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Guest post by Paul Atkins
http://www.fitnessbodyonline.com/

No matter how intense your workout may be, more than likely before, during, and especially after that workout you are going to drink something to rehydrate and replenish that worn out exhausted body. The question then is what are you going to drink?? For the past decade the rise of energy drinks could be described as nothing short of miraculous meteoric rise. Since the days of the mighty Gatorade there has come to the marketplace almost every conceivable color, flavor, and ingredient driven high energy after workout drink.

However, after intense blitzkrieg style advertisements from the television to radio to almost every magazine on earth that has anything to do with fitness many people have started to back away from these so called after workout drinks. If you ask yourself why, the answer is simple and the nutrition label on those energy drinks is the answer. To rattle off just a few of those ingredients words like "horny goat weed", "high fructose corn syrup", and the ever infamous "yellow number 5" are more often than not present in many so called energy drinks.

After analysis and research it seems to be a fitness renaissance going on out there of like minded healthy people that are putting the watermelon berry flavored drinks down and in turn picking up nature's oldest and most trusted hydration drink — Water. Yes water good old fashioned H2O is making a mighty come back on the world scene of fitness and weight loss. Granted there are varying degrees of water from mineral water to sparkling, but the principle idea of H2O is always the same, no added ridiculous named flavors, colors or roots to trick me into thinking I will turn into superman overnight.

As this renaissance of returning to origin continues though many have begun to do extensive studies and research into what types of water should be ingested and have come to the conclusion that not all two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen is the same. No, much of the water that is consumed from bottles distributed to most super markets and grocery store chains has gone through much and lost many of the natural properties it once had. One of the major properties that water needs to keep is the PH balance of the water. For those that are not aware, the PH scale runs from 0 to 14 with a PH of 7 being neutral, neither acidic nor alkaline. You could say that perfect water should be a ph of 7 because this is where it is on the PH scale if you were to go to a melting glacier in Alaska and test that water.

Through the process of reverse osmosis, bottling in plastics, shipping, temperature shifts and sitting on a shelf for weeks most bottled water loses its original neutral ph balance and becomes acidic, therefore becoming almost as useless as all of those energy drinks. This may sound like a conundrum but it is not. With a little research you will find that PH balanced alkaline water is actually easier to come by than you think and is exactly what your body needs for real, proper hydration after a long intense workout.

About the writer: Paul Atkins is a guest writer for several Health and Weight Loss related blogs including Fitness Body Online. Paul enjoys participating in and writing about the newest exercise programs and diet plans and is currently using the P90X Workout program as his program of choice.

I just received this update from my partners over at Prograde. Trust me, you want to read it.

I've got their permission to share it with you word for word.

From the Desk of Jayson Hunter:

Simply put, if you're looking to flatten your belly you definitely want to be planning your meals.

Fail to plan, plan to fail. Sorry, but it's true.

And yes, that means you want to plan what you're going to eat a week in advance.

Ummm, yes again, that takes WORK.

But you don't have to do the work. I've already done it for you.

Seriously, I really have.

I've got a 90 Day Meal Plan that outlines in simple language exactly what you need to eat and when.

And I've also got shopping lists and weekly planners for you as well.

I want to hand over to you everything you need to get faster results as easy as possible.

The best part is you get it absolutely FREE when you become a Prograde VIP member!

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Which reminds me, I've been getting some questions about our brand new membership program, so here are some FAQs for you on that:

• Yes, it only costs $47 to be a member for an entire year.
• There is absolutely NO obligation to buy anything else.
• Yes, you get the DONE-FOR-YOU 90 Day Meal Plan FREE of charge with your membership.
• No, your card will NOT be charged again in a year from now.
• There are NO hidden monthly fees or anything silly like that.
• Yes, the 5% VIP discount applies to both sales and Smart Ships.

In other words:

Every month while you are a Prograde VIP your Smart Ship order will be an additional 5% off!

And as an example, when we do a sale for a Prograde product at 15% off our VIPs will get 20% off!

Finally, YES, it makes a heck of a lot of sense to become a Prograde VIP member! But you only have until tomorrow night (August 18, 2010) at 11:59pm EST to do so.

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Here's how I answered the question on Yahoo! Answers:

Question:
Hey.. I'm a 5'11 approx 190lb guy.. I wanna pack on some weight really badly because I'm thin and approaching feminine looking. Problem is that I have a very fast metabolism and nothing I do seems to add weight. I even found a term for it. Hardgainer. So, how do I overcome this? I work a full time job and have school.. so I really don't have time to just pig out all day long. I'm single.. no gf to cook tons of meas for me.. I can cookfor myself, but I don't know what's best for gaining weight. I know to stay away from junk food.. I never touch fast food. Any suggestions for me? Oh, I've tried those weight gain shakes from the health stores.. spent a fortune on that stuff and never gained a pound. This is really frustrating because i wanna start working out hardcore, but without anything to build off of what's the point?

Answer:
Your last line tells me you don't understand how to build muscle. It's all about synergy – if you lift heavy but don't eat right, then you will gain nothing. Same if you eat a lot and don't work out (well, except with this "method" you will get fat and turn into "skinny fat guy" or "fat skinny guy").

You need to approach gaining weight (i.e., building muscle) from 3 angles:

• Eat right
  
• Train right
  
• Recover right
  

Attitude is the glue that sticks it all together.

Eat 6 to 8 times a day, concentrating on protein-rich sources like eggs, beef, milk, fish, pork, and chicken. Also eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. Don't forget water!

Weight gain powders don't work well. Some people make gains, but these are the exceptions. They would have gained even without the supplementation.

Try a meal replacement powder mixed with whole milk like MetRx. Don't replace a meal, though, add it in.

Train 3 times a week. Do "limbs" one workout and "torso" the next workout. Stick to compound movements like squats, deadlifts, bench presses, overhead presses and rows. 6 to 8 reps for 1-3 sets, starting at 1 set and building to 3. Try to add weight every workout.

Get plenty of sleep, at least 7 hours a night. Try for 8 or 9; you're better off. If you cannot get 8 or 9, take a nap in the middle of the day.

Keep a positive attitude. It makes all the difference. I know it's difficult to stay positive; I used to be 120 pounds and couldn't gain an ounce. Then I figured it all out and put on 60 pounds in less than a year. Success came from simply following the program above and by staying positive about it all.

Best of luck. I know you can do this!

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Okay, the title of this post may be a little misleading, as weight loss, especially healthy weight loss, really is fat loss and to lose fat effectively, you have to exercise. But the types of food you eat can make all the difference in your success.

In short, eat more protein!