The Seven Habits of a Highly Successful Nutrition Program

Today’s Fitness Factor Blog is all about nutrition. Nutrition plays the biggest role when it comes to changing your body and the way that you feel. Whether you are trying to lose body fat or gain muscle, or both, nutrition plays the most important role in this process.

Along with your regular exercise program, you should do the following:

1. Eat something nutritious every two to three hours.
2. Make sure that each of your meals contains lean protein, such as fish, skinless chicken, lean sirloin, turkey, or egg whites.
3. Eat fruits and vegetables with each meal.
4. Consume a high protein, high carbohydrate drink, such as Muscle Milk Light combined with a serving of Carbo Hits, within thirty minutes of each workout.
5. Other than the calorie-rich drinks that follow workouts, it is important that you regularly drink only non-calorie containing beverages.
6. Consume healthful fats daily, such as almonds, nuts, fish, and flax seed oils.
7. Obtain all of your carbohydrates from fresh fruits and vegetables, and not from alcoholic beverages or other fattening substances which contain very little or no nutritional value.

Start incorporating these ideas into your lifestyle today, and you will achieve things that you never thought possible.

The In-Home Exercise of the Week
Level: Advanced and Intermediate; high in impact
Equipment needed: jump rope
Primary muscles used: the all-important heart

Try these different options:

1) Crossover: Jump a few times in the traditional way, and then, while still jumping, quickly cross your hands to the opposite sides, and jump that way once or twice, and then bring your hands back to their correct sides, and then back again….
2) Downhill Skiing: Jump in the traditional way, but, keeping your feet together, jump from side to side, as if you were slaloming (skiing downhill).
3) The Running Man: While jumping rope, bend at the knees, and lift one leg out in front and the other behind, as if you were jogging. Keep this up.
4) Reverse Jump: Just what it sounds like—jump in the traditional way, but turn the rope in the opposite direction.
5) Double Jump: Jump in the regular way, but twice as fast, so that you jump twice before the rope hits the ground.
6) Skip Jump: Basically, the same as the Running Man, but don’t extend your legs as far.
7) One Leg Jump: Just what it sounds like. Try to keep the number of jumps that you do on one leg the same as what you do on the other one.

The Product Review of the Week
The Bosu Trainer (www.bosu.com)

This is one of the most effective pieces of equipment that you will ever use. If you are looking to improve your balance and coordination, while increasing your strength and muscle, the Bosu Trainer is definitely for you! I’ve been using the Bosu Trainer for years to help my clients to reach their goals and in my own fitness program. There are a dozen different great exercises that you can do with the Bosu Trainer. If you are recovering from a back or a knee injury, the Bosu Trainer is great because it absorbs most of the impact. In addition to reducing the impact, the Bosu Trainer requires your body to recruit a lot more muscles, providing you with a better workout and improving your balance. That is why the Bosu Trainer is the Product of the Week.

The Most Outrageous Product of the Week:
Super Power Berry Extract

It can be found only in the rainforest of Iraq. Who would have known that there is a rainforest in Iraq? The bottom line in reference to this and other nutritional products is that the FDA has not set guidelines for levels of anti-oxidants. There are many companies out there today that are claiming that they have the most powerful anti-oxidant in the world. They are selling it in juices, drinks, gels, you name it. The bottom line is, if you are approached by someone trying to sell these kinds of products to you, I certainly recommend running in the other direction.

Run!! Forrest, run!!

Factor Mail

We have received thousands of emails requesting information on nutrition and fitness. I’m going to attempt to answer a dozen of them by dealing with one question. Are you ready?

People ask all of the time, “Corey, how do I remove fat from my triceps, my inner thighs, my butt, my stomach? What exercises can I do?”

Listen, please: you cannot spot-reduce body fat! Let me say that again: You cannot spot-reduce body fat!!

For years, I’ve been helping people to reduce body fat, and it is just not possible to reduce it from one spot. You can spot-build muscles, such as biceps or legs, but body fat is removed when your body wants to remove it. Your genetics determine where your body fat will be reduced first. So, it might pull from the bottom of your arms first or from your stomach or from your inner thighs or your butt. You cannot control that.

Do your best by eating properly, performing cardiovascular exercises, and your resistance training. Be patient and don’t give up. The fat will come off!!

Until next time, make it happen!

Corey Ritter

If you enjoyed this blog, and if you have questions or comments, please send them to corey@thefitnessfactor.com or post them right here.

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