An interview by Geovanni Derice with Mike Geary – Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

I had the pleasure of being interviewed recently by a fitness professional from NYC, Certified Personal Trainer, Geovanni Derice. The interview is below and I think you’re going to like it… I reveal some of the hardest hitting strategies for getting rid of that stubborn stomach fat to uncover those flat six pack abs that everyone wants.

“GD: Welcome Mike to our 4-ever-Toned Fitness Journal. For those who do not know you, please tell us a few things about yourself and how you can help our readers with their fitness and health.

MG: Thanks for having me, Geo. Well, to go back a little, I have been heavily involved in fitness and sports for about 17 years now, ever since I was a teenager. Being involved in sports in high school got me interested in strength training and conditioning.

At that point, once I started feeling more energetic, getting stronger, and looking better, I was instantly hooked for life. I’m 33 now and still addicted to the way living a healthy and fit lifestyle makes me feel energetic, confident, strong, and youthful on a daily basis.

I decided earlier in my 20′s that I wanted to make the commitment to help other people experience the excitement of being fit and getting in the best shape of their lives, especially since we’ve reached an epidemic of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, depression, etc. That’s why I became a fitness professional. It just gives me so much satisfaction to help others, who have struggled for years to get in good shape, and show them that it can be done, and it can be fun in the process.

I’ve expanded over the years from just reaching local individuals with personal training, into being able to help people all over the globe achieve their fitness goals with the reach of the internet. I only hope that my passion for fitness inspires people to take action and improve how they look and feel for life.

GD: Now Mike, there’s so many things out there as to what works and what does not work… if you had to pick 3 things that work time and time again to get flat lean abs, what would they be?

MG: The first and most important thing to get control of in order to lose your belly fat and get flat abs is cleaning up your diet. Exercise is important, but your diet is king when it comes to losing body fat so that you can see your abs.

There’s so much confusion these days about what a healthy diet that promotes fat loss really is… after all, we are bombarded by conflicting messages in the media about what is healthy and what is not, and you have all of these gimmicky diet books about low carb, low fat, high protein, vegetarian, fasting, atkins, south beach, liquid diets, and hundreds more. There’s so much conflicting info, that the average consumer doesn’t even know where to start when it comes to eating for fat loss.

The second thing that works time and time again, is to focus on the intensity of your workouts and focus on working the body as a whole in order to get the best metabolic response to lose that stubborn stomach fat.

In order to really get lean, the workouts should have a high intensity, with short rest periods, working the largest muscle groups of the body, instead of trying to isolate specific small muscles like the biceps, triceps, or calves.

For the third thing, let’s talk about actually training the abs specifically. When it comes to training the abs, if you want real results, I always recommend forgetting about the crunches and situps for the most part. They are ok for someone that is really deconditioned, but most people that already have some training under their belt need a much better stimulus for their abs than crunches. Crunches are one of the abs exercises that actually provide the least amount of resistance, and remember that resistance is what develops and tones the muscles.

I provide a ton of great abs exercises in my book, but one of THE highest resistance exercises for the abs, is hanging leg raises (but NOT the way you see most people at the gym doing them). The key to doing these and actually working the hell out of your abs is to curl your pelvis up as you raise your legs. Almost nobody ever does this right. To be honest, the majority of people cannot do this at first, but I provide some strategies in my book as to how to progress to doing these correctly.

GD: What are people doing wrong when it comes to developing the coveted “6 pack abs”?

MG: Well Geo, I know this sounds funny to most people, but the MAIN thing that people are doing wrong to get those flat 6-pack abs is… are you ready for this?

They spend entirely too much time focusing on training their abs! WAY too much time spent on abs exercises. Sounds crazy, but it’s true.

Remember, having a flat and visible six pack of abs is all about getting down to a low body fat percentage. In order to do that, your workouts must focus on stimulating a fat burning hormonal environment in your body, and increasing your metabolic rate. That just does not happen when you focus too much time training a small muscle group like the abs.

Instead, you must use the majority of your time focusing on training the largest muscle groups of the body like the legs, back, and chest. That’s what stimulates your metabolism and the fat burning hormones that will get you truly lean and sporting a flat sixxer!

GD: Which exercises are the top exercises that people need to do if they are to get maximum defintion with their midsection?

MG: When it comes to developing the abs themselves, I again refer to any kinds of hanging abs exercises, as well as some good floor abs exercises like lying leg thrusts (all described and illustrated in my book).

However, maximum definition in the abs and midsection comes from losing bodyfat, and the most effective exercises featured in my program for that goal are various forms of swings and snatches (unique dumbbell or kettlebell exercises that almost nobody ever does in normal gyms), squats, deadlifts, lunges, step-ups, clean & presses, mountain climbers, sprinting, and other full body exercises and calisthenics. If you want great looking flat abs, focus on those instead of focusing so much on training the abs directly!

GD: When it comes to diet Mike, people really have tried millions of ways to get one thing… and that is fat loss. What recommendations have you used to successfully help your clients lose body fat and keep it off?

MG: I have included a fully comprehensive discussion of this topic in my book, which accounts for almost half of the book, but I’ll try to make some nice simple generalizations to get people started on the right path immediately. The most important thing is that your diet is as natural and unprocessed as possible. It almost always comes back to the overprocessing of food that makes it unhealthy, and makes it totally wreck your metabolism and hormone balance in your body.

For example, why eat refined grains, when you can eat whole grains (even better are sprouted grains, as I usually recommend limiting grain foods overall for best results).

Why eat refined sugar, when you can get natural sources of sugar from a high nutrient whole food like fruit. Why eat highly processed, refined, and hydrogenated vegetable oils (these are THE worst thing in the modern diet), when you can eat natural sources of healthy fats like nuts, avocados, fish, eggs, coconut milk, organically raised meat, and so forth.

The point is to not fall for some gimmick like extremely low carbs (although I do believe in a fairly reduced carb intake as that is a big problem for most people), low fat, super high protein, or any other combination that has you focusing on one macronutrient vs. another.

Your body needs all macronutrients to thrive and obtain a variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, etc. Trying to cut an entire food group out just works against what your body needs. I get into much more detail on this vitally important topic towards losing body fat (especially that stubborn stomach fat) for life in my book.

GD: Thank you very much Mike for sharing with us all of this great information.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this interview and plucked several nuggets of info to get you motivated and started on showing off your flat abs shortly. If you don’t already own a copy, be sure to pick up a copy of my Truth about Six Pack Abs book and discover the entire system I’ve developed for ridding yourself of that extra ab fat for good!

Tips On How To Take Off Pounds Sensibly And Keep Them Off

Do you need to lose weight and you are scared of the fad diets and weight loss pills? Are you looking for a way to take off pounds sensibly and safely? If you aren’t then you’re wasting your time reading this article. The aim of this article is to provide you with a few tips on how to lose your extra pounds sensibly.

One of the first things you are going to need to know is you aren’t going to shed those extra pounds without working at it. Furthermore, you are going to have to exercise. Common sense alone will tell you, without you being active, it’s going to be twice as hard to lose and keep the weight off.

Now keeping with the theme of being sensible about your extra pounds, before you start your exercise and diet, go see your doctor. Stop and think about this for a minute. Chances are you didn’t get overweight in just a few days. It happened gradually over several years or longer. So the chances are you may have put on 30 to 50 pounds or more.

You must realize that during the time you have put on these extra pounds and become more sedate in your lifestyle; your body has been making subtle changes. These changes could include anything from the start of heart disease to sugar diabetes or even worse.

When you see your doctor they will be able to make sure you are healthy enough to exercise and take on a restricted diet. Furthermore their guidance, along with a nutritionist, will give you a step up on your plan to take off pounds sensibly.

What is so cool about taking off your extra pounds and doing it with common sense is you will improve your overall health. More medical and other scientific studies have shown that obesity is directly related to people developing catastrophic diseases. These diseases often times leading to premature death or early onset of permanent disability.

In turn these studies have shown that by shedding all those extra pounds you can add years to your life. Not only will you add the extra years; but you will have a quality of life, you could never have, when you are carrying all those unnecessary pounds.

Of course the most common sense thing for you to do along with exercise is to eat a healthy well balanced diet. Please take notice of the “healthy well balanced diet”. This means you need to make sure you are getting all the nutrition and vitamins your body needs to stay healthy.

You may well find that if you are on too restrictive of a diet, you create more harm than good to your body. If by chance your diet is one that for all practical purposes eliminates
Carbohydrates you could find yourself becoming sluggish and tired all the time. Your body needs them for energy, so you’re going to need some type of supplement to supply what your body needs.

These few tips on how to take off pounds sensibly are not the panacea of knowledge. If you really want to use your common sense to get rid of your fat, you must seek the help of your physician. Without the guidance of health professionals you may be putting your life into jeopardy.

Most diets fail because they are designed to work only in the short-term, which is not the best way to loose weight.  Usually, this makes people eat even more when the diet is over and they are again free to choose their old unhealthy favorites.  The best way to loose weight is to work on making permanent changes to your routine that will improve your overall fitness level.  Over time, building muscle and developing healthy eating habits will raise your body’s metabolism so you burn more calories.  This will improve the results of your exercise program, along with burning fat while you are not even working out.

There are two ways to increase your body’s metabolism:  Increase physical activity and eat smaller meals throughout the day.  Both of these will require a bit of a lifestyle adjustment, but they can be done long-term if worked in gradually as a part of living a healthier life.  It is not that hard to find ways to sneak in a bit of exercise, even with today’s busy schedules.  Simply taking the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator is an easy way to get your heart pumping a few times per day.  While at work, you are still allowed to take a short break at least twice each day, so take a stroll around your office building to burn a few extra calories.  You can even break up your planned exercise in to intervals.  Try two sets of 15 minute breaks at work and go for a walk in the morning and afternoon.

Eating smaller meals can be enjoyable if you make those meals delicious and filling.  After all, who wouldn’t want to eat six times a day instead of only three?  Giving your body smaller meals to process more frequently throughout the day keeps the digestive system active and prevents an excess of calories from building up.  When your body senses that it has taken in more than it is expending, it will begin to convert those excess calories to fat as a reserve for times when food is scarce.  Eating three large meals actually puts your body into a feast-famine cycle causing your metabolism to increase and slow back down several times a day.

These small “meals” do not have to be full meals at all.  There are a number of healthy snacks you can keep on hand to give you a boost of a few hundred calories.  Dividing your existing portions into several meals is also a good way to keep eating a steady flow of calories throughout the day.  For example, a half of a tuna sandwich and a piece of fruit is around 400 calories, the perfect size for a quick midday snack.

Remember that living an overall healthier lifestyle allows you to add in some “forbidden” foods in moderation.  Since you are not on an extreme crash diet, there are no foods that are completely off-limits.  Treat yourself for making healthy choices by throwing in a piece of premium chocolate candy during one of your snack breaks.  You will get 100 calories toward your snack, along with a little bit of fat, dairy, and protein that may not be present in the healthier options on your menu.  Allowing yourself some leeway to enjoy your favorite foods is the best way to loose weight and keep it off in the long run.

Did you read the latest headline or hear the latest TV commercial on weight loss? Surely, you know now you can lose 5 pounds overnight and still eat everything you want to and never gain it back? No exercise needed just take this little miracle pill and the pounds will drop right off? You and over 40% of the adult population, which is overweight, have heard this dribble, so many times; you don’t believe a word of it. Now get ready for weight loss information you can believe. This article is going to give you righteous, weight loss tips free.

Think about this for a minute. It may not be your fault that you are over weight. That’s right! You may be carrying the extra weight because of genetics. In other words, if your family tree shows overweight people in it, you may well have inherited the same fat gene. But, there is always a but; you may have contributed to the problem by not eating right and living a sedate lifestyle.

Now, even though you may have inherited some of the problem, you have to take responsibility for having added to the problem. Once you accept the responsibility, it will be much easier for you to make the decision that things have to change. Not only do you have to lose weight but that you have to change your lifestyle. Failure is not an option because it can result in you cutting years off your life.

Your second weight loss tip is to talk with your personal doctor, to make sure you don’t have an illness, which is causing you to be overweight. At the same time your physician will tell you if you’re physically fit to begin a weight loss plan. In addition he will be able to advise you on setting realistic goals for shedding those pounds.

It is important for you to set your goals so they are obtainable. They must be set high enough to be a challenge, but yet low enough so you don’t get discouraged quickly. If your doctor tells you to lose 50 pounds, you need to break those 50 lbs down into bite size chunks. (Pun intended)

An example of doing this would be to set a long-term goal of losing the 50 pounds over a six month time frame. You can break this down into a smaller goal of only 8 lbs a month. Then you can take it down even further to two pounds a week. It appears now you have a workable goal.

For your 3rd step you need to set out a plan for exercise. If you have been living a sedate lifestyle, you would be much better off if you started off walking. This will help you to get your muscles, in your legs and arms, to working again.

Within two weeks you should be up to walking a half mile to a mile. As your wind and strength improve you may find yourself able to move into a brisk walk. Your walking will be the most effective when you can sustain a heart rate of 120 beats a minute for a minimum of 30 minutes.

This article has given you proven weight loss tips free. However, those tips are going to cost you. They are going to cost you to take responsibility and action to lose the weight.