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Ok, I decided to do something crazy recently… For the last six weeks, I used myself as a guinea pig and completed an overeating experiment. The purpose of the experiment was to see how much weight I would gain if I purposely tried to over-eat on a daily basis for six weeks straight. What do you think the results were?  Did I get fat (after all, I gained 9 lbs on a 7-day cruise last year when my normal diet at home was replace with my cruise diet…although I subsequently lost that 9 lbs in only a week and a half after that cruise).  Or maybe during this overeating experiment I stayed the same weight or even got leaner? My theory was that if you eat the right types of highly nutrient-dense foods and do not stray from those foods at all, that your body will automatically re-balance itself (your hormones, appetite levels, etc, etc)… and even though you are attempting to over-eat, as long as the nutrient-density of all of your meals is maximi...

I was out recently with some friends and we stopped at a fast food joint. I hate fast food joints, but sometimes everybody else wants to go there, so you just have to make the best of it and find something at least somewhat healthy. If you're forced to eat fast-food, here's a tip to make sure that you're not doing much damage to your body… ALWAYS AVOID the soda and anything deep fried including french fries, hash browns, and anything breaded like chicken nuggets, chicken patties, or breaded fish sandwiches. These are all absolutely soaked in deadly trans fats from the industrial hydrogenated vegetable oils they use to fry all of these items.  Note: Even though some fast food restaurants have vowed to not use hydrogenated oils loaded with trans fats any more, they are still using highly refined processed oils, which are still inflammatory and negatively affect your health (and waistline). Remember, as I've said before, I've seen studies indicating that...

On your top 10 list of things that you find attractive in a woman, I'll bet facial beauty and a nice body account for 9 of the top 10 spots…and in many cases all 10. In fact, the vast majority of men… me included… will probably give a bit on the face if the woman has a rockin' body. Yet, in this same regard, how much will you compromise if the woman has the prettiest face you've ever seen… but she's carrying 10, maybe 15lbs over your ideal? Exactly. I don't care how pretty a woman's face is, if it's attached to a body more suited for a walrus, that woman is not on your radar, or any other guy that you or I know. This is the girl with the "great personality" that just so happens to be the proverbial "grenade" every night she goes out. "Personality" never gets a woman too far if she doesn't have the looks and the body and quite frankly, the research proves it. So, why do you think that would be any different for gu...

Depression is a debilitating condition with symptoms that may include feelings of hopelessness and despair, extreme fatigue and lack of interest in doing anything. People with depression feel drained and often lack the motivation to do anything about their condition. However, no matter what the cause or symptoms, most cases of depression can be treated. The trick is to find the right depression treatment for your particular symptoms.  If you have been depressed for a while, a doctor may have suggested that you try antidepressants. Prescription medications can be part of an overall treatment plan for moderate to severe depression, but it is not the only solution. Especially in cases of mild depression, there are many other things that can alleviate the symptoms, and you might want to try these before using prescription drugs. Here are some suggestions.   Don't go it alone  Positive energy is contagious, so if you are depressed, find positive people to support you. You m...

QUESTION: Hello Tom, I've been doing BFL for the past year, and did well at first, losing 3 dress sizes and 5% body fat, but then I totally hit a plateau and have had no more results since December. I'm wondering if I've been strict enough with my eating I bought your ebook, Burn The Fat, and I'm very excited about the information I've read so far, but I need some clarification about the eating part. I've been eating according to the BFL philosophy with one "cheat" day per week. What I'm reading in your Burn The Fat program is instead, to allow myself a couple of "cheat" meals any time during the week or on the weekend, but not to take an entire day off the program. However, in your list of foods that turn to fat, you mention that certain foods should only be eaten very rarely. Does that mean that they shouldn't even be eaten at a weekly cheat meal? I can live with that, but then, what constitutes a "cheat" meal, (...

For years, women have been saying that they are objectified by the media but these days it looks as though guys are getting the same treatment. Everywhere you look the "ideal" male physique is portrayed as being super-buff, with giant pecs, bulging biceps, perfect six-pack abs and a super-trim waist. And it's not just models and movie stars-it's happening in cartoons and with action figures. If it seems that the Batman, Superman, GI Joe or even Star Wars action figure that you bought your kid has a bigger, way more muscular physique than you remember it having when you were a kid, it's not your imagination, they're getting bigger-a lot bigger. Several studies on the subject done over the last ten years all came to the conclusion that portrayals of the ideal male figure-even cartoon characters and kid's action figures-have become larger-than-life. In her study, Male body image obsession: the number of men with eating disorders and "bigarexia...

  Q. Is calorie a bad word? A. No, it's not bad—just misunderstood! Most people who use the word calorie simply don't know what it means. Also, in my experience, most people to go pale at the mere mention of the word. Based on those facts alone, I would eliminate calorie from the English vocabulary if I could. Q. Why is calorie such a misunderstood word? A. The American public has been told, time and time again, that people who consume more calories than their bodies burn will gain weight. As I explain in The Diet Solution: Start Eating and Start Living, this statement is only partially true. All calories are not created equal; calories consumed from healthy foods and unhealthy foods are quite different. Q. What exactly is a calorie, then? A. According to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (11th edition), a calorie is "a unit equivalent to the large calorie expressing heat-producing or energy-producing value in food when oxidized ...

Now that I pissed off all of the treadmill and elliptical machine worshipers… let me say that if you truly enjoy mindlessly pumping away on a treadmill or elliptical (or exercise bike for that matter too), then by all means, keep doing what you enjoy, because enjoying your exercise is one of the most important aspects to sticking with any exercise program… However, don't say that I didn't warn you that you were wasting your time with all that mindless cardio machine boredom. If I haven't mentioned it before, I don't believe in cardio machines, and to be quite honest, I don't think I've personally used a treadmill, elliptical, or exercise bike for at least the last 7-8 years or so. As a matter of fact, I don't even use cardio machines anymore for warmups before a workout (I did before occasionally)… Nowadays, I prefer to do dumbbell or kettlebell snatches and swings mixed with bodyweight exercises as the perfect full body warmup at the beginning of...

The controversies over cardio for fat loss are endless: steady state versus intervals, fed versus fasted, long and easy versus short and intense, and so on. Obviously there is a lot of interest in cardio training and how to do it right. Sadly, most people are still doing 2 things terribly wrong and it's killing their results…… As best as I can figure, there are two major reasons why people are still mucking up their cardio programs for fat loss. REASON #1: NOT ENOUGH FOCUS ON TOTAL CALORIES BURNED Most people aren't burning enough darn calories. Why? Well, I guess they are too busy worrying about the "proper" type of exercise (which machine or activity), the mode (steady state or intervals), the "optimal" ratio of intervals, or the "best" duration. Some people coast along on the treadmill at 2.3 miles per hour or some similar sloth-like pace and they think that just by hitting a TIME goal, such as 45 or 60 minutes, that with "X" durat...

Although I always try to do my best with nutrition (probably 95% compliance), I've admitted before that I'm not perfect. Heck, nobody's perfect. And last week was an example… I went on vacation with about 10 of my buddies last week… a nice little tropical party vacation!  So obviously, there was a good deal of drinking and eating just about anything and everything going on during the entire vacation. I gained 8 lbs in 1 week!  Yes, us fitness pros are not always "fitness robots"… we are human. I honestly don't think I've eaten a single hot dog in about 5 or 6 years… but one night after a long night out with the guys, we came back and I threw down 3 hot dogs in one sitting.  In retrospect, that was nasty… but at 3am, with nothing else in our vacation house for food, I gave in, and found myself stuffing my face with something I usually view as disgusting food. But I knew this all would happen… as a matter of fact, I don't stress about going ...

In several other articles, I've told you about some of the really cool experiments that Tim Ferriss has done in his new book that I read recently,  The 4-Hour Body , and I wanted to show you this one today, because it's pretty cool, and also a simple thing to do… You may have heard different websites or anecdotes in the past about these 3 substances and their possible effects on reducing the blood sugar response of a meal (taken either before or during a meal), which can, essentially help to keep insulin levels lower post-meal and keep the body from depositing extra body fat.  Maintaining lower and more stable blood sugar levels also helps to prevent cravings . These 3 substances that he tested pre-meal are: But do they actually work in controlling blood sugar response from a meal? Well, that's what Tim decided to test out on himself as one of his experiments that he did in The 4-Hour Body .  Tim actually used a blood sugar meter (normally for d...

I'm going to go over the nine things in a vertical training program; the nine things you need to focus on in order to obtain the maximum explosion that your body has. The nine things work together in a synergistic effect so that when you train one of them, it might help you in another aspect, so that when you are improving all of the aspects of the jump training program you're going to notice that they're all going to work together. We call that synergy; it's kind of the buzzword when things work together; the one plus one equals three kind of thing. The parts of the jump training program working together will create a whole that is greater than each one working individually. #1 Strength: The first is strength, your ability to generate force. We're also talking about two different kinds of strength. We're working on fast twitch muscle strength; not just the ability to lift something up, but to do so quickly. #2 Quickness: The second aspect is quickne...

QUESTION: Dear Tom: What's the deal with "body wraps"? Do they really shrink fat cells or this just another weight loss scam? ANSWER: Body wraps do not shrink fat cells or burn body fat – no matter what type of wrap: bandages soaked in herbs, minerals, enzymes, plastic, foil, vinyl, seaweed, clay, mud – it doesn't matter, body wraps don't burn fat. And those "sauna wraps" or rubber "wraps" that go around your waist? They can't "burn" an ounce of fat either. Fat can only be lost with a caloric deficit from a reduction in food intake, an increase in activity or ideally, a combination of both. Whenever you see fat loss claims for wraps or any other product which doesn't involve nutrition or exercise, you could certainly call that a "scam" and you should always stay away, no matter how compelling the sales pitch. Furthermore, the companies making fat loss claims would be in hot water with the Federal Trade Co...

Credit Repair Tips seem to be a dime a dozen these days… There are so many credit blogs and forums out there, but if you are not familiar with them you might not know whether you are getting information that is truly informative and helpful or if you are just buying into a bunch of junk. The problem with blogs is that so many people can just say what they think and pass it off as good information. This is fine if you are looking up conspiracy theories, but when you need good solid information about building and maintaining good credit it can really cause some problems. That is why it is so important to find credit repair tips that give correct techniques AND keep you interested. When you hook up with a good source, you will find that you get lots of up to date tools and information to help you no matter what your credit question. For an example, here is a great site that gives a free credit repair presentation. It includes free insider techniques you can use to repair your credit ...

So, unless you've been hiding under a rock for the past few months, you know that Kate Middleton and Prince William got married in a big royal wedding last week. All the talk was about Kate Middleton's possible crash diet, rather than any healthy eating plan.There was a lot of speculation about Kate Middleton's preparations for her big day, especially when it came to her diet. Gossip magazines hinted that the future Duchess of Cambridge was using a special crash diet to look her best. Others hypothesized that she was using the Dukan Regime to  get fit for her wedding. That led me to wonder—how many times in our lives have we relied on a quick fix to get us in shape for an event? Maybe we, too, wanted to get fit for our wedding days. Or maybe we crash dieted to feel more confident about an upcoming job interview, or even a high school reunion. But did you know that you can eliminate the need for crash dieting by simply sticking to a he...