In the first article I've ever written for ezinearticles.com, I talked about how supplementing with creatine is not just for males and bodybuilders anymore, and that creatine can in fact help you burn excess body fat as well as build and retain your hard-earned muscle mass.  In that article, I’ve listed some suggestions as to what creatines to stay away from as well as what creatines to take, including my personal favorite at the time.  Since then however, I have discovered a brand new creatine that has worked better for me than any other kind.  In this article, I share with you what that creatine is, how it works, why it is effective, and the exact brand that I currently take and recommend.  Before we get into that however, lets do a short recap.

So how does creatine work again?  Creatine works by building muscle.  It does this by pulling water that you drink into your muscle cells, causing them to expand.  When these individual muscle cells expand, the muscle will expand as a whole.  I always like to use the analogy of filling up a water balloon under a kitchen faucet.  The more water that enters the balloon, the more it expands, and the more full and hard it gets.  Well, your muscle cells are like this balloon, and the creatine is the faucet!

And how does it work to help you lose weight?  Once again, creatine builds muscle.  The larger muscles get, the more calories they need to sustain their new size.  Therefore, the muscles will “eat” if you will, stored body fat for fuel.  Creatine is also helpful during dieting if you are looking to lose weight without compromising lean muscle mass.  Often times, when a person goes on a diet, they will lose hard-earned definition by reducing their overall daily calorie intake.  Creatine will help you reduce your calorie intake to burn fat without reducing the size of your muscle mass. 

Ok, so we went over how creatine works, and how creatine helps with the reduction of stored body fat.  But what is this new kind of creatine that works so well?  As promised, I will let you in on that right now.  The type of creatine that I will be taking for life, is known as creatine hcl.  This stands for creatine hydrochloride.  Creatine, no matter what type, is all the same.  What makes the difference in how effective one creatine is versus another, is how well absorbed it is.  The absorbability equals the potency, and creatine hcl is by far, the most potent creatine on the market. 

As I have written in my first article, creatine is usually cycled, meaning that you take the product for about 6 weeks, then discontinue its use for 6 weeks, then go back on for 6 weeks, and repeat this process or “cycle.”  The type of creatine hcl that I have been using is by a company called ProMera Health and goes under the brand name of “Con-cret.”  It boats that it is 59 times more potent than creatine monohydrate (an old school form of creatine) and that there is no need to cycle the product and that there are no side effects to this product, unlike other creatines which can cause bloating, gastrointestinal discomfort, and possible kidney damage.  Also, you don’t need to take a lot of it, just 1-2 extremely small scoops in a bit of water or juice is all you need.

I was a bit skeptical when I first saw this product, but I really wanted to start taking creatine again after cycling off of it for a while, and decided to give this product a fair try.  And boy was I pleased!  After only 3 days on the product, my strength increased significantly and my muscles looked fuller and harder than ever before.  Believe me when I tell you that I am very critical of most supplements and am not getting paid by ProMera to write this.  My mission is to give my readers all of the most true and effective information that I have to give so they can get the most out of their diet, workout, and supplement plan.  It is very rare when I do a supplement review, so do yourself a favor, go out and get this supplement as soon as you can.  You’ll be glad you did. 

Yours in health,

James Hallmark

Certified Fitness Trainer

Learn how to lose weight without giving up your favorite foods!

So I was searching through my cabinet the other day for my probiotic supplement and realized that I was completely out.  For those of you who don't know, probiotics are the good bacteria that helps your stomach function optimally.  I'll go over why you should be taking these in just a little bit. 

Any who, I've been hearing that Greek Yogurt is an excellent source of probiotics.  Unlike typical commercial brands of yogurt, Greek Yogurt is 100% natural and is the way yogurt was traditionally made, before the addition of the excessive amounts of sugar and high-fructose corn syrup.  Also unlike commercial yogurts, greek yogurt is packed with protein!

I did some research on it and it looked good, so I went to the store a couple of days ago and bought a brand of greek yogurt called "Chobani."  I got the plain kind because it had only 9 grams of naturally occurring sugar and zero grams of fat.  Also, for one serving, it had 23 grams of protein and was loaded with healthy bacteria. 

I've been eating it for breakfast lately.  I add 8 oz (one serving) to a small cup, then add in either sliced almonds or ground flax seeds, and a couple packets of pure stevia.  I have to say, it is awesome! 

It's pretty much straight up protein and healthy fat (from the almonds or flax seeds).  And since I eat this every morning for breakfast now, it leaves the rest of the day open to be able to enjoy the carbohydrate-rich foods that I feel like having, without over eating on them.  This is how Greek Yogurt helps to lose weight. 

Why should you have probiotics everyday?

Generally, people only take probiotics when they are taking an antibiotic.  You see, when you are sick and the doctor tells you to take an antibiotic, the antibiotic kills all bacteria.  It can't differentiate between the good and the bad bacteria, so it kills all the bacteria that it can.  This means that along with the bad bacteria that is causing you to be ill, it's also killing your healthy intestinal bacteria. 

So, the idea is to take a probiotic supplement to replace the good bacteria that the antibiotic destroyed.  However, if you think that you should only take a probiotic or eat probiotic-rich foods when you are on medication, think again. 

If you eat chicken or steak, and it is not organic, chances are, whether you think so or not, you are taking antibiotics.  How?  Because the chicken and beef that you are eating most likely has antibiotics in it.  And as you now know, antibiotics will destroy your healthy intestinal flora.  This is another reason why I began to eat Greek Yogurt EVERY morning. 

Just wanted to share that with my fellow xanga members!

Yours in health,

James Hallmark

Certified Fitness Trainer

Learn how to lose weight without giving up your favorite foods!