Saturday

Quick "on-the-go" fat-burning breakfasts

I just had a conversation with a good friend of mine who said she needs options for FAST "on-the-go" healthy breakfasts, because she doesn't have time in the morning to make a full omelette and veggies breakfast.

This is a problem for a lot of people and most people end up resorting to a cereal breakfast or bagel or toast breakfast, which is NOT good if you're looking to get truly lean and healthy.

Remember as I've talked about many times before that studies consistently show that people that eat cereal or other carbohydrate-based breakfasts such as bagels, toast, or muffins typically struggle more with bodyweight (and blood sugar, cravings, etc) compared to those that eat more of a protein and healthy fat based breakfast.

As you know, I tend to favor having eggs and veggies (and avocado) as my breakfast of choice.  But as my friend asked here, she doesn't have time in the morning to make an omelette breakfast. 

So what are the best choices so that you don't have to resort to cereals, bagels, and other carb-based breakfasts that will make you fatter, cause your blood sugar to go crazy, and have you craving more carbs the rest of the day?

Here were my suggestions for FAST, but healthy options that will help your goal in getting lean and also controlling blood sugar:


Option 1.  On your way out of the house, grab a piece of fruit (an apple, orange, pear, or bag of berries) and a ziplock bag of almonds, pecans, or walnuts.  Go with raw nuts if possible to prevent the polyunsaturated fats from oxidizing as can happen in roasted nuts.  But even roasted nuts are a better option compared to cereals or bagels.

You might want to get a little extra protein to go with this breakfast too, so try to swig down a quick glass of a quality whey protein (preferably raw grass-fed whey) before leaving the house.


Option 2.  Another quick option for a healthy blood sugar stabilizing breakfast is to make a quick protein and berry smoothie.  If you need to get out of the house quick in the morning, it only takes a minute to blend up a smoothie, put it in a to-go container and head out.

Try to mix in some frozen berries for extra fiber and antioxidants as well as some nutrient dense chia seeds and/or hemp seeds for extra nutrition.  Some organic unsweetened cocoa powder adds helpful blood pressure lowering antioxidants.

Unsweetened almond milk or coconut milk makes a great base for the smoothie, and you can try either a whey protein, or a mix such as Prograde Lean (which as 35 gms of protein and 8 gms of blood sugar controlling fiber).


Option 3.  And yet another great option for a FAST and healthy breakfast "on-the-go" is simply to grab a couple hard boiled eggs and veggie sticks (and maybe some hummus too).  You can't go wrong with this nutrient-rich breakfast as it's the perfect breakfast to get super lean and keep your blood sugar and appetite 100% controlled.

There you have it... 3 perfect options for fast "on-the-go" lean body breakfasts!  Rotate all 3 of these ideas if you need variety each week.

Want more tips for a leaner body in 2012?  Check out my buddy Rob's advice here:

3 Simple and quick "tiny belly" tricks

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer

Wednesday

My new discovery: HEALTHY ICE CREAM!

Let's face it... typical sugar-loaded ice cream is NOT usually our friend in keeping a lean body...

BUT, I just recently tried out an awesome new healthy ice cream product, and I'm pretty excited about this discovery. 

First of all, this ice cream tastes freakin amazing... but aside from taste, check out this unheard of nutrition profile of this ice cream:

* 8 grams of fiber per serving  (show me another ice cream with 8 grams of fiber!)
* 15 grams of PROTEIN per serving  (sorry, I don't know any ice cream that has more than 2 grams of protein)
* ZERO artificial sweeteners  (that's right, no nasty cancer-causing, hormone-disrupting chemicals that are in most "lite" ice creams)
* a measly 5 grams of sugar per serving (compared to about 25 grams of sugar in a serving of normal ice cream)
* 100% all-natural, with no artificial chemicals
* helps satisfy sugar cravings in a healthy way

Pretty exciting stuff huh...  Now you can have ice cream for dessert each night and not feel guilty! 

I've personally tried both the chocolate and vanilla flavors and they are both out of this world.  I also added some pecans and cinnamon to the vanilla flavor, which was deeee-lish!

And here's the best part yet... since this product is brand new, the company is trying to increase awareness and word-of-mouth about the new healthy ice cream product by giving away free samples!  I'm friends with the owner of this company which was how I got to taste-test both the chocolate and vanilla flavors and I can tell you... you are going to LOVE this...

Try out a free sample of this healthy ice cream here.

Where else can you get ice cream with 15 grams of protein per serving, and 8 grams of fiber per serving... awesome stuff!

By the way, speaking of healthy desserts, if you haven't tried my healthy fudge recipe or my healthy pudding recipes yet, make sure to bookmark these pages below:

My delicious healthy chocolate fudge recipe

My healthy lean-body chocolate pudding recipe

I think you'll LOVE these healthy desserts!

Also, if you haven't tried any of these desserts yet, make sure to check out my friend Kelley's incredibly healthy dessert recipes here.

Enjoy!
 
Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer

Friday

The WORST gifts that can harm your friends

You would never want to purposely cause your friends and family diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and cancer, right?

But with some Holiday gifts that are all too common, you do just THAT... you contribute to those horrible health issues for your friends and family.

I know this might sound a little overly health-conscious to some, but every time you buy a friend or family member a junk food gift like a big box of cheap commercial chocolates (loaded with corn syrup and trans fats), pies/cakes, or a giant sugary fruit cake, you're essentially CAUSING your friend or family member to get one-step closer to their grave...

Do you really want to contribute to your friends and family getting horrendous diseases like diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and cancer?

I'm not going to sit here and say that all Holiday junk food is off limits at all times... after all, you know I believe in weekly "cheat days" to keep your sanity and also help your metabolism. 

But the problem is that you know that if you give a friend a big box of chocolates or a fruit cake, they're going to eat that crap every day for at least a week straight.  And if they're the type of person with no self discipline, you're contributing to their deteriorating health. Not good!

Instead of hurting your friends health... The fact is that there are DELICIOUS YET HEALTHY ways to make mouth-watering chocolates, healthy chocolate fudge, pies, cakes, and all of those other seemingly "off limits" desserts... you just need to use a few tricks that are easy to follow and can make almost any dessert or sweet treat into a healthy "lean-body" version.

My friend Kelley shows you how here:

How to make healthy fat-burning cakes, pies, cheesecake, chocolates, and brownies

I absolutely LOVED this!  Instead of sending your friends and family one step closer to the grave, make some of these healthy desserts for them and help them get healthier!

And all of those delicious desserts are gluten-free, low-sugar, diabetic-friendly, and also loaded with healthy fats that contribute to a leaner body.

Also, here are a few more great Holiday gifts that you can give that help spread good health instead of deteriorating health...

1.  Food Inc., Movie  -- this has been one of my favorite documentaries that sheds light on our horrendous food supply and what you can do about it to protect your health and contribute to the greater good of an improving food supply.

I think this documentary is a MUST-SEE for everyone.  If you have kids, it's also good to watch with your kids to teach them about nutrition and our food supply.


2.  Burzynski, the Movie -- If you're concerned about cancer, or have a loved one that has been fighting or killed by cancer, this documentary is a must-see.  Remember that cancer is BIG business, and unfortunately corporate profits have ruled over saving lives.  You'll be infuriated to hear the story about this Polish doctor and biochemist, Burzynski, and his cancer treatment discovery that is MORE effective than chemo or radiation, yet he's been harassed for over a decade by the FDA to keep this treatment hushed up, as it stands to crumble a billion dollar cancer industry.


3.  King Corn, Movie -- This is another great documentary about our food supply.  This is done in an entertaining way, but also shows why corn is the basis of our food supply, and how basing our food supply around corn deteriorates our health.  You'll also learn quite a few new facts about how bad this trend really is in our food supply.

I could probably think of a few more that I've seen over the last year, but these 3 are great gifts, and also must-see documentaries for yourself too!  If I remember a few other good ones, I'll let you know.

Another great gift below... although this is more self-improvement instead of health...


A brain trick to learn ANY new language in only 10 days?
You may already know this about me, but I LOVE to travel and explore the world.  I've traveled extensively in South America, Central America, Mexico, lots of islands, and Europe.  In fact, I just got back from a little surfing and enjoying beautiful Mexico last week.

While traveling is a blast, one of my biggest frustrations is that I only know english and frequently cannot communicate with locals in many of the countries we travel through.

Over the past year or two, I've had the chance to become good friends with the CEO of a really cool company that shows you how to learn ANY language in only 10 days, and 30 minutes per day.  The interesting thing is that they don't use any of the standard techniques taught in college courses or even the popular Rosetta Stone.

They use a technique that works MUCH faster and easier than most courses.  My girlfriend and I have just started on the spanish version so that the next time we travel to Mexico or any other spanish speaking countries, we can communicate with the locals.

If you want to learn a new language FAST, you'll be blown away by this... check it out:

How to learn ANY language in only 10 days (30 minutes per day)
This makes a great Holiday gift too!


Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer

Saturday

The effects of antibiotics on your belly fat and gut flora

I know that there is a time and place for antibiotics, particularly with life-threatening infections.  However, there's a dark side to taking antibiotics, and as you'll see in today's brand new article, you'll see how one of the side-effects of taking antibiotics is increased abdominal fat.

Scary huh!  Read the new article here:

Do antibiotics increase your abdominal fat?


This article is important for your health and that of your family and friends, so please fwd this email on to any of your friends, family, or co-workers to help protect their health.

I think you'll find this article quite shocking when you see some of the scientific proof on how antibiotics effect the health and diversity of your gut flora, and the negative effects of this on your digestion and immune system.

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer