Below is an article contributed by Mike Geary, the founder of TruthAboutAbs.com. I thought this was an important topic to share with you because the reality is that most people simply don’t realize how many scams are out there

Don’t Fall for the “1 Rule of a Flat Stomach – Obey” Acai-Berry Fake Blog Scam!

This scam has also been running rampant for Resveratrol products, Colon Cleanse products, Men’s muscle building supplements, and anything else that claims to give you miraculous results from a bogus little pill… and if they tell you that you get 1 free bottle for only paying shipping and handling… get off that site FAST!

by Mike Geary, Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist

I found out that even my own mom had recently fallen for this type of scam, so please read how this works and pass on to your friends to protect them from falling for this too.

Over the course of the last year, you may have noticed that you couldn’t go to any website on the entire internet it seems without seeing about 10 ads saying things like this:

1 Rule of a Flat Stomach – Obey

or

3 Rules of a Flat Stomach – You Must Obey

Here are some similar ads that have been EVERYWHERE lately:

New Jersey Mom Got Skinny by Following 1 Rule

or

Chicago Mom Lost 52 lbs following 2 Rules

Here’s the deal on how this scam works:

If you’ve ever clicked on one of these ads, the first thing you’ll notice is that this so-called “1 Rule” or “2 Rules” doesn’t even exist.  Instead you end up at what looks like a blog (or so they’re trying to fool you into thinking it’s a real blog)…

FYI – this same exact fake blog scam is being used in all sorts of categories online now from teeth whiteners (ever seen the stupid “Cathy’s Teeth” ads everywhere?) to men’s muscle-building supplements to dozens of other products (which is why I’m showing you how the scammer usually works this whole operation).

Scam Characteristic #1:  the fake blog naming

These “blogs” usually show a picture of a woman with some made-up name such as Heathers Fat Loss Blog or Kristin’s Diet Blog or Jennifers Weight Loss Blog.  However, the problem is that Jennifer or Heather or Kristin all don’t even exist!  To be honest, they could easily be some big fat hairy guy sitting in his boxers on his couch operating this fake blog that is trying to sell you bogus pills.

Scam Characteristic #2:  fake pictures

The pictures of the women used in these blogs are usually simply obtained by the scammer from stock photo websites… and then they manipulate some photos to try to look like a person made some sort of transformation.  Many of the pics only show from the chest down, so they aren’t even the same person in before and after pics.

Scam Characteristic #3:  fake blog comments

The entire blog is fake, including the so-called “comments” that are at the bottom of the blog (which the affiliate marketer is clever enough to put some comments in all-caps and some in all-lowercase, so they look like legit comments from different people).

Scam Characteristic #4:  they somehow live near you???

Another thing that the scammer does is their site detects your IP address location, so that they can fill in a city near you to make you think that Heather or Kristin or Jennifer are located somewhat close to where you live… That’s why if you live near Chicago, it’ll say that it’s Cindy’s Blog and she’s a mother of 2 that lives near Chicago…  maybe they think this gives you the “warm fuzzy” trusting feeling that they must be a local person.

Scam Characteristic #5:  they usually claim some sort of celebrity endorsement, such as Oprah, Dr Oz, or Rachel Ray

Almost all of these fake blogs usually show pictures of either Oprah, Dr Oz, or Rachel Ray (or some other celebrity) and claim that they are endorsed by that celebrity.  First of all, even if a celebrity did endorse a pill, who cares? Does anybody really think most celebrities are weight loss experts? Give me a break!

And 2nd of all, most of these celebrities have come out publicly and stated that they don’t endorse these products… so again, this immoral fake blog owner is simply lying.

Scam Characteristic #6:  their secret “2-step process”

Another characteristic of most of these fake blogs is that they will usually claim that they used a “2-step process” to lose some made up weight loss number like 52 lbs in only 21 days.  Usually their “2 step process” is that they claim they used a “free” bottle of acai berry pills and a “free” bottle of colon cleanse pills.

Sometimes they will promote a different product such as resveratrol or some sort of other “miracle fat burning pill”.  It doesn’t matter what combination they claimed they used… they’re all complete scams!

The reason they claim that they used 2 products is because they get 2 commissions from the supplement companies if you are fooled into buying both of their “free bottles” (which you’ll eventually see aren’t really free when they send you the 2nd round of bottles in 3-4 weeks and you get billed $90 on your credit card).

Scam Characteristic #7:  they say the offer expires at a date that is either 1 or 2 days from current date

Many times the fake blog will also say that the offer for these “free bottles” of pills expires (and it gives a date that is either 1 or 2 days from the current date).  They do this through a script that simply fills in the date at a set time after today’s date.  Again, they are lying.

Where the Diet Pill Fake Blog Scam (and teeth whitener scam, muscle building pill scam, etc, etc) originates

The backbone of this whole thing lies in something called a CPA network, where independent online advertisers are allowed to do whatever they want to try and sell a bottle of pills to someone using a “get this free bottle of pills and pay only shipping and handling” type of offer… and these CPA affiliates will do ANYTHING to try to lure you into this sale — and that includes blatantly LYING in BOTH their ads and their fake blogs!

Now these CPA networks aren’t necessarily the bad apples… it’s the CPA affiliate marketers that run most of the advertising for the products that the CPA networks allow.  Those are the real low-lives with no morals that will do anything to make a buck.

From what I’ve seen, these CPA network affiliate marketers that run “magic pill” offers will do whatever it takes to make a sale… they literally seem sleezy enough that they would probably even lie to their own Mom just to make a sale.  The CPA network pays the affiliate a set fee everytime someone orders a “free plus S&H” bottle of pills.

But it gets worse!

Now beyond that fact that they already blatantly lied to you by using a fake blog, fake story, and about 10 other lies… most customers do not see the fine print that tells them that they’ll start receiving bottles of this junk every month starting about 3-4 weeks after their initial order for the “free bottle + shipping”.

This same exact thing happened to my mom when she told me about the “free bottle” of pills she found on the internet.  I asked her what the site looked like that she saw this on and she described exactly the type of fake blog that I’m telling you about in this article.  She literally had no clue that she was going to be billed another $70 to $80 on her credit card in a couple weeks when they automatically started sending her the next month’s shipment.

Now to give some of these companies a little bit of credit… if you read the fine print, they do say that you’ll get automatically billed, but from what I’ve heard is that most people don’t read the fine print and really have no clue that they will be billed again.

And if you ordered both bottles of pills from the fake blogger’s so-called “2-step process”, then you’ll be shocked to see 2 giant charges on your credit card next month when they send you the 2nd set of bottles.

To make matters worse, I’ve heard from people that some of these shady “fly by night” supplement companies are poorly staffed and it’s nearly impossible to get in contact with them to cancel your order or get a refund.  Good luck with that!

And the Last Problem – the pills don’t work!

That’s right…they don’t do jack-diddly-squat!

Remember that ever since the passing of the 1994 Dietary Supplement and Health Education Act (DSHEA), supplements have been excluded from federal regulation. One of the negative aspects of this is that certain unscrupulous companies could now pretty much get away with putting anything they wanted in the bottle because it did not have to undergo quality control testing to make it to market. Their label didn’t even have to match what was in the bottle, since nobody is policing them.

As shady as these companies are, I certainly wouldn’t trust them to actually be truthful in what they’re putting in the pills… how do you know it’s not just sawdust in the pill?

That’s why I only trust very select supplement companies… 

I hope this article has helped so you know exactly how to avoid these types of fake blog websites… remember that these types of fake blogs have spread to all sorts of other things beyond weight loss pills… 2 of the newest offenders being teeth whiteners and muscle building supplements.

Watch out for this Idiot Loser too…

Also watch out for a particular fake blog scam that I just saw showing up recently called the “Terminator Workout“.  This fake blog is designed to deceive men into buying a “free bottle” of muscle building pills.  This idiot that made the fake blog claims you don’t even need any exercise at all.  sure… ok Tiny Tim.

Also his ads don’t even make any sense, since the Terminator Workout ad takes you to a fake blog that doesn’t even talk about working out… he just talks about the pills.  He tries to talk in a real casual and “urban tone” on the blog too to fool you into thinking he’s a regular guy that found a miracle supplement.  What an idiot loser!

Watch out for these slimeballs and their fake blogs… they’re everywhere!

Email this page to protect your friends and family from this scam!  Also feel free to copy/paste the link to this page to your twitter, facebook, myspace, blog, or forum pages to help those you know avoid this scam.

Instead of falling for scams, get the real TRUTH on losing body fat permanently without any bogus pills

To your success in achieving a lean healthy body (without scams),

http://www.truthaboutabs.com

Train hard, eat right, and enjoy life!

Popularity: 2% [?]

Below is an article contributed by Mike Geary, the founder of TruthAboutAbs.com.  I thought this was an important topic to share with you .

The Top Fat Loss Secrets for Flat Six-Pack Abs and a Lean Stomach

I had the pleasure of being interviewed recently by a fitness professional from NYC, Certified Personal Trainer, Geovanni Derice. The interview is below and I think you’re going to like it… I reveal some of the hardest hitting strategies for getting rid of that stubborn stomach fat to uncover those flat six pack abs that everyone wants.

“GD: Welcome Mike to our 4-ever-Toned Fitness Journal. For those who do not know you, please tell us a few things about yourself and how you can help our readers with their fitness and health.

MG: Thanks for having me, Geo. Well, to go back a little, I have been heavily involved in fitness and sports for about 17 years now, ever since I was a teenager. Being involved in sports in high school got me interested in strength training and conditioning.

At that point, once I started feeling more energetic, getting stronger, and looking better, I was instantly hooked for life. I’m 33 now and still addicted to the way living a healthy and fit lifestyle makes me feel energetic, confident, strong, and youthful on a daily basis.

I decided earlier in my 20’s that I wanted to make the commitment to help other people experience the excitement of being fit and getting in the best shape of their lives, especially since we’ve reached an epidemic of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, depression, etc. That’s why I became a fitness professional. It just gives me so much satisfaction to help others, who have struggled for years to get in good shape, and show them that it can be done, and it can be fun in the process.

I’ve expanded over the years from just reaching local individuals with personal training, into being able to help people all over the globe achieve their fitness goals with the reach of the internet. I only hope that my passion for fitness inspires people to take action and improve how they look and feel for life.

GD: Now Mike, there’s so many things out there as to what works and what does not work… if you had to pick 3 things that work time and time again to get flat lean abs, what would they be?

MG: The first and most important thing to get control of in order to lose your belly fat and get flat abs is cleaning up your diet. Exercise is important, but your diet is king when it comes to losing body fat so that you can see your abs.

There’s so much confusion these days about what a healthy diet that promotes fat loss really is… after all, we are bombarded by conflicting messages in the media about what is healthy and what is not, and you have all of these gimmicky diet books about low carb, low fat, high protein, vegetarian, fasting, atkins, south beach, liquid diets, and hundreds more. There’s so much conflicting info, that the average consumer doesn’t even know where to start when it comes to eating for fat loss.

The second thing that works time and time again, is to focus on the intensity of your workouts and focus on working the body as a whole in order to get the best metabolic response to lose that stubborn stomach fat.

In order to really get lean, the workouts should have a high intensity, with short rest periods, working the largest muscle groups of the body, instead of trying to isolate specific small muscles like the biceps, triceps, or calves.

For the third thing, let’s talk about actually training the abs specifically. When it comes to training the abs, if you want real results, I always recommend forgetting about the crunches and situps for the most part. They are ok for someone that is really deconditioned, but most people that already have some training under their belt need a much better stimulus for their abs than crunches. Crunches are one of the abs exercises that actually provide the least amount of resistance, and remember that resistance is what develops and tones the muscles.

I provide a ton of great abs exercises in my book, but one of THE highest resistance exercises for the abs, is hanging leg raises (but NOT the way you see most people at the gym doing them). The key to doing these and actually working the hell out of your abs is to curl your pelvis up as you raise your legs. Almost nobody ever does this right. To be honest, the majority of people cannot do this at first, but I provide some strategies in my book as to how to progress to doing these correctly.

GD: What are people doing wrong when it comes to developing the coveted “6 pack abs”?

MG: Well Geo, I know this sounds funny to most people, but the MAIN thing that people are doing wrong to get those flat 6-pack abs is… are you ready for this?

They spend entirely too much time focusing on training their abs! WAY too much time spent on abs exercises. Sounds crazy, but it’s true.

Remember, having a flat and visible six pack of abs is all about getting down to a low body fat percentage. In order to do that, your workouts must focus on stimulating a fat burning hormonal environment in your body, and increasing your metabolic rate. That just does not happen when you focus too much time training a small muscle group like the abs.

Instead, you must use the majority of your time focusing on training the largest muscle groups of the body like the legs, back, and chest. That’s what stimulates your metabolism and the fat burning hormones that will get you truly lean and sporting a flat sixxer!

GD: Which exercises are the top exercises that people need to do if they are to get maximum defintion with their midsection?

MG: When it comes to developing the abs themselves, I again refer to any kinds of hanging abs exercises, as well as some good floor abs exercises like lying leg thrusts (all described and illustrated in my book).

However, maximum definition in the abs and midsection comes from losing bodyfat, and the most effective exercises featured in my program for that goal are various forms of swings and snatches (unique dumbbell or kettlebell exercises that almost nobody ever does in normal gyms), squats, deadlifts, lunges, step-ups, clean & presses, mountain climbers, sprinting, and other full body exercises and calisthenics. If you want great looking flat abs, focus on those instead of focusing so much on training the abs directly!

GD: When it comes to diet Mike, people really have tried millions of ways to get one thing… and that is fat loss. What recommendations have you used to successfully help your clients lose body fat and keep it off?

MG: I have included a fully comprehensive discussion of this topic in my book, which accounts for almost half of the book, but I’ll try to make some nice simple generalizations to get people started on the right path immediately. The most important thing is that your diet is as natural and unprocessed as possible. It almost always comes back to the overprocessing of food that makes it unhealthy, and makes it totally wreck your metabolism and hormone balance in your body.

For example, why eat refined grains, when you can eat whole grains (even better are sprouted grains, as I usually recommend limiting grain foods overall for best results).

Why eat refined sugar, when you can get natural sources of sugar from a high nutrient whole food like fruit. Why eat highly processed, refined, and hydrogenated vegetable oils (these are THE worst thing in the modern diet), when you can eat natural sources of healthy fats like nuts, avocados, fish, eggs, coconut milk, organically raised meat, and so forth.

The point is to not fall for some gimmick like extremely low carbs (although I do believe in a fairly reduced carb intake as that is a big problem for most people), low fat, super high protein, or any other combination that has you focusing on one macronutrient vs. another.

Your body needs all macronutrients to thrive and obtain a variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, etc. Trying to cut an entire food group out just works against what your body needs. I get into much more detail on this vitally important topic towards losing body fat (especially that stubborn stomach fat) for life in my book.

GD: Thank you very much Mike for sharing with us all of this great information.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this interview and plucked several nuggets of info to get you motivated and started on showing off your flat abs shortly. If you don’t already own a copy, be sure to pick up a copy of my Truth about Six Pack Abs book and discover the entire system I’ve developed for ridding yourself of that extra ab fat for good!

Popularity: 66% [?]