ADDITIONAL LEAN BODY TIPS

High levels of physical and emotional stress increase your levels of the catabolic hormone cortisol. Excess cortisol can cause muscle breakdown and lead to increased body fat storage. Make sure to take time each day to relax and relieve stress. It will go a long way to helping you obtain the lean body you desire. Some people swear by yoga or qigong as a means of reducing stress, while for others it may be as simple as sitting in a hot tub or lying in a hammock at the end of a stressful day.

To get the best results though, you should try not to get stressed in the first place. Try not to let the everyday hassles get you stressed. You’ll have much less stress if, for example, you simply calm down and shrug off the jerk that cut you off on your commute or the slow service at the restaurant, etc. Every time you feel yourself starting to get stressed about a situation, just take a moment to relax and realize that if you don’t get stressed, you will be helping yourself to get leaner.

Another technique that helps to reduce stress on a daily basis is to take about 30-60 seconds a few times throughout each busy day to just relax, close your eyes, and breathe deeply and slowly. Feel the slow, deep breaths going in and out, and imagine yourself at a place that relaxes you (such as lying on a tropical beach, sitting by a scenic waterfall, taking in the fresh air and scenic beauty on top of a mountain, or whatever environment relaxes you). Do this a couple times throughout each day and you’ll find that it’s a very powerful way to reduce stress and only takes a minute or so.

Get Adequate Sleep

As if your doctor and everyone else haven’t already told you this, it is important to realize that adequate sleep is a huge factor in determining how well your body recovers from exercise, how well you manage stress, and how good you feel each day. Studies show that even if you get just one or two hours less sleep than you need on a given night, your cortisol levels could be substantially higher, which again can lead to muscle loss and fat gain. Most people need between 7-8 hours of sleep each night for their body to operate at its highest efficiency. I know a lot of people that claim that they can “get by” with only 4-5 hours of sleep per night. They seem to think that they are being “tough” by sleeping less

than what they need. What they don’t realize is that they are just encouraging more ab flab and a host of other problems by not getting enough sleep.

Stay Well Hydrated

Try to drink water throughout the day. Many professionals recommend at least 8-10 glasses per day, or a gallon or more for active athletes. Personally, I don’t think you need to actually measure and try to get some preset amount of water each day. Just keep water with you at all times, and keep sipping on it all day long when you’re thirsty. You’ll know if you’re hydrated enough by whether your urine is clear or dark yellow. You want it to be clear to very light yellow. If it starts to get darker, make sure you chug down some water.

Staying well hydrated allows your body to operate efficiently, burn fat properly, maintain maximum exercise performance, and helps suppress your appetite so you don’t overeat. Avoid sweetened drinks such as sodas and juices as the extra calories will usually just be deposited as body fat. Drinking just plain water and some unsweetened teas throughout the day is the best way to go.

Avoid High Sodium Foods

A high sodium diet will increase your water retention leaving you looking bloated and fatter than you really are. Controlling your sodium intake will also help your body to operate more efficiently and burn fat easier by maintaining proper hydration. Also, if you do eat higher sodium foods, it will help to also consume some high potassium food such as fruits and unprocessed vegetables to help maintain a proper electrolyte balance. It will be easier for you to avoid high sodium foods by just avoiding processed foods such as canned foods or prepared foods. Almost all processed foods are heavily laden with salt, in addition to trans fats and high fructose corn syrup many times as well.

Limit Alcohol Consumption

The occasional night out of drinking isn’t going to kill your efforts to get lean, but getting wrecked almost every night will definitely bring on the abdominal fat. Studies have shown

into recreational drinkers vs. non-drinkers. The study concluded that the recreational drinkers had two to three times more abdominal fat on average than the non-drinkers. This is partly due to the effect of alcohol on hormonal balance and also simply due to the massive quantities of empty calories consumed through binge drinking. I know many of us (including myself) love to party it up and go out drinking, but keeping the heavy drinking to no more than one night a week is a good idea if you’re serious about getting lean.

If you’re the kind of person that just likes to have a glass of wine or a single beer with dinner every night, you should do just fine with that. Studies I’ve reviewed on moderate drinkers (1-2 drinks per day) compared to binge drinkers, showed that the moderate drinkers were able to improve their health and remain lean. My take on it is that if you want to have one drink a day with a meal, it’s not going to set you back… the quantity of calories are simply too low. Plus, you may actually be receiving some benefit from a drink a day due to the beneficial antioxidants in wine, etc.

Eat Organic

The pesticides, hormones, and other chemicals used in producing our food supply can accumulate in your body over time. This makes it even harder for your body to get rid of fat stores. Organically raised food (produce, grains, meat, dairy, etc.) is produced without the use of pesticides, fertilizers, hormones, or other artificial chemicals. Basing your diet around as much organic food as possible will aid in getting rid of stubborn body fat. Organic food might be slightly more costly than normal food, but you get what you pay for. As demand grows for organically produced food, prices will continue to come down. Some specialty grocery stores like Trader Joes (www.traderjoes.com) sell a portion of their products as organic, and have very reasonable prices.