3 Recipe Tips...make any meal a fat burning meal

Here is a message that my good friend Isabel sent me a few days ago. Its about really good alternative to three common cooking issues.

I’ve got 3 quick and easy tips that I use almost daily to make any recipe into a healthy and fat burning meal. You see, many times the recipes I find and want to try are not exactly as I would like them, so they take a bit of tweaking from me in order to get them to contain only healthy ingredients and still taste great.

Here are the 3 most common issues I run into when trying out new recipes:

The cooking oil is a BAD choice. I hate to ever call any food “bad”, but there are many oils which I stay away from at all costs. Oils like canola oil and vegetable oil are really just toxic to your body and can be extremely detrimental to your health and weight loss efforts (please refer back to the FATS chapter of your manual for a more detailed discussion of healthy oils). I always replace the canola oil and /or vegetable oil in any recipe with coconut oil or butter to cook with.
First, take a look at the ingredients list and decide which oil would be a better fit for that particular recipe. I use coconut oil to cook stir fries, eggs and most meats and use butter to cook veggies and for any recipe that contains a grain (quinoa, rice or millet recipes). I don’t usually use olive oil to cook with unless I am cooking at a very low temperature (the lowest setting on my stove top) because olive oil’s healthy properties are better maintained if it is not heated.
Coconut oil and butter are always better to cook with.

If the recipe calls for breadcrumbs. Most breadcrumbs are made from processed white bread and contain high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils (yes, in bread crumbs!) I choose to make my own from Ezekiel bread, rice bread or spelt bread. I place 10 pieces of bread in a 250 degree Farenheit oven. You’ll get the best results if you put the bread right on the oven racks. Leave them in the oven for approximately 30 minutes until they’re golden brown. Remove from the oven and let them cool. Once cooled, place all the bread in a food processor until fine. Then you can add any seasoning you like and have fresh, delicious bread crumbs that you can use in any recipe.

The recipe calls for milk. This one is an easy solution... I always use coconut milk or unsweetened almond milk. Coconut milk is my favorite and I’ve used it in mashed potatoes, smoothies, and in baking, all with great success. Making your own coconut milk is best, but I buy canned coconut milk, since the ones in the refrigerator section all contain a long list of ingredients I can’t pronounce. Make sure the ingredients list on your coconut milk is as short as possible and the first 2 ingredients are organic coconut milk and water (no sugar or preservatives added).
Those 3 tips seem to help me the most often and have helped me modify some really incredible recipes that my family really loves.

As I mentioned yesterday, I did get my hands on, what I think, is a wonderful series of cookbooks that are a perfect complement to your healthy weight loss meal plans. It’s not very often that I get a cookbook that is almost 100% aligned with my own healthy way of eating, so when I do, I love to share that information with you.

Check them out here ---> Click Here! - The Metabolic Cookbooks

Here is a post we received from a satisfied reader who is also loving Dave Ruel's cookbooks as much as I am.

"After a quick look through the various files that downloaded, I am impressed. First, let me say that Isabelle has promised to send us with a copy of the receipt for the books, a help sheet to modify this and other cookbooks so that they more closely hit the DSP guidelines. We will need it if we have any doubts about what parts of the recipes don't meet the mark. Other than that (and it is not a problem with Isabel's "fix"), the books look good to me.

I want to try several recipes immediately. What I really love is the navigation within the cookbooks. Its So EASY! Just Click on the page number or the title in the Table of Contents and you are then transported to the recipe. Click at the bottom of the ingredients list and you're taken right back to the Table of Contents. Macronutrients are always listed (a great BIG plus for all those who like to know exactly what we are putting on our plates), and the recipes can actually be chosen from the Table of Contents with just the combination of macronutrients you are looking for. Want a protein and carb combination? It is in the ToC under that category!

Well organized and easy navigation. Also, it appears that each recipe will print out on a single page. I never like a printout to go to the second page when I am cooking from it (too easy to miss something important on the second page the second or third time I do a read through while executing the directions).

There are several different cookbooks; e.g., Breakfast, Sides, Red Meat, etc. I plan on using them and from what I could tell by the reading of them, I also plan to enjoy the tasty meals I will cook from them."

~Sharon B from Lakeland, FL

Click Here! See what Sharon is talking about with Dave’s Cookbooks here!

My friend Isabel De Los Rios who is a Certified Nutritionist and Certified Exercise Specialist is the author of The Diet Solution Program.

Are Low Carb Diets Good or Bad for Weight Loss Success?

Everybody has heard of “low carb" diets -- since they seem to be emerging as the newest trend in dieting.

But do they really work? ...
If so, are they the solution to weight loss that everybody is looking for?

Well we don’t think so, because most low carbohydrate diets have several problems which make losing weight very difficult for the “average” dieter.

For example, if you follow the Atkins diet (a popular low carb program) then the restriction on carbs for the first couple weeks is very severe (by almost any standards).

The Atkins program allows you to have just 20 grams of "net carbs" per day during the first phase of the diet (which usually lasts for 2 weeks).

Just to give you an idea of how few carbs that really is – even a large apple has more than 20 grams of "net carbs".

This low level of calories is usually too severe for the “average” dieter to tolerate for 2 weeks straight, and in fact eating such a low level of calories can make a person feel “weak”, “miserable” and even "spaced out" all day long (because your body needs more carbs than that for energy), and can lead to long term health problems.

Other low carb diets (such as the South Beach Diet) are not quite as severe as the Atkins Plan, but in our opinion even the South Beach Diet is not as easy to follow as it could be.

We firmly believe that a successful diet needs to be easy to follow – because that’s the only way that people will stick to the diet and lose weight.

We also believe that diets should not make average people feel “miserable” and “weak” all day long, because if a diet makes people feel miserable and weak then it’s going to be very difficult for average dieters to adhere to such programs.

We’re not saying that all low carbohydrate diets are as restrictive as the Atkins Diet is, but we're saying that most low carb diets are so hard to follow that the average dieter will probably wind up feeling hungry and weak all day long (which is not a good thing for dieting success in our opinion).

We believe that “low carbs” is not the answer to losing weight, since your body needs a reasonable amount of all 3 types of calories to lose weight consistently.
The reality is that your body needs a reasonable amount of protein, carbohydrates and fat calories too otherwise fatigue / exhaustion will set in.

To lose weight quickly you must eat all 3 types of calories in the right proportions, and that’s why most dieters fail. They fail because nobody understands what the right amounts of calories should be.

To start losing weight quickly we recommend using the new From Fatigued to Fantastic Program, featuring over 8 hours of interviews with experts in nutrition, relationships, career, finances, sleep and so much more.

The best place to start for maximum Fat Loss

Hello Readers,

I'm going to post everyday some great and valuable nutrition information from Isabel, that you are going to be able to get started with right now. I am not holding back!
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Let me begin by telling you my "3 magic secrets" to getting many of my clients to lose their first 5-10 lbs in just 2-3 weeks. It begins with a short story about my uncle and a conversation I had with him last summer.

My family and I spent this particular Saturday afternoon at my cousin's house barbequing and having a great time. There are 2 things guaranteed at my family functions: lots of laughter and LOTS OF FOOD!

So, just as we're chowing down on steaks, chicken legs, hamburgers and hot dogs, (I swear, I was not the one eating the hot dogs) my uncle came up to me and said "Hey Isabel. Your mom says her knees don't hurt anymore like they did last year. My knees are killing me. What do you think is wrong with them?" (All the while he's still chomping down on his second hot dog and cola).

"Well Tio (I speak Spanish to all of my relatives) let me give it to you straight. (Look of fear in his eyes). This past year my mom, your sis, lost 40 lbs. That's 40 lbs less weight that her knees have to carry around. Of course they feel better. I guarantee if you lost a few lbs. yourself, your knees would stop hurting."

At this point Tio looks like he wishes he had just asked me about the weather, the upcoming election or even quantum physics, ANYTHING but be told that he needs to lose weight.

"Isabel, I'm 60 years old and I have been this fat forever. I wouldn't even know where to start."

So I gave him 3 super easy rules to follow. (These are my magic bullets for getting your metabolism in fat burning mode.)

"Tio, follow these three rules and I guarantee you, better yet, I promise you, you will lose a minimum of 10 lbs. in 14 days."

1. Don't eat anything that is white. Think about most foods that are white and chances are you shouldn't be eating it. Specifically, I'm talking about white bread, pasta, sugar, white rice, and most milk products. Healthy foods like cauliflower, chicken, turkey, fish are all exceptions to this rule. Based on Tio's current eating habits, I didn't think he was all too worried about cauliflower anyway.

2. Only drink water, NOTHING else! How about coffee? Just to keep any possible withdrawal headaches at bay, one small cup of organic black coffee is ok. Can you add half and half?...Well is it white?

3. Don't eat anything with the word wheat in the ingredients list. What if it's whole wheat? Look, if the word starts with W and ends in T and has the letters h-e-a in between, you can't eat it.

Tio agreed that he was up for the challenge. Anything to make the knee pain go away and make his niece stop lecturing.

I highly recommend you follow those same rules for the next 14 days (No, not for the rest of your life. Just for the next 14 days.) You will absolutely amaze yourself with your results. Remember, no white foods (except for the few I mentioned above), only water to drink and no wheat products.

I promise this is not how you have to eat for the long term in order to lose weight and keep it off but I do know that this is a great way to jumpstart your metabolism and see some initial weight come off a bit faster.

Don't let one more day go by without feeling and looking as great as I know you can! Don't wait until you have eaten all the food in your fridge or "used up" all the food in your pantry. It's not worth the wait! Commit to this e-course and your new incredible body right now and I promise the results will be worth it. And I will be here to guide you and support you along the way.

Eat more and Do Less Cardio to Lose that Unwanted Weight

By Isabel
Is the above statement too good to be true? That’s what Rory DeLuca thought. The 42 year old New Jersey resident, husband and busy father of 3 couldn’t believe what I was telling him when he came to see me in January 2006. Like most people, after the holidays, Rory was frustrated with his increased weight and was even more frustrated that his previous “weight loss” efforts were not providing any results. He told me he was trying to eat less and run 4 miles every day, but every time he tried to stick to that routine, his back would hurt because of the running and he would end up starving at the end of the day. You can imagine his surprise when I told him that he would have to eat a lot more and do less cardio to achieve the results he was looking for.


Alternatives to Cardio are Healthy Now, 3 months later, Rory has lost a total of 30 pounds and 9 inches off his body. His back no longer hurts and he is not starving. He eats tons of food all day and exercises less than an hour 5 days a week. So what is the secret to his success? Three very important weight loss principles that we can all incorporate.


1. Rory started strength training 3x’s a week. The key here is Rory was doing the right kind of strength training for his weight loss goal. He was not going from one machine to the next, doing 3 sets of 10 reps on each one. His strength training routine incorporated exercises that used his whole body so his heart rate was up the whole time. Try doing 3 exercises, back to back, using only free weights, stability balls and your own body weight, and you’ll see how quickly your heart rate goes up. No sitting on a bench and chich chatting in this workout. We keep the intensity high the whole time and the workout is complete in 45 minutes.


Incorporating strength training and reducing the amount of aerobic cardiovascular training was integral to his success. The ONLY tissue in the body that burns fat is Muscle. So the more muscle you have in your body, the more fat you’re burning at any given time during the day. The amount of muscle you have in your body also greatly affects your metabolism. So someone with more muscle mass will have a higher metabolism (This is why most men can eat a lot more than women). For example, one pound of muscle in your body requires approximately 50 calories per day. So if I had two people, both weighing 150lbs, but one was comprised of 100lbs of muscle while the other was comprised of 120lbs of muscle, the one with the more muscle mass is burning more calories all day long. That means that this person can eat more during the day and still maintain their weight and will also have an easier time losing weight. Aerobic training does burn calories while you’re doing it, but it does not do anything to increase the amount of muscle in your body, thus it does not help you to continue to burn calories when you’re done


2. Rory only did aerobic cardiovascular exercise using interval training. This concept could encompass a whole article unto itself, but basically, your body becomes accustomed to anything that you expose it to for long periods of time. Aerobic cardiovascular exercise makes your body more efficient at burning fat. But that’s exactly what you don’t want (If your car was more efficient at burning gas, you’d use less of it). Same with your body. If your body becomes efficient at burning fat, you burn less of it for the same amount of work. So instead of burning 200 calories for your 2 mile run, you may burn 150 calories for the same distance in 2 months. So you’ll have to increase the distance and continue to do this, just to burn the same 200 calories. This can eventually turn into running for an hour just to burn the same number of calories! I don’t know about you, but this is exactly what I don’t want to do.


Interval training refers to a series of intense activity separated with short rest periods. You want to make sure that you are constantly changing the intensity of your cardio workout during the whole workout, alternating from high intensity to low intensity. So a typical workout on an elliptical machine would be 5 min warmup, 1 minute at a high intensity (level 9or 10), then 2 minutes at a lower intensity (level 3 or 4). You would repeat this 3 minute round 3 or 4 times, gradually increasing the intensities once you feel like it’s getting easy. Cool down for 5 minutes, and that is a total of 19-22 minutes of cardio, not 1 hour! Keep your body guessing the whole time and it will not become accustomed to the same cardio workout.


3. Rory ate a lot of food all day long. Rory couldn’t believe his meal plan when I laid it out for him. He was going to be eating more than he was currently eating and couldn’t believe this was actually going to help him lose weight. The biggest difference would be what foods he would be choosing. Every meal was comprised of a healthy protein, carbohydrate and good fat. Lots of eggs (whole organic eggs, not whites), poultry, meat, fruits, whole grains, vegetables, olive oil, and raw nuts and nut butters. In order for his body to burn fat, it had to believe it wasn’t starving and the only way to do that was to feed it well.


So what can you do to achieve the same great results?

1. Incorporate both a good strength training routine and interval cardio routine to your workout regimen. Don’t just do one all the time. Your body needs muscle to keep your metabolism high, and it also needs cardio to keep your heart strong, so find a good balance between the two.
2. Incorporate a strength training routine that focuses on whole body movements. No sitting on machines, please. Unless you are rehabilitating an injury, you want to keep your body moving the whole time. What do you think burns more calories, a squat with a shoulder press combination or sitting on a leg press? Just try to squat and raise your arms overhead a few times and you’ll see how quickly your heart rate goes up. Keep your body moving through the whole workout and you’ll be sweating just as much as during your cardio.
3. Eat consistently throughout the day. We’ve all heard it before: Eat five meals a day to lose weight. Well, guess what? It works, as long as those meals incorporate healthy food. Eat a protein with each meal. That is the biggest mistake I see. People are not feeding their muscles with enough protein. Remember, you want to keep your metabolism cranking all day and the best way to do that is to feed your body and to keep your muscle mass high.


Hopefully, this will help you to reduce those countless hours on the treadmill and stop starving yourself to lose a few pounds. I don’t know about you but if eating all day and doing less cardio is going to keep me at a healthy weight and in shape, I say AMEN to that!