PJ's Fitness Blog – Page 25 – A blog about a fitter you. Come find out what is on the cutting edge of fitness science and be a part of the ongoing conversation.

Is Your Tap Water Making You Fat?

Being dehydrated can make you fat and keep you from losing fat, because when you are in this state, your kidneys aren’t working right, so your liver has to step in and help them out. One of your liver’s main jobs is to pull fat out of your tissues to be burned off and used for fuel. If it’s busy helping out the kidneys, guess what job it’s not doing?

For this reason, I used to say hydrate at all costs, even if you have to drink tap water. After further investigation of our tap water however, I’m not saying that anymore. I have ended up getting a water filter to get rid of all the unneeded chemicals in it. Have a look at Best Products Pro to see what the best filters on the market are. I now think that for some people, drinking tap water is more fattening than being mildly dehydrated.

What caused my change of heart? Well, as far as fitness goes, it’s because of the effect your municipal “fluoridated” water has on your thyroid. This “fluoridation” process suppresses your thyroid function and depresses your metabolism. It also depresses your mood, so that makes you less likely to

Switch your thoughts to bust your cravings

The easiest way to get your mind off that hot fudge sundae is to picture something else that is equally or more pleasant instead, like a loved one’s laugh or your favorite place to relax. It could also be a fun experience, favorite game, or a time when you felt unusually powerful or “in the zone.” Just picture something — anything — that elevates your mood, that isn’t food related and be sure to imagine it as vividly as possible, including as many senses as possible. Imagine how it sounds, smells, looks, and feels, both emotionally and physically. Research suggests that doing so can help stop a craving, fast.

In a recent study, college students were asked to vividly picture themselves engaged in a well-loved activity every time a food craving came up and

Top 7 Foods You Can’t Overeat

There are certain organic foods you can eat that will cause you to burn fat off your body just for eating them. These foods simply can’t be overeaten. In fact, I challenge you to try. Stuff yourself with these foods all day and see what happens. I’ll tell you what to expect – you will just get leaner. In fact, the more you eat, the leaner you will get, so go for it!

These foods are also super nutritious, so you will be getting your vitamins and minerals too. They will also give you more energy, strengthen your immune system, make you feel like a million bucks and more. It’s just a good idea any way you look at it, so there really is no downside.

These 7 super-miracle foods (listed in order of awesome-ness and fat-burnitude) are:

Broccoli
Spinach
Asparagus
Celery
Cabbage
Kale
Beets

There are more, but these are the top 7. Any dark green leafy vegetable will have this effect as well. In fact, most vegetables will have this effect. Eat these raw whenever possible. The less cooking the better, and NEVER cook in a microwave. It ruins everything and neutralizes all the good effects you could enjoy.

Try to overeat them. I dare you…

How Much Protein Do We Need?

Lots of X Gym clients come to me asking about their protein needs and requirements. The research varies widely on this and frankly, I don’t think we even fully know the answer to this question yet. Research has shown that protein is a high metabolic food and most sources build muscle and burn fat, so that’s good enough for me to eat it – even in excess of what I can absorb.

Excess protein raises your metabolism and makes you leaner, because your body has to do something with that energy. It doesn’t want to convert it into fat because that’s more work than just burning it off, so it chooses to do the latter by increasing your metabolic rate.

Another reason excess protein helps make you lean is because your body keeps fat on reserve to prevent starvation, but