My Number One Fat Burning Tip

This one might hit you with a bang!

It might hit you with a thud.

Or you may think there’s nothing new here.

However, even if you have heard this before, are you doing it?

I don’t know exactly where I read it but the other day I saw a quote that said

“An ounce of ACTION, is worth a tonne of KNOWLEDGE”

I couldn’t agree more. There’s no point knowing what to do if you aren’t putting it into action.

Recognise when you are knowing more than you are doing, and make the next step an active one not a learning one.

Alright, enough of the preaching, let’s have this fat burning tip.

Well here in sunny Tasmania, we have fantastic produce. High quality meat, fruit, veggies, berries etc. And when they are in season there seems to be a massive oversupply. I can only assume this because, for instance, we can currently buy local strawberries for between $2-$3 per kilo. Now to me that is a massive bargain, as well as an environmentally sound one as well (when compared to buying interstate or internationally sourced berries).  Even frozen imported ones are at least double, if not 3-4 times the cost.

Blueberries, $10-$15 a kilo, fresh, local, organic.

Bananas, up to $2 a kilo, fresh, local, (not sure on the organic for this one)

So what does this have to do with fat loss…….

Well when I saw how cheap these were and that I could get local goods for less than their imported buddies, I thought now is the time to stock up. But there is a problem, our freezer sits underneath the fridge and is good for about two weeks of storage, no where near enough space to stock up for the winter. So I decided to go shopping for freezers, long story short, I am going to use the unused half of my parents one!

Now these fruits and berries are very nutritious but they also freeze well. Even better, they are great in shakes when you prepare then frozen. So what I have done is buy up on all the available, inseason, cheap berries and bananas and set them to freeze. Some I have left in the bulk bags (~1kg) and others I have put into 1/2 cup, 3/4 cup and 1 cup serves. With the banana, remove the skin and cut into small slices so you don’t kill your blender!

So now I have ready to go, already prepared, serves of highly nutritious ingredients for my shakes, desserts or just as a snack by themselves. You only have to do it once in a blue moon, and you will be saving yourself both time and money into the future.

There you go, my number one fat burning tip for today is to buy a freezer (or at least use one!) Turn your frozen section into a fat burning dream, not a fat burning nightmare like the frozen section at the supermarket!

Not necessarily a revolutionary idea, but definitely one that many people won’t be utilising….until now of course.

Let me know what you think, your ideas, or any way this idea can be improved.

5 Food Preparation Strategies for Fat Loss

Ever seen the movie ‘Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure”? Clearly not one of the greatest films of our time, but it reminds me of what happens when you have your food preparation strategies under control.

Long story short (and to save you the discomfort of watching the movie!) they would go back in time and changes things, or hide things so that when they came back to the present it was there. Confused? Fair enough, time travel isn’t that popular yet.

Put it like this. When you are wondering what to have for lunch, open the fridge and your lunch is already there, life is good. It is even a better feeling if you have forgotten that you have made the meal and it is a genuine surprise! (Trust me, this happens quite often for me. Short term memory loss is a side effect of having twins I’m sure!)

Enough rabbling, lets look at some time tested strategies.

1. Double the recipe

The idea here is that you make a double (even triple) batch and store the leftovers. Put some in the fridge for tomorrow’s lunch or in the freezer for a quick, healthy frozen meal. Be careful not to over eat just because there is an abundance of food cooked here.

2. Buy more Tupperware

I love Tupperware, but obviously you can get any brand of storage containers. These will come in handy for the leftovers you have cooked, but also for storing fresh ingredients. For instance we use it to store tuna not used for lunch instead of leaving it in the tin.

3. Bag It Up

Buy in bulk and store in serves. That’s what you want to be doing with things like nuts, beans and snow peas. It makes sense to buy in bulk because you generally get a better price. But then instead of just having large bags or jars of nuts (it can be very easy to over eat this way), get some zip lock bags and put them into single serves. All you need to do is grab a bag for a snack or take a few with you to work.

4. Take and Shake

Or is it shake and take. Or take, shake and take. Either way what you want to do is grab some of your favorite protein powder and put it in your shaker. All you need to do is add some water and you’ve instantly got some quality protein. Eat the bag of nuts you brought and a piece of fruit (or the snow peas) and your done. Once again you can bag up some single serves at the start of the week so all you need to do is grab it on the way out instead of measuring it everyday.

5. Make Breakfast at Night

Most breakfasts worth eating will require a bit of preparation of cooking. That means you typically don’t want to be eating cereal, toast or juice. Sure they are convenient, but they will have enough processed carbs to keep you running for about a week. Problem is you will feel hungry not long after and be eating again. So pre-cook your eggs, blend your cottage cheese, berries and nuts and have it all ready to eat, or heat and eat in the morning.

If you have a strategy of your own, let us know by leaving a comment below.

2010 – 20 Fat Loss Tips In 10 Seconds

Let’s ring in the new year with some back to basics fat loss advice.

Fat loss is simple. Tell yourself this until you actually believe it.

You probably already know what you need to do and there is no need to be looking for the latest greatest method because the tried and tested basics work every time.

Here’s 20 quick tips to get you on track straight away. Feel free to leave some more in the comments section below as well. 

1. Eat more fish

2. Eat more eggs

3. Eat more cottage cheese

4. Eat more nuts

5. Eat more green vegetables

6. Eat more berries

7. Eat more fruit

8. Eat less CRAP -> Avoid these 26 Foods

9. Drink more tea -> Add your favourite tea to the list

10. Drink more water

11. Never add sugar to anything

12. Take your fish oil

13. Take a good multi vitamin

14. Train with intensity (high intensity that is, not low intensity!)

15. Train the whole body

16. Train your weaknesses more than you train your strengths

17. Master body weight exercises (See point 16)

18. Set a personal best every workout

19. Be consistent

20. Be consistent (No I didn’t get lazy, nor is that a typo. Be consistent dammit. Don’t be saying “I’m just getting back into it” once a month. Be saying “I haven’t missed a workout or messed up my eating this month”. Do everything on this list CONSISTENLY to make 2010 your best year ever.

Now tell me your top tips for this year, leave a comment below.