Shopping for your Six Pack! by SixPackNow's Herve Duchemin When on the quest for those six pack abs, what you put into your body will ultimately be the determining factor contributing to your success or failure.  Choose your foods wisely and you will sport those washboard abs on the beach with full confidence.  Eat garbage, and you’ll still have a six pack; it will just be glossed-over and made invisible by a layer of bodyfat!  We are all born with six packs but the majority of us will never get to see them simply because we do not develop the discipline needed to purchase healthy and nutritious food at the supermarket.  Hence, our refrigerators and cupboards are filled with tasty treats which all wind up in the same place:  distributed all over as excess body fat. The next time you go to the store, remember -- do not shop for your taste buds, shop for your six pack!  In this article I will provide you with a shopping list that will be sure to provide you with the quality nutrients that will get you leaner than ever so that none of your precious time spent exercising will go to waste. The first thing you need to do is understand how to raise your metabolism with “meal timing”.  When you want to drop body fat, it is essential that you eat a small meal every two to three hours.  When you go much longer than that, your body will actually hold onto body fat in prediction of a “starvation”.  If you miss a meal here or there, it is not the end of the world provided you do not allow it to become a regular thing.  If a visible six pack is your goal, the first thing you need to do is plan out your meals at the beginning of the day (or the night before), and have 6-8 meals ready to go when you wake up.  This will eliminate all of the “guess work” associated with your diet, as well as having to think about what you are going to eat for lunch instead of thinking about your work duties.  You will also not have to worry about becoming “hungry”, because you will be eating by the clock.  When it is time, you go into your lunch bag, get a meal, eat it and then go about your daily activities. From the moment you have your first meal, you will consume another meal every two to three hours.  Your first three or four meals should consist of a serving of protein and carbohydrates, and your last three or four meals should consist of protein, vegetables and healthy fats.  This will provide your body with a steady flow of nutrients throughout the day and your consumption of starchy carbs will end early enough to fuel you during the day, yet allow your body to burn fat while you sleep at night (provided that you follow an exercise plan to burn muscle glycogen).  If you eat starchy carbs too late, your body will use these as fuel instead of fat, since carbohydrates are the body’s preferred energy source.  Also, if you miss one of those early carbohydrate meals, you may set yourself up for late night cravings that would not have even existed had you given yourself a steady amount of carbs earlier on. So the next time you go to the supermarket you will divide your list into three categories:  protein, carbohydrates, and “healthy” fat.  You will pick up only things on the list, and nothing else, because you are not shopping for your taste buds, but for your sixpack!  You are going to eliminate all fried food and unhealthy fats (butter, margarine, NON-natural peanut butter, and anything with the word “hydrogenated” in the ingredients), bleached flour, white bread, sugary cereals, sodas, candy and chips, and unhealthy sugars (anything which says “high fructose corn syup in the ingredients).  For protein choices, you will purchase any of the following:  chicken breast, turkey, lean cuts of beef, fish, and eggs.  Your carbohydrates will come from potato/sweet potato, brown rice, plain oatmeal (unflavored quaker oats or McCanns Irish Steel Cut Oats), whole grain bread, cream of rice, grits, farina, and any just about any vegetable you can think of.  In terms of fruits, stick with apples, oranges, grapefruits, peaches, plums, and berries, making sure that you have no more than 2 pieces of fruit each day, eaten earlier if possible (they are healthy and full of fiber and vitamins, but are “natures candy”, and as we all know, candy is full of sugar).  As far as dairy, stick to eggs, and skim/low fat milk, and limit your consumption to one to two glasses per day.  Finally, your healthy fats will come from olive oil, canola oil, NATURAL peanut butter, almonds, avocado and 1-2 yolks here and there with your egg meals.  As far as liquids go, the only think you should be drinking is water.  Coffee (in moderation), and tea are ok also, just watch it with the sugar, and drink an equal amount of  plain water for each cup of tea or coffee you drink.  Also make sure to take a multi vitamin to make sure your body has all the minerals it needs to fuel that metabolism into overdrive.  If any of the pieces are missing, you will inevitably progress at a slower rate, than if you maintain a military-type discipline toward your goal, and don’t allow anyone or anything to cause you to deviate. Now your shopping cart should be looking pretty stacked with healthy food that will get you on your way to achieving those washboard abs!  If you take my advice and plan out your meals and exercise, get a good amount of rest at night, and stay focused on the finish line, I guarantee you those abs will begin to show in no time!  Enjoy! For your complete SixPackNow Shopping List go here More tips from me on site next week! Herve