How to do parties and barbeques and stay LEAN

I hope you're having a fun Memorial Day weekend!  If you're like most people, this weekend (and many summer weekends to come) will involve some fun barbeques and weekend parties.

A lot of people totally let their fitness goals slip and pack on the pounds during these weekend parties and gatherings.  But it doesn't have to be that way... it can actually be fairly easy to still enjoy the summer parties while staying lean and healthy, if you make some smart choices...

So, here's a few tips off the top of my head to help you out:

1.  First, if you get a good full body resistance training workout within a couple hours before you go to a party or barbeque, you'll be able to have a little more leeway in terms of your body being able to handle higher calorie loads or higher carbohydrate loads.  Remember that this needs to be more than just a "cardio" workout.  Cardio doesn't really stimulate the metabolic response nearly as much as full body resistance training, so this is important.

In fact, as long as you did great with your nutrition all week long, your day of backyard barbeque on the weekend can be your "cheat day" and you can indulge on most items without much guilt (with the exception of deep fried foods and soda in my opinion, which are so damaging to your health that they still have no rightful place in any human diet).

But just remember to get right back to a good clean nutrition plan when you get back home from the bbq or party.  Where most people go wrong is falsely thinking that they "screwed up" on their nutrition, so they might as well just binge the entire weekend now.  That's the wrong mentality. 

2.  If you didn't get a full body workout on the day of the bbq/party, then it's not a good idea to do a full "cheat day" and you should probably practice some restraint at the party in terms of what foods you choose.  Personally, I prefer to "go a little nuts" at barbeques, so I make sure to get a good workout beforehand so the extra calories are utilized for muscle repair instead of fat deposition. 

But if you can't squeeze in a workout that day, you'll need to make smarter choices... 

One way to do this in the healthiest way with the least damage to your waistline is to choose mostly meats and veggies, but avoid the starchy carbs as much as possible.  So load up on the meats, the greens salad, and the grilled veggies, but avoid the potatoes, breads, and other starchy foods.  Also, make sure only drink water or unsweetened iced tea instead of sweetened drinks.

3.  Ok, now we get to the controversial topic of alcohol... and although most fitness pros will tell you that you need to avoid all alcohol, I need to acknowledge that this isn't realistic, as most people are simply not willing to fully give up social drinking (including myself).

I have an article at my site that covers balancing social drinking into a fitness/nutrition plan that will still keep you lean:

7 tips to still enjoy alcohol and stay lean and healthy


4.  When it comes to the actual cooking of the food at your backyard parties/barbeques, make sure you also read my article below:

NEVER grill meat, unless you do this

Enjoy those summer parties!

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer

This video is 4 minutes of pure inspiration

All I can say is WOW!  This video is truly inspirational. Something I promise you'll want to share with your friends.

It's only 4 minutes, but trust me, these 4 minutes will change your day:

4 Minutes of pure inspiration (please watch)

Please send this page to all of your friends and family to share this motivating and inspirational story.



Not only did he lose 140 lbs, but he proved his doctors wrong, and not only walked again, but started running too!  Just amazing.

If this man can overcome such major obstacles in his life, what is it in your life that you're currently not achieving that you need to go after?

If you want another great video that will give you 4 minutes of pure adrenaline, watch this .

One last thing for today...

For any ladies reading this email, if you want some really cool fitness inspiration, make sure to check out my good friend Flavia's short video here:

Flavia's video on how to get the perfect female physique (curvy, but toned and lean)

Enjoy!

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer

How sugar can cause heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and more

I think most people understand that sugar is bad for your health.  It can rot your teeth.  It can cause diabetes.  It can make you fat.  People generally understand this.

But I think most people don't really understand just how bad sugar really is for our health...  This video below goes into detail more about this:

Is sugar toxic to your body?

As you can see, the problems with sugar go much deeper than even the obvious problems.  And it can be as addictive as cocaine even!  As you can see, sugar can directly increase heart disease, stroke, and cancer risk as well. 

The bottom line is that I don't think most people want to fully eliminate sugar from their diet, but reducing it as much as possible is vitally important.

Make sure to pass this page to your friends and family to help protect their health.

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer

Does danger lurk in your lotions, creams, and shampoos?

Today's topic deals with some of the nasty chemicals that most females are harming themselves with in cosmetics, lotions, face creams, shampoos, etc, as well as natural alternatives that are much safer.

But for the guys reading this, you might want to keep reading and make sure to pass this info on to the women in your lives (girlfriend, wife, mother, etc) that might be harming their health with all of the nasty chemicals in all of these cosmetics, lotions, creams, shampoos, etc that they use everyday (plus make sure that you're not inadvertently being exposed to these harmful hormone disrupting chemicals).

The first thing you need to be aware of is that unless you get the best natural, organic formulas, MOST lotions, creams, shampoos and other cosmetics contain potentially harmful chemicals known as "parabens".

Parabens are synthetic chemical-based estrogen mimickers (xenoestrogens) that can easily be absorbed into your skin from lotions, creams, shampoos, and other cosmetics.  Once your body absorbs these harmful xenoestrogens, they can cause hormone imbalances for both men and women causing problems such as low-T and manboobs for men, as well as problems in women such as breast cancer, menstrual cycle issues, and early menopause, among other issues.  They've also been linked to possible early puberty in girls.

Also, there are some studies that indicate possible accelerated aging of your skin from parabens in lotions when they react to UV rays you are exposed to.

The bottom line... parabens are NASTY, and not something you should ever want to put on your body's largest organ, your SKIN, which absorbs them into your body to a good degree.

Because of the health risks associated with parabens (and other nasty chemicals found in lotions and cosmetics), I've been trying to convince my girlfriend to find natural alternatives to these chemical-based cosmetics.  In doing research on this topic over the last few months, I was referred to a cool new site that shows you dozens of ways to use natural alternatives including FOOD for glowing, healthy younger skin !

The creator of this site, Hanan, just finished her new report called "The Beauty of Food" that reveals ALL of her beauty tips… and the vast majority use nothing more than FOODS (not that you eat) to make the treatments.

Hanan looks at least 10 years younger than her age (she gets carded everywhere she goes)... and she is ALWAYS using these homemade formulas.

So, while her manual will definitely give you awesome, home-made beauty treatments, it can also save your health in the process. Synthetic estrogen overload is serious, and these simple, natural alternatives can help you stop the damage and restore natural hormone health. 

This is your natural solution to win the battle against these nasty xenoestrogens that can cause breast cancer, hormone imbalances, menstrual cycle issues, accelerated skin aging, as well as problems for men too such as low-T, manboobs, and more...

Grab her report here today, because she's practically giving it away -- the first 1,000 copies that is.

To your health,

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer