Is the HCG diet hype or hope?

The latest “diet” that is all rage is the HCG Diet. With all the hundreds of thousands of diets out there, is
this one any worse or better than all the others?

Taking a quick look at the HCG Diet overview, it shows a meal plan based on a 500 calorie a day diet.

What they’re suggesting you have for breakfast is tea or coffee in any quantity without sugar, which, in
my opinion is ridiculous! That’s breakfast! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Essentially,
according to this diet, you’re starting your day on stimulants (caffeine) and without any nutrients.

By the time you get to lunch and your body is more than likely in a catabolic state and breaking down
muscle and tissue to survive, do you actually get to have some food these or the foods your get to have:

1. 100 grams of veal, beef, chicken breast, fresh white fish, lobster, crab, or shrimp. All visible fat must be carefully removed before cooking, and the meat must be weighed raw. It must be boiled or grilled without additional fat. Salmon, eel, tuna, herring, dried or pickled fish are not allowed. The chicken breast must be removed from the bird.
2. One type of vegetable only to be chosen from the following: spinach, chard, chicory, beet-greens, green salad, tomatoes, celery, fennel, onions, red radishes, cucumbers, asparagus, cabbage.
3. One breadstick (grissino) or one Melba toast.
4. An apple, orange, or a handful of strawberries or one-half grapefruit.

Dinner is the same as lunch.

Overall, if you’re eating only 500 calories as day, this has nothing to do with health and well-being.
Plain and simple, it’s nothing more than a quick fix. Yes, you will lose weight and any time you’re taking
in less calories than you’re expending, you’re going to lose weight, but you need to ask yourself this
question, what kind of weight do you want to lose? Do you want to lose muscle? Do you want to lose
fat?

This diet is a dead-end road. Actually, if you went on a 14 day herbal juice fast, you’re better off than
doing the HCG diet because with the HCG diet you’re still putting toxins and your body and you’re not
allowing your body to reset your pallet and cleanse your system out.

Will you lose weight with the HCG diet? Yes, you will but at the end of the day, you’re going to slow
down your metabolism because it’s not feeding your metabolism, it’s reversing it. You’re only going to
get fatter and fatter with the more diets you do like this one.

You need to focus on speeding up your metabolism, not slowing it down. You should be eating every
two hours to keep your metabolism revving. Think about it this way. An infant wants a bottle in it’s
mouth every two hours. What does that tell you? Not only will you be speeding up your metabolism,
you are reversing the aging process, i.e, your body is acting like an infant. The body wants to evolve, the body wants to nourish. That’s how the body is supposed to be.

Atlanta Nutritionist

Atlanta Personal Trainer

What’s the Best Fat Burning Exercise?

What's the Best Fat Burning Exercise?



http://www.bodybyfadi.com/
Fitness Expert Fadi Malouf answers New York Times Health question, what's the single best exercise? Burpees are not only the single best exercise, but is also one of the best exercise to burn fat. Fat Loss experts Craig Ballantyne and Tom Venuto have also spoken about Burpees not only being a great overall exercise, but good for fat burning as well.

Fadi Malouf, Weight Loss, Fat Loss, Exercise Workout Fitness, Burn Fat, Six Pack Abs, Atlanta Personal Trainer, muscle training bodybuilding body health weightlifting workout fitness, physical exercise" exercise body-building bodybuilding vlog

How does my Fitness Pal work with nutrition?

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How does my Fitness Pal work with nutrition?

How does my Fitness Pal work with nutrition?

Duluth Personal Training: Boot Camp, Workouts and Fun!

Duluth Personal Training: Boot Camp, Workouts and Fun!

Duluth Personal Training: Boot Camp, Workouts and Fun!

Duluth Personal Training: Boot Camp, Workouts and Fun!

In this video you well see a compilation of exercises, workouts and boot camp fun lead by fitness expert Fadi Malouf.

Atlanta Personal Trainer

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What is the best fitness for a 13 year old girl?

What is the best fitness for a 13 year old girl?

What is the best fitness for a 13 year old girl?

Fitness expert Fadi Malouf explains the best fitness for a 13 year old and in general for adults as well.

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What is Balance in regards of health and fitness?

What is Balance in regards of health and fitness?

Balance and coordination exist when the body is used for what it is designed for.

Exercises such as walking, swimming, yoga, pilates, bicycling, martial arts and bodybuilding all help to improve muscle coordination. Activities such as working at a desk, reading, and watching television do the opposite for the body. Without realizing it, most people have extreme stress in their muscles. This muscular tension contributes to muscle tightness, restricted movement, and joint pain. This occurs simply because they sit for many hours every day and do not perform regular exercises that will work to keep all of the muscles in their body in balance.

Aim for B.A.L.A.N.E.

Atlanta Personal Trainer

Fadi Malouf

What are the best exercise tips?

Fadi Malouf Atlanta Personal Trainer highlights the best 8 Exercise Tips!

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What are the best exercise tips?

What are the best exercise tips?

How much fiber do you need?

How much fiber do you need?

After working out why am I starving for food?

Wonder why your hungry after exercising? In this post Fadi Malouf, Atlanta fitness expert, explains some of the reasons why you crave food and the importance of post-exercise recovery and nutrition balance.

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After working out why am I starving for food?

After working out why am I starving for food?

Circuit Training with a Facelift!

Is Crossfit, Fast Twitch, Metabolic Training the same as Circuit Training but on STEROIDS??

Metabolic Training, What is That?

Metabolic training, what is that and is it going to hurt me?  I hear all kinds of crazy questions when people start talking about metabolic training or metabolic conditioning.  The most frequent question is, "what is it"?  In simplest terms it refers to exercises that will improve or enhance the body's energy systems.

Now you are probably scratching your head wondering what are the body's energy systems.  The body has 3 of them 1 aerobic system and 2 anaerobic systems.

Aerobic means in the presence of oxygen and anaerobic means without oxygen.  Aerobic activities involve low intensity exercises that are performed for 15 minutes or more.  Things such as biking, swimming and jogging.  Anaerobic activities involve moderate to high intensity activities that are performed anywhere from a few seconds to 2-3 minutes.

In the past if someone wanted to shed some excess fat on the body they would begin jogging.  Even today jogging seems to be the exercise of choice for fat loss.  Problem is you do not burn enough calories during the workout to amount to any substantial fat loss.  And more importantly jogging does not produce an EPOC effect, but moderate to high intensity training does.   EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) refers to the elevated state of oxygen consumption after exercise in an effort to bring the body back to its pre-exercise state. 

In other words, not only are you burning far more calories during the high intensity workout (which could be only 10-15 minutes in duration compared to 30-45) you are going to continue burning calories for some time after the workout, your metabolism stays revved up.

Higher metabolism for a longer period of time = increased fat burning power!

I think anyone would be happy with that formula.  Workout less and reap bigger gains.  As with anything there is a catch, you have to work harder than you have probably ever worked out before.

The Workout:

Probably the easiest form of metabolic training is in the form of timed sets, such as 1 min of exercise followed by 15 – 30 seconds of rest.  This format would usually be repeated for about 10 – 15 minutes.  All the variables will be dependent on your fitness levels.  You might ask can this be used with traditional resistance training exercises.  The answer is of course, a lot of people call it metabolic resistance training.  To figure out the amount of weight you should use, take your 10rm (or amount of weight you can lift for 10 repetitions) and just use 75 – 80% of that number.

You may have to go a little lighter for some exercises.  The idea is to work as hard and as fast (still with very good form) as you can for the entire minute.  If it was to easy up the weight, if it was to hard and you couldn't finish the set drop down the weight a little.   The amount of exercises used per session can vary anywhere from 2 – 5.

The Exercises:

The exercises you choose for metabolic training are important, some exercises just don't work.  On the other hand, some exercises may work for one format of training but not for another.  Same thing with individual people, if you are not strong enough for push-ups yet, a push-up is not going to work real well for you.  The exercises really need to be total body in nature,  so a bicep curl would not work.

Here are a few of my favorites:

• Barbell or dumbbell reverse lunge
• Barbell or dumbbell inline lunge
• Alternating lunges
• Squat press
• Squat Jumps
• Squat thrusters
• Burpees
• Mountain Climbers
• Bear crawls

I love to mix in exercises using the big bands as well as exercises on the TRX.  Really, your options are limitless be creative and see what else you can come up with to add to the list.

Sample Workouts:

I have included 3 sample workouts, a beginner, a moderate and an advanced workout.  If you aren't sure what fitness level you are, start at the beginner level, it is always easier to go up rather than start too high and become injured. 

Important note:  if you are new to exercise and just starting out, I do not recommend metabolic training.  I make sure all of my new clients have a 2 – 3 month training base before they start this type of training.

Beginner Workout:

• Inline lunge without weight right leg - 30 seconds
• Inline lunge without weight left leg – 30 seconds
• Burbees – 30 seconds

In between each set take a 30 second rest break.  Repeat 4 times for a 12 minute workout.  After round 1 this may be repeated a second time take a 2 – 3 minute break in between rounds.  If you feel really good adjust the times 30 seconds on 15 seconds off or it could be 45 seconds on 30 seconds off.

Moderate Workout:

• Dumbbell alternating Lunges – 1 minute
• Dumbbell squat press - 1 minute
• Mountain climbers – 1 minute

In between each set take a 15 – 30 second rest break.  Repeat 4 times for about a 12 minute workout.  After round 1 repeat this for 2 -3 more rounds.  Take about a 2 minute break in between rounds.

Advanced Workout:

• Squat thrusters – 1 minute
• Mountain climbers – 1 minute
• Barbell row – 1 minute
• Squat Jumps – 1 minute

For the advanced workout only use the rest periods in between sets if necessary and if used try to keep them down to 15 seconds.  Repeat this workout for 4 rounds.  Rest about a minute if needed in between rounds.

If your fat loss efforts need a boost give these workouts a try.  Feel free to leave me your favorite exercises or even your favorite routine.  Have a great weekend.

Stay Motivated,

Karen

Article Source: http://www.secretstolivingahealthylifestyle.com/

So Is Crossfit, Fast Twitch, Metabolic Training the same as Circuit Training but on STEROIDS?? What are your thoughts? Please leave your comments below or on my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fadi/156239857729435

Atlanta Personal Trainer: Circuit Training

Posted via email from askfadi's posterous

Circuit Training with a Facelift

Is Crossfit, Fast Twitch, Metabolic Training the same as Circuit Training but on STEROIDS??

Metabolic Training, What is That?

Metabolic training, what is that and is it going to hurt me?  I hear all kinds of crazy questions when people start talking about metabolic training or metabolic conditioning.  The most frequent question is, "what is it"?  In simplest terms it refers to exercises that will improve or enhance the body's energy systems.

Now you are probably scratching your head wondering what are the body's energy systems.  The body has 3 of them 1 aerobic system and 2 anaerobic systems.

Aerobic means in the presence of oxygen and anaerobic means without oxygen.  Aerobic activities involve low intensity exercises that are performed for 15 minutes or more.  Things such as biking, swimming and jogging.  Anaerobic activities involve moderate to high intensity activities that are performed anywhere from a few seconds to 2-3 minutes.

In the past if someone wanted to shed some excess fat on the body they would begin jogging.  Even today jogging seems to be the exercise of choice for fat loss.  Problem is you do not burn enough calories during the workout to amount to any substantial fat loss.  And more importantly jogging does not produce an EPOC effect, but moderate to high intensity training does.   EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) refers to the elevated state of oxygen consumption after exercise in an effort to bring the body back to its pre-exercise state. 

In other words, not only are you burning far more calories during the high intensity workout (which could be only 10-15 minutes in duration compared to 30-45) you are going to continue burning calories for some time after the workout, your metabolism stays revved up.

Higher metabolism for a longer period of time = increased fat burning power!

I think anyone would be happy with that formula.  Workout less and reap bigger gains.  As with anything there is a catch, you have to work harder than you have probably ever worked out before.

The Workout:

Probably the easiest form of metabolic training is in the form of timed sets, such as 1 min of exercise followed by 15 – 30 seconds of rest.  This format would usually be repeated for about 10 – 15 minutes.  All the variables will be dependent on your fitness levels.  You might ask can this be used with traditional resistance training exercises.  The answer is of course, a lot of people call it metabolic resistance training.  To figure out the amount of weight you should use, take your 10rm (or amount of weight you can lift for 10 repetitions) and just use 75 – 80% of that number.

You may have to go a little lighter for some exercises.  The idea is to work as hard and as fast (still with very good form) as you can for the entire minute.  If it was to easy up the weight, if it was to hard and you couldn't finish the set drop down the weight a little.   The amount of exercises used per session can vary anywhere from 2 – 5.

The Exercises:

The exercises you choose for metabolic training are important, some exercises just don't work.  On the other hand, some exercises may work for one format of training but not for another.  Same thing with individual people, if you are not strong enough for push-ups yet, a push-up is not going to work real well for you.  The exercises really need to be total body in nature,  so a bicep curl would not work.

Here are a few of my favorites:

• Barbell or dumbbell reverse lunge
• Barbell or dumbbell inline lunge
• Alternating lunges
• Squat press
• Squat Jumps
• Squat thrusters
• Burpees
• Mountain Climbers
• Bear crawls

I love to mix in exercises using the big bands as well as exercises on the TRX.  Really, your options are limitless be creative and see what else you can come up with to add to the list.

Sample Workouts:

I have included 3 sample workouts, a beginner, a moderate and an advanced workout.  If you aren't sure what fitness level you are, start at the beginner level, it is always easier to go up rather than start too high and become injured. 

Important note:  if you are new to exercise and just starting out, I do not recommend metabolic training.  I make sure all of my new clients have a 2 – 3 month training base before they start this type of training.

Beginner Workout:

• Inline lunge without weight right leg - 30 seconds
• Inline lunge without weight left leg – 30 seconds
• Burbees – 30 seconds

In between each set take a 30 second rest break.  Repeat 4 times for a 12 minute workout.  After round 1 this may be repeated a second time take a 2 – 3 minute break in between rounds.  If you feel really good adjust the times 30 seconds on 15 seconds off or it could be 45 seconds on 30 seconds off.

Moderate Workout:

• Dumbbell alternating Lunges – 1 minute
• Dumbbell squat press - 1 minute
• Mountain climbers – 1 minute

In between each set take a 15 – 30 second rest break.  Repeat 4 times for about a 12 minute workout.  After round 1 repeat this for 2 -3 more rounds.  Take about a 2 minute break in between rounds.

Advanced Workout:

• Squat thrusters – 1 minute
• Mountain climbers – 1 minute
• Barbell row – 1 minute
• Squat Jumps – 1 minute

For the advanced workout only use the rest periods in between sets if necessary and if used try to keep them down to 15 seconds.  Repeat this workout for 4 rounds.  Rest about a minute if needed in between rounds.

If your fat loss efforts need a boost give these workouts a try.  Feel free to leave me your favorite exercises or even your favorite routine.  Have a great weekend.

Stay Motivated,

Karen

Article Source: http://www.secretstolivingahealthylifestyle.com/

So Is Crossfit, Fast Twitch, Metabolic Training the same as Circuit Training but on STEROIDS?? What are your thoughts? Please leave your comments below or on my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fadi/156239857729435

Atlanta Personal Trainer: Circuit Training

5 Quick Workout Tips

1. Keep a stop watch on you to keep track and not lose focus during your work hour.
2. Keep your amino handy so you may never miss out on your protein intake for the day.
3. Stay intense during your sets by using a focal point to keep you focused on your objective. For example, when squatting, I like to use a sticky note that says “LOOK HERE” which is placed at eye level or above – raise the note to your level of comfort just put it on the ceiling!
4. Close your eyes during a set and visualize the muscle contracting.  For example, when performing a chest press squeeze, feel and see your muscles in your chest contracting in rep that you perform.
5. Play your favorite workout music that will pomp you up like nothing else!  I enjoy progressive tunes that build up from slow to fast, therefore, psyched me up for the next set! 

Health and Fitness 

Atlanta Personal Trainer