If you are using it for flavor or to keep things from sticking to the pan, etc, it is fine. If you are trying to up your fat intake, it is best to add it after the food is removed from the heat.

Sorry. The issue is with the nutrition, it has nothing to do with the training. Training simply does not increase body fat. Ask for a refund and find a trainer who knows what they are talking about.

Tell that to Jack LaLane, Lee Labrada, Arnold Schwarzenegger, or any other number of people who enjoy a very healthy, high quality of life due in a large part to their weight training background.

Someone with weak shoulders will also suffer in the dumbbell movement, and increase their risk of injury with the barbell. This is why both are actually important in a routine - the dumbbell for the unilateral isolation of various muscles to allow adequate loading/coordination response, and the barbell to increase the loading directly on the chest by taking out some of the synergists and stabilizers as weak links.

You have muscle cells that are grouped in bundles called motor units. They are called units because each of these muscle cells has a single nerve that commands them to contract or relax. Each motor unit is either completely on, or completely off - there is no in-between.

So, when it comes to strength, think of it like tug of war. You have two teams with 200 people each. However, let's say you start out and team A has all 200 pulling at once, while team B only has 50 people. Who do you think will win?

When you are using your muscles, your motor units switch on in groups. More motor units at once means more force generated. This is how you can control speed - while each unit is either on or off, your central nervous system will command groups to switch on at the same time - just enough to allow you to move the weight at that speed.

So, your two people are training differently. One person has perhaps some more genetic potential for mass and/or has trained to gain mass. The other person has more efficient muscles. Your body never effectively utilizes 100% of your motor units. This is why you can find someone small with a lot of strength - their muscles are more efficient. The strongest power-lifters don't have muscles as big as the biggest bodybuilders for this reason. It's a different response and stimulus.

I know a guy who weighs 180 and can bench press over 400 pounds and can do 225 for 20 - 30 reps due to how he trained.

I always want to give credit where credit is due, so I must share that I learned the "weak side rule" from Ian King, author of The Book of Muscle.

The weak side rule is simple:

1. Use unilateral movements. Unilateral means one-sided. If it's your arm, do one-armed curls rather than using both arms. If it's your back, like me, do one-armed rows or one-armed lat pull-downs so you can focus on one side at a time.
2. Always train the weak side first. There are two reasons for this. First, you want to assess the strength of the weakest side so you can adjust the strong side. Second, your first muscle worked is what is prioritized in the workout — it receives the most energy and attention.
3. Never do more with the strong side than the weak side can handle. This is the heart of the rule. Basically, if you can only handle 10 curls at 20 pounds on the weak side, this is ALL you do on the strong side! Work the weak side to failure, if that is your routine, but always use the same weight with the strong side and stop at the same number of reps that your weak side could handle. This allows the weak side to be the side that is stressed the most and grows to "catch up" with the strong side. Don't worry, you won't lose major muscle mass on the strong side — it receives enough stimulation to maintain while the weaker side is catching up!

Each fruit has it's own, unique qualities. Variety is best. Eat a lot of different types, to take advantage of what they all have to offer.

If you are sick of cooking and preparing meals, maybe it is a mindset issue that you need to address. It seems people these days expect it all to be easy, a nice little convenient walk in the park. Whatever happened to sucking it up and pushing it a little hard and sacrificing a bit to earn the reward? I guess that's why the lottery is so popular even though a large number of people who win end up losing all of their winnings ... people don't want to earn it, they just want it to magically fall in their lap.

I see your point, and I understand it. I can relate. I used to be that way, too. After 4 years of coaching people, the ones who are looking for the easy way (i.e. same foods day in and out) are the ones who struggle the most. The reason is because they haven't embraced a healthy lifestyle .. instead, they've created a compromise and diet mentality that forces them to take action without belief, so they are struggling to maintain instead of it being an easy side-effect of belief. I know this seems like splitting hairs but really if you are pursuing the easy way, it's only going to seem hard until you are ready to take on the challenge.

A few in moderation probably won't hurt, although if you could get 100 calories from pretzels versus 100 calories from vegetables, guess which would be a better choice?

Crunchy foods are typically trigger foods: pretzels, chips, etc. Most people add these thinking "low fat, low calorie" and then graze on them throughout the day without really tracking them. The truth is, those calories can add up.

I like pretzels myself ... I just don't consider them healthy choices, I consider them something to treat myself to when I crave crunchy carbs (I'm a sucker for corn chips, too).

On the other hand, with a lot of veggies and low calorie fruit and lean proteins and eggs, you can probably eat more and still achieve results.

The only way for glycogen to get back into the muscle is through glucose bound to water, so without enough water, you won't get the fuel to your muscles that need it. Water is what the body uses to manipulate the charge inside and outside of the cell to drive nutrients and and waste products out.

Without water, you are potentially not delivering the nutrients your body needs to burn fat.

There is not much scientific evidence for the detox. In fact, a lot of nutritionists and doctors will tell you it's a bunch of nonsense and not to waste your time.

For me, however, it was fantastic. I have had two people I worked with start with a detox program and it did wonders. It is not the weight loss that is the key - it is the way the body breaks away from the cycle of carbohydrate addiction and cravings.

One was a woman who had 120 pounds to lose and kept hitting a wall trying to "eat healthy" and another was a man who was 350 and had been working with me off and on for 4 years trying to transform his lifestyle. In both cases, doing a detox helped them get on the path so when it came time to eat healthy, they were ready to embrace it and move on rather than clinging to the junk foods and cravings they had.

Why Detox?
My own detoxing was for a number of reasons. The first time - juice fasting - was spiritual. I used it to drown out the "noise" from training and eating and just focus on me. I went through some intense spiritual changes - fortunately I kept a diary that I share a little bit of in my book. It was an amazing time and taught me much about myself.

The second time was after a period of stress I had gone through and just couldn't seem to get back into the swing of things. So I did the same 5-day detox I had those other two I was talking about and it really jump-started me ... I also lost inches from my waist, so I know it wasn't just lean mass, which was cool. So far the woman I worked with has lost over 40 pounds and the man over 50, so I'd say it was a good experience for them regardless of what the nutritionists or scientists may say.

According to various studies, like this and this, overeating may increase your risk of heart attack. All things are best done in moderation, whether it is food, alcohol, or almost anything else in life (peace and love are the obvious exceptions, you can never have too much of either).

I like to use the analogy of someone who has quit smoking. Let's say John quit smoking but enjoys the occasional cigar. Jane quit smoking, but she gives herself a day every week to smoke as much as humanly possible — she literally goes through a half dozen packs of cigarettes trying to suck down as much smoke as possible. Who do you think is better in the long run?

The reason it's hard to accept that this would hold true with food is because, as a society, we are simply in denial. It's already been established that foods impact your risk of many diseases and even cancer. Poor diet and exercise are the number two leading cause of preventable death.

So when you are ready to enjoy your foods, why not eat what you want, but not all you want. In other words, instead of having a whole pizza followed by a gallon of ice cream, why not just enjoy a slice or two and then a scoop or two? You still get to eat something but you are doing it under control.

I know there is a popular weight loss program where the author advocates a day of gluttony and even describes his own excursions into eating tall stacks of waffles and other foods. I am a fan of the program, but not this part. If you insist that this is something you must keep in your life, that's fine ... but if you are struggling to see the results you had hoped for, and don't understand why you aren't experience the same transformation you saw in the pictures of the success stories in that book, then you might consider taking it easy and giving up on gluttony.

There is a great benefit acquired from losing weight. Though losing weight is not easy, the long term effects brought by it would probably be of help to anyone considering to shed those unwanted and unhealthy pounds.

The following are a few of the remarkable advantages from losing those excess weight.

Weight loss prevents high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke

That is a three in one benefit from losing weight. It is a fact that heart disease and stroke are one of the primary reasons for disability and death in both men and women in the US. People who are overweight have a higher risk to have high levels of cholesterol in their blood stream as well as triglycerides (also known as blood fat).

Angina, one type of heart disease, could cause chest pains as well as a decrease in the oxygen pumped to the heart.

Sudden death also occurs from heart disease and stroke, and usually this strikes with very little warning, signs and symptoms.

It is a fact that by decreasing your weight by a mere five to ten percent, this could positively decrease the chances of you having or developing heart disease or a stroke. Plus, how your heart functions would also improve as well as your blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride count will decrease.

Weight loss prevents type 2 diabetes

Diabetes puts in jeopardy one’s life as well as how one leads his or her life because of the complications that result from having it. Both types of diabetes, type one and type two are linked with being overweight. To those who already have diabetes, regular exercise and losing weight could help in controlling your blood sugar levels as well as the medication you may be currently taking. Increase your physical activity. You could simply walk, jog or dance. It helps get those blood streams moving as well as lose those unnecessary pounds.

Being overweight is linked with a number of kinds of cancer. Specially for women, the common types of cancer that is associated with being overweight include cancer of the uterus, gallbladder, ovary, breast, and colon. This is not meant to scare you, this is only to keep you informed. Men are at risk too from developing cancer if they are overweight. These include cancer of the colon, prostate and rectum. Extra weight, a diet high in fat and cholesterol should as much as possible be avoided.

Weight loss reduces sleep apnea

Or it could eliminate it all together. Sleep apnea is a condition wherein one could temporarily stop breathing for a brief period and then would continue to snore heavily. Sleep apnea could cause drowsiness or sleepiness during the day and – because of being overweight – could result in heart failure. Shedding those excess pounds could help in eliminating this problem.

Weight loss reduces the pain of osteoarthritis

When one weights heavily, the joints of his or her knees, hips and lower back would have to exert double – if not triple – effort to carry him or her through out his / her waking, walking and moving life. This could cause tension and stress on these joints. Weight loss decreases the load these joints carry thus decreasing – if not eliminating – the pain of one who has osteoarthritis.