Per the amazing folks over at the Mayo Clinic, “A gluten-free diet is a diet that excludes the protein gluten. Gluten is found in grains such as wheat, barley, rye and triticale (a cross between wheat and rye).” Going gluten free is used to treat celiac disease, as gluten causes inflammation in the small intestines of individuals with celiac disease. So adhering to a nutrition plan that is gluten free helps control the symptoms and issues that come from consuming gluten.

Many of you might not have celiac disease, however many people without a clear-cut allergy might still have a high intolerance, which generates the same issues and complications. If you have a high intolerance, then consuming a moderate to high amount of gluten might be causing you more harm than good with issues such as inflammation, abdominal pain, bloating, and diarrhea. All of which are not real sexy or fun to deal with.

Eating a gluten-free, clean, fresh, and healthy diet will go a long way in helping you boost your metabolism, lose weight, get lean, and put you on the path to the healthiest you have ever been. But it only works if you follow some key strategies:

1. Ditch the word “diet.”

The “D” word only equates to short-term success. Instead of considering this to be a diet, consider it as a life-long change. Make it a lifestyle change for permanent results.

2. Ditch as many grains as possible.

Don’t just replace gluten-filled baked goods with gluten-free options. Store-bought gluten-free breads, crackers, muffins, and snacks are usually filled with starchy carbohydrates that will spike insulin levels and add a nice puffy layer of padding around your middle. Aim for high-protein flours such as coconut flour, almond flour, teff flour, quinoa flour, oat flour, or millet flour if you are going to make or consume any baked goods.

3. Learn how to read labels.

Gluten can be lurking in surprising places. Get your gluten-free cheat sheet and keep it with you so you do not end up getting glutened without knowing it.

4. Begin a love affair with the produce aisle

By the produce aisle, I actually mean the entire exterior of your grocery store. This is the easiest way to go gluten-free and become a lean machine. Fruits, vegetables, seafood, meat, and poultry are all naturally gluten free.

5. Spice up your relationship with food.

While you are in the middle of that love affair with the exterior of your store, include the spice aisle into the mix and make it a threesome. Getting creative with your spices and herbs can transform a bland meal into a sexy, delicious masterpiece.

6. Plan your meals out at the beginning of the week.

Put together a simple clean-eating menu plan and create the shopping list. Get everything you need at the beginning of the week so it is all on hand and ready to go.

7. Ditch the refined sugars.

Sugar drains and leaches the body of precious vitamins and minerals through the demand its digestion, detoxification, and elimination makes upon your entire system. Sugar eaten every day produces a continuously overly acidic condition, and more and more minerals are required from deep in the body in the attempt to rectify the imbalance. Excess sugar eventually affects every organ in the body and is stored in the form of fat in the most inactive areas – the belly, the buttocks, the breasts, and the thighs.

8. Eat only whole fresh foods.

Challenge yourself to eliminate packaged foods from your pantry.

9. Focus on taking care of your gut from the inside out.

Healing the gut and taking care of your digestion will go a long way in giving you that flat belly you have been longing for.

10. Keep your meals simple.

Keep your meal ingredients to a minimum. Create fresh and easy meals that only take minutes to throw together. This goes a long way to keeping you on track and helping you from falling off the wagon because it is getting too hard or because it takes too long to make something. Some of the simplest meals can look and feel the most gourmet when all you are using are fresh wholesome ingredients.

Hopefully these ten tips can help you guys kick start your journey. If you have comments or questions, please leave them below. I would love to hear from you.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post 10 Ways to Go Gluten-Free, Get Lean, and Stay That Way appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The first step – be honest with yourself about your eating habits. It will not matter how much you workout if your nutritional plan is not followed correctly. Working out more and having a little cheat here and there will only end up with you being frustrated and exhausted. Here is the breakdown: One hundred percent nutrition and one hundred percent commitment to it. The basics are below. Let’s get right into it.

For the next two weeks days you will be carb cycling your food intake on a very simple three-day pattern. For those of you who don’t know, carb cycling is great for fat burning and jumpstarting your metabolism. I strongly encourage you to integrate it into your life if you haven’t already.

The simple pattern to follow is: no carb – low carb – medium carb. You should base your total intake on your own personal bodyweight, goals, and training schedule.

• Day 1 – No Carb: Protein, Veggies and Fats
• Day 2 – Low Carb: Protein, Veggies and Fats
• Day 3 – Medium Carb: Veggies, Protein, Fruits, Fats, Beans/Legumes
• After Day 3 – Repeat Day 1 again.

For the next two weeks your eating focus will be on quality lean protein, healthy fats, and getting in as many veggies as possible. Typically, the greener the veggies the better. If you have no idea what a meal like this would like below is a sample of a no carb breakfast that tastes great in my opinion.

Simple No Carb Breakfast

• 4 whole eggs – Please eat the yolks. Trust me the fat will work with you.
• Spinach, tomatoes, bell peppers, half an avocado, and 2 tsp. natural salsa.

This meal is easy and packed with plenty of protein and healthy fats to start off your day. Below you will find a list of additional foods I would include into your two-week jumpstart to a tighter trunk:

• Eggs – One egg contains 6 grams of high-quality protein and all nine essential amino acids. Eating whole eggs helps build muscle, and the more muscle you have the less fat your body carries. Oh, and before I forget, please eat the yokes as well. Yolks contain one hundred percent of the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K.
• Fat-Burning Foods – Chicken, beef, pork, bison, turkey, eggs, wild salmon, trout, and sardines (canned is okay, too).
• Asparagus – This vegetable has some amazing natural diuretic properties. To be more specific it has 288 milligrams of potassium per cup. Potassium is known for reducing belly fat.
• Include all these Fluid-Flushing Foods – Celery, cucumber, parsley, and baby spinach.
• Water – It can help you lose weight. Yes, really. Water flushes away the by-products of fat breakdown. Drinking water can also reduce hunger. It’s an effective appetite suppressant so you tend not to eat as much. Drinking filtered water with fresh lemon/orange/cucumber for flavor will help keep the inflow of fluid coming.
• Green Tea – Also, I would suggest drinking as much green tea as you can handle, as it’s great for fat burning as well.

Now, all the important things to avoid for the next two weeks. The basics we all probably know already, but you need to follow these rules:

• No Grains – avoid all flour products this includes bread and wraps.
• No Alcohol – no drinking for the next two weeks.
• No Sweets – candy, chocolate, or other desserts.
• No Dairy – milk, cheese, ice cream, they tend to bloat most people.
• No Sodas – even diet, the fake syrups and sweeteners are all bloating elements.

Just be smart when making your food choices. A simple rule I live my life by is: If it runs, swims, flies, or grows from the ground then eat it. If it comes in a box or a bag leave it alone.

Nutrition is king when it comes to looking your absolute best. Mix these essential nutrition tips with a good strength and conditioning program and watch your waist melt away. But be realistic about what to expect in a few weeks. If you are currently thirty pounds overweight, don’t expect to wake up in two weeks and see a rock-hard six-pack. On the same note if you clean up your diet, it’s not uncommon to lose an entire inch on your waist in just two quick weeks.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Clean Eating Challenge: 2 Weeks To a Tighter Trunk appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

yourself on a reason to achieve your objectives or you sell yourself on an excuse to fall short.

Today I want to share with you some of the biggest excuses I hear and see daily that derail thousands of people from reaching their health and fitness goals. Hopefully breaking down these excuses will allow you to never let them hinder your quest for the healthier happier life.

“I don’t have energy. I’m too tired to workout.”

Who isn’t too tired at times? I know I get tired, but at some point in my early adulthood I realized being tired is just a part of life and you need to deal with it. It doesn’t matter if you work construction all day in the blazing sun or if you answer phones in an air-conditioned cubicle, we all get rundown. There are a few simple fixes for this. The obvious ones are: sleep more and keep a balanced nutrition plan. Easier said than done, I know.

The other major helping point is finding something you are passionate about or enjoy. Exercise is much easier if you are focused on a goal and enjoy the journey to that goal. Many times I have set external goals to keep me motivated – a competition, a photo shoot, or a race date that helps me push through those days I am just dragging.

If you don’t have an external motivator to get you moving, find an activity you love. It could be hiking, swimming, yoga, or joining a basketball, volleyball, or soccer league. Anything that gets you excited to move around. It’s doesn’t have to be weights and cardio every day of the week. Personally, on days when I am “too tired” or lack energy, I pick a workout in the gym I love doing or go shoot some hoops. You would be surprised at how easy working out can be when you enjoy the activity regardless of how tired you may be.

“It’s too hard to get into great shape.”

You are right to a certain extent; it is hard. But thinking it’s too hard makes it seem impossible. The reality is, it’s not “too hard,” you are just being lazy. Battling cancer is hard. Fighting for your life in a foreign country is hard. Getting in shape is nothing in comparison.

Does it take work? Yes, you must be willing to put some time and effort to achieve a body you are happy with. In corporate America you don’t get from mailroom to CEO in four weeks. Fitness is no different. You can’t go from out of shape to great shape in four weeks. Time and effort pay off just like anything in life. Staying motivated by your goals or doing what you love makes this journey that much easier.

“I will start my ‘diet’ on Monday.”

Yeah, the problem with this is Monday seems to never come for these people. On a side note, why is Monday the “magic” start day for all things diet and fitness related? Do people feel, for some reason, this amazing power on Monday that they didn’t feel Sunday to achieve their goals? What are you waiting for? Sitting and waiting until Monday only keeps you fat and unhappy. Sorry, the truth hurts.

There is no time like a present, today is not a dress rehearsal, and you won’t get to do it over again. I urge anyone who is serious about changing their eating habits to start today. It will put you one step closer to your ultimate goal.

“I’ve done everything I can, but still no results.”

My guess is you haven’t done everything. I am almost positive you can try something different: a different strength training program, a different aerobic program, or (my favorite) a different nutrition program. All of these things can be changed and tweaked for various results.

Fitness is a journey. It takes time and effort. I had to do things wrong for years to figure what was right and, more importantly, what was right for me. When life pushes, you need to push back. My advice, ask a professional or, better yet, someone who is where you want to be and see what they did. I bet they have a totally different story and approach than you have taken so far and that may just be the thing to get you over the hump.

“I will never look as good as him/her.”

I will be the first to tell you comparing yourself to others physically is a terrible idea and a never-ending battle you can’t win. Genetically we are all given different cards to play. You can’t control anyone else, just focus on being the best you can be. So what if they look better than you? If you want what you think they have, then you have to go out and get it. Some people might be gifted with certain things you didn’t get. That’s life, but it doesn’t mean with hard work you can’t have those things, too. Last time I checked, hard work and dedication were earned, not inherited. You just need to focus on you instead of them.

The truth is we don’t know how hard other people work to get their bodies and that shouldn’t be a concern to us. At the end of the day you control you, what you eat, and how hard you work, and in my experience if you really want something bad enough you can get it. If you are willing to work for it.

These are just observations and things I have heard over the years in the fitness business, from more people than I can count. As you can see, these are all self-inflicted issues that people let cripple or slow down their progress. My best advice is never make excuses for anything. Simply accept the things you can’t control and do everything possible to improve on the things you can.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Excuses That Derail Your Fitness Journey (And How to Stop Making Them) appeared first on Breaking Muscle.