Lose Abdominal
Fat
At the
Gym all I hear is " I want six pack abs but
it's so difficult" but the truth is it's not so difficult all
you need to know is how to lose stomach fat, your six pack abs
are already there its just a case of knowing how to lose
abdominal fat and just a small abs program is all you need,
watch our free video on getting a six
pack
My Top 55 Lean-Body Foods to Build Muscle
and Lose Body Fat
The right foods for getting that six pack
you have always
wanted
by Michael Geary - Certified Nutrition
Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer
In most of my Lean-Body Secrets Newsletters, I
like to provide a healthy snack or meal recipe that not only
is delicious and healthy, but also helps to get you closer to
that hard-body appearance that everyone is looking for, while
also more importantly, improving your health for life. In this
article, I'd like to give you healthy food ideas in a
different way. This time, I figured I'd just give you some
ideas of what I stock my fridge and cabinets with.
Remember, if you don't have junk around
the house, you're less likely to eat junk. If all you have is
healthy food around the house, you're forced to make smart
choices. Basically, it all starts with making smart choices
and avoiding temptations when you make your grocery store
trip. Now these are just some of my personal preferences, but
perhaps they will give you some good ideas that you'll
enjoy.
Alright, so let's start with the fridge.
Each week, I try to make sure I'm loaded up with lots of
varieties of fresh
vegetables. During the growing season, I only get
local produce, but obviously in winter, I have to resort to
the produce at the grocery store. Most of the time, I make
sure I have plenty of vegetables like onions, zucchini,
spinach, fresh mushrooms, red peppers, broccoli, etc. to
use in my morning eggs. I also like to dice up some lean
chicken or turkey sausage into the eggs, along with some
swiss, jack, or goat cheeses (preferably raw grass-fed cheeses
when I can find them).
By the way I'm talking about whole eggs,
NOT egg whites. Always remember that the yolk is the
most nutritious and nutrient dense part of the egg, so only
eating egg whites is like throwing away the best part... and
no, it's NOT bad for you because of the cholesterol... eggs
actually raise your GOOD cholesterol. Try to get free
range organic eggs for the best quality.
Coconut milk is another staple in my
fridge. I like to use it to mix in with smoothies, oatmeal, or
yogurt for a rich, creamy taste. Not only does coconut milk
add a rich, creamy taste to lots of dishes, but it's also full
of healthy saturated fats. Yeah, you heard me...I said healthy
saturated fats! Healthy saturated fats like medium chain
triglycerides, specifically an MCT called lauric acid. If the
idea of healthy saturated fats is foreign to you, check out my
free video and healthy fats
article
Back to the fridge,
- Chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds -
delicious and great sources of healthy fats.
- Cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, and
yogurt - I like to mix cottage or ricotta cheese and yogurt
together with chopped nuts and berries for a great
mid-morning or mid-afternoon meal.
- Whole flax seeds or chia
seeds - I grind these in a mini coffee grinder and add
to yogurt or salads. Always grind them fresh because the
omega-3 polyunsaturated fats are highly unstable and prone
to oxidation, creating high levels of free radicals in
pre-ground flax.
- Whole eggs - one of natures richest
sources of nutrients (and remember, they increase your GOOD
cholesterol so stop fearing them).
- Salsa - I try to get creative and
try some of the exotic varieties of salsas.
- Avocados - love them...plus a great
source of healthy fats, fiber, and other nutrients. Try
adding them to wraps, salads, or sandwiches.
- Butter - don't believe the
naysayers; butter adds great flavor to anything and can be
part of a healthy diet (just keep the quantity small because
it is calorie dense...and NEVER use margarine, unless you
want to assure yourself a heart attack).
- Nut butters - Plain old peanut
butter has gotten a little old for me, so I get creative and
mix together almond butter with sesame seed butter, or even
cashew butter with macadamia butter...delicious and
unbeatable nutrition!
- Leaf lettuce and spinach along with
shredded carrots - for salads with dinner.
- Home-made salad dressing - using
balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, and Udo's Choice
oil blend. This is much better than store bought salad
dressing which mostly use highly refined soybean oil (full
of inflammation-causing free radicals).
- Whole grain wraps and whole grain
bread (look for wraps and bread with at least 3-4 grams of
fiber per 20 grams of total carbs).
- Rice bran and wheat germ - these
may sound way too healthy for some, but they actually add a
nice little nutty, crunchy taste to yogurt or smoothies, or
can be added when baking muffins or breads to add nutrients
and fiber.
Some of the staples in the
freezer:
- Frozen berries - during the local
growing season, I only get fresh berries, but during the
other 10 months of the year, I always keep a supply of
frozen blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries,
cherries, etc. to add to high fiber cereal, oatmeal, cottage
cheese, yogurt, or smoothies
- Frozen fish - I like to try a
couple different kinds of fish each week. There are so many
varieties out there, you never have to get bored.
- Frozen chicken breasts - very
convenient for a quick addition to wraps or chicken
sandwiches for quick meals.
- Grass-fed steaks, burgers, and
ground beef - Grassfed meats have been shown to have as high
as, or even higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids than salmon
(without the mercury). Also, grass-fed meats have
much higher levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)
compared to typical grain-fed beef. I recently found
an excellent on-line store where I buy all of my grass-fed
meats now (they even deliver right to your door in a sealed
cooler) great
- Frozen buffalo, ostrich, venison,
and other "exotic" lean meats - Yeah, I know...I'm weird,
but I can tell you that these are some of the healthiest
meats around, and if you're serious about a lean healthy
body, these types of meats are much better for you than the
mass produced, hormone-pumped beef and pork that's sold at
most grocery stores.
- Frozen veggies - again, when the
growing season is over and I can no longer get local fresh
produce, frozen veggies are the best option, since they
often have higher nutrient contents compared to the fresh
produce that has been shipped thousands of miles, sitting
around for weeks before making it to your dinner table.
Alright, now the staples in my
cabinets:
- Various antioxidant rich teas -
green, oolong, white, rooibos are some of the best.
- Whole wheat or whole grain spelt
pasta - much higher fiber than normal pastas
- Oat bran and steel cut oats -
higher fiber than those little packs of instant oats.
- Cans of coconut milk - to be
transferred to a container in the fridge after opening.
- Brown rice and other higher fiber
rice - NEVER white rice
- Tomato sauces - delicious, and as
I'm sure you've heard a million times, they are a great
source of lycopene. Just watch out for the brands that are
loaded with nasty high fructose corn syrup.
- Stevia - a natural non-caloric
sweetener, which is an excellent alternative to the nasty
chemical-laden artificial sweeteners like aspartame,
saccharine, and sucralose.
- Raw honey - better than processed
honey... higher quantities of beneficial nutrients and
enzymes. Honey has even been proven in studies to improve
glucose metabolism (how you process carbs). I use a teaspoon
or so every morning in my teas. Yes, it is pure sugar, but
at least it has some nutritional benefits... and let's be
real, a teaspoon of i
healthier raw
honeys only 5 grams of carbs... certainly nothing to worry
about.
- Organic maple syrup - none of that
high fructose corn syrup Aunt Jemima crap...only real maple
syrup can be considered real food. The only time I really
use this (because of the high sugar load) is added to my
post-workout smoothies to sweeten things up and also elicit
an insulin surge to push nutrients into your muscles.
- Organic unsweetened cocoa powder -
I like to mix this into my smoothies for an extra jolt
of antioxidantsor make my own low-sugar hot cocoa by
mixing cocoa powder into hot milk with stevia and a couple
melted dark chocolate chunks.
- Cans of black or kidney beans - I
like to add a couple scoops to my Mexican wraps for the
fiber and high nutrition content. Also, beans are
surprisingly one of the best sources of youth promoting
antioxidants!
- Dark chocolate (as dark as
possible) - This is one of my treats that satisfies my sweet
tooth, plus provides loads of antioxidants at the same time.
It's still calorie dense, so I keep it to just a couple
squares; but that is enough to do the trick, so I don't feel
like I need to go out and get cake and ice cream to satisfy
my dessert urges.
Lastly, another thing that's hard to go
wrong with is a good variety of fresh fruits and berries. The
staples such as bananas, apples, oranges, pears, peaches are
good, but I like to also be a little more adventurous and
include things like yellow (aka - mexican or champagne)
mangoes, pomegranates, kumquats, papaya, star
fruit, pineapples, and others. Also, strawberries,
blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and cherries are some
of the most nutrient and antioxidant-dense fruits you can
eat.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this special
look into my favorite lean body meals and how I stock my
cabinets and fridge. Your tastes are probably quite different
than mine, but hopefully this gave you some good
ideas you can use next time you're at the grocery store
looking to stock up a healthy and delicious pile of
groceries.
 Be sure to pick up a copy of my book The Truth about Six Pack Abs, which
introduces you to the entire comprehensive training and
nutritional program that will turn your body into a lean, sexy
specimen that others will envy!
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