» Nutrition

I get a lot of questions on what exactly to take before you go to sleep each night and in this post I'm going to give you an easy and simple recipe for creating your own night time protein shake that will keep you lean and skinny at night.

The real secret is going to be the use of casein protein instead of just the traditional whey protein shake.  And a great and readily accessible source of casein protein is cottage cheese and today I'm going to show you how to make a killer shake out of it.

Whey protein isolate is simply the best because it's so quickly absorbed by your body and that is ideal after a great workout when you muscles are starving and they're glycogen depleted.

But since we're going to be asleep for hopefully 8 hours or so, we're going to want to go with casein protein which won't be quickly absorbed by the body, and instead is time-released.

What actually happens with casein protein is that it becomes a gel like clot inside your stomach allowing it to be digested slower and therefore supply a steady stream of amino acids (breakdowns of protein) into your blood.

This is an ideal situation because you won't have access to any protein/amino acids while you're asleep and in rapid eye movement.

This Sleep Skinny Protein Shake is kick ass for keeping your body lean and toned while you sleep after a hard day or work and training.  Now I wouldn't slam this baby right after working out but if you're about to be out like trout, then I would give this sleep shake a try.

The Sleep Skinny Protein Shake Recipe:

• 8-10oz. of water or skim milk (preferably RAW)
• 1 and 1/2 cups of fat free cottage cheese
• 1-2 scoops of your favorite whey protein powder
• 1/2 cup of fat free yogurt
• 1 cup of ice cubes
• Raw honey or Stevia for flavor
• Mix it up in a blender and drink before going to sleep

This shake is a great alternative for when you're body is starving at night but you don't want to eat a big meal because the calories will just hang out in your stomach and turn to fat.  Use this Sleep Skinny Protein Shake to build up your toned lean muscle while keeping the fat off.

Let me know how the drink tastes or what modifications you made to make it taste a little better…

Create Greatness,

Josh

Having a body cleansing once or twice a year can do wonders to your body and my Trainer Josh 21 day detox diet is a great way to lose weight and rid your body of toxins that are doing you harm.

First off, a detox is nothing to do half-ass, you have to go all in and don't hold anything back because any little misstep will damage the cleansing outcome that you're looking for.

Ok now that we got that out of the way, I want to give you a quick breakdown of what you're going to be going through during the next 21 days after you start my detox program.

We all know that the detox isn't going to be easy but I can guarantee you'll be feeling 10x better at the end because you'll be ridding your body of toxins and all the other crap that is making you feel weak and sluggish and at the same time holding you back from losing that fat.

Here are the rules for my 21 day body cleansing detox diet…

1.  Absolutely no sugar allowed, this means refined or even evaporated cane juice.  Sugar is the root of all evils as far as I'm concerned and is practically the devil in disguise.  So no sugar can be eaten at all during the 21 days.

2.  No dairy intake is allowed.  This means no milk, no cheese, no nothing that has to do with dairy.  More things then you think have dairy in them so be sure to make a list of what you eat every day and find substitutes for them.  A great substitute for cow milk is almond milk (sugar free of course!).

3.  No white flour.  This means no more pizza or those blueberry muffins.  Aim to have only sprouted grains such as rye and stay away from other white flour breads sugar as sourdough and such.

4.  No processed foods.  This means you can't eat TV dinners or anything else that has been manufactured and processed.

5.  No artificial sweeteners.  This means no Splenda, Equal or any other fake sweeteners which are worse than plain old sugar.  Instead have only agave nectar or raw honey and fruit to satisfy your sweet tooth.

6.  Use a detox supplement. I personally use and recommend HealthForce Healing Cleanser which is what I've found through trial and error to have the best bang for you buck.

In fact if you buy the HealthForce Healing Cleanse Level 2 through the link below I'll send you MP3s of my personal meditation CDs that are designed for Daily Neural Reconditioning that will imprint a vision of success onto your subconscious brain.  Click here or the picture below to get it now.

7.  Have two 24-hour fasts from Sunday 6pm to Monday at 6pm and follow it up with a healthy protein shake or super shake.  Fasting a couple times a month will help you sleep better, feel leaner, slim down and become more productive with clarity.

8.  If you have a juicer (if you don't have one I highly recommend getting one) and have a daily detox drink of cucumbers, celery, asparagus and lemon.

9.  Eat whole foods only.  This is one of the most important steps right here and eating only foods that are closest to their original form possible will be nature's way of feeding your body the proper nutrients it needs to build healthy muscle and get rid of the chunky monkey fat.

10.  Drink lots and lots of water.  Water is nature's natural detox and for a very good reason, in fact I remember in my high school chemistry class that water is the universal solvent.  Water is natures way of cleansing the body from toxins and other junk you don't want in your body.  Want to lose fat? Drink water…want your back pain to go away? Drink water.

Well that's it guys and if you got the fortitude to accomplish this detox from start to finish then you will definitely earn my respect.  It's not easy but it's a great way to set yourself on the fast track to success and if you can accomplish this then you can do just about anything to direct your life into a healthy direction.

After these 21 days are up in this detox diet you'll hopefully have some of these numbers engrained into your brains and they'll become healthy habits to replace the bad ones that have been building up in your body for years.  Let's get the ball rolling on this!

If you've been following me for some time now you'll know that I'm really against sugar…but I'm going to come right out and say that if you stop eating sugar then you'll lose significantly more fat than you are right now.

You can eat healthy as a horse, work out like a maniac but if you've got a sweet tooth than you won't achieve the results you want and you'll also be unhealthy and more susceptible for health problems.

But I know cutting out sugar can be one of the hardest things that may come with training especially when it comes time to have a cheat meal and all you can think about is slamming the most sugary thing in front of you.

If you can gradually start getting rid of the sugar intake than you'll lose fat. PERIOD.

You'll also find yourself with more energy and feeling better than you ever have before.

Try taking a 21 day sugar detox where you'll take in absolutely no sugar during that time and see how you feel and see how you look after those 21 days are up. I guarantee you'll be feeling 10x's better and looking way sexier.

I'm a big fan of Dr. Mercola and what he has to say on nutrition and I wanted to share a little video he has that will change the way you look at sugar. And if it doesn't change the way you look at it the first time than keep watching it until it does!

WATCH THIS VIDEO UNTIL IT GET INGRAINED IN YOUR BRAIN.

Pretty gross right?

Well that's the way you really have to look at it. When we think of sugar we think it's this magical unicorn that tastes sweet and makes us feel good.

But with the amount of sugar we're taking in today we're doing more damage than good.

When people say that I make them feel bad about eating sugar than I tell them I don't feel bad at all. To me it's like somebody lighting up a cigarette right in front of me.

Here's a more scientific video that gives us details on why sugar is make us fat…

Try to watch all the videos in the series as it will change the way you eat and take care of your body.

Another thing I want to get off my chest is the amount of sugar that is in everyday products that we take in half-hazardly.

Vitamin water & Gatorade both have a ton of sugar in them & I personally don't recommend them to anybody. In fact, we should only be drinking beverages that have ZERO calories in them (water, green tea, etc.)

The average American consumes 156 pounds of sugar every year and this is one of the biggest reasons why American's are so overweight and unhealthy. Please take care of yourself and if you really want to look your best than cut out the sugar.

Please share any of your stories or experiences with sugar or what you've gotten out of this blog post…

Don't get discouraged just yet.  Even I, Trainer Josh, can still fall for the occasional supplement that is all the rage.  I remember back when I was in high school and was trying to build muscle, I looked long and hard for the best supplements on the planet to help me do just that.

Unfortunately I was looking for a quick fix and it took me a while before I realized how much I was wasting my hard earned money.  I asked around on the internet and friends what they recommended and even went into the local GNC shop for their input.

Long story short, I left the building with a bottle of "Ripped Fuel." The first time I took them I went to the gym thinking I finally had the secret weapon that would take me past everybody else and put me into another level.  But soon after the placebo effect wore off I realized I had just sunk $30 down the drain.

And since the last 10 years I've slowly discovered what really worked and what was worth occasionally giving my money to and what was a complete waste of my dough.

What supplements I recommend to my clients is another story completely.  Now I'm a big believer in choosing the right course of action when it comes to achieving your weight loss goals and getting too focused on supplements can derail your journey and can set yourself up for long term failure.

There is a double edge sword that comes with taking any supplement that actually might just work.  Even if the supplement does give you results you can only take it for so long before you run out or you get sick of paying up every month for it.  And your body will eventually become used to what your taking and you'll have to take more and more to get the same results you used to get.

Also don't forget how badly we get ripped off by the companies that sell us these supplements, it takes them only a few dollars to actually make them and through clever and seductive marketing suck us into buying their stuff for $60+ bucks.   Watch the video below from the movie "Bigger Faster Stronger" to see what I'm talking about (I also recommend watching that movie too, it gives a great inside look on American culture and the desire to be the biggest baddest mofo's on the planet).

Ok, so what supplements do I do recommend?  Well the only supplement that I actually do recommend people take are all naturally and scientifically researched to give results.  Some of them include green tea, omega-3 fish oil, coconut oil, Green Vibrance and a gender specific multi-vitamin.

Even taking all of those together can become a bit much.  To get the best long-term weight loss results you will want to stick to a healthy and kickass nutrition plan as well as having a damn good workout plan that has you pushing yourself in every workout.

I just opened my coaching program for those looking for something that will really work and those looking for great results.  Click here to learn more about my web-based coaching program.

I know it can be difficult to find a quick and cheap post-workout nutrition drink that will give you the adequate amount of nutrients that are needed after a great workout.

I've found chocolate milk to be a great source of nutrients after you work out and it's also pretty darn inexpensive form of getting those nutrients as compared to buying some expensive protein shakes.

Chocolate milk has the perfect carb to protein ratios to ensure your body has the nutrients it needs after a hardcore workout.  Be sure to drink it within 15 minutes after completing your workout.

But this isn't a free ticket to drink chocolate milk ALL the time, only for post-workout nutrition only and try to stay away from the giant bottles of it.