Here are the ingredients in this recipe that Angie created recently:
1 cup Quinoa
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup chopped onion
4 garlic cloves
2 Tsp crushed chillies
1 Tsp cumin
1 Tsp black pepper
1 Tsp red pepper flakes
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup cilantro

Directions:

Soak quinoa for 3-5 minutes, then rinse.

Bring quinoa, vegetable broth, crushed chillies, cumin, and black pepper to a boil. Then simmer for 30 minutes.

While the quinoa is simmering, fry up the onion and garlic in a little bit of olive oil.

After 30 minutes, add the onion-garlic mix, the corn, and cilantro to the quinoa and let simmer for 5 minutes.

That’s it… Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts: 4 servings
234 calories
44 grams of carbs
8 grams of protein
3 grams of fat.

Of course, you don’t need to add the corn and you can cook it in water instead of vegetable broth if you wish.

To achieving your limitless potential,

Scott and Angie Tousignant

About The Authors

Scott and Angie Tousignant have been helping busy men and women, just like you, transform their body and life for over a decade. This dynamic duo prides themselves on providing a balanced and practical approach that will motivate and inspire you to become the best YOU that you can be.

Scott and Angie have dedicated themselves to sharing their exact workouts, what they eat, and how they stay motivated to continue transforming their body’s and life.

Their line up of body transforming programs includes, Metabolic Masterpiece, Sizzlin’ Circuits, Core Plus More, Girl Empowered, 10-Minute Metabolism Booster, and More Love Less Fat.

We’re excited to share in you successful body transformation!

At first glance this may sound like simplistic common knowledge, but I assure you that there is more to it than meets the eye. For some reason the concept of a synergistic approach hit me hard during my workout today. During the past six months I have witnessed changes in my physique that greatly exceed any other transformation that I’ve gone through. The reason for this amazing transformation is not just because I set a BIG goal to achieve by a specific date. It’s not just because I surround myself with like-minded supportive people who are striving for greatness. It’s not just because I’ve been following a killer workout program designed to gain muscle and lose fat. It’s not just because I’m following a killer diet plan that is designed to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. It’s not just because I’ve been walking for 30-45 minutes daily. It’s not just because I’m getting a great sleep every night…

…The reason for the amazing results that I’ve been experiencing is because I have been incorporating all of the above into my daily life. Everything is working in synergy.

If I had just focused on my diet, I wouldn’t look the way that I do today. If I had just followed my workout program, I wouldn’t look the way that I do today. If I had just focused on walking, I wouldn’t look the way that I do today. When you get everything working in synergy your results will increase exponentially. It’s like the saying goes, “The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.” In other words, 1+1+1 does not always equal 3.

I’m sure this is nothing new to you. It’s not ground breaking info, yet very few people are committed to getting their mind, workouts, diet, cardio, and lifestyle working in synergy.

How about you? Do you have everything working in synergy?

The thing that really struck me today during my workout was more than just the fact that I had all the pieces of the puzzle together. The thing that struck me was that everything that I have been doing is in total alignment with my goals and my mindset. This is the ultimate synergy! It’s total and complete lifestyle.

What I mean by this is that although you may be working out, eating well, doing cardio, and getting a great sleep… the type of workout, type of diet, or type of cardio may not be in complete alignment with your goals or current lifestyle.

You and I may both have a goal to burn fat, but that doesn’t mean that we should be following the same workout, diet, or cardio routine. You need to fine tune your goals beyond just fat loss. There are many different ways to train when your goal is fat loss. Other than releasing a specific amount of fat, it’s important to know the “Look” that you desire to achieve. Other goals to consider could be strength, flexibility, or functionality just to name a few. There’s thousands of fat loss workout programs available, yet each of them can produce a different outcome beyond just burning off ___ pounds of fat.

What do you want to get out of your workout program? What do you want to get out of your nutrition plan? What do you want to get out of the cardio that you perform? What do you want to get out of LIFE? After you answer those questions, take a moment to reflect on whether or not all the actions that you are performing are in alignment with the overall outcome that you desire.

I’m sure that you’ve noticed a shift in my mindset during the past six months. I’ve become pretty darn intense and passionate. My personal focus and love has shifted toward body sculpting… or dare I say bodybuilding. They are the same thing, it’s just that body sculpting has a nice ring to it and it helps me visualize my training as an art form. (for all the non-bodybuilders out there, bear with me for a moment, because this will come right back to you).

When my mindset shifted, so did my goals. I began thinking bigger. I began thinking about getting totally shredded. I began to think about gaining muscle while getting shredded. I began to get super excited about how my physique will look in five to ten years from now.

When this shift in mindset occurred, my training had to shift as well. I began to workout like a bodybuilder/body sculptor. I began to eat like a bodybuilder/body sculptor. I began to surround myself with friends who are bodybuilders/body sculptors. I began to gravitate toward online communities where the members had goals of gaining muscle and losing fat. I began to pay more attention to the quality of sleep that I was getting.

Everything began to work in synergy. My workouts, diet, sleep, friends, and cardio were all in-line with my goals and mindset… and that’s the key.

Ever notice how many yoga practitioners are also vegetarians or raw foodists? A vegetarian or raw food diet, from what I can see, appears to gel really well with the philosophies, values, goals, and mindset of yoga. It’s a synergistic approach.

When it comes to athletes, they train a certain way and eat a certain way. Every part of their lifestyle works together in synergy in order to allow them to perform at the top of their game.

The take home lesson that I hope is getting across to you, is the importance of knowing the exact goal that you desire to achieve, and making sure that your workouts, diet, and lifestyle are in alignment with your goal. When you have everything working together in synergy, I guarantee that fitness will become more fun, effortless, and rewarding.

There is no “BEST” workout, diet, or cardio plan that will work for everyone. I encourage you to “buck the trends” and go with your heart and passion. Follow the plan that is best in alignment with the body and lifestyle that you desire.

To achieving your limitless potential,

Scott Tousignant

About The Authors

Scott and Angie Tousignant have been helping busy men and women, just like you, transform their body and life for over a decade. This dynamic duo prides themselves on providing a balanced and practical approach that will motivate and inspire you to become the best YOU that you can be.

Scott and Angie have dedicated themselves to sharing their exact workouts, what they eat, and how they stay motivated to continue transforming their body’s and life.

Their line up of body transforming programs includes, Metabolic Masterpiece, Sizzlin’ Circuits, Core Plus More, Girl Empowered, Fat Loss Quickie, and More Love Less Fat.

We’re excited to share in you successful body transformation!

In keeping with my promise of informing you about the things that have a dramatic impact on transforming my body and health, it’s time to update you on my experience with Shawn Phillips Full Strength Premium Nutrition Shake, which I have for breakfast every day (can’t go a day without it), and on occasion as part of a post-workout meal.

Several months ago I informed my valued Fat Loss Quickie blog readers that I had just received my first order of Full Strength, which was a 14 day trial containing 7 packages of vanilla powder, 7 packages of chocolate powder, the best darn protein shaker that I’ve ever used, and an awesome t-shirt.

After the first 7 days I was beyond impressed with Full Strength. I have never had a more delicious, nourishing, and satisfying meal replacement shake in my life. So I went ahead and ordered a 3 month supply to see how Full Strength would impact my physique and health over an extended period of time.

Best Breakfast EVER!

After consuming a Full Strength Premium Nutrition Shake for breakfast every day for several months and consistently experiencing unbelievable energy, increased performance in and out of the gym, greater fat loss and muscle gain, and increased strength, I am beyond confident in providing Full Strength with a huge two thumbs up for quality and satisfaction!

In my humble opinion, Full Strength is the best possible breakfast that you can consume. It contains 40 grams of the best protein, 25 grams of quality carbs, and 5 grams of healthy fats. But that’s not all. It also includes loads of vitamins and nutrients and 12 grams of glutamine. Before Full Strength I was buying a multi-vitamin and glutamine separately. Now I don’t have to!

The Full Strength premium nutrition shake also includes Selenium, zinc, magnesium, 500 mg of added taurine and tyrosine. It has a built in antioxidant blend, probiotics for gut health, and aminogen enzyme. There is a great reason why Full Strength is considered a “Premium Nutrition Shake”. Nothing else can compare to it.

Since I began consuming a Full Strength shake for breakfast every day, I have consistently hit personal bests in the gym week after week and workout after workout. This is all while being in a caloric deficit as I get my body fat percentage down to the “Ripped” level.

I’d love for you to take just two minutes to watch this video and see exactly why Full Strength works so well…

It’s for all the reasons mentioned in this video and so much more, that I have become a Full Strength fan for life! As mentioned, not only is this shake delicious (best tasting shake ever!), it satisfies you for several hours. I must mention that I rarely add anything to my Full Strength shake. This level of incredible energy and satisfaction is achieved with just the Full Strength powder and water (sometimes ice).

Frankly this blows my mind, because even when I add fruit and other foods to every other meal replacement or protein shakes I am hungry within an hour.

Do yourself a huge favor and at least order yourself a 14 Day Trial of Full Strength. I guarantee that you will be blown away and will become a customer for life as I am and many, many others. If you’re not satisfied (which would shock me), no worries, because Full Strength is guaranteed to satisfy you or you get your money back.

Currently, Shawn is also offering a 12 Day Reboot package that includes the 14 day trial of Full Strength and a 12 day online guided reboot, which is an advanced version of his Basecamp, which you’ll find in his book Strength For Life.

My body is powered by Full Strength, and as this shirt says, “True Strength Is Built From The Inside Out.”

I’m looking forward to hearing about your experience with Full Strength and how it helps you live to your fullest potential!

Sculpt a Masterpiece,

Scott Tousignant

PS You may notice that this shake was created for men, but I do know many women who also enjoy Full Strength every day.

PPS In maintaining the integrity of my business and word, I believe that it’s important for me to inform you that I will earn approximately $5 in commission for every box of Full Strength that you purchase through a link on this page. If you are uncomfortable with that or it makes you feel less confident in my review, I encourage you to visit the Full Strength website without clicking on any of my links. That’s how much I believe in this product and want to see you experience the benefits of this amazing premium nutrition shake!

I have been a consumer of Full Strength and spreading the word about it for several months prior to becoming an affiliate of the product. I believe in Full Strength and Shawn Phillips has my utmost respect. You can trust in Shawn and in Full Strength.

If your email inbox looks anything like mine, you can find a message every day from a fitness and health “expert” warning you about foods that you should avoid because they’ll make you fat or exercises that you should avoid because they’ll break your back.

If you were to combine the entire list of everything that these “experts” tell you to avoid there would be nothing left. I couldn’t even breath without polluting my body and causing harm to it. So what’s left? Are we all doomed to be fat and unhealthy? If that’s the case, at least these “experts” have provided us with a gazillion and one excuses why we are fat and unhealthy.

In many cases there is some truth to what these “experts” share, but in many cases this truth is soaked in deception and rarely provides you with the full picture. Personally, I believe that living in fear and stress is more harmful to your health than many of the things that these “experts” tell you to avoid. Plus, it’s just a miserable way to live.

While these “experts” choose to use fear driven tactics, causing you to stress and panic about everything that you put in your mouth, I choose to empower you with a practical approach and arm you with the tools and strategies that will help you live to your fullest potential while enjoying every moment of the journey.

From Moderation To Extreme

There once was a time when you heard the phrase, “Everything in moderation.” Logical and practical advice don’t you think? Unfortunately, with the abundance of food combined with stress eating and other factors, moderation has flown out the window. Some people just have no control or even desire to control how much they eat. Large portions are considered a BIG Score!

Rather than look at the REAL problem (hint: Over-consumption), it’s much easier to create an evil villain and blame it on that. Then create a nutrition or workout program based on avoiding that villain so you, the “expert” look like a super hero. To be a super hero you must avoid the kryptonite at all costs. Forget moderation. Even the smallest of doses of this kryptonite will destroy you.

…Enter Logic and Reason

I hate to break it to you, but nearly everything in life can either harm you or kill you. Too much exposure to the sun can give you a sun burn and even cause cancer. Does that mean that we should lock ourselves in doors? Unfortunately, that’s not too far off from some of the scare tactics that many “experts” are pitching at you.

During a similar discussion with some of my friends on Facebook yesterday on this very topic, Shawn Phillips said, “It’s a little like “______” will give you cancer… hell, living gives you cancer at some point… it’s simply a matter of what gets ya first.

Not to poke fun at it but we have to make rational, reasonable choices and trying to live an extra week at the expense of living at all is not a fair trade…. for me.”

When you look at things from a logical and reasonable standpoint you recognize that there are indeed some foods and exercises that are more dangerous than others. But do you need to completely avoid them? Before you answer that you need to ask yourself a few questions… If you are avoiding them, why? If you are avoiding them, are there things that you miss out on as a result of avoiding them? Does avoiding this food or exercise bring you any closer to your goal? Does avoiding this food or exercise help you live to your potential and allow you to enjoy life to the fullest?

The Risk-Benefit Ratio

I learned one of the greatest lessons in health and fitness from one of my role models and coaches, Tom Venuto, nearly 10 years ago. There’s a good reason why Tom is known as one of the worlds leading “NO B.S.” Fat Loss Experts. Tom looks at everything from a “Risk To Benefit Ratio”. Before consuming a food or performing an exercise he looks at it from the perspective of, what are the benefits of eating this food or performing this exercise compared to the risks. Rather than completely avoid everything you simply make it a priority to incorporate the things that have the greatest benefits with the least amount of risk.

The benefit of looking at things from this perspective is that you recognize that even things that involve some risk, may also provide you with some benefits that bring you closer to achieving your goal.

For example, lets take a look at fruit. Some “experts” will tell you to completely avoid fruit, because it contains evil sugar. But when you look at things from a Risk to Benefit Ratio you recognize that, yes fruit contains natural sugar, that in excess may not be good for me, but it also contains loads of vitamins, nutrients, and anti-oxidants that provide me with loads of energy and health benefits. If I avoid fruit because of the sugar, I miss out on all these benefits. So instead of avoiding it all together, I strike an appropriate balance where I consume fruit in moderation where I gain enough of the benefits while minimizing the risks.

This is the approach that you see Angie and I take with our nutrition. It’s why many people resonate with our practical approach. We’re not extreme… we’re reasonable.

What sparked my desire to write this blog post, was a comment that I received on my Metabolic Masterpiece blog about the Full Strength Premium Nutrition Shake that I have for breakfast every day and sometimes as a post workout meal.

Before I get to Debbie’s comment, I want to emphasize that I sincerely respect her and everyone else’s values and beliefs and I absolutely appreciate that she took the time to share her thoughts with us. It’s the reason for this great conversation that we’re having. I’m not trying to sound all high and mighty here. I’m not any better than Debbie. I’m simply stating my perspective on this topic. So Debbie, if you are reading this post, please know that I appreciate you.

Debbie’s comment was, “I cannot find the source of the whey on the website…grass fed cows or hormone fed cows? also, contains sucralose and artificial flavors??? That doesn’t sound good to me…please explain…I prefer stevia and not chemical sweetners.”

All awesome comments and questions from Debbie. Obviously she only wants to fuel her body with the most natural and healthy sources of food.

But, if you look at this from a Risk To Benefit Ratio, is Debbie better off avoiding Full Strength simply because of the miniscule amounts of sucralose in it, while opting for the grass fed whey protein instead?

Well that really depends… and the first question that you need to ask yourself is, “Why am I consuming whey protein in the first place?” For me at least, when I consume it post-workout, that answer is to get the best source of quality protein into my body as quickly as possible in order to help my muscles recover, repair, and rebuild after an intense workout. When I consume Full Strength for breakfast it’s because I want to fuel my body with an incredible source of nutrition that satisfies my hunger and allows me to perform at my very best level in and out of the gym.

When you look at how loaded Full Strength is with wholesome goodness and all the benefits that come along with it, it makes the incredibly minor risk (if there is even a risk) of consuming the miniscule amount of sucralose appear insignificant.

You also have to look at what’s included in the grass fed, sucralose-free whey protein. Are you truly getting the best quality of protein in your powder? What process did they use to create their powder. What’s the overall quality? Is it really better and is it worth the cost?

The team at Full Strength had this response to Debbie’s question…

Protein Sourcing:

Results from over 100 animal and clinical studies in the FDA approval process unanimously indicated a lack of risk associated with Sucralose intake.

Armed with information that views these elements from a larger perspective you can now analyze the Risk To Benefit Ratio and make the most informed decision possible.

It Comes Down To Values and Beliefs

In many cases, what you eat and avoid eating, boils down to your values and beliefs. If you believe that trace amounts of sucralose will make you fat and kill you, all the power to you. That’s your belief, but it may not be my belief… and that’s fine.

I have friends who are vegetarians because eating meat completely goes against their values and beliefs. I totally respect and admire that, but I do not share the same beliefs… and that’s ok.

I have friends who consume nothing but raw food because of their values and beliefs. I am incredibly impressed with their passion for this lifestyle and the zest for life that they have. It comes easy to them. However, I do not share these same values and beliefs… and there’s nothing wrong with that.

A Few Things That Upset Me About Fear Driven Tactics

I feel that fear driven nutrition and exercise tactics have turned the world into a bunch of critics. A bunch of “Know-it-all’s”. Any time that I post a healthy meal or recipe, I get criticized. (Don’t worry, criticism doesn’t bother me.) They’ll say, “How can you call this recipe healthy when it has “____” ingredient in it? The alternative ingredient that they recommend can’t be found within a 300 mile radius of where I live, so it makes it a bit more difficult for me to incorporate it into my recipe, but that’s not the point. The point is that I am comfortable with consuming the miniscule amount of this ingredient in this recipe. It’s only one meal… it’s only a small amount… and it’s not going to kill me.

Ironically, the alternative ingredient that they recommend or alternative recipe could easily be criticized based on some research paper.

How often do you see a research paper that says, “coffee, chocolate, or some form of alcohol is good for your health.” So you go on about your life consuming these foods all the while thinking that they are good for you, then BAM!!!!! A new study comes out that says they’ll kill you and you’ll die fat and miserable. Uh oh, what have you done. All this time you have been poisoning yourself. So now you live in fear, are stressed out, and upset that you can no longer consume some of your favorite treats. But then a year later a new study comes out that confirms that once again these foods are healthy for you.

What a roller coaster ride!!!

Here’s the thing that upsets me the most. Often times when someone approaches me and says, “I can’t believe that you’re eating that! Don’t you know that it’ll make you fat and may cause cancer?” …that person is overweight and looking like they themselves are at risk of disease and premature death.

Here I am, living in a lean and sexy body with super human health and they are questioning what I’m eating and telling me that it will make me fat and kill me.

During the past few months I’ve been on a bit of a mission to prove that you can release body fat and improve your health all while consuming many of these “Forbidden Foods.” I have shared all the forbidden foods that I’ve consumed along with the photos of my transformation. There is no doubt that you can get ripped while still enjoying your favorite foods.

…And you will still be healthy. My blood work has me ranked at “Elite” status. My life insurance company loves me because they know that I am at an extremely low risk to them. In return they reward me with lower monthly rates. If I’m able to achieve this all while drinking a shake every day that has miniscule amounts of sucralose in it, it can’t be that bad could it?

I’m all cool with someone criticizing what I eat, but I sure hope that the rest of your lifestyle is conguent with the message that you are sending me. For example, getting back to the fruit. I can’t tell you how many times someone has told me that fruit is bad for your, yet at the same time they are scarfing down a pizza or greasy cheeseburger.

If you tell me that I should avoid my breakfast shake because it may contain hormones and has a chemical sweetner in it, I sure hope that you avoid all packaged, canned, and boxed foods as well as anything that may have hormones in it. I hope that there are no chemicals in your soap, shampoo, perfume, laundry detergent, sunscreen, bug repellent…

The #1 Thing That You MUST Avoid If You Want To Burn Fat

The bottom line is, we all have different beliefs about nutrition and exercise. We have to stop with this, “I’m better than you mentality.” Different strategies work for different people. Fear and scare tactics are not what we need in order to solve the obesity crisis.

There’s only one thing that you really need to be concerned with avoiding when it comes to melting fat off your body. That one thing is to avoid consuming more calories than your body burns throughout the day.

When you focus on this it brings you right back to the most logical and reasonable piece of advice… “Everything in moderation.”

This post has ended up much longer than I had anticipated, but as I’m sure you can tell, it’s a topic that I’m quite passionate about. Frankly, it’s something that I’ve wanted to write about for a long time and actually had a draft written up several months ago. But then I read a post by my friend Leigh Peele, author of the Body By Eats Recipe Books, that covered this topic extremely well, and she even created a fun video that shed light on just how ridiculous this topic can get. Check out the video…

In closing I hope that you can see that I have your best interests at heart and I welcome your thoughts and opinions on this topic.

I encourage you to apply the “Risk To Benefit Ration” when making food choices and to think a moment about the comment that Shawn Phillips made, “We have to make rational, reasonable choices and trying to live an extra week at the expense of living at all is not a fair trade…. for me.”

To achieving your limitless potential,

Scott Tousignant

About The Authors

Scott and Angie Tousignant have been helping busy men and women, just like you, transform their body and life for over a decade. This dynamic duo prides themselves on providing a balanced and practical approach that will motivate and inspire you to become the best YOU that you can be.

Scott and Angie have dedicated themselves to sharing their exact workouts, what they eat, and how they stay motivated to continue transforming their body’s and life.

Their line up of body transforming programs includes, ROCK That Body, Sizzlin’ Circuits, Core Plus More, Girl Empowered, Fat Loss Quickie, and More Love Less Fat.

We’re excited to share in you successful body transformation!

I’m excited to share a tasty gluten free recipe with you today, courtesy of my friend Jennifer Finley, author of Gluten Free Abs. This healthy meal is a Coconut Red Snapper Salad…

Baby Field Greens
Fresh Mango or Mango Salsa

As you can see, eating gluten free meals really can be tasty and enjoyable. Even if you do not have to avoid gluten due to medical reasons, I highly recommend that many of your meals consist of gluten free ingredients.

Jennifer’s Gluten Free Abs program comes with 70 gluten free recipes and much more. She’ll help you transform regular meals into healthy gluten free meals.

I will be interviewing Jennifer soon, so if you have any question, please do not hesitate to ask and I’ll be sure to have her answer them. I’ve already received some great questions in the last blog post: Will Going Gluten Free Increase Your Fat Loss?

There’s already a great discussion going on there among our Fat Loss Quickie community friends, some of whom are already living gluten free and others who are curious about what it involves. I sure appreciate all the comments from everyone who is already living gluten free. I never realized just how challenging it can be to avoid gluten when you are eating out at a restaurant or out at a friends house. This can be a serious issue for someone who has gluten allergies.

I hope that you enjoy the Coconut Red Snapper Salad. Be sure to let me know what you think of it.

To achieving your limitless potential,

Scott Tousignant

About The Authors

Scott and Angie Tousignant have been helping busy men and women, just like you, transform their body and life for over a decade. This dynamic duo prides themselves on providing a balanced and practical approach that will motivate and inspire you to become the best YOU that you can be.

Scott and Angie have dedicated themselves to sharing their exact workouts, what they eat, and how they stay motivated to continue transforming their body’s and life.

Their line up of body transforming programs includes, ROCK That Body, Sizzlin’ Circuits, Core Plus More, Girl Empowered, Fat Loss Quickie, and More Love Less Fat.

We’re excited to share in you successful body transformation!

Just about every time that Angie and I post a recipe on the Fat Loss Quickie blog, we receive requests for a gluten free version of the recipe. These requests come from our valued blog readers who either have Celiac Disease, or an intolerance to gluten, are sensitive to gluten, or are simply trying to reduce the amount of gluten in their diet.

With the growing need for gluten free recipes, Angie and I have called upon our friend Jennifer Finley, author of Gluten Free Abs, to help us provide some gluten free alternatives to your nutrition plan.

Angie and I personally do not have a gluten intolerance. Although, as Jennifer mentions in her video presentation, I do experience some bloating when I consume too much wheat in a day. That bloated and uncomfortable feeling makes me sluggish and makes my stomach stick out. I may not get ‘fat’ from it, but I look ‘fatter’ and my pants feel tighter.

As I get closer to my photo shoot you will begin to notice that I will consume less and less wheat products. It’s not necessarily because wheat makes me fat, it’s because wheat products tend to be calorie dense, therefore reducing them will make it easier for me to create a caloric deficit. Plus, the last thing that I want is to look bloated for a photo shoot

I’ll be sharing some gluten free recipes with you this week, but in the meantime I would love to hear any questions that you may have about reducing or eliminating gluten from your diet. I’ll be interviewing Jennifer Finley soon and will have her respond to your most important questions about gluten free meals.

Simply post your questions in the comment box below. Let me know if there are specific recipes that you are looking for, alternatives to certain meals, or general questions about reducing or eliminating gluten from your diet.

Also, if you have Celiac Disease or a gluten intolerance I’d love to hear from you about your experiences with eliminating gluten from your diet. What have been your most difficult challenges with going gluten free and how have you overcome them?

After sharing your questions and thoughts in the comment box below, take a few minutes to watch Jennifer’s video presentation about the benefits of going gluten free as well as some tips to reduce the amount of gluten in your diet: Gluten Free Presentation

Sometimes, reducing wheat from my diet requires me to get creative with my meals. In the gluten free presentation you’ll see how Jennifer gets creative with a traditional meal. This really is a great alternative and it does taste great. Jennifer has been helping one of my friends get into great shape and I know that she ordered this alternative at a restaurant and loved it!

When I’m reducing wheat from my diet and want to avoid pasta I will take the tomato and meat sauce that my family is having with their pasta and I will put it on top of my salad. Angie thought I was crazy the first time that I did this, but then she tried it and realized how delicious it is. It gives you some of that satisfaction from having a meat and pasta dish, but without having the pasta.

Although going gluten free is not a MUST for most people, many of us can benefit from reducing the amount of gluten in our diet, which is why I’m excited to see Jennifer answer all of your questions about reducing gluten in your nutrition plan.

We’re looking forward to reading through your questions and comments below.

To achieving your limitless potential,

Scott and Angie Tousignant

About The Authors

Scott and Angie Tousignant have been helping busy men and women, just like you, transform their body and life for over a decade. This dynamic duo prides themselves on providing a balanced and practical approach that will motivate and inspire you to become the best YOU that you can be.

Scott and Angie have dedicated themselves to sharing their exact workouts, what they eat, and how they stay motivated to continue transforming their body’s and life.

Their line up of body transforming programs includes, ROCK That Body, Sizzlin’ Circuits, Core Plus More, Girl Empowered, Fat Loss Quickie, and More Love Less Fat.

We’re excited to share in you successful body transformation!

There’s a new healthy cookbook in town, which I am 100% certain will help you achieve your fat loss results faster, while making it easier for you to stick to your new healthy eating plan. It’s called Metabolic Cooking, by Dave Ruel, and it is jam packed with mouth watering recipes that will totally boost your metabolism!

There’s absolutely no doubt that your diet is largely responsible for your fat loss results. Some would argue that diet is 80% of the battle, while others would say it’s even as high as 90%. Although we understand the significant impact that diet has on our body composition, some people choose to rely on guess work to arrive at their fat loss destination. They guess what they should be eating to lose fat and guess how many calories are in the foods that they choose to eat. This can be a very stressful part of your every day life.

With Metabolic Cooking, you take the stress out of meal planning and calorie counting. Nothing makes it easier for me to burn fat, than having a list of delicious and healthy recipes that also include the calorie content of each meal.

I know… You’re probably just like me and don’t like to count calories. But the truth is, having a fairly accurate count of how many calories that you are consuming each day is the only way that you will know for certain if you are on the right track for making progress toward your fat loss goal. But…

…Here’s the great news!

Metabolic Cooking makes it super easy for you to know how many calories that you are consuming each day. They do the calculations for you. If you know that you have 200 calories remaining in your day in order to keep within your target, you can flip through the Metabolic Cooking recipes and choose a delicious meal to satisfy your cravings and nutritional needs. It may even be the super tasty Blueberry Protein Pancakes, which are only 228 calories.

But fat loss goes beyond just counting calories. It’s just as important to consume foods that will have a powerful ‘thermic effect’ on your body and boost your metabolism. This is exactly what Metabolic Cooking does for you. These recipes will prime your body to burn fat all day long.

To rev up your metabolism even more, Metabolic Cooking also includes Thermo-Charged Seasoning combination’s that will make your taste buds tingle!

Getting in great shape has never tasted better! With the variety of delicious and healthy meals that are included in Metabolic Cooking, it will be hard for you to believe that you are actually on a diet. You’ll never think of chicken or turkey as boring meals when you try Metabolic Cooking recipes such as the Asian Turkey Burger.

Create the feelings of relaxing on a tropical beach as you sip on refreshing high protein smoothies such as the Krazy Kiwi Smoothie or the Pina Colada Smoothie. This is the kind of enjoyment that you should be getting out of your fat loss meal plan!

You may have heard the saying, “Nothing tastes as good as being fit feels”, well now you can feel great in your new fit body, while enjoying incredibly tasty meals. There’s no reason to sacrifice taste and flavor when you are burning fat.

If you have a sweet tooth, there are plenty of tasty snacks to satisfy your cravings, such as the Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Muffin. If your mouth hasn’t begun to water, there is something wrong with you There’s no reason to feel guilty when you eat these mouth watering meals. They are all designed to help you burn fat as quickly as possible.

There is one recipe that really caught my attention… the Metabolic Cooking Stuffed Peppers. Stuffed Peppers are one of my favorite healthy meals and when I saw this recipe I could not wait to try it.

Isn’t it totally awesome to experiment with new recipes that are absolutely delicious, knowing that your body will be completely nourished and primed to burn fat as soon as you finish the meal? I think it ROCKS!

I’m sure that you are just as excited about Metabolic Cooking as I am, and frankly, there’s nothing negative that I can say about this product. It’s exactly what I’ve been looking for in a healthy cookbook and I am 100% certain that you will enjoy these recipes, while they help you burn unwanted fat.

Highlights about Metabolic Cooking are…

Metabolic Cooking will make your life easier and help you burn fat faster. I have no doubt about it. As I mentioned, diet plays a very large role in your fat loss success. When you master your diet as a result of following the recipes in Metabolic Cooking, you will be well on your way to achieving the body that you desire and deserve.

To achieving your limitless potential,

Scott Tousignant

PS After you follow the Metabolic Cooking recipes this week, be sure to send me a message to let me know what your favorite fat burning meals are from this healthy cookbook.

PPS It’s time to REALLY enjoy your fat loss journey!

We have a new favorite healthy homemade snack that our entire family enjoys. Our kids can’t stop raving about them and we feel great as parents when we put this healthy snack in their lunch. Lucky for us there are no kids with peanut allergies in our childrens classrooms.

Here are the ingredients:

1 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup natural honey
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cups large flake rolled oats
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Next time we will try this recipe with almond butter instead of peanut butter and dried apricots instead of raisins. I may even add some Prograde vanilla protein powder to this recipe next time.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Mix the natural peanut butter, natural honey, and extra virgin olive oil in a large bowl until blended. Stir in the rolled oats, ground flax seed, wheat germ, raisins, and chocolate chips.

Spread into a 9×6 inch cooking dish.
Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Allow to cool.

What do you think of this recipe? Would you make any changes? Obviously it’s not absolutely necessary to add the chocolate chips, but it’s not much, and it’s just enough to satisfy my sweet tooth or chocolate cravings

We don’t count calories, so I apologize for not having all the nutritional breakdown for those of you who enjoy going by the numbers.

Enjoy this very tasty and healthy treat!

To achieving your limitless potential,

Scott and Angie Tousignant

About The Authors

Scott and Angie Tousignant have been helping busy men and women, just like you, transform their body and life for over a decade. This dynamic duo prides themselves on providing a balanced and practical approach that will motivate and inspire you to become the best YOU that you can be.

Scott and Angie have dedicated themselves to sharing their exact workouts, what they eat, and how they stay motivated to continue transforming their body’s and life.

Their line up of body transforming programs includes, ROCK That Body, Sizzlin’ Circuits, Core Plus More, Fat Loss Quickie, and More Love Less Fat.

We’re excited to share in you successful body transformation!

My goal this week has been to consume more vegetables each day. There have been 3 vegetables in particular that I have consumed a lot of, simply because I know how healthy they are for me. But it wasn’t until I read an article from my friend Mike Geary, that I realized that these vegetables play a powerful role in your ability to burn stomach fat. Here’s the belly fat burning article that I’m referring to…

3 Vegetables That Fight Abdominal Fat

A unique way that a few specific vegetables can actually stimulate the burning of abdominal fat…

By Mike Geary, Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist
Author of: The Truth About Abs
Co-Author: Fat Burning Kitchen

I bet you didn’t know that there is a specific class of vegetables that contain very specific phytonutrients that actually help to fight against stubborn belly fat.

Let me explain what these unique vegetables are and why they help to burn stomach fat…

Chemicals that force your body to hold onto belly fat

Something you may have never heard about is that certain chemicals in our food supply and our environment, such as pesticides, herbicides, and certain petrochemicals from air and water pollution, household cleaners, cosmetics, etc can react with your body and make your body store excess abdominal fat.

These chemicals are known as xenoestrogens.

Xenoestrogens are chemicals that you are exposed to (and are hard to avoid in the modern world) that have an estrogenic effect in your body. Excess exposure to these can cause hormone balance disruptions for both men and women. So these can wreak havoc in the body for both guys and gals.

These estrogenic chemicals that we are exposed to on a daily basis can stimulate your body to store belly fat, along with many other problems (including cancer risks in the long term).

So here’s where this specific class of vegetables comes in handy…

One of those cool tricks that I teach my clients that hire me for nutritional counseling is the use of cruciferous vegetables to help fight against stomach fat.

Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage, etc. contain very specific and unique phytonutrients such as indole-3-carbinol (I3C) that help to fight against these estrogenic compounds…

And by fighting against these belly fat stimulating estrogenic chemicals, this is just 1 more step in helping you to win the battle against abdominal fat!

So there you go… just another excuse to do what mom always told you and eat more broccoli!

I’ve really learned to like brussells sprouts in the last year too… Melt a little grass-fed cheese on them and some garlic and they’re great!

———————–

This concludes Mike Geary’s article that I was referencing. If you would like to discover more unique tips to lose stubborn stomach fat, please take a moment to watch this Fat Loss Presentation

In the fat loss presentation Mike is going to show you at least 12 other specific foods, teas, spices, etc that help to combat the xenoestrogens and can help you to burn abdominal fat faster. So be sure to watch the entire video presentation.

The pictures displayed in the article are from some of the meals that I ate this week. Like Mike, I enjoy sprinkling a bit of cheese on my Brussels Sprouts, but I also enjoy topping them with homemade salsa, or simply sprinkling ground black pepper on them.

Mike is a fat loss expert that you can totally trust. He operates his business with great integrity. I also do not know anyone else who lives the active and healthy lifestyle to the fullest, as Mike Geary does. He’s a walking billboard for great health.

Mike’s healthy eating habits are definitely greater than mine. He’s one of the people that I look to when I want to take my nutrition to the next level… not just for fat loss, but for overall health.

I hope that you enjoyed the article and gained some insights as I did when I read it. Make it your goal to incorporate some of these vegetables in your meal plan this week. Even if they aren’t your favorite veggies, there are plenty of ways that you can make them taste great just as Angie did with the broccoli soup.

To achieving your limitless potential,

Scott Tousignant

About The Authors

Scott and Angie Tousignant have been helping busy men and women, just like you, transform their body and life for over a decade. This dynamic duo prides themselves on providing a balanced and practical approach that will motivate and inspire you to become the best YOU that you can be.

Scott and Angie have dedicated themselves to sharing their exact workouts, what they eat, and how they stay motivated to continue transforming their body’s and life.

Their line up of body transforming programs includes, ROCK That Body, Sizzlin’ Circuits, Core Plus More, Fat Loss Quickie, and More Love Less Fat.

We’re excited to share in you successful body transformation!

There are two common trends that I continue to see amongst women and men who successfully go through a body transformation. These two important keys to their fat loss success are…

a) They planned their meals and workouts in advance.
b) They tracked their progress.

Each successful individual followed these two important fat loss keys to varying degrees. Some of them love to go by the numbers, track their calories, track their weight and body fat percentage, and chart their progress on graphs. They find great joy in this and the visual displays of their progress or lack of progress was very motivating. Others prefer to simply keep a food journal, listing what they ate and the size of their portion, (small, medium, or large).

What I’ve noticed in conversations with these successful men and women, is that the more they recorded their meals in their journal, they began to become more aware of how they felt after eating a meal and they began to record these feeling in their journal as well.

The process of recording their meals brought about a new awareness of just how much they had been eating and how different meals impacted them both physically and emotionally. Basically, they became more “In-Tune” with their body.

As I mentioned in the first article in this nutrition series, I believe that the growing obesity rate is not a result of not knowing the greatest fat burning exercises of all time or the Top 5 Foods That Are Making You Fat… the growing obesity rate is a result of over-eating.

In my 12 years as a Certified Fitness Consultant I have come across countless people who told me that they were eating healthy and couldn’t understand why they weren’t losing weight. The very first assignment that I gave them was to record everything that went into their mouth for one week. At the end of the week I would compare the results that they experienced with what they consumed that week. This process is an incredible self education, but the key is to be 100% honest.

In some cases where the person did not lose weight we would discover that they didn’t record everything. They would neglect to record a few beverages here and there, a small bit of food here and there, a mini candy bar here and there, or they would simply forget to write something down if they waited until the end of the day. Those calories certainly added up and it became quite obvious why they weren’t losing weight. They were over-eating and they weren’t even aware of it.

I went through a similar experience with one of our Fat Loss Quickie members in the support community recently. This amazing individual had already embraced the process of documenting their transformation journey, but they couldn’t understand why they didn’t lose weight during the first two weeks while following one of our programs. I asked for an example of their typical meals and immediately we found that one of their meals added up to nearly 600 calories. That’s OK if you’re eating 2-3 meals per day for some individuals, but this friend of ours was eating 5-6 meals per day.

The more that we dug into it, the more that we found instances of meals containing too many calories. Even though most of the food was healthy, it was simply too much. We found simple ways to cut back and the next week I was ecstatic to hear that they released 5 pounds. Now that’s a bit too much in my opinion, but the important thing is that we now had feedback to go on… and that’s what planning and tracking is all about… it’s a feedback loop. It allows you to see the little changes that you can make, which translate into great body transformation results.

The biggest and most important take away from this is that you avoid beating yourself up in frustration for not making progress. If you are not seeing progress when you believe that you are eating well and doing everything correct, you may begin to think that there is something wrong with you. For example, you may begin to think that your thyroid or hormones are out of whack, when really, you were simply over-eating.

Don’t get me wrong… in some cases it’s more than over-eating. In some cases there are hormonal issues and other factors at play. I certainly do not want to down play those very serious issues that need to be addressed, but in the vast majority of the population it all boils down to underestimating how much you are consuming and overestimating how much you are burning.

It’s easy to get caught up in the overestimation of calorie burning when you have cardio equipment that displays inaccurate readings or ‘fitness experts’ claiming that you will burn a gazillion calories with their workout program. This frustrates me to no end… but we’ll save that for another day

The theme for this week has been about finding the joy in eating less and improving your “relationship” with food. I believe that planning and tracking the process of your body transformation is absolutely priceless, but I do not want you to turn this into a stressful situation. I want you to find the joy in documenting your journey.

The best way to turn this process into something that is enjoyable is to share your feelings and emotions in your journal as you document your workouts and meals. It’s great to put pen to paper and write out your feelings and emotions of experiencing an amazing workout or the sense of pride and satisfaction that comes from eating a very healthy meal that tastes great and doesn’t make you full. Sharing your feelings of pride from every small victory will turn this transformation or yours into something magical that you are excited to embark on.

I believe that planning your workouts and meals in advance is one of the greatest stress relievers that you could do for yourself. For your meals, you basically just have to do it once and then you can make slight modifications as you go, whenever you find a new meal that you would like to substitute into your master plan. When you have a meal plan you won’t find yourself stressing in the morning about what you should take out for dinner. You won’t get caught in a situation where you don’t know what to eat so you reach for unhealthy convenience food or fast food instead. You will know exactly what you are going to eat and you will know how your body will respond to those meals, because you have been documenting those feelings all along.

When you follow a professional designed workout program, such as those that Angie and I have created, you don’t have to guess what you are going to do at the gym today, it’s all laid out for you. All that you have to do is record the weight that you lifted and how you felt at the end of the workout. Tracking your progress and celebrating the small victories of performing one extra rep or lifting a little extra weight compared to the previous workout gives you a great sense of pride and achievement, which drives you to continue along this journey.

Embrace this process. Treat journalling as “Me Time”. A time that you can sit back in a quite place, relax, and reflect on your positive experiences from the day. Celebrate your victories and give yourself a good pat on the back. Don’t turn this into a chore… turn it into an opportunity. An opportunity to block out the noise of everyday life and focus in on YOU.

Have you been documenting your body transformation? I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback. Please take a moment to share them in the comment box below. I’d really appreciate it.

To achieving your limitless potential,

Scott Tousignant

PS I’ll be sharing my journal with you next week and giving you an intimate view into my life and transformation. I’m hoping that it will have a very positive impact on you and your body transformation results.

About The Authors

Scott and Angie Tousignant have been helping busy men and women, just like you, transform their body and life for over a decade. This dynamic duo prides themselves on providing a balanced and practical approach that will motivate and inspire you to become the best YOU that you can be.

Scott and Angie have dedicated themselves to sharing their exact workouts, what they eat, and how they stay motivated to continue transforming their body’s and life.

Their line up of body transforming programs includes, ROCK That Body, Sizzlin’ Circuits, Core Plus More, Fat Loss Quickie, and More Love Less Fat.

We’re excited to share in you successful body transformation!