It took me a long time to learn to love chicken. I would always gag whenever I ate grilled chicken breast – it always was so dry to me. You should never truly dread a meal, and I was getting to that point with chicken. Then one day my wife made a chicken breast for me that did not suck! As I peppered her with questions about how she did, she just had this sly smile. Turns out she had read that if you soak the chicken breast in buttermilk that the breast would be tender and juicy…and it was! I am no scientist, but apparently there are some enzymes present in buttermilk that act as a meat tenderizer. She typically soaks the breasts for 2 hours or so, but has also soaked them overnight and they have turned out great!

Staying with the chicken theme, search your supermarket for ground chicken breast to use in any recipes where you may have used ground turkey. The ground chicken breast is much more moist than turkey and has a better taste (to me, at least). I know it depends on where we shop, as not every supermarket has it, but I know that Perdue is one of the brands. Alternatively, if you live near a quality butcher, they can easily grind fresh chicken breasts for you, and they may actually be a bit fresher.

Finally, my last chicken-related tip is to utilize rotisserie chickens. They are available at most supermarkets and even at the warehouse clubs. They are extremely versatile and most often generate multiple meals. One quick tip – DO NOT FEAR THE DARK MEAT!

Dark meat poultry catches a bad rap, but in fact, contains a tremendous amount of nutrients. The dark color comes from a chemical compound in the muscle called myoglobin, which plays a key role in oxygen transport. Dark meats must use myoglobins as they transfer oxygen more efficiently to the muscles than glycogen. Muscles used more frequently, get to be dark. This is why non-flying poultry drumsticks are dark meat, while breast meat is white. When dark meat is cooked it turns the myoglobins to metmyoglobins, which is brown/gray. Metmyoglobins are very high in iron.

Dark meats tend to contain more zinc, riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, vitamins B6 and B12, amino acids, iron than white meat. Chicken dark meat contain vitamins A, K, B6, B12, niacin, folate, pantothenic acid, minerals as selenium, phosphorus and zinc. Even the fats in most of the dark meats have healthy parts. They contain Omega-3, and Omega-6 fatty acids, and other “healthy‟ fats. To reduce the saturated fat content of dark chicken meat, simply remove the skin!

This may be the most asked question that I have received since I started advising people on fat loss:  do any of those fat burning supplements that you see actually work?  Without getting into a list of specific supplements, I’ll say that most of them do not work.  However, there are a handful of supplements that you MUST add to your fat burning arsenal.

• Green Tea extract – you could drink green tea, but you’d have to drink a TON to get the effective dosage.  When choosing green tea extracts, you want one that has an equivalent of at least 90 mg of EGCG, the active ingredient in green tea responsible for the health boosting and fat burning effects.  90 mg 3 times per day is the recommendation.

• Fish oil and/or flaxseed oil – studies have shown that six grams of fish oil per day has been linked to fat loss.  Or you could go with the flaxseed oil at the dosages I recommended previously – 1 Tablespoon per 75 lbs of bodyweight (for flaxseed oil, I would stay away from the pills, as you’d have to take too many to get this dosage).  The warehouse clubs like Costco or BJs are a great source for these at a reasonable price.

• Whey protein (for after workouts) – this absorbs quickly, and is what you need for those post-workout drinks

• Casein protein (for other times in the day) – digests more slowly, and several studies have shown this to be a key component to fat loss.  Casein is the majority of the protein in milk and cheese, but is also available in powders.  Ask at your local health food or vitamin store.

• Multivitamin

The ephedrine/caffeine combination that was, unfortunately, banned by the FDA (and later reversed) is no longer widely available.  I won’t go into much detail on this one except that the studies showed that it was safe and effective for fat loss AT THE PROPER DOSAGES and that those who blindly prescribed to the “more is better” philosophy were the ones who ultimately led to its banishment.  I will say that you can still get it pretty easily, even in your local drugstore.

I would not be responsible if I did not say the following two things:

1. There is no magic bullet for fat loss – supplements are a small piece of the fat loss techniques we have discussed
2. This newsletter is NOT a substitute for professional medical advice – before taking ANY supplement, consult with your physician – some supplements can interfere and/or negate prescription drugs, people have different tolerance levels, etc.

Now we have our complete list of the most effective fat burning techniques, according to science and real world application:

1. Eating more often (shooting for 6 small meals per day)
2. Resistance training
3. Interval cardio
4. Low carbohydrate diets
5. Supplements