Keep Fit - - Stay Healthy - - Be Happy

A warm welcome to all our new subscribers! I hope the rest of you enjoyed the last issue...

Missed the 4 free gifts? You can get them from the 1st issue, they're at the end of "Asad's Thoughts".

If you see anything in this newsletter that you think a friend or family member might find useful, feel free to send them the link (copy and paste):
https://www.better-exercise-fitness-for-life.com/issue3

If you've been sent here by a friend and enjoy this issue, you can sign up for future issues of Fitness Wonderland, click here.

1. Asad's Thoughts (Editor's Note)
2. Exclusive Guest Article - Hidden Dangers of Your Excess Stomach Fat
3. Are You Getting Your 5-a-day?
4. Health Myth of the Month
5. Monthly Salt Tip
6. Fat Burning Meals
7. New Pages on Better-Exercise-Fitness-For-Life.com
8. YOUR PAGES on Better-Exercise-Fitness-For-Life.com
9. The Happy Tip

Hi <>, I'm Asad (the editor), if you want to learn a little more about me and my fitness journey, click here.

Are you feeling slightly depressed? I don't blame you if you are. The World's economy is in free-fall, its natural resources are disappearing, and us folks are footing the bills.

What's more, we've had snow here... Snow, in London, in October... ah these are mighty strange times we're living in.

There is hope though. One of the most important Presidential elections is taking place. Let's hope the better man wins (that's all I'm saying for now!).

But that's mostly out of our control. What's fully in our hands? Our fitness. I've seen some interesting reactions to the credit crunch so far.

Yes we're gonna spend less and hopefully start saving some more. But think twice before you totally cut exercise out of your life.

So many people see fitness as a "luxury". It's not! OK fine if you can't afford the gym anymore, just workout at home. Go to the park. Use the streets.

Whatever you do, don't confuse a lack of money with a lack of imagination. Much of what I write about on Better-Exercise-Fitness-For-Life.com is to give you a head start, so you can then do all the exercise you need for free.

Please don't take your health for granted. After all, what's the point of having any money if you won't live long enough to enjoy it.

Let's be positive in these uncertain times, a blessing in disguise if you wish. Look inward, inside yourself, and ask what you can do to feel happier without money, without material things.

Really it's times like these that shape nations. Use it to shape yourself. You'll come out the other end a better person. And with that, the World will already be a better place.



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Below is an article contributed by Mike Geary, the founder of Truth About Abs. I thought this was an important topic to share with you, because the reality is that most people simply don't realize how dangerous their excess stomach fat really is to their health.

Did you know that the vast majority of people in this day and age have excess stomach fat? The first thing that most people think of is that their extra stomach fat is simply ugly, is covering up their abs from being visible, and makes them self conscious about showing off their body.

However, what most people don't realize is that excess stomach fat in particular, is not only ugly, but is also a dangerous risk factor to your health. Scientific research has clearly demonstrated that although it is unhealthy in general to have excess body fat throughout your body, it is also particularly dangerous to have excess stomach fat.

There are two types of fat that you have in your stomach area. The first type that covers up your abs from being visible is called subcutaneous fat and lies directly beneath the skin and on top of the abdominal muscles.

The second type of fat that you have in your stomach area is called visceral fat, and that lies deeper in the abdomen beneath your muscle and surrounding your organs. Visceral fat also plays a role in giving certain men that "beer belly" appearance where their abdomen protrudes excessively but at the same time, also feels sort of hard if you push on it.

Both subcutaneous fat and visceral fat in the stomach area are serious health risk factors, but science has shown that having excessive visceral fat is even more dangerous than subcutaneous fat. Both of them greatly increase your risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, sleep apnoea, various forms of cancer, and other degenerative diseases.

Part of the reason visceral fat is particularly dangerous is that it apparently releases more inflammatory molecules into your body on a consistent basis.

If you care about the quality of your life and your loved ones, reducing your stomach fat should be one of your TOP priorities! There's just no way around it. Besides, a side-effect of finally getting rid of all of that excessive ugly abdominal fat is that your stomach will flatten out, and if you lose enough stomach fat, you will be able to visibly see those sexy six pack abs that everyone wants.

So what gets rid of extra stomach fat? Is there actually a REAL solution beyond all of the gimmicks and hype that you see in ads and on commercials for "miracle" fat loss products?

The first thing you must understand is that there is absolutely NO quick fix solution. There are no pills or supplements of any sort that will help you lose your stomach fat faster. Also, none of the gimmicky ab rockers, rollers, or ab belts will help get rid of stomach fat either. You can't spot reduce your stomach fat by using any of these worthless contraptions. It simply doesn't work that way.

The ONLY solution to consistently lose your stomach fat and keep it off for good is to combine a sound nutritious diet full of unprocessed natural foods with a properly designed strategic exercise program that stimulates the necessary hormonal and metabolic response within your body. Both your food intake as well as your training program are important if you are to get this right.

I've actually even seen a particular study that divided thousands of participants into a diet-only group and an exercise/diet group. While both groups in this study made good progress, the diet-only group lost significantly LESS stomach fat than the diet & exercise combined group.

Now the important thing to realize is that just any old exercise program will not necessarily do the trick. The majority of people that attempt getting into a good exercise routine are NOT working out effectively enough to really stimulate the loss of stubborn stomach fat. I see this everyday at the gym.

Most people will do your typical boring ineffective cardio routines, throw in a little outdated body-part style weight training, and pump away with some crunches and side bends, and think that they are doing something useful for reducing their stomach fat. Then they become frustrated after weeks or months of no results and wonder where they went wrong.

Well, the good news is that I've spent over a decade researching this topic, analyzing the science, and applying it "in the trenches" with myself as well as thousands of my clients from all over the world to see what works to really stimulate abdominal fat loss.

The entire solution... all of the nutritional strategies, as well as training sequences, exercise combinations, and more have all been compiled in my Truth About Six Pack Abs Program. Keep in mind that the point of this whole program is NOT abdominal exercises (that is only a very small portion of it). The main point of this program is showing you the absolute most effective strategies for losing your stubborn stomach fat, so you can get rid of that dangerous health risk, as well as get a flatter more defined midsection.

If you follow the guidelines, you WILL lose your belly fat that has been plaguing you for years. This is not guesswork... it is a proven system that works time and time again for all of my clients on every corner of the globe that actually apply the information I teach. If you apply it, the results will come. It's really that simple.

The only reason most people fail in their fitness goals is that they have good intentions at first to adopt a new lifestyle, yet after a few weeks or months, they abandon their good intentions and slip right back into their old bad habits that gave them the excess body fat in the first place.

I want to help you succeed in finally getting rid of that extra stomach fat that is not only UGLY, but also DANGEROUS.

Don't waste another day allowing that nasty stomach fat to kill your confidence as well as contribute to your risk for MAJOR diseases.

Get the solution to rid yourself for life of this problem at...

Truth About Abs

Train hard, eat right, and enjoy life!

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer
Author - The Truth about Six Pack Abs

That's the serious side of stomach fat, a great eye opener. But we can't keep it all serious so here's a small bonus article, that takes a more light hearted view of stomach fat (with an important message of course!)...

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author of: Turbulence Training

Dear Friend,

This is a letter from your ol' pal, belly fat. We had a great run this summer, didn't we? Lots of good times, great food, and plain ol' sitting around eating too much.

Well, I'm thinking about sticking around another year if you don't mind. But you might need to get a bigger pair of pants, as I was thinking about expanding my place down here.

So do me a favor, avoid that interval training you were thinking of doing. The last time you did that stuff, I nearly had to look for a new place to live. I felt like the Wicked Witch of the West in the land of Oz. Did you hear me yelling, "Help me, I'm melting!"?

Instead, stick to that slow cardio stuff. Sure I get a little sweaty, and the ol' brain up there thinks it's doing "a real fat burning workout", but it's never enough to melt me outta here.

Another thing, keep listening to those experts who say strength training doesn't burn body fat. Since research shows they're wrong, if you added strength training to your program, you'd practically need to throw me a going away party!

After each one of those superset workouts you tried last January it felt like someone lit a match under our collective butt. I was burning up down here!

But boy oh boy, I sure was glad you gave that up and went back to just lifting utensils and not dumbbells. Otherwise we wouldn't have been able to celebrate another summer together this year.

Sometimes I wonder, what did you ever do in college without me, your trusted belly fat? Back then, you were probably one of those people that couldn't wait to get to the beach to show off your body, not like these days.

Nope, stay in the shade and keep the cover-up clothes on, that's the way to go now. Besides, its a lot closer to the cold beer and the BBQ when you're sitting in the shade avoiding all the fun down on the beach.

Well, it sure was good catching up with you. I'm sure we'll be in touch more often, as long as you stay away from that Turbulence Training workout routine.

Brings a tear to my eye whenever I even think about that workout program and all the belly fat it's burned. Heck, it's fried more belly fat than a frying pan!

So again, if you want to keep your dear old belly around for another year and another summer, don't use Turbulence Training - otherwise, its all over pal, and you'll never see me again.

Belly Fat says, "Don't use this"
==> Turbulence Training

Your friend and spare tire,

Belly Fat

PS - Seriously, don't go near that Turbulence Training program unless you want to see me, Thunder Thighs, Manboobs, Jigg Lee Arm Fat, and Luv Handles pack our bags and hit the highway.

It will be a sad farewell, and you'd be stuck with ripped abs, gorgeous glutes, and toned arms, and you know how much attention those guys get from the opposite sex. Who needs it, I say.

About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit Turbulence Training.

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So we know we need 5 fruit and veg portions a day. But do we know how much that is? What's 1 portion? If you answered fries or orange squash, make sure you read on (they're not by the way!).

One Portion (80g) Is (examples)...

• Fruit - 1 apple, pear, orange, banana, peach; or 2 plums, apricots; or 1 normal slice of pineapple, melon; or 2 normal slices of mango.
• Veg - 150ml glass of veg. juice; or 3 large tablespoons of carrots, peas, kidney beans; or 4 large tablespoons of spinach, cabbage, lettuce.

Fruity Drinks...

Fruit squash drinks (cordials) don't count as a portion at all. But a small glass (150ml) of fruit juice does count as 1 portion. Strangely, having a large glass of fruit juice still only counts as 1 portion.

Smoothies are a bit more confusing. If you make the smoothie yourself, then the portion depends on how much fruit you put in there. Remember that liquid fruit is less fortifying than solid fruit.

Smoothies bought from the shops are 1 portion no matter how much fruit they contain. The processing and packaging means the fruit loses nutrients and should only be counted as 1 portion.

Spread the Nutrients...

It's recommended to have 2 portions of fruit and 3 of veg, so that your nutrients are well spread and varied.

They can be fresh, canned or frozen. If canned then go for the ones with natural juice rather than salted water.

The notable outcasts are potatoes and coconuts. Neither are classed as a veg or fruit respectively, and so neither count towards your 5 a day.

Want to find out more? Here are 3 books that you might find useful (Click here if you can't see them):

High blood pressure causes headaches...

Wrong.

Blood pressure that is through the roof may cause a headache, but that's very rare. High blood pressure isn't a disease, it's a risk factor, and so normally has no symptoms. Doctors treat it as a preventative measure against future heart attacks or strokes. Sometimes the medication may make you feel dizzy as a side-effect.

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Snack tips to reduce your salt intake:

Keep - Fresh fish (0.2g salt per 100g).

Swap - Baked beans for frozen peas (1.8g salt).

Avoid - Bacon rashers (2g salt per 40g).

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Breakfast - Ultimate Morning Smoothie

In your blender you should have 1 de-stoned peach, 100g strawberries, 1 tablespoon of oat-bran, 1 teaspoon of honey and 150ml milk (skimmed/fat free). Blend until there are plenty bubbles around and drink.

Lunch - Couscous Chicken Mix

Get a 300 calorie ready-made couscous salad from the store. Mix in 100g of cooked chicken and add some juicy cherry tomatoes.

Dinner - Rocket, Steak and Olives

Prepare 100g of thin fillet steak slices by brushing them with olive oil. Mix 1 chopped tomato, 4 large chopped olives and 1 teaspoon oregano leaves in a bowl. Add balsamic vinegar according to your taste. Heat a hob-top grill pan and quickly sear the steak. Serve with the olive mix and some rocket on top. If you're extra hungry, slice 4 new potatoes, cook and then finish them in the grill.

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If you haven't been to the website in a while, check out these new pages:

• Strength Training Exercises - NEW Pages
  Tips to get started with strength training exercises. Create a weights workout that works for you. Use these exercises to tone and build muscle.
• Exercise Fitness Diet - A Way of Life - NEW Look
  The best tips on how to have a great exercise fitness diet. Eat the food you love and still keep healthy. It can be done!
• Fat Burning Workouts - Created By Fitness Experts
  Fat burning workouts ready for you and easy to follow. Reach your goals with this huge range of effective fat burning workouts.
• Exercise Motivation - Your Motivational Messages
  Exercise motivation is the key to your fitness goals. Find advice to motivate yourself, and create your own customized motivational messages for your friends and family.

NEW! I've opened up the website to you. Right now there's several ways you can add your stamp to the site and actually have your own page(s).

Check out these pages and get involved:

• Do You Have a Sports Injury Story to Share?
  Do you think your experience of injury can help others? Maybe you just want to share what you went through? You might have more advice about sports injury physiotherapy?

  Whether you've recovered, or are in the process of recovering, your story is valuable to us all. Share your sports injury story.

• Have You Used Any Fat Loss Products?
  Here's the opportunity to add your reviews for any fat loss product that you've actually used.

  Perhaps you've bought a great product that you think everyone should know about. Or maybe you've wasted money on a real stinker, you can give us the heads up.

• Have a Motivational Message to Send?
  Know someone that needs exercise motivation? Send a customized message and show them your support.
• Showcase Your Exercise Pictures
  Submit your exercise pictures for any of the exercises on the site, and you could win a special prize.

I'll be keeping you informed of new pages where you can submit your stories/tips/pics in future issues.

Please do get involved and tell all your friends and family once your page is live on the website. We've already had a good response, here's some pages added by other visitors to the site:

• Helen's Quad Stretch
• David hamstring stretch
• Helen's Side Stretch
• Triceps Stretch Nicola 18wks
• Helen's Shoulder Stretch

No matter what happens in life, whatever it decides to throw at us, ultimately I believe we are here to be happy. Whether it's a great new job, the perfect partner, a fun night out, a tasty meal, enjoyable exercise...you get the picture...we're always in pursuit of happiness.

Here's 1 tip to help on the way:

Clean the house every week!
OK many of you will already do this, but did you know that certain toxins in mould actually affect parts of your brain that could lead to depression? So get hold of the bleach, mix with water and destroy that mould.

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• Mediterranean Style Eating Tips
• Are You a Worrier? Become a Warrior.
• Fitness Equipment Gem
• Prepare Yourself For Exercise - Self Talk
• Exclusive Guest Article
• PLUS all the other regulars

If you've enjoyed reading this newsletter, please pass it on to your friends and family and let them know. Here's the link again (copy and paste):
https://www.better-exercise-fitness-for-life.com/issue3

Thanks so much for your help and support.

If you have any questions, comments (good or bad), or ideas, just contact me. If you want a specific question covered in detail in a future issue, please let me know.

Until next month...

Keep Fit -- Stay Healthy -- Be Happy

www.Better-Exercise-Fitness-For-Life.com

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