Skyler Meine

Here’s something I don’t understand: why people believe they should take the hard route to their IdealShape. People will avoid supplementation because they think it’s unnatural, yet they’ll go for extreme diets and bizarre pills that don’t work.

Let me explain what supplementation really is, and why you need it.

The recipe for a healthy body and mind includes several ingredients. Supplements are one of them. When I talk about supplementing, I’m not talking about steroids or unhealthy muscle building substances, and I’m not talking about unnatural diet pills.

I am talking about vitamins, minerals, and natural ingredients that bring the body into balance. Nutrients that fortify the immune system and jumpstart metabolism. Many of these substances exist naturally in the foods you eat, but your body literally cannot absorb all the nutrients it needs from food alone.

That’s the beauty of extract form—i.e., supplements.

Understand that I personally would not take, or recommend, anything that was unhealthy, unnatural or a waste of time. I have been studying health and fitness for 12 years. And I’ve come to understand that adding supplements to your nutrition plan isn’t cheating, it’s the opposite of cheating. Here’s why:

You’ve been eating right and exercising hard. Now you can a) optimize your results (with a supplement), or b) cheat yourself out of your results by cancelling them out (leaving the body out of balance, letting the immune system and metabolism wilt).

Supplements are not only a key component of your body-shaping mission, they’re essential for lifelong health.

That doesn’t mean you’ll have to take a weight loss supplement forever; many people use it just to get down to their goal weight. By that time, the body is balanced and they are able to sustain their shape with the basics: exercise, food, a multivitamin and protein. But you need to get to that point first. The right supplement can take you there, helping you shed excess body fat so you can start sculpting!

Here are some body-balancing ingredients you’ll find in a good supplement:

• Green Tea—an antioxidant, promotes efficient metabolism
• Grapefruit—contains vitamins A, B5 and C, plus potassium and folate
• Caffeine—a natural appetite suppressant, promotes efficient metabolism and energy
• Resveratrol—this is one of my favorites: found naturally in the skin of red grapes and other plants, this antioxidant is currently being used by major pharmaceutical companies in longevity and health-promoting remedies. It has been shown to suppress appetite and correct leptin resistance (read the research on Resveratrol ).
• Kelp (seaweed)—promotes efficient metabolism, contains calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, amino acid and vitamins A, B1, B2, C, D, E

ResveraShape, by IdealShape, is an excellent supplement if your goal is to burn excess fat, curb caloric intake, or just get the nutrients your body needs to stay fit. It contains all of the above ingredients. I encourage you to learn more about it and understand why these natural ingredients help the body slim down and shape up. Get the full scoop on ResveraShape

Bottom line: if your metabolism isn’t running efficiently, you can exercise and cut calories but you’ll still keep the fat. And if you aren’t healthy and energetic, your workouts will be pretty worthless. To achieve your IdealShape and mind, you need to create a holistic balance. Start with supplements.

Your Goal for the Day: start using a natural body-shaping, health-promoting supplement like ResveraShape. Use it every day for 31 days and assess the results!

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The One Time You Shouldn’t Fight Hunger

Breakfast is possibly the most important meal of the day, yet so many people pass it up. Don’t ignore that gnawing feeling in your stomach just because you’re in a rush, or because you think it will help you reach your IdealShape faster. It won’t! Skipping breakfast is one of the biggest causes of weight gain.

On day 4, I told you to eat more often, which will actually help you eat fewer calories. This is especially true of the morning meals. One of your 5-6 meals of the day should be breakfast, followed by a well-balanced snack a few hours later.

If you miss these earlier meals, your metabolism will slow down (Weight Gain Cause #1). Then you’ll gorge at later meals and crave unhealthy snacks (Weight Gain Cause #2). Without breakfast you’ll have less energy throughout the day, either skipping your exercise regimen or simply being less active in your daily activities (Weight Gain Cause #3).

A lot of people say they aren’t hungry in the morning, or that eating right away makes their stomach upset. As far as hunger goes—once you are exercising regularly and your metabolism starts to swing upward (thanks to those small 5-6 daily meals), you will be hungry. If breakfast bothers your stomach, just try to eat and have some water as early as you can. Your stomach will start getting used to morning food, especially if it’s the right kind.

What to Eat

By “breakfast” I don’t mean a piece of white bread or a bowl of Trix. You want to avoid processed foods and go for fresh as much as possible. And remember from previous posts, the goal for each meal is a 40/30/30 ratio of carbs/protein/fat.

A few ballpark 40/30/30 breakfast examples:

1. One egg and two egg whites,  and fresh fruit with a low carb yogurt
2. Whole grain cereal with nuts, fruit, and the Ideal Shape Shake made with skim milk

The IdealShape Meal Replacement Shake

The IdealShape shake is packed with protein, vitamins and minerals, making it a great on-the-go breakfast replacement. Mix the IdealShape shake with water or milk, add fruit and sprinkle some granola on top and you have a healthy, energizing breakfast in under 3 minutes.

Today’s Goal: eat breakfast. If you didn’t have breakfast today, plan for tomorrow. Choose what you’re going to eat, prepare items the night before if needed, and be sure to include a fresh fruit or vegetable. Aim to get a good portion of your calories in the first half of the day, not the latter half.

Trust me, this is one goal that delivers instant rewards. When you eat breakfast you will have more energy, and you will see your IdealShape much sooner—especially when you include the IdealShape protein shake in your meal plan.

Keep reading daily for more nutrition tips to create your IdealShape

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When you want to get to your IdealShape, do you immediately think about what you are going to have to stop eating?

What if this time you started by thinking about what you could add to your diet to start moving towards your IdealShape? Fruits and vegetables. More lean protein like chicken, fish and pork. More fiber rich food. More water. That doesn’t sound too terribly difficult, does it? If we just focus on what we should be eating to feel healthier and have more energy, and if we listen to when our bodies are telling us we’re hungry, we can make the right nutritional choices.

We naturally want to live abundantly. If we try to deprive ourselves of the things we love to get to our IdealShape, we are taking away two things our bodies have become accustomed to: unhealthy foods and extra fat. Remember, our bodies would prefer to maintain fat stores just in case we go through a starvation period. This is a product of human evolution. So, instead of cutting everything out at once, make changes that you can handle and focus on each day. Simple additions can sometimes create big subtractions.

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$20 Dinner
$15 Clean Car
$20 Movie
$100 Hair
$200 Health Insurance
$300 Car Payment
$50 Oil Change/Tire Rotation

But we won’t spend the money for a gym membership, fitness class or personal training. Culturally in America we have been taught what is acceptable to pay for and what isn’t acceptable to pay for. We will gladly shell out money to make our lives more convenient or for entertainment. But we are hesitant to pay for things that will help us feel better about ourselves, give us more energy, allow us to live longer and be more productive.

It is time to start taking better care of the vehicle that drives us through life: our bodies.

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