Here you go:

TMC’s Diet- Down to a Science

M1. 2 Scoops Muscle Milk, 1Scoop Pro Complex, 1+ tbspoon Udo’s Choice EFA oil

M2. 4-5oz Turkey breast or tuna 4oz. Sweet Potato, 1 tbspoon Peanut Butter

M3. 4-5oz Chicken or Lean Beef, 1-2 cups veggies or salad

M4. 4oz  Turkey breast (maybe few veggies)

M5. 1.5 Scoop Pro Complex, 1 tbspoon Peanut butter, 1+ tbspoon Udo’s Choice EFA oil

M6. TRAINING DAY ONLY 1scoop Muscle Milk

Gallon of ICE COLD water
Supplements Bone-Up, VPX Redline, Multi-Vitamin, and Fish Oil Caps are the only additional supplements.

Cardio Only Day 2000cal  65g fat 103g carb 245g prot
Training Day 2100cal  70g fat 111g carb 260g prot

I’m finding that I’ve lost any and all major cravings for anything else at the moment…..very satisfying diet.  Haven’t so much as thought of having a diet coke or a coffee either, although I’m not purposely denying myself those things.  My body just wants that water, and my caffeine fix is taken care of by the VPX.  (I’m still hooked on my morning, pre-cardio, diet red bull…just a small one though!)

A word about daily fasted morning cardio:

This is going to sound cliche’, because I could have gotten off my ass and done this at anytime if I hadn’t been brainwashed into drinking the “no-cardio kool aid”, but the cardio has been life changing. (Of course, I’m an intelligent, independent thinker so I only have myself to blame).  By the second day, I went from almost 30 years of morning grouchiness to being a morning person.

I obviously have not seen any immediate physique changes, but as far as energy levels, lack of “stiffness”, and mental state, I have seen amzing improvements.  I keep telling myself that I can take a day off on the weekends, but I actually look forward to doing it Saturday and Sunday,  followed by a relaxing “cool down” on my back patio with the weekend morning paper.  Honestly, its been a revelation.

For the people out there harping on the fact they “ARE NOT A MORNING PERSON”, re-read what he just said. 

After a lot of “family drama” earlier in the year, Mommy and Daddy have really focused inward and taken our training to another level.

We had planned on competing only in November at the Muscle Mania Fitness Universe Event but since Anh started Hot Pilates/Yoga she’s attacking cardio from a completely different level.  Daddy is enormously proud of Momma and her new found love of HIT cardio.

The results have been AMAZING and justification for Anh competing this upcoming weekend in LA at the Miss Fitness Hollywood Contest @The Grove Los Angeles.  (The contest is part of the Shape Up America Event )

As we usually do when detailing our Contest Prep, here is how Anh’s diet is structured for this week.  We’ve made some slight tweaks due to her not competing in Figure but Bikini.

• Monday-Day 1 of De-Carb Phase
  • 5-7 Feedings of Cubed Ribeye with Sea Salt and Olive Oil Almonds
  • 1.5 Gallons of Distilled Water
  • Hot Pilates for 90 Minutes
  • Day 1 of Depletion Workout
  • 20 Minutes of Mod Intensity Cardio on Upright Bike Post Depletion Workout

• Tuesday-2nd Day of De-Carb Phase
  • Same Food and Water
  • Hot Pilates for 60 Minutes
  • Day 2 of Depletion Workout
  • 20 Minutes of Cardio Same as above

• Wednesday-Last Day of De-Carb Phase
  • Same Food and Water
  • No Pilates (running really low on Muscle Glycogen and don’t need Catabolism)
  • Day 3 of Depletion Workout(Likely 1 Set of 25 Reps and only 1 Rotation)
  • Cardio Depending on how she looks/feels

• Thursday-Re-Carb with EFA’s and Lean Protein Only (Because she isn’t posing and there is really no need to “Super Glycogenate” Anh will reintroduce low glycemic portion control carbs at every meal before 6PM to refuel muscle glycogen stores but at the same time maintain low insulin and high glucagon to keep her body maintaining maximal leanness.
  • 5 Feedings of Steamed Chicken/Tillapia, a Small Boiled Yam and Asparagus.  Her last meal after 6PM will not contain a Yam but only Protein and Asparagus.  Anh will have a teapoon of Udo’s Oil (7 gms of EFA’s @ every meal to make sure she gets enough EFA’s.  If she is starving at night she will have one or two small “baby spoons” of Almond Butter.  Same Water (1.5 Gallons)
  • No Pilates(we’ll be on the road early Thursday on our way to LA)
  • No Training
  • Potentially 45 minutes of Low Intensity Cardio at night depending on condition

• Friday-Re-Carb (Almost Mirror Image as Thursday with exception of Drinking only 1 Gallon of Distilled Water--So many people screw up regarding Water Intake and Restriction.  The body needs as much water as possible to continue to minimize it’s production of Aldosterone (More on that in an upcoming post)
  • No Pilates
  • No Training
  • Potentially 30 Minutes of Low Intensity Cardio depending on Condition(We might be walking the Santa Monica Promenade/Venice Beach Strand with the girls too and that should be more than enough)

• Saturday-Show Time
  • Eat Normally as Thursday and Friday.
  • If flat or low muscle glycogen, glass of Red Wine about 20 Minutes before going on stage.(Calm Nerves) along with some Simple Sugars like Raisins/Gummy Bears.

That’s her diet.

Anh’s supplements are minimal.

Multi Vitamin/Mineral, Bone Up, Folic Acid.  The only thermogenic she’s using is Slimquick Ultra powdered drink supplement she adds to her water.  The packets help dull her appetite and give her energy during Pilates/Training.

Check out some recent videos of TMC training with 10 Second Negative Emphasis Style.

This type of training is not for the faint of heart and definitely requires a spotter/training partner to get maximum benefit and make every rep and second under tension count.

Reverse Pull Downs with 10 Second Negatives

www.youtube.com/watch?v=03vltoML5io

Tomorrow-More videos and details on ANH’S INCREDIBLE DRIVE AND DETERMINATION WHILE BEING SUPER MOM!

MIHWCS

Yes, that is right.   One half of TMC is competing in the Physique Class at the inaugural Jay Cutler Desert Classic @Red Rock Casino on April 23rd.

As you can tell from the photo, he has to dial it in a bit more.

Hopefully time and job permitting, we’ll post a picture every day from here on until the actual show.

Oh and I’m sure a few of you would like diet, supplements and training details as well?  It might come soon, and it might not.

Here is a quick snapshot:

Jay’s Daily Diet.  (204 Pounds and 7.5% bodyfat)

• 7AM-Meal 1-Small Bowl of Oatmeal with Casein Protein-Vitamins, EFA Capsules and 12 Ounces of Water
• 12-Noon-Meal 2-Clean Boneless White Meat Chicken, 1/2 Cup of Brown Rice, 15gms of fat from Sunflower seeds-12 Ounces of Water
• 4:30PM-Meal 3-Repeat of Meal 2-12 Onces of Water
• 7PM(Training Day Only-3 Days a Week-Mon-Wed and Friday or Saturday whichever is most convenient)Meal 4-Casein and Oatmeal Post Workout-12 Ounces of Water(More carbs in the Oatmeal than Meal 1)
• 8PM(Non-Training Days)Meal 4-Fish(Salmon-Tuna or Tillapia)and Green Veggies-12 Ounces of Water

He is using VPX Redline Ultra Hardcore Black and Blue Series 3x a Day, Costco Green Tea Capsules 2 caps at same time as VPX dosage and also smearing Amilean on his lower abs and midsection before every cardio session. (Great stuff and highly recommended)

More to come.

MIHWCS

TMC: Discuss your nutritional beliefs. Explain how someone can become shredded on a Twinkie Based Diet.

Hate to disappoint diet fans, but it is all OVERRATED.

The Diet Industry may be the most unsuccessful industry in History (key word may). Yes, it is prudent to stay away from “processed” foods or foods that are rendered with a bit of a longer shelf life, but other than that, a balance of “real” foods still works best. So those of you that prepare your foods and demand the way you like it (clean) at restaurants – Bravo! But this aside, dietary intake has always been the amount of food and if you freeze dry all the food stuffs, it’s not all that terribly different.

Rules I go by:

1.     Avoid any “diet system” that has a word or phrase before the word “Diet”

2.     Eat a wide variety of a balance of foods, be it frozen, fresh, cooked etc.

3.     Protein supplements or any supplements for that matter are neither necessary nor desirable, and if you eat as suggested in rule 2, you are simply supplementing a well balanced diet

4.     Protein supplementation is a total waste of your money and bodily resources.  You literally have to live below the poverty level to not get the adequate requirements of protein

5.     Eating smaller meals (4 – 5 – 6) daily actually works rather well, but you must gradually adapt over several months to this process – but if you still enjoy the “three squares,” I’m sure you will be perfectly fine – sometimes eating many meals is like a part time job to some – but the bottom line is again – AMOUNT of kcals!

The Twinkie Diet link to my site is because of the conversation I had with Rush Limbaugh which is transcribed towards the end.

If one were to eat one package of Twinkies (300 Cals) as a “supplement” to their daily intake, as long as the calories are on a steady reduction and balanced, it would be by and large, very safe and effective for most homo sapiens.

Again the gist of dietary intake is all about the amount of kcals consumed. Don’t be obsessed by your diet, have fun and eat less of what you like and more of what your body has adapted well to eating. Your body is genius at networking its nutrition, and anything not needed is excreted or stored as fat.

TMC agrees with 100% of this commentary.

This wouldn’t have been the case before experimenting with a carb based but severely restricted kcal diet for our competition in November.

A couple of notes about David’s beliefs.

• Protein supplementation while definitely not needed or desired(more on that in a second) is usually substituted for convenience purposes only.  Most busy people just don’t have the time necessary to continually prepare solid nutritious based meals.   Many of us (myself included when not dieting for a show/photo shoot) will substitute Casein/Whey Protein Isolate and/or an isocaloric MRP like Muscle Milk for a couple of feedings a day because it’s easy to prepare and quick to consume.

• Protein powder is not desired (as mentioned above) because the speed of which it is assimilated  lessens the optimization of your metabolism compared to the break down of proteins from solid food consumption.  The Thermic Effect of Food (TEF) from chewing and digesting solid food is very under estimated when it comes to maximizing BMR.

• Your body does need essential vitamins and minerals.  A good multi vitamin/mineral daily dosage is still a good idea to ensure you get what is required in lieu of not getting it from your daily diet.

• The more meals/feedings you have over the course of the day, the more you will stimulate your metabolism.  You must maintain a significant kcal deficit in order to get super lean/shredded.  Markus Reinhardt was eating 7-8 times a day the last month before his show.  If you have the willpower to eat multiple small meals every two to two and half hours over the course of the day(Obviously the type of job you have also impacts this ability), you will do well in leaning out.

• Thermogenics also need to be taken into the equation.  To get their maximum benefit (enhanced BMR and dulled appetite), you can’t eat 7-8 times per day.  So good thermogens go hand in hand with the “3 square meal approach” mentioned by David.

We hope your enjoying this interview as much as we are.

Monday we’ll drop Part 4!

MIHWCS

Jay is headed to Chicago for training for a new job with AutoTrader.com at 6:20AM tomorrow.  Lots of packing and preparation for that.

We also need to get our first depletion workout in today before 1:30PM.  So things are going to be interesting for Jay as he makes final preparations from an Embassy Suites in Chicago.  ;)

As promised, here is the “Carb Up Phase” structured based on both of our requirements.

Carb Up Phase: Wednesday thru Friday at 10AM

Wednesday

• Salt-We now liminate as much salt from our diet as possible, eating only trace amounts.  Remember the discussion about Aldosterone?  After eating salty foods from Sunday thru Tuesday and drinking lots of water, we’re now going to drastically reduce both in effect (hopefully) tricking the body to eliminate water and salt from inside/underneath the skin.  Think of the goal as having your muscles wrapped in saran rap by the skin.

• Carbs-Starting with the first meal Wed, it’s time to EAT CARBS! It’s important to eat the same carbs we’ve been eating during our prep.  So are only options are Brown Rice, Yams or Oatmeal.  Jay is partial to Oatmeal while Anh loves YAMS.   There are numerous schools of thought on how many carbs you should consume.  We’ve seen recommendations of 4gms per pound of body weight all the way down to 1.75.    It really comes down to your individual biochemical reaction to carb consumption.  Do you hold water or appear soft/mushy readily after eating carbs?   Many people do.  Obviously understanding and keeping an accurate record of what happens to your body within 4-8-12 and 24 hours of carb consumption is the only accurate way of gaging what will work for you.   Both Anh and Jay are decent responders to carb consumption and can get away with a higher amount provided the carbs are clean and not combined with any garbage preservatives or fillers.  A good rule of thumb recommendation is below.   Jay will consume 575 gms of Oatmeal, mixed with Cinnamon and Casein Protein.  Anh will eat about 350 of Yams mashed up with Chicken.  Our goal ( schedule/children/work)permitting is to eat about every 2-2.5 hours).  It’s imperative to carry your food around with you in a oversize tupperware container.   Preparing out exact amounts by the day and having it all in one container also minimizes over-eating/consumption.
  • Bigger Men 500-750gms.
  • Smaller Females 200-400gms

• Fat and Protein- We obviously reduce to try and keep our kcals the same as before the carb load (Lowered Carb Days).  We want to maintain at least .75gms of Protein per pound of bodyweight.  Fat will be very minimal and likely only coming from the meat/oatmeal.

• Water-1 Gallon for Jay and Half a Gallon for Anh.  This is reduced by half from the previous 3 De-Carb Days.

• Insulin Potentiators/Mimics-ALA, R-ALA, Cinnamon, Metaformin, Chromium (a couple of these are great to take with every carb meal/feeding)-Jay will be using Cinnamon in his oats and Anh will swallow R-ALA with her feedings.

Thursday

• Water-1/2 Gallon for Jay and 1/4 Gallon for Anh

• Carbs-We will cut our carb intake by about 20-30% (Some who are really sensitive to carbs, might need to reduce even further-you need to monitor your condition).  Jay is targeting about 325gms of Oatmeal and Casein and Anh will get about 200gms from Yams and Chicken.
  • Bigger Men 375-550gms
  • Smaller Females 150-300gms

• Insulin Potentiators/Mimics-We will both consume the same as Wednesday

• Fat and Protein-Here we need to add back in 20-30% fat/protein to balance out total calories from the carb reduction.  This will mean more Casein for Jay and more Chicken for Anh.

Friday

Anh has preliminaries at 1PM and Jay’s are at 6PM.  We both have Media Sessions on Thursday and want to appear full/muscularly dense and close to stage ready.  Friday is the day we want to look our best and hopefully hold our condition into Saturday late evening.  (easier said than done)

• Water 2-4 ounces before 10AM. After that only sips or ice cubes all day long.

• Carbs-Snacking on Carbs only thru out the day (judging by condition)-Simple sugars are usually best as they will produce a veiny/vascular appearance.  Red wine about 20-30 minutes before a stage appearance will also help vascularity as it increases blood flow and is a vaso-dilator.  You are only taking minimal amounts obviously as you don’t want any spillover creating a watery/soft appearance under bright stage lighting.

• Fat and Protein-Low fat and protein.  Again you’re basically only snacking on simple sugars all day long.   Some people depending on how they look upon awakening on Friday AM, will have Steak and Egg Whites to keep themselves full all day.   Again, it depends on how you look.  It does help to have a neutral observer/unbiased opinion of somebody who knows the game and can be honest with you.   A coach or trainer can be invaluable at this time.

<NOTES>

***Cardio is essentially a waste at this point.  You’re either in condition or you’re not.  A case can be made for some long, low intensity EEW on Thursday night if you feel you’re holding too much water from the carbload.   But any cardio for further fat loss at this point ain’t gonna help.

***Supplementation/Thermogenics can still be used.  It depends on your individual tolerance.  Both of us will be using Glucose Disposal Agents all the way through our carb load.  We’ll also continue with our morning vitamin and mineral usage.

***No weight training.  The last session ends after Tuesday’s Depletion workout.

***Posing and Isometric Holding should be happening during your free time. Going over your holds, routines, flexes, poses etc should be your primary goal both physically and mentally.  Imagine doing it and it will help you visualize achieving it once on stage.

***Tanning-By now you should have already experimented with Pro-Tan-Jan Tana-Dream Tan et al to see how your body holds the color and what kind of hue your melanin/skin produces.  Both of us put our first coat of Pro-Tan on last night and will put another one tonight.  Based on how we hold through the week, we’ll apply more at night before bed.  You can continue to fake bake but make sure to not burn.  If you burn your skin, your body will retain water in the area burned.  So make sure you develop a great base tan well in advance of this last week.

***Shaving/Using an Ex-Foliant-This needs to be done daily at night before tanning application.   A great product to try and help avoid razor burn is “Tend-Skin“.  Search the blog as we’ve written about it here before.  The last thing you need before hitting the stage is unsightly red bumps or irritated skin.

We’ll come back later today and post some pictures/video from our Depletion Workout. (time permitting).

<Update>

We made it through the first depletion workout.  We only got through 3 Circuits but it’s down and there are two to go.

Check some of the photos.   It will be interesting to see how much flatter we appear in the photos as muscle glycogen wanes.

Thank you all for your patronage.

The site has seen it’s strongest unique visitation and page views in the last 10 days.  We continue to be blessed and excited so many people are following us along our journey.

Happy Sunday!

MIHWCS

For those readers who have competed or ones contemplating doing so in the future, the next 3-4 days of posts will be something to “save/bookmark”.

Lots of thought and preparation have gone into these plans.  And we must credit all of the folks who have gone before us for their inspiration and attention to detail in crafting and detailing their strategies across the World Wide Interweb.

Unfortunately due to genetics, and multiple other parameters based on people’s biochemical individuality, there is never a “one step solution/plan” for everybody.

All of this takes experimentation and the meticulous recording of your results so you can have a reasonable expectation of what will happen once applying this before your show/contest.

We’re going to go over the “De-Carb Diet Phase” in this post.

Please don’t hesitate to ask questions or inquire about any of this.  And please, hit us up if you see a flaw or error in our logic.  Still time for us to vary and improve if necessary.

Sunday thru Tuesday

We’re making a slight change to the protein content in our diet.  Instead of clean white chicken, egg whites and fish, we’re going to be adding Lean Red Meat due to it’s higher fat content and ability to cause satiety through richness, creatine and b-vitamins. We’ll also be adding some natural fats to keep the calories the same to make up for the lack of carbs in our diet.

This is the most difficult 3 Day Phase of the entire contest.  You’ve been eating very clean carbohydrates every 2-3 hours for the last 8 weeks and now you’re essentially going “cold turkey” and only eating salad or green beans.  And in very small quantities.

The body can sometimes freak out due to the brain desiring/needing/wanting/screaming for GLUCOSE!  GIVE ME MY SUGAR-BIOTCH!

This phase will take enormous will power and intestinal fortitude but it’s what separates the winners from the losers.   And the puffy from the peeled!

During this phase will be drastically reducing our bodies muscle glycogen content to prime our muscles to “re-glycogenate/refill” (during the “Carb Up Phase”to follow)to give the appearance of full/hard/dense muscles under stage lighting.

The trick is not depleting too much as you can create a nasty cortisol increase which will make your body start retaining water and also causing you to feel LIKE SHITE!

• Protein-will come from Lean Red Meat/Salmon. (We will increase protein amount to make up for lost carbs)

• Fat-Ours will come from the EFA’s in the meat, and potentially the following: Flax Oil, Udo’s Oil, Fish Oil Capsules, Almonds, Sunflower Seeds (We also increase here  to also make up for lost carbs)

• Carbs-The lower you can go, the better.    Green beans or salad are optimal.  The brain will always demand glucose so the willpower necessary to see this through is incredible.  Don’t mess with Markus, Kini or Anh during these 3 days.  I’m not liable nor responsible for anything they might do.  ;)

• Salt-It’s actually important to salt our food at each meal/feeding - like 1-2g with every meal. This will help our body to let go of water. It will shut down our endogenous Aldosterone production and make it easier to let go of water.   (This is an interesting yet complex subject fully needing a detailed post of it’s own)

• Water-1.5-2 gallons daily.  Need to keep water and salt high so the body is “confused” and limits if not ceases production of aldosterone priming your skin to look thin and dry with minimal to zero sub-q water retention.

• Herbal Diuretic*(This is optional) For people who are sensitive to carbs and retain water easily, the OTC diuretic is a nice adjunct to throw into the end of the De-Carb Phase and carry it through your “Carb Up Phase”

It’s very important to keep kcals consistent from what you’ve been eating previously.

As listed in the previous posts about our diets, our kcals have been consistently around 9.5 to 12 per pound of bodyweight.   So once you take the carb kcals out, you’re going to have an obvious increase in protein and fat.

<NOTES>

• Cardio is only necessary if you still have fat to lose.  Unfortunately if you aren’t fully conditioned at this point, doing cardio while depleting muscle glycogen can suck beyond sucking. Jay is ready and Anh is 98% there. (Hopeful to be all the way there by early Sunday AM)
• Same supplementation and Thermogenic Usage here.  You’ll definitely be in need of appetite reduction or being dulled when not eating carbs.
• When you get hungry, ravenous or just want to binge (before you jump out of a window or kick your dog/scream at your children) drink ice cold water.  As much as possible.  It helps to also have your Distilled Water Jugs loaded with the clear Fiber Powder from Metamucil to increase feelings of satiety and to also keep bowels regular from lack of carbs.
• Weigh yourself before going to bed and upon waking in the morning Sun thru Tues.  This will give you an idea how much water weight you’re working with and what will be optimal “peak condition weight” once you re-glycogenate during the Carb Up to follow. (more on that later)
• Chew Teeth Whitening, Sugarless Gum in between meals.  We love Mentos.  It also helps to reduce hunger cravings.

Check out some photos from last night’s training session at Anytime Fitness in Las Vegas with MR.  (Forgive some of the images, but we’re practicing select “poses” and “looks” necessary for our categories.

We’re very close.  Just need to deplete, rid sub-Q water and re-glycogenate and PRESTO!

The photo below is currently being featured on the home page of My Best Health Portal for an article on HIT Interval Training.

Please go to the site and comment on the article as it’s incredibly well written and detailed.

Up next will be discussion of the “Depletion Workout”.

This also occurs at the same time as the “De-Carb Phase” making it even harder.   (We’ll discuss why in the next post)

Until then, we wish all of you wonderful weekends!

Thanks for being a part of TMC!

MIHWCS

As promised with our daily new content up to the day of the show, we wanted to relay what Anh’s current “maintain present condition” day looks like.

5:30AM

Wake Up, chase and feed Muscle Bs.   Take Thermogenic Supplements VPX Redline Black on Blue and Drink Coffee. (More on the new VPX RL Black on Blue version in an upcoming post.  Suffice it to say, IT’S THE BEST THERMOGENIC SUPPLEMENT WE”VE EVER USED

6AM

Cardio on stationary bike for 30 Minutes empty stomach.  We call this EEW.  Energy Expenditure Work.  Anh isn’t working past moderate intensity forcing her body to burn free fatty acids and also ensure any carbs she may over consume to keep muscle glycogen stores full is burnt off.  We’re also trying to preserve as much muscle glycogen as possible so we can still effectively weight train during the week.

7AM

First Meal/Feeding-Egg White/Oatmeal Pancakes (2) 30gms Carbs, 20gms Protein, 7-10gms Fat -Vitamin and Multi Mineral Supplement, 2gms Vitamin C, 400ius Vitamin E, 2 Capsules Bone Up-12 Ounces of Distilled Water

8-10AM

Spend time being a wife, mother and Domestic Goddess!  Clean-Clean-Clean, change diapers, feed Muscle Bs, laundry, make sure meals are ready in the fridge for Daddy and Mommy-surf web and conversate on Facebook(if time)

10AM

2nd Dosage of VPX Black on Blue, Coffee if drained from the previous night due to Muscle B’s not sleeping. (Gabi is currently teething, so nights are an adventure right now)

10:30AM

2nd Meal/Feeding-Egg White/Oatmeal Pancakes (same as first meal)12 Ounces of Water

11AM

Nap time for The Muscle B’s-Anh tries to abide by this daily schedule but neither Alexandra or Gabriella are very cooperative on most days.  ;)

12Noon

Cardio on Stationary Bike for another 30 minutes of EEW.

12:30PM

15 Minutes of Ab Wheel focusing on obliques and intercostals

12:45-1:30PM

Anh’s “downtime”.   She usually naps until she is awakened to the sound of a baby or babies crying.

1:40PM

3rd Meal/Feeding-Boiled Chicken or White Fish with a Sweet Potato and some Sunflower Seeds-35gms Carbs, 25gms Protein, 15-20gms Fat-12 Ounces of Distilled water

2PM

3rd Dosage of VPX Redline Black on Blue

2-5PM

Mommy and Domestic Goddess time again.   Feed the Muscle Bee’s, clean up after them, take them to the park, stroll them through the neighborhood, run errands.

5:15PM

4th Meal/Feeding-Boiled Chicken or White Fish with a Sweet Potato-Same as Meal 3 kcals-12-15 Ounces of water-Last meal with starchy carbs

6PM

Feed Muscle B’s dinner.   If non-training day (only 3 days a week now), wait for Daddy to stop working, hand off the Muscle Bee’s and run to the tanning bed for a 12 HIT Tanning session. (You better believe HIT Tanning is the best-LOL)

6:30-7:30PM(Training Day Only)

Training at LVAC with MR.  (Current training paradigm to be revealed in an upcoming post with videos)

8PM

Last Meal/Feeding-Chicken/White Fish and either Broccoli/Green Beans or Salad with some Udo’s Oil/Sesame Oil thrown in for EFA’s.

9PM

Muscle Bs go down! (For the count or Daddy instills “discipline”.

9:30PM

If Non-Training Day, 3rd 30 Minute Cardio Session of EEW.  If Training Day, relax and surf web, finish what didn’t get done that day-ensure bottles are ready for Muscle B’s through the night.

10-11PM

Mommy and Daddy time.  This is usually watching a couple of TV shows on high speed through DirecTv DVR.   Our current shows are:  The Event-Dexter-Fringe-Weeds-Hawaii Five-O-Chase-Mommy usually falls asleep on the Couch while Daddy is riding the bike.

11:30PM

Lights Out in Summerlin!

Here is a nice little ab video we recorded on Saturday at LVAC.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qCA3LkIRcs

Coming tomorrow: Jay’s Daily Schedule

MIHWCS

Both of our children (Alexandra 2 years 9 months) and (Gabriella 10 months) are in these phases and we’re dealing with their life issues 24/7.

What would we do without Gripe Water!

This “magical elixir” is used for many infant and toddler problem. From teething, colic, gas, sour stomach, indigestion and many more. It apparently works for any digestive problem experienced by children.

You place a couple of drops or a cap into a babies bottle and within minutes it relieves the baby and helps them fall asleep.  Just the other day we gave some to Alex for her tummy ache and she instantly perked up and said she felt better.  She also told us the peppermint minty flavor was good and she’d want it again the next time her stomach hurt.

We recommend this product with a HUGE THUMBS UP!

If any of our readers have children under the age of 5, you should absolutely, positively have a couple a bottles in your refrigerator.  It now comes in “plastic containers” so there is no risk of breakage from old glass bottles.

Feel free to reach out to Anh to discuss it.

anh@themusclecouple.com

MIHWCS

50 Rules Of Fat-Burning: The Strongest Clinical Research From Around The World

We also think this site is pretty cool too:

Simply Shredded.com

Check it out when you have a few minutes.

Some of our favorite rules from the article with our our own commentary:

Get Fat

Not only will certain fats–particularly omega-3s –not lead to fat gain, but they can actually promote fat loss. Eating fat to lose fat seems counterintuitive, but if you keep your fat intake at about 30% of your total daily calories by choosing fatty fish such as salmon, sardines or trout as well as other healthy fat sources such as olive oil, peanut butter and walnuts, you can actually boost your fat loss compared to eating a low-fat diet.

Never forget the added value of EFA supplementation in the form of Fish Oil, Ultimate Oil Capsules or liquid forms like UDO’s Oil.

Unforbidden Fruit

A study from the Scripps Clinic (San Diego) reported that subjects eating half a grapefruit or drinking 8 ounces of grapefruit juice three times a day while otherwise eating normally lost an average of 4 pounds in 12 weeks, with some test subjects losing more than 10 pounds without dieting. The researchers suggest the effect is likely due to grapefruit’s ability to reduce insulin levels. Try adding half a grapefruit to a few of your meals such as breakfast, lunch and preworkout.

Grapefruit usage is very underutilized and underestimated by dieters.  Especially dieting bodybuilders and fitness athletes.  Google “naringen” and you will find all you need to know about its potential benefits.

Go Green

The main ingredient in green tea, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), inhibits the enzyme that normally breaks down the neurohormone norepinephrine.  Norepinephrine keeps the metabolic rate up, so preventing its breakdown helps you burn more calories throughout the day. Drinking green tea is a great way to stay hydrated during workouts, as a new study in The Journal of Nutrition reported that subjects drinking green tea and exercising lost significantly more abdominal fat than those drinking a placebo.

TMC discusses and writes about the wonders of Green Tea often.  More and more benefits are found out about its thermogenic powers daily.

Get Thick

When you whip up a protein shake, consider making it thicker by using less water. It could help you feel less hungry while dieting. In a study from Purdue University (West Lafayette, Indiana), subjects drank two shakes that were identical in nutritional content, and reported significantly greater and more prolonged reductions in hunger after drinking the thicker shake.

Always use Casein to increase thickness and constitution.   It also dramatically improves feelings of satiety for dieters.

Be Negative

In one recent study, subjects who performed a negative-rep workout of three sets of the bench press and squat increased their GH levels by almost 4,000%. Since GH frees up fat from fat cells, using negative reps may help you shed extra bodyfat. To add negatives to your routine, either have a spotter help you get 3-5 negative reps after reaching failure on a regular set, or load the bar with about 120% of your one-rep max and have a spotter help you perform five negative reps that take you 3-5 seconds each to complete.

Negatives are INCREDIBLE for improving strength and generating real skeletal mass gains.  But they also can be counter-productive if over used or performed incorrectly/ballistically.  We’ll have much more to offer soon in a new post about the wonders of HIT Training.

Hiit It

The best way to burn the most fat with cardio is via high-intensity interval training (HIIT). This involves doing intervals of high-intensity exercise (such as running at 90% of your max heart rate) followed by intervals of low-intensity exercise (walking at a moderate pace) or rest. A litany of research confirms that this burns more fat than the continuous, steady-state cardio most people do at a moderate intensity, such as walking for 30 minutes at 60%-70% of their max heart rates.

What else needs to be said about HIT Cardio?  There is nothing more effective or productive per unit of time.  Perform it regularly and watch your body change by the day.

MIHWCS

7 Tricks to a Speedier Metabolism.

This is a really good one:

2. Stressing out

When you’re on edge, you’re likely to sleep less and eat more, which can affect your thyroid, a gland that produces hormones which regulate metabolism, body temperature, heart rate and more. If your thyroid’s not producing enough of those hormones, it can slow your metabolism and other body functions, leading to weight gain, depression and fatigue. Take time for yourself daily to keep both your thyroid and metabolism humming at optimal levels.

Cortisol plays havoc with your immune system and especially your metabolism.  In really poor economic times like today, stress plays a major role in fat gain and overall poor health.

Focus on trying to do cardio exercise first thing in the morning to get your “mind right” releasing endorphins and encalphins that promote positive thinking and a feeling of well being.

MIHWCS