The Dangers of Sugar

Sugar makes up 38 percent of the typical US diet. Some problems/diseases linked to high sugar intake include: High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Gout, Obesity (and all of the health problems related to obesity), Cancer Growth and much more (78 different diseases and health problems according to scientific studies). 

If you are serious about losing weight and improving your health, severely reduce your sugar intake.  Cutting out just one soda a day and replacing it with water or tea (made with truvia) will add up to a large change over time.  Getting your diet in order is about a lot of little changes over a long period of time.  If you try to change everything at once you may give up because it is too hard or progress doesn't come instantly. 

Gracie Bullyproof: Austin's 1-Week Transformation

Healthy Eating: Pepper Jack Chicken

Welcome to my first blog post on how to eat healthy while trying to become more lean and toned.  Eating to be healthy is great, but we don't want it to be boring.  Eating healthy doesn't have to be expensive either.  For the price of eating one meal at a fairly nice restaurant you can go to the grocery store and buy enough food to last you for 4 or 5 meals.

One of my favorite recipes is for Pepper Jack Chicken with Bacon.  If you don't like spicy cheese you can substitute in any cheese you do like.  It's simple to make as well.  Just take 4 oz of cooked chicken, lay two strips of cooked bacon across the top and cover it with a slice of pepper jack cheese.  Let the cheese melt on top and you have a delicious and healthy meal waiting for you.  The great thing is, you can cook several chicken breasts at one time and have left overs for days.

Serve with some rice and spinach on the side and your meal is complete (carbs like rice should be eaten before 1 pm, if you are eating after that, leave the rice out).  This recipe will give you about 30 grams of muscle building protein just from the chicken/bacon/cheese alone. Spinach is a very nutrient-dense food and the carbs from the rice will help keep you going during the day.

Georges St-Pierre’s RUSHFIT Review: The Fight Conditioning Workout

If you have read my other reviews, you already know how much I love the Rushfit program.  This workout is no different; it’s great!  This training session is unique in the Rushfit program because it revolves around MMA related techniques.  This workout has you practicing footwork, punches, kicks, sprawls, takedowns, etc.  It’s a nice break from the other types of workouts which are more traditional exercises like push ups and squats.  Not only will you be getting into shape, but you will be developing real martial art skills at the same time.  You can’t beat that!

America’s 50 Worst Charities Exposed

The Tampa Bay Times and the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) partnered with CNN in a yearlong investigation to evaluate America’s charities and created a list of the 50 worst.

As criteria, investigators used the percentage of funds charities spend on direct cash aid, compared to the percentage they pay solicitors; the worst 50 charities contribute less than four percent to cash aid.

The IRS system of granting organizations “charitable” status (and therefore tax exemption) is flawed from the beginning; more than 99.8 percent of applicants are approved when they simply fill out a form.

Many nonprofits are less charitable than for-profits, paying six-figure salaries to their CEOs while contributing relatively nothing to their supposed cause, so are simply exploiting the tax exemption.

Tips are given for how to handle solicitation calls and avoid being scammed; resources are provided for researching the best charities.

For more information:  America’s 50 Worst Charities Exposed

Georges St-Pierre’s RUSHFIT Review: Abdominal Strength & Core Conditioning

Alright guys, if you read my last review you know how much I love this program and how hard it is.  Well things do not get any easier with the abdominal strength and core conditioning workout.  The great thing about this particular workout is that it isn’t exactly what you think it is.  This isn’t a workout that is just a bunch of crunches and traditional abdominal exercises.  It’s fast pace and is made up of exercises that not only build the core but balance and athletic ability as well.

GSP’s workout series never gets boring because your schedule is different every week.  It constantly changes, mixing up the workouts in different ways to focus on different aspects of fitness and athletic performance.  Many of the exercises on this DVD will probably be ones you have never even seen before.  Even the ones you have seen will be a variation that is a little different and more challenging.  If you want a fast pace and challenging workout that will take you to new levels, I highly recommend picking this DVD up (I even more highly recommend buying the entire set).

Georges St-Pierre RUSHFIT Review: Explosive Power Training

Explosive Power Training is one of the more interesting workouts from the Rushfit series.  This workout has a lot of leaping, jumping, and full body explosive movements.  It’s not about doing as many reps as some of the other workouts, but everything you do is quick, powerful, heavy and with maximum effort.  In martial arts, this will allow you to explode into your takedowns, land harder punches, move out of danger more quickly.  But explosive power translates into any sport, it’s a must have.

Some may think this workout is too intense for the average joe, but as always, if you can’t keep up with the video, just do as much as you can.  Being faster and more explosive is good for anyone.  If you can do this it will make daily chores around the house seem like nothing.  Not to mention it’s going to help you blast away the fat.  Virtually all of the workouts from the Rushfit series have a different focus and hit your body in a different way.  You will be very well rounded in your fitness and it’s hard to go wrong with that.