, it’s linked to cancer, and the “China Study” reveals why.

I agree and I disagree.  But let me explain something first.  The “China Study” was written by Dr. Colin Campbell – a well known vegan.  Of course he’s going to be anti-meat.  As my business partner, Belton, and I have stated numerous times, please consider the source.

Now I’m not completely bashing Dr. Campbell, because there are very good and legitimate points stated in his book.  However, there are way too many factors to consider before concluding that eating meat is the devil.  Yes there’s definitive evidence that links meat with increased cancer risk, but some factors to question are,

• The type of meat that was eaten – is it hormone pumped, grain fed beef? Or, naturally grass fed beef?
• Were the meats processed?
• How was the meat cooked? Grilled or Charred?  (Charred beef contains cancer causing carcinogens)
• What was eaten in combination with the beef? More saturated foods like cheeses? Or heart healthy whole grains and fruits and veggies?

Do you see my point yet?  Again, there are way too many things to consider, but let me simplify what I’ve learned from my own research, and in discussions with numerous nutrition experts.  It’s more about the way you combine your foods that will dictate your overall health and your physique.

We utilize these simple methods in our fat loss programs from Jayson Hunter, registered dietitian and Director of Research and Development for Prograde Nutrition:

• For each meal fulfill one serving for each category: lean protein, fibrous carbs (any fruits or veggies), starchy (but high fiber) carbs
• For starchy carbs do your best to choose whole, unprocessed grains such as whole grain or whole wheat breads, or other complex starchy carbs, such as sweet potatoes, yams, quinoa, and brown rice.
• Consume more healthy fats in the form of nuts, cold water fish, or supplementing with heart healthy, fat blasting essential fatty acids (we recommend Prograde’s EFA Icon, and read this blog to learn more about how essential fatty acids helps beat the battle of the bulge).
• Drink more water! We recommend a minimum of 64oz per day.

These methods are not rocket science, and they’re definitely not new.  The problem is that most people are oversimplifying the concepts (considering how we Americans tend to react to information, this isn’t surprising).  Remember the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle?  Take small steps by focusing on one bullet point each week.  Master that bullet point then move on to the next.  I guarantee you do that and you’ll be seeing results in no time.

Now back to the issue of eating meat, if you love it don’t avoid it, just make sure to eat the naturally raised grass-fed beef, and eat more fruits and veggies to go with it.  Eating the right amounts of meat can be helpful in an overall supportive nutrition regimen.  Not only is good quality meat high in muscle-building protein, but it’s rich in iron, and energy producing B-vitamins.  Again, just make sure to add in high quality fruits and veggies for added antioxidants, and lots of fiber to round out your nutrition plan.

Yours in health,

Rommel

PS – If you’re not a participant in one of our fitness and fat loss programs and would like more information about the nutrition guidelines stated above, please fill out the form on our home page and we’ll send you our “Nutrition Crash Course” guide.

**Disclaimer: I am not a dietitian.  The dietary recommendations are
not intended as a substitute for any treatment or dietary regimen that
may have been prescribed by your physician.  If you have high
cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, or any other metabolic
disorder please discuss all nutritional changes with your physician or
a registered dietician.

This morning I was in a rush to head out to teach bootcamp and didn’t have time to make my normal breakfast of an omega-3 enriched egg omelette and oatmeal topped with almonds and dried fruit.  So I had to reach for my trusty shaker bottle, filled it up with water and threw in two scoops of Prograde Lean.  About two seconds into shaking it up I made a huge mess, because I forgot to secure the cap and about a fourth of my shake went splashing all over the kitchen floor – AARGH!!!

I was so pissed, but calmed myself quickly knowing that I had to get to the club asap.  I noticed as I was cleaning my mess up that I really wasn’t in the mood for a meal replacement shake and wanted my REAL breakfast.

Why am I telling you this story?  Well, I wanted – yet again – to stress the importance of breakfast to you and how crucial it is to achieving great results, especially in regards to positively changing your body composition (or, in the words of most of my clients “lose belly fat”).

On my drive over I was like, “Gosh, this shake is so boring right now!”  So I figured my blog title would express that in some way.  But do NOT take this message lightly.

“You have to eat breakfast!”  I know you’ve heard it a many times, and this message is nothing new.  But do you have any idea how many people I talk to on a daily basis that DO NOT eat breakfast?  It’s a lot!  And the worst thing is that at least 70% of these people that admit this to me are overweight.

Look, I know a lot of people either don’t have much time in the morning or are just not that hungry after waking up, but you’ve got to find alternatives to feeding your body some quality nutrients in the morning.

Consider this analogy – You go to work every day, because you need to earn a good income, provide for your family with a comfortable home, food to eat, and enjoy other luxuries.  You do this because you NEED the RESULT of this effort, right?

Well, Ok, then IF you want to burn fat, feel better and have more energy you NEED to eat breakfast every morning. Period. End of discussion.

Some things are boring, such as the shake I had this morning. Some things just have to be done to get the result you want. For those of you that want to burn fat all day long, breakfast is just one of those things.

Yours in health,

Rommel

Valentine’s Day is here, and there’s a VERY good chance you have plans to eat out with your significant
other.

And while we want you to have a great time, we do NOT want you to kiss your fat loss goals goodbye. Here are three quick Valentine’s Day Fat Burning Tips to help keep you on track.

1) Make sure you get a good workout in that day. Preferably a circuit strength training routine utilizing the Tabata protocol as described here.  It’s your insurance policy to burning fat all day long.

2) DO NOT starve yourself all day long in anticipation of your big night out.  You’ll just piss your body off, and impede the fat burning process!

3) If you’re having a chocolate craving – it is Valentine’s Day after all – you want to have some good dark chocolate on hand.

(Note: We recommend Prograde Cravers. See the bottom of this email as they are on sale till tomorrow night!)

4) Start Valentine’s Day off with 1-2 cups of water when you wake up. You also want to drink 1-2 cups before each meal as it will help you from consuming WAY to many calories.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Yours in health,

The Element 5 Fitness Team

PS – Here are all the details on Prograde Nutrition’s 14% off Prograde Cravers sale.

Organic Dark Chocolate Prograde Cravers have no preservatives, only 180 calories and they come in three delicious flavors: peanut butter, almond butter and spirulina.

The even better news is they are on sale for Valentine’s Day.

Here’s everything you need to know:

- Again, because it’s Valentine’s Day, the sale is 14% off all purcahses of Prograde Cravers

- When you checkout you will enter this coupon code to save the 14%:    vday0909

- Shipping will take 3-5 days, so while WE HIGHLY
recommend you jump all over this sale.  Buy them as a
healthy gift for yourself or others.

- Sorry, Prograde Cravers are not available overseas

- The offer cannot be combined with others from Prograde and it ends this Saturday, February 14th at 11:59pm EST.

- Prograde Cravers are NOT available in stores anywhere.

You can only find them online here: Prograde Cravers