All posts by Mike Shannon

Sometimes your metabolism works against you even when you think you’re doing everything right. It’s time you took a good, hard look at how your metabolism really works.

Check out the metabolism myths below and then use your new knowledge to put your metabolism to work…

Myth 1: Metabolism Works from 9 to 5
Difficult as it may be to believe, your body’s metabolism does not stop working when you do. In fact, your metabolism works all day, every day. If it didn’t, you wouldn’t even have the energy to get out of bed in order to read this article. (You are out of bed, aren’t you?) Also the time of day that you eat isn’t what makes you gain pounds. It’s what you eat. So if you think you can get away with eating that quarter-pounder with cheese, bacon, mayo, and bun, a large order of greasy fries, and a 32-ounce milkshake without any consequences—just because you ate it at lunch and not late at night—think again! Eat smart all day long, have a healthy snack at night if necessary, and then sleep well, knowing your metabolism is doing its thing even while you’re catching some Zzzzs.

Myth 2: It Can’t Be Controlled
You’ve probably met someone who seems to be able to eat anything they want without gaining weight. You may have even dreamed of having such a metabolism. Well, there’s good news. You may not have the metabolism that lets you do that just yet, but you can work toward it. Help boost your metabolism by lifting weights, getting a good night of sleep, eating enough protein to power you through the day, and drinking plenty of water. Want something more than water? Here’s another smidgen of good news: a little caffeine in your daily intake will help you get rid of calories faster than going without. Just make sure your caffeine isn’t bathed in sugar and unnecessary calories.

Myth 3: Skinny Folks Have Higher Metabolism
Yes, a high metabolism can help you burn more calories than a low metabolism. But don’t let that fool you into thinking the skinniest people around have the highest metabolism. Quite the contrary. If the thinnest individuals had the highest metabolism, they would likely be dangerously underweight. As it is, when you are very thin, your metabolism will likely be lower, as there’s not much of you to burn away safely.

However, you shouldn’t grab the ice cream carton in order to put on extra pounds to up your metabolism. Instead, focus on adding muscle pounds via the weight room.

Myth 4: Getting Old Makes Your Metabolism Go Bye-Bye
There is a bit of truth to this myth. As you age, your metabolism will drop a tiny bit. Not enough to make a meaningful difference, but it does drop. Much of this decrease (again—it is almost negligible) is due to the typical muscle loss that accompanies aging.

Want to curb your body’s age-related drop in metabolism? Include resistance training in your exercise routine. As you age, keep up the weight training and you’ll keep your metabolism strong and steady throughout all the stages of life. In the event it does drop a little, you’ll be in such good shape you won’t notice.

Myth 5: You Can Eat Your Way to Higher Metabolism
Occasionally, the world is taken by a weight-loss idea that is so simple you’d be a moron not to give it a try. One of these recent ideas is that you can eat or drink certain things to boost your metabolism and lose weight with greater ease.

While eating peppers on a regular basis and drinking gallons of green tea each week offers some health benefits, it won’t do more than temporarily boost your metabolism. Approximately half an hour after consuming these supposed metabolism mega-boosters, the boost is over and you’re back to your normal metabolism. A normal, well-balanced diet is a much better option.

When it comes to achieving and maintaining your most effective metabolism, a consistent and challenging exercise routine is key. My clients know that when I work with them, I make it my mission to get the results they deserve. Call or email today and I’ll get you started on an exercise program that will take your metabolism to the next level.

The term ‘hack’ is being used a lot lately. While it used to have a negative connotation, these days to ‘hack’ is to find a quicker, easier and more effective method for achieving a goal.
There are life hacks (like packing Christmas ornaments in empty egg cartons), food hacks (like placing a handful of cherry tomatoes between two plates and using a knife to halve them all in one fell swoop), and as I’ll share with you today, fat loss hacks.

Fat loss hacks are ways of doing everyday things, like eating, in a way that promotes fat loss and blocks fat storage. Sounds pretty great, right?!

Here are my 7 most effective Fat Loss Hacks…

Fat Loss Hack #1: Cauliflower Rice
Serve shredded, sautéed cauliflower as rice, rather than traditional brown or white rice. This simple hack will save you hundreds of calories per meal and will leave you no less satisfied. You can even add your favorite spices and flavor additions as you do with traditional rice.
Fat Loss Hack #2: Vegetable Noodles
There are many ways to create and enjoy noodles made from vegetables, rather than noodles made from grains. The veggie noodles are a hundred times less fattening than grain-based noodles, so what are you waiting for?! Use a spiral slicer to turn zucchini or butternut squash into noodles; bake a spaghetti squash and scrape out those nature-made noodles; or simply use a traditional veggie peeler to create long noodle strips from zucchini.

Fat Loss Hack #3: Lettuce Wrapped
By simply replacing your sliced bread and buns for large pieces of lettuce, you’ll quickly eliminate a couple hundred calories from each meal. Once you get used to the crunch of the lettuce you’ll enjoy your new style of sandwich and burger even more than the traditional way.

Fat Loss Hack #4: Protein Powder
Did you know that protein powder can be used in many recipes to increase the protein and reduce the carbs? Replace a portion of the flour in your pancakes with high quality protein powder and you’ll see how delicious it tastes while being so much healthier for you.

Fat Loss Hack #5: Coconut Oil
Replace the vegetable oil in your kitchen with coconut oil, and enjoy benefits such as increased fat burning and reduced appetite. In addition, you’ll be avoiding the pitfalls of other, less healthy oils and fats. Coconut oil can be used in virtually any recipe – both stove top and baking.

Fat Loss Hack #6: Wholesome Sweeteners
Throw the refined sugar out of your kitchen and replace it with any one of these wholesome sweeteners: coconut sugar, raw honey, pure maple syrup, or pitted dates. By getting your sweet fix from these wholesome, real food sweeteners you’ll be taking in fewer calories and there will be less of an impact on your blood sugar, which will result in less fat stored.

Fat Loss Hack #7: Water
Replace high-calorie beverages with crystal clear water. This simple hack could quite possibly change your life. If high calories, sugar-laden beverages make up a significant part of your daily calories then switching to water will swiftly induce fat loss.

Start using these Fat Loss Hacks today and enjoy a leaner, more fit physique – and let me know when your jeans start to feel a little loose!

Nobody wants to eat dirty. It just sounds gross. But if you’re not eating clean, that’s what’s going on. So you may be wondering what it takes to take the dirt out of your diet and wash it off so you can dine on the clean diet you deserve. Well, wonder no more.

Below, you’ll find out what exactly clean eating is and what you can do to make your diet a little bit cleaner.

Keeping It Clean

First things first. What is it? If clean eating is completely foreign to you or you’ve only heard about it in passing or seen it on the cover of a magazine, here is a quick rundown of what clean eating is all about.

Clean eating is nothing more than knowing where your food comes from. Well, that’s where it starts at least. Because if all you do is know what factory your food is made in, you’re not eating clean. The heart of clean eating is knowing where your food comes from, how it gets to you, and taking the necessary steps to only eat those things that are in their most natural and therefore healthy state.

In other words, eating clean means you’ll be eating a lot of whole foods, a.k.a. “real foods,” which are either not processed at all or have undergone very little processing. Thanks to the desire to prolong shelf life of foods, many foods are so crammed with preservatives and are so processed they barely resemble their original state. Clean eating doesn’t allow such foods in your system.

What It Isn’t

While clean eating is great, there are some things it is not. To begin, clean eating is not easy. A century ago, it was much easier. However, with advances in food preservation, food processing became more and more common. Today, finding enough unprocessed food to live off of is no easy task. Heading to your local farmers’ market is a great way to start making it happen, and now that the warm weather is upon is, it makes that task much easier.

It’s also not about going raw. Cooking your food is fine if you’re eating clean. All you’ve got to do is make sure the food you cook is as close to its original state as possible. As long as you’re not prepping your food in a way that will keep it edible for decades to come, you’re still eating clean.

Finally, it’s not about cutting certain food groups from your diet. While eating clean will help you lose weight and feel better, you won’t get the perks by cutting out fats or desserts. You’ll get the perks by simply eating clean.

How to Do It

If you want to become part of the clean eating movement, here’s some good news: it’s delicious.

With clean eating, you’ll be eating the good stuff: fats, protein, and carbohydrates. You’ll also probably be eating more often than the traditional three meals each day. Instead, you’ll enjoy five or six smaller meals.

As you eat, you’ll want to avoid some fats. Namely, you’ll want to keep away from saturated fats. You also want to prevent yourself from overdoing it on salt. Instead, train your pallet to appreciate the flavor of food without all the added salt and sugar that is so common in processed foods.

Eating clean, coupled with challenging exercise, is the formula for a toned, lean body — so guarantee your results by teaming up with me.