Archive for November, 2009
The Top Fat Loss Secrets for Flat Six-Pack Abs and a Lean Stomach
An interview by Geovanni Derice with Mike Geary – Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer
I had the pleasure of being interviewed recently by a fitness professional from NYC, Certified Personal Trainer, Geovanni Derice. The interview is below and I think you’re going to like it… I reveal some of the hardest hitting strategies for getting rid of that stubborn stomach fat to uncover those flat six pack abs that everyone wants.
“GD: Welcome Mike to our 4-ever-Toned Fitness Journal. For those who do not know you, please tell us a few things about yourself and how you can help our readers with their fitness and health.
MG: Thanks for having me, Geo. Well, to go back a little, I have been heavily involved in fitness and sports for about 17 years now, ever since I was a teenager. Being involved in sports in high school got me interested in strength training and conditioning.
At that point, once I started feeling more energetic, getting stronger, and looking better, I was instantly hooked for life. I’m 33 now and still addicted to the way living a healthy and fit lifestyle makes me feel energetic, confident, strong, and youthful on a daily basis.
I decided earlier in my 20’s that I wanted to make the commitment to help other people experience the excitement of being fit and getting in the best shape of their lives, especially since we’ve reached an epidemic of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, depression, etc. That’s why I became a fitness professional. It just gives me so much satisfaction to help others, who have struggled for years to get in good shape, and show them that it can be done, and it can be fun in the process.
I’ve expanded over the years from just reaching local individuals with personal training, into being able to help people all over the globe achieve their fitness goals with the reach of the internet. I only hope that my passion for fitness inspires people to take action and improve how they look and feel for life.
GD: Now Mike, there’s so many things out there as to what works and what does not work… if you had to pick 3 things that work time and time again to get flat lean abs, what would they be?
MG: The first and most important thing to get control of in order to lose your belly fat and get flat abs is cleaning up your diet. Exercise is important, but your diet is king when it comes to losing body fat so that you can see your abs.
There’s so much confusion these days about what a healthy diet that promotes fat loss really is… after all, we are bombarded by conflicting messages in the media about what is healthy and what is not, and you have all of these gimmicky diet books about low carb, low fat, high protein, vegetarian, fasting, atkins, south beach, liquid diets, and hundreds more. There’s so much conflicting info, that the average consumer doesn’t even know where to start when it comes to eating for fat loss.
The second thing that works time and time again, is to focus on the intensity of your workouts and focus on working the body as a whole in order to get the best metabolic response to lose that stubborn stomach fat.
In order to really get lean, the workouts should have a high intensity, with short rest periods, working the largest muscle groups of the body, instead of trying to isolate specific small muscles like the biceps, triceps, or calves.
For the third thing, let’s talk about actually training the abs specifically. When it comes to training the abs, if you want real results, I always recommend forgetting about the crunches and situps for the most part. They are ok for someone that is really deconditioned, but most people that already have some training under their belt need a much better stimulus for their abs than crunches. Crunches are one of the abs exercises that actually provide the least amount of resistance, and remember that resistance is what develops and tones the muscles.
I provide a ton of great abs exercises in my book, but one of THE highest resistance exercises for the abs, is hanging leg raises (but NOT the way you see most people at the gym doing them). The key to doing these and actually working the hell out of your abs is to curl your pelvis up as you raise your legs. Almost nobody ever does this right. To be honest, the majority of people cannot do this at first, but I provide some strategies in my book as to how to progress to doing these correctly.
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GD: What are people doing wrong when it comes to developing the coveted “6 pack abs”?
MG: Well Geo, I know this sounds funny to most people, but the MAIN thing that people are doing wrong to get those flat 6-pack abs is… are you ready for this?
They spend entirely too much time focusing on training their abs! WAY too much time spent on abs exercises. Sounds crazy, but it’s true.
Remember, having a flat and visible six pack of abs is all about getting down to a low body fat percentage. In order to do that, your workouts must focus on stimulating a fat burning hormonal environment in your body, and increasing your metabolic rate. That just does not happen when you focus too much time training a small muscle group like the abs.
Instead, you must use the majority of your time focusing on training the largest muscle groups of the body like the legs, back, and chest. That’s what stimulates your metabolism and the fat burning hormones that will get you truly lean and sporting a flat sixxer!
GD: Which exercises are the top exercises that people need to do if they are to get maximum defintion with their midsection?
MG: When it comes to developing the abs themselves, I again refer to any kinds of hanging abs exercises, as well as some good floor abs exercises like lying leg thrusts (all described and illustrated in my book).
However, maximum definition in the abs and midsection comes from losing bodyfat, and the most effective exercises featured in my program for that goal are various forms of swings and snatches (unique dumbbell or kettlebell exercises that almost nobody ever does in normal gyms), squats, deadlifts, lunges, step-ups, clean & presses, mountain climbers, sprinting, and other full body exercises and calisthenics. If you want great looking flat abs, focus on those instead of focusing so much on training the abs directly!
GD: When it comes to diet Mike, people really have tried millions of ways to get one thing… and that is fat loss. What recommendations have you used to successfully help your clients lose body fat and keep it off?
MG: I have included a fully comprehensive discussion of this topic in my book, which accounts for almost half of the book, but I’ll try to make some nice simple generalizations to get people started on the right path immediately. The most important thing is that your diet is as natural and unprocessed as possible. It almost always comes back to the overprocessing of food that makes it unhealthy, and makes it totally wreck your metabolism and hormone balance in your body.
For example, why eat refined grains, when you can eat whole grains (even better are sprouted grains, as I usually recommend limiting grain foods overall for best results).
Why eat refined sugar, when you can get natural sources of sugar from a high nutrient whole food like fruit. Why eat highly processed, refined, and hydrogenated vegetable oils (these are THE worst thing in the modern diet), when you can eat natural sources of healthy fats like nuts, avocados, fish, eggs, coconut milk, organically raised meat, and so forth.
The point is to not fall for some gimmick like extremely low carbs (although I do believe in a fairly reduced carb intake as that is a big problem for most people), low fat, super high protein, or any other combination that has you focusing on one macronutrient vs. another.
Your body needs all macronutrients to thrive and obtain a variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, etc. Trying to cut an entire food group out just works against what your body needs. I get into much more detail on this vitally important topic towards losing body fat (especially that stubborn stomach fat) for life in my book.
GD: Thank you very much Mike for sharing with us all of this great information.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this interview and plucked several nuggets of info to get you motivated and started on showing off your flat abs shortly. If you don’t already own a copy, be sure to pick up a copy of my Truth about Six Pack Abs book and discover the entire system I’ve developed for ridding yourself of that extra ab fat for good!
Go here to see the results many of my readers are getting in losing stomach fat and getting lean abs.
Top 3 Tips for Taking Great Pictures with Digital Cameras
There are many tips for taking great pictures with digital cameras. Many individuals believe that taking pictures digitally requires no specific skill or prior knowledge, but the truth is that digital based cameras integrate a high level of features that makes it challenging to capture pictures in the way that you want, or the way that you expect. By knowing a few tricks, you can capture beauty in every shot that you take. The following represents 3 tips that you can use in order to truly capture the essence of every photo that you take:
1. Many digital cameras come with preset balance settings such as “Beach”, “Sunny”, “Cloudy”, “Night”, and similar settings. Prior to taking pictures, it is important to learn how to access these balance settings and to experiment with each one. This way, when you indulge in taking pictures you will know which balance setting will compliment the photograph and can set the camera to that setting.
2. Do you enjoy taking a lot of pictures of the great outdoors or of people and places outside? If so, then it is likely that you will benefit from what is referred to as a “Polarizer”. This is a special filter that is often used when photographing landscapes and natural scenes. It works to reduce the amount of glare that is displayed in the image and even eliminates reflections that are not intended to be caught. If you are unable to acquire a polarizer filter, simply place a lens from a pair of old sunglasses over the viewing area of the camera – this will provide the same effect.
3. The next step to taking great pictures with digital cameras is to research the zoom mode on your camera. This is also often referred to as “Macro Mode”. This feature will permit you to take pictures of items that are typically hard to capture in close up. For example, you may capture a line of ants, or a flower in your garden.
It is easy to take great pictures with digital cameras. It may seem a bit overwhelming, but it is important to learn all that you can regarding the features of your camera. Once you know what can be done with it, you may incorporate these top 3 tips to capture some fascinating shots!
The author of this post is a big fan of TipDrop.com, a great place to post tips to help out other users.
Fast Fold Projection Screen Boost Our Sales Conversions
We have been looking for the right sales presentation solution for our local web hosting and promotion package business. This solution was needed for our sales manager, the problem was computer presentation screens and the right way to have a large PC screen setup at every potential customers premises.
We wanted to avoid the 15 minutes configuration to get the customers own screen and projection monitor set up and configured to our own laptop, as the configuration process could sometimes make Tim look un-professional before he even started the sales process with the customer, you could almost always expect a video card driver conflict.
We found the solution within a Fast Fold Projection Screen, light in weight, yet a large enough system that folds right down, it would fit in your back pocket. Easily set-up, in moments, it offers a huge presentation screen that blows the socks our prospective customers, its more like a cinema screening in there own environment.
Having such a large fast fold projection screen really seems to blow the socks off potential new clients, they seem somewhat impressed by the technology, creating the perfect environment for our company sales manager to close the sale there and then.
The latest generation of the Fast Fold Projection Screen comes with a bit of a price tag, but we are sure we have closed more seminars with confirmed orders now than ever before, so our outlay has really been resolved in next to no time. Selecting the right brand did not require too much effort, to help choose the right fast fold projection screen, just do a search on Google, where there is a growing number of suppliers for this larger projection screen.
We seem to have mastered our corporate presentation sales process down to a fine art now, with a well made power point presentation and voice over, recorded into a video with camtasia screen shot software and some gentle background music. We almost always try to personalise the start and end of the video with the potential clients company name and logo built into every presentation, this seems to really impress on our large Fast Fold Projection Screen.
A Look Into Some Separate Sorts of Conference Calls.
Getting people together for conferences has forever been a pain, particularly in the event that your firm has a few branches in various other regions or maybe overseas. All that troublesomeness has at last become a piece of history with the arrival of the conference call. Conference calling is a hands down champion as soon as you understand its impact on both your budget and, also the planet.
Getting The Best Out Of Your Analog Conference Calls.
Your best alternative, if you’re looking for excellence, has to be an analog conference call set up. For this kind of call, you’re going to be employing regular phone lines, which will ensure that all of the group will be able to listen to exactly what is going on.
There is a couple of alternatives with reference to the way in which your call is going to be originated.In case you are new to conference calls you might wish to utilize an operator hosted service. All that is going to be needed will be that the number of each participant has to be supplied to the hosting company and they should, one at a time, call up every group member and connect all of them together.
All this simplicity of employment does go with a costly price tag and, if you are going to be employing conference calling frequently, you may perhaps want to source a less pricey package.
If you would choose to save yourself some money and eliminate the operator having to be involved, there’s one more kind of analog conference call where every participant keys in the self-same land line number, at the agreed time, and dials in a code to access the call.
Conference Calls Employing VoIP Technology.
In case you may want to get rid of employing phone providers, totally, then VoIP is the way to go, it employs the power of the Web.
If you have a need to save yourself the most money by compromising a little audio quality, this particular one must be the route to go. However, as Internet technology advances and improves, eventually, the sound quality will, without a doubt, no longer be a problem.
In The Flesh Get Togethers By using Video Conference Calls.
Every member of the party has to be in possession of special software and, also a web cam resident on their computer in order to allow them to carry out video conference calls.
Getting the software set up as well as configured as it should be might be a bit difficult sometimes, however, once that is finished, you could initiate a conference anytime you desire. You would simply inform the participants at what time the conference should occur so everyone can log in.
Regular users may possibly savor the benefits of flat rate conference calls. You may learn more at: www.flatrateconferencecalls.org.
To bring about that person to person experience, video conference calls should take a bit of beating.
If you require more facts on the subject of VoIP conference calling, please visit: www.flatrateconfere ncecalls.org/voip-conference-calls.htm
There’s no doubt that conference calls are superseding the archaic “everyone climbing on an aeroplane” routine. When you are comfortable with it, it’s just so easy to get everybody together with a minimum of preparing.
Tips on choosing your career path
Do you want to learn about the hot job prospects that exist? Many people make the mistake of choosing a study path haphazardly and then are surprised that they cannot find any job. Indeed it is important that you exercise some care when choosing your field of study. There are some sectors that are already cluttered while there are others who are growing steadily. To help you learn more on these interesting sectors I have written this short article and should be interesting for you to pay attention to it.
One of the hottest sectors is the area of project management. In truth individuals trained in this field can expect to get a job as soon as they get out of university and also attract an attractive salary. The reason for this is because project management is a concept that is relevant to all economic activities. To the contrary of what many people think project management is not a tough discipline. In essence project management training will be concerned about constructs such as Business case template to offer you some skills when it gets to managing projects.
Second sphere that may turn out to be attractive is the legal field. Whether you are looking for a job as a lawyer or a legal adviser you should not have too much trouble finding a job. This can therefore make it an appealing subject for you. Nevertheless it is important that you select a good children of divorced parents to study. Some people may evaluate you on the place where you studied particularly when you are beginning your career. If you require to compare the different courses that exist have a look at the resources available on the internet. Make sure that you spend some time interpreting the feedback available online.
Language training is another fascinating subject that is worth considering. Globalization has changed the way we do business. We are now required to interact with people coming from different backgrounds. People that are proficient in foreign languages can therefore enjoy some very good job prospects. This is why I always recommend my friends to pursue their language studies as far as they can. Fortunately there are different types of learning opportunities that are available for you to learn a foreign language. For instance you can have a look at some language immersion techniques that will allow you to learn not only the language but also the culture. This text (available only in French) on language training (sejour linguistique angleterre) has really grabbed my interest and should be worth checking out if you desire to read more on the learning techniques that exist.
Nowadays there is no shortage of training opportunity with the amount of universities offering all kind of study fields. What is important today is making the good choice when it comes to your study path. It is important that you choose a sector that is in demand so that you can increase your chance of getting a job. So start to make some research for the growing sectors in your economy and also make sure that you choose something that you really like doing. This will prevent you from having some regret in the future.
Camping at Arches National Park
My wife and daughter went to Europe last week, so I decided it was time to take a road trip to Arches National Park where I could do some dry camping It’s one of my favorite spots on Earth and I’ve visited it all too rarely recently, so I decided I was due for a visit. I already had a tent, sleeping bag, propane stove and camping cookware, but having done wilderness camping before I was aware of the importance of being able to navigate. I looked online for a watch compass and found a website with a rather large selection.
The drive from Denver is about 6 hours long and passes through some spectacular scenery and old mining camps. I used to go metal detecting in some of those towns, but it’s getting harder and harder to do that anymore as more and more of them have been blocked off. Even skipping the metal detecting, it’s still a very interesting trip. The mining towns are among the first points of interest as you pass through the countryside. First Idaho springs, then past a side road that leads to Central City and Blackhawk, then past Empire and Georgetown.
It’s a good ride through the mountains, and can get pretty twisty. Sometimes I’ll hop off for a bit of adventure down an old dirt mining road. The last time I did that, one of the plastic tumblers my drink was in nearly flew right out of the cup holder, so be forewarned, those old roads can get rough.
Eventually you pass right through Vail and an hour or so later the road to Aspen comes up. One of my favorite stops along the way is Glenwood springs, a beautiful old town with terrific hot springs and a number of nice oldish hotels from the mid 20th century and older. The road to Glenwood springs passes through a gorgeous canyon called Whitewater canyon. You drive on the northern side of the Colorado river and on the southern side is a railroad, really not to be missed.
After Glenwood you head towards Grand junction and eventually into Utah. I always take the scenic route along Utah 128. Blood red buttes and mesas predominate as you pass through Castle Valley which is a canyon along the Colorado river. This is probably my favorite part of the entire journey, and truly not to be missed.
Algiers – a Wonderous Mix
Algiers is located on series of terraces that clamber up the hillsides from the sea, towered over by the ramparts of the medieval Casbah, the Old City. Full of flowers, beautiful villas and luxuriously green gardens, the geography of this Mediterranean city is best understood as a huge triangle.
The seaside European quarter is its wide base, which narrows as it ascends the close winding lanes to the Moorish quarter, eventually coming to a point at the city’s old fortress high above.
Island of the Gull.
The first settlers on the coast of Algiers, aside from the native Berber tribes, arrived around 400 BCE. These were Carthaginian merchants in search of a convenient harbour in the western Mediterranean. During the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage, this settlement, known as Ikosim (“Island of the Gulls”) fell to the Roman Empire.
The most significant moment in the city’s history came with the conquest of the Late Roman Numidian Kingdom by the Muslim Arabs around 700 CE. The official founding of the city did not take place until 935 CE, when the Berber tribes (by then converted to Islam) named their harbour Al-Jazir (“White Island”). The city extended no further than what is today the Old City of Algiers, the Casbah.
A bastion for pirates.
After the Moors were driven out of Spain in the fifteenth century, Algiers was the launching point for numerous military expeditions to the Iberian Peninsula, but the Moors were never able to regain control of Spain. In fact, the Catholic Spaniards conquered Algiers instead, taking control of the city in 1509. The city suffered under Christian oppression for ten years before Ottoman Khaireddin Barbarossa recaptured Algiers in 1519 in a daring naval assault. The city and country would henceforth be part of the Ottoman Empire.
In the following years, Khaireddin Barbarossa built Algiers into one of the most powerful bastions on the Mediterranean. Up until his death 1546, he used it as the base for countless raids along the Mediterranean coast, besieging Spanish as well as Moorish cities, and bringing all of Algeria under his control. In Europe, the name Algiers became synonymous with a pirate’s den. In France, however, this was not the case. The French had long been in league with Khaireddin.
From allies to conquerors.
Although European nations tried again and again to recapture the city, all attempts failed miserably. Then, in the 19th century, the French gave it another try. Their conquest of Algeria began with the landing in 1830 at Sidi Fredj near Algiers. The final subjugation tool over fifty years.
After Algiers became a French colony in 1882, a huge influx of French companies and workers arrived and the city grew exponentially. The European residential areas built at that time still shape the cityscape of contemporary Algiers particularly at the base of the “triangle” along the 2-km-long boulevard along the harbour.
In the Casbah. The interplay between Berber pride, Ottoman organization and French sophistication lends Algiers a special charm. Visitors climbing from the French-influenced harbour district up to the Old City of the Casbah experience the city’s different cultures as well as its history.
Built around 1500 and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992, the Casbah is the old citadel of the Ottoman governors of Algiers. The higher one climbs, the more narrow and twisting the lanes become. The houses are crammed so close together that they nearly touch, and balconies are connected to one another above street level. Several important mosques are located in the midst of this confusion, including the Grand Mosque, the New Mosque and the Ketchaoua Mosque. All are renowned for their antiquity and architectural diversity.
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Depression and Constipation in Celiac Patients
Though we acknowledge celiac disease may well extend to irregularity if not addressed by a stringent gluten-elimination diet, many reports now appear to indicate that coeliac disease can likewise result in depression.
How precisely? Well that piece isn’t too defined just yet. We may call the issue celiac depression, but its sources might be from coeliac disease itself, malnutrition ensuing from malabsorption deriving from celiac disease or gluten intolerance, or even just the anxiousness and stress individuals often face while conforming to a gluten-free lifestyle.
Several research workers believe that malabsorption can interfere with the body’s handling of the neurotransmitters which regulate mood. In particular, malabsorption-related deficiencies of tryptophan appear to contribute to depressive disorder within coeliac patients. Tryptophan is all-important for the body’s output of serotonin, which is the central neurotransmitter expected by the body for mood regulation as well as the neurotransmitter which empowers our body’s tolerance of anxiety.
So one must question then if adjusting to a gluten-free diet can aid in treating depression while also minimizing celiac disease symptoms. If the patients clinical depression is associated with malabsorption of nutrients, then being gluten-free may ease treatment, as the intestines mend and nutrient assimilation increases.
With many instances, it appears the malnutrition theory seems to be the most substantive and legitimate. And what occurs before you begin suffering this malnutrition from gluten intolerance? That’s right, celiac disease constipation. Celiac disease constipation, in particular, results from the break down of villi which line your small intestine. This villi is essential for nutrient absorption. So I hope you now see how constipation from celiac disease can lead to a kind of celiac depression.
DISCLAIMER: I do wish my blogging on this matter helps somebody visiting this blog, but note that I am not a medical professional so you must consult with your physician before taking any medical suggestions from the Web.
Signs of Dyslexia
Dyslexia was virtually unknown, unrecognized and certainly not understood up until about 25 years ago. Almost all that we know about it has been learned fairly recently.
Dyslexics see things differently. Their eyes are the same as those of non-dyslexics, but their brains interpret the signals differently. Because of this they learn differently and need to be taught in the way they learn, not in the traditional mold.
In the last 15 years elementary school procedure has been to routinely screen for dyslexia in children. Practically all who had problems with reading were selected to go through a full-scale professional dyslexia test and evaluation.
Those who went through grade school more than 15 years ago almost all bear the scars of being hammered into molds that did not fit. They were ridiculed for their differences, looked at as retarded (which most are definitely not!), slow learners, etc. They were embarrassed and learn to hide their differences.
Millions of adult dyslexics today have never taken a dyslexia test. They still struggle with learning and reading difficulties that could be easily overcome if they were only known. A half-hour dyslexia test could make enormous improvements in their self-esteem and abilities.
There are many different types of dyslexia. In fact, there is no standard “type”; everyone is different. Dyslexics cannot be classified and put into different “boxes” to process. Each one must be tested and evaluated separately.
Today there are literally millions of adult dyslexics that are unaware that they are dyslexic. That is why dyslexia tests for adults are so important. With a test, they can be identified and helped. Without being tested, they probably will never be able to reach their full potential.
For more info on dyslexia and how it can be overcome, click on any of the above links.
DISCLAIMER: I hope this helps, but please note that I am not a Medical Doctor. You should consult with your M.D. or personal Physician before taking any medical advice from anyone on the Internet.
Courtesy of Steven Hinson
Wood Screen Doors Information
Lovely temperatures has arrived; the kind of climates that makes you raring to go to chuck open windows and doors. Sadly, the pests come right in beside with the chilly breeze. The solution to this crisis has been available for homeowners for somewhat a while now: screens, the Wood Screen Doors I mean. However, loads of owners of famous homes no longer have their primary window and door screens. Because window screens are effortlessly removed when in need of mending, they ordinarily get stacked in the garage and added to the bottom of the “To Do” List. Lumber screen doors in general get removed directly to the trash. The result is both a loss of antique appeal and a loss of comfort and purpose.
While the mass of wood window screens tend to be akin in design, the wood screen door has a bigger degree of design range to suit numerous architectural styles. The screen door also is subject to much more every day erosion than the usual window screen. Add high humidity and warmth fluctuations and you do have to spend some time thinking about screen doors if you want them to look correct and last for a realistic amount of time.
Although simple wood screen doors are obtainable at neighborhood home improvement stores, they are infrequently well-matched to antique houses or built to go on for any extent of time they are Wooden Screen Doors available. lots of of the presented screen doors are built of finger jointed, soft woods with narrow frames. The outcome is an oddly proportioned door that tends to bag and stick shortly after putting in place and become rancid within a season or two so you will need a new Wood Screen Door . They also are accessible only in stock sizes that often need to be customized in order to fit existing ancient door openings.
A superior, longer lasting resolution is to install a custom built screen door that is deliberate to set off the architectural style of the quarters and built of rot strong materials using hard-wearing joinery techniques. Screen door styles range from minimal rectangular frames suited to vernacular homes to ornate ginger-breaded doors for Victorian era buildings. Designs are presented for bungalow and Craftsman style buildings as well, with three or four vertical mullion bars in the lower portion of the door. Styles with hard lower panels may be best for people with pets and can be personalized for ancient home styles as well.
Materials such as cypress and impenetrable pine are suited for wood screen doors due to their rot resistance and dimensional stability. Strong joints, such as mortise and tenon connections add to the strength and stability of screen doors as well. Several screening options are offered, include fiberglass and aluminum, with aluminum more closely resembling the galvanized screening used historically. Finished with period-fitting hardware, a well designed and built wood screen door can add appeal to a antique home and serve as a welcome to both clean breeze and guests alike.