Exerising on an empty stomach not any better than a full stomach

I will put this in the Category of a "myth buster".  I recommend taking supplements prior to working out and so this is support for that recommendation. That said, I know many folks think that exercising on an empty stomach is good for weight loss. Turns out, through the data,to be a wrong assumption. 

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/27/does-exercising-on-an-empty-stomach-burn-more-fat/

Write down positive goals

I am reminded time and again that goals have a better shot of being accomplished when they are writtien down.  This is very true for diet and exercise.  The linked article below takes the process of writing diet and exercise goals one step furhter by suggesting that goals be written positively versus negatively or I will do this versus I won't do that.  I agree that positive goals are more motivating!

http://www.dietsinreview.com/diet_column/01/ditch-your-new-years-resolution/

Eating late is OK as long as you are eating throughout the day

The link before is an article saying that it is not bad for you to eat dinner late.  This answered a question that I have often been asked so I thought that you would find it useful. the key according to this author is to eat enough calories earlier in the day so that dinner does not become the BIG MEAL of the day. I can live with this advice and to me eating sensibly all day long is the best advice that I can give, so  have a great day eating throughout the day and don't worry about eating late.

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/health/2011/06/10/what-time-should-stop-eating/

Smaller Portions equal Weight Control

I like small meals throughout the day to keep the metabolism burning and now a study by a leading Food Researcher NPD has identified that more Americans are adopting this practice.  Make sure that you get protein with smaller portions and you will be on the right track

http://www.nacsonline.com/NACS/News/Daily/Pages/ND0727111.aspx

Technology can help control how much we eat- Measure Bites

I like this new Bite Meter technology because it is very easy to over eat and throw a great training program off track.  I also believe that eating behavior is learned and, therefore, needs to be unlearned. Tools like the portion control bite meter described in the article that I am linking from USA Today can really help to teach new behaviors.

Keep traciking!

http://yourlife.usatoday.com/fitness-food/diet-nutrition/story/2011/08/Bite-Counter-is-like-a-pedometer-for-your-mouth/50080680/1

Strennuous Exercise May Protect Aging Brain

Yet another reason why it is good to start a vigorous training program..  Good news!

http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/medical/story/2011/06/Strenuous-exercise-may-protect-aging-
brain/48201816/1

Write down Positive Goals

Time and again, I am reminded that when we write down goals we have a much better chance of achieving them. This universal rule works well for diet and exercise.  The linked article takes the concept of writing down goals one step further and suggests that Positive goals, I will do, versus negative goals, I will not do, can produce better motivaton and better results. I agree!



http://www.dietsinreview.com/diet_column/01/ditch-your-new-years-resolution/

ABS ABS ABS

That is the number one thing I hear from clients when they come to me.  "I want to get rid of the fat in my middle section."  To address this question I first have to address a couple different myths about FAT.  First myth is that you need to burn fat first to gain the muscle* Fat and muscle are two separate components to the human body.  If you lose all your fat you will look like a stick.  Just by losing fat by doing cardio for 60 minutes a day will gain you ZERO muscle.  You don't need to lose the fat first to start putting on muscle.  It's actually quite the opposite.  You need to gain muscle to help speed up your metabolism to lose the fat.  Losing just fat alone will actually slow down your metabolism and you will end up gaining back the fat, which is what you worked so hard to lose in the first place.  So please if you are trying to lose weight don't just do cardio to burn the fat first that couldn't be more wrong.  Second myth is that you can transform your fat into muscle.  This isn’t transformers.  That would be really nice if you could do that, but it is not true.  Gaining muscle comes from increasing your muscle cells not by transforming fat.

Back to ABS ABS ABS.  Your body doesn't simply take fat away from the area where there is the most fat.  It takes away fat throughout your entire body.  So in order to get those dream ABS and lose the middle section it is going to take A LOT of hard work.  This hard work consist of years of dieting with healthy high nutrient dense foods, and lots of exercise both lifting and cardio.  It is going to take time to get your total body fat percentage down in order to start seeing abs.  Ideally a male will see ABS around 8-12 percent body fat or lower, and a female from 12-18 percent or lower.  So next time you want to know how you get ABS and a "trainer" makes you do a thousand silly abdominal exercises PLEASE stop!  This is a waste of time.  Unless your body fat percentage is low you are not going to see anything.  You might even have the strongest abs on the planet, but if you eat like crap it doesn't matter how many sit-ups you do a day.  TO RECAP: the best way to get ABS is to eat healthy, lift weights, do high-intensity cardio (sprints) and low-intensity cardio (walking) and if you want to throw some ab exercises after your workout it won’t hurt.  All of the above will lower your total body fat percentage.  Make sure to measure you body fat percentage and see if it is decreasing every month by half to 1 percent.  This is a slow process so be patients and the only real way to see results is by HARD WORK.  

Photo taken by: http://www.definitivephysique.co.uk/2012/03/04/the-abs-solution-ii/

My Favorite Leg Workout

Your legs encompass the largest muscle groups in your entire body.  In order to have lower body fat you have to train your legs.  After a good leg workout you should feel incredibly sore and if you get into a lunge or squat position your legs should start to shake.  I have many favorite leg workouts but I am going to post one that I have done more recently.  I always lift with supersets.  A superset is when you do one exercise or lift and follow it with another exercise or lift and repeat. A will be one set and numbers will represent the different lifts for each set.  Example, A1 and A2 would be a super set of two different exercises.  Also, the tempo is extremely important.  Tempo is the pace you lift at.  There is the eccentric portion, on the way down for squats and bench, the concentric portion the way up for squats and bench, and isometric portion at the halfway point.  This not only requires good form but also increases your strength and muscle.  Example, 3010 is 3 seconds on the eccentric portion of the lift, which is with gravity, and 1 second at the concentric portion of your lift, which is going against gravity.  Another example 2012 would be 2 seconds eccentric, one second concentric, and 2 seconds isometric.  I hope you enjoy my workout!  Make sure to use weight you can lift with PROPER form and if it is too easy move your weight up.  Hard work should never be easy. 

Warm up- 5 minute cardio of your choice (tredmill walking, skipping, jogging, etc.)  5 minute dynamic stretches (not static!) 

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Tempo	Rest
A1: Back Squat	5	6-8	3010	75 sec
A2: Leg Curl	5	6	5011	75 sec
B1: Db Sumo Squat	4	12-15	3011	75 sec
B2: Romanian Dead lift	4	6-8	4011	75 sec
C1: DB lunges	3	12/each	3010	60 sec
C2: Seated Calf raises	3	10-15	2012	60 sec

"The Paleo Way" (Menu from School Project)

Reference: "Everyday Paleo" by Sarah Fragoso Victory Belt Publishing Las Vegas

Sugar-Free Almond Cookies

If you haven't been up to date on your latest nutrition news then let me inform you.  Sugar and gluten have been the two culprits for fat-gain.  There is evidence for each one on how it contributes to gaining fat but in moderation they are not nearly as bad as they are made out to be.  However, there is sugar and gluten in almost all processed foods that Americans consume every single day.  It is almost a guarantee if you eat highly processed food you are eating too much sugar.  Don't panic instead try some sugar-free almond cookies that I love to make as a healthy treat.  I know it sounds disgusting to some of you but don't judge until you give them a try!  They can be made with chocolate chips or walnuts as well.  Below is the recipe.  Just subsisting this recipe instead of grabbing your regular sugar-filled gluten cookies will help you a long way.  Let me know if you liked them or not. 

For 12 servings 

1/2 cup butter/ softened                                                                      1/2 teaspoon baking soda 

1 cup all natural Stevia                                                                         1 teaspoon hot water

1 egg                                                                                                    1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract                                       1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

1 1/2 cups almond flour                                          2/3 cups walnuts (optional) 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cream together the butter and Stevia until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in almond flour, chocolate chips, and nuts. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.
3. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

How to Set Goals-Using SMART Technique

            Reading nutrition articles and/or blogs from different people you will pick up on the strong emphasis on goals.  Goal setting is very important because it holds you accountable and helps you keep track of your progress in a timely fashion.  However, simply setting a goal that is to broad or inconceivable does you no good.  In the next paragraph you will see how to set a goal the right way.

            Use the word SMART.  This acronym has been taught to me by several of my college professors, and I have used it for myself because it is very helpful.  The first letter stands for SPECIFIC.  You can’t set too broad of a goal or you will never reach it.  Example, I am going to start to live a more active lifestyle.  That is a great goal but it isn’t specific at all.  The word more can mean almost anything.  To make it more specific you would have to say something like, I am going to do physical activity at least 30 minutes everyday. 

            The next word is MEASURABLE.  Your goal must be measurable in someway or else it will be impossible to track your results.  Either by the use of a scale, time, body fat measures, or whatever you want it just has to be measureable. 

            Your goal also has to be ACHIEVABLE.  Make the goal most important to you.  Develop ways you can accomplish your goal.  If it is to exercise more, how are you going to do that?  Are you going to prepare food on Sundays for the week?  This is where you really layout a roadmap for success. 

            Make sure you are being REALISTIC.  This one means not to set a goal that you know you will not be able to accomplish.  For example, I want to lose 50 pounds in a month.  I wouldn’t recommend this anyway, but the problem is if you set a goal too high and you fail it is really going to be a hindrance to what you are trying to accomplish.  Try instead; I am going to lose 1-2lbs a week. 

            Timely.  You have to consider time or else you will be trying to accomplish the same goal for years and years without any results.  Put a realistic time frame on your goal to hold yourself accountable.  If you are not seeing results by the time frame you set your goal then maybe it is time to try something different.  The worst mistake someone can make is repeated the same routine over and over with no results. 

            Here is an example of a goal that I am setting for myself.  I want to increase my back squat by 50 lbs from where it is now by April 27, 2013.  I am going to achieve this goal by lifting legs twice a week and eating high protein meals.  

Lift weights to lose weight

If you aren't lifting weights already what are you waiting for?  If you are a woman is it because your afraid of bulking up?  Well that is one of the biggest misconceptions about weightlifting that drives me nuts.  Even if you lift weights for a long period of time you won't "bulk" up.  You will get stronger but you are not going to look like arnold anytime soon. (don't worry).  Lifting weights increases your RMR( resting metabolic rate).  Cardio is great for your heart, but lifting is great for losing weight and adding muscle.  If you are not lifting weights what is your excuse?  I could give you a million reasons why you should just ask me.  If you are looking for that 6-pack beach body then lifting weights is the way to go.  You don't have to become an expert overnight, start with something easy, such as the machines.  So tomorrow morning instead of just going for a run, go lift some weights!  You will be thanking me in the long run. 

6,400 calories crazy right?

Before you read this post you must read http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/eat-to-burn-fat-and-calorie-loading-to-torch-body-fat.html article by Cory Gregory.  I found this article very interesting for a couple different reasons.  First off I have hard of calorie splurging before, but this one was different because of the foods Cory listed compared to foods I have seen from other sources.  Usually the high calorie day would consist of whatever you could get your hands on such as, high sugary snacks and "cheat meals".  Ok so heres the difference, in Cory's whopping 6,400 calorie day he was eating only eggs, cashews, beef, and cheese! That is it.  Albeit that comes out to being over 24 whole eggs in one single day!  Now this caught my eye because I have read books talking bout its not so much the calories you eat, but what you eat.  The article goes into talking about hormonal responses from food.  As we all know the more sugar and carbohydrates we eat the more we build up a insulin insensitivity, which can cause a rise in blood glucose levels.
Ok so what the hell am I saying???? Basically I am going to personally give something similar to this high calorie day from clean foods a try.  Clean I mean low sugar and carbohydrates.  I think Cory might be on to something.  He also talks about low-fat days as well, maybe to balance out all the fat from the calorie day?  I am going to post what I ate and how I felt from my personal experience with this later.  Until then folks :)

Breakfast or "Workoutfast"

Breakfast or “Workoutfast”

Tomorrow morning wake up and shred fat fast!  Don’t go straight for the eggs and toast, but get to your gym and work.  Sounds extreme right?  Nevertheless new research from Northumbria University suggests that people can burn up to 20% more body fat by working out in the morning prior to breakfast.  For the millions of Americans who are looking for anyway possible to lose body fat this sounds like an amazing technique to cut the fat.  You might be asking yourself many questions by now such as, how does this work?   Or is exercising on an empty stomach safe?   Or am I going against everything my nutritional knowledge has told me?  These are all fair questions you might ask yourself after reading such a bewildering claim.  Unfortunately for you, I have the answers and they might not be what you are expecting. 

The science

When you exercise, your muscles use up their glycogen stores, which is the storage form of carbohydrates in people for energy.  When you are in a fasted state, your body’s glycogen stores become depleted.  Your body still needs energy so instead of taking away from your glycogen stores, it will use fat for energy.  There is a Warning.   First of all, carbohydrates are your body’s primary source of energy.  Working out in a fasted state could lower your performance in your workout.  This is why it is important to make sure that if you are exercising on a famished stomach, to include short moderate exercises, such as walking and to avoid moderate to vigorous exercises, such as running.  Working out on an empty stomach may cause muscle loss from your body using protein as an energy source. 

Safety First

Exercising in the morning on an empty stomach puts your body in low-blood sugar levels for an extended period of time.  Having low-blood sugar levels and then working out could cause you to faint.  Also, this may occur because some food provides hydration, and without eating and drinking water your body will not be properly hydrated, which can cause fainting.  There is also evidence of muscle loss.  When your glycogen stores are low your body will use lean muscle to help break down the fat.  Losing lean muscle is one of the worst things you could do if you are trying to lose body fat in the long run.  Losing muscle will slow down your metabolism because the more lean muscle you have the faster your metabolism will be burning more calories at rest.  For example, a pound of fat only burns 2 to 3 calories per day, while a pound of muscle burns 75 calories per day.  To prevent these issues eat 30 minutes to one hour before working out, and consume fluid.  This will make sure your body is properly hydrated and has carbohydrates prepared to burn for fuel. 

Take away

Whenever you’re reading a nutritional or exercise claim you have to be cautious.  Although it may sound great at first, the negatives may outweigh the positives.  In the case of working out prior to breakfast, I highly recommend you reconsider because of the dangers, and also the fact that you could be losing muscle.  Losing 20% more body fat may sound great, but the dangers and risk of losing muscle should steer you away in a hurry.  Any knowledgeable nutritionist will tell you that you need a healthy carbohydrate rich breakfast before working out to insure the highest performance.  You need to consume complex carbohydrates so your body can use what it likes best as fuel instead of fat and protein.  Some meals that I recommend before exercising are skim milk with frozen berries blended, oatmeal with fruit on top, 2 whole eggs with whole wheat bread, and whole wheat pancakes.  At least 12-24 ounces of water should be consumed to insure proper hydration. 

Exercise Trumps sitting around for Kids health

One would think that sitting for a long time every day would lead to obesity in kids.  Sometimes it takes research to bust myths wide open.  The linked article below highlights a study that shows that it is consistent exercise not how long one is on the couch that makes the difference in Kids' weight.  That means as a country we should spend less time worrying about how long kids are sitting by the computer, TV etc. and more time about whether Kids are getting enough daily exercise.  Changing how we think about things is why research is great, now the Parents and the society need to act on the results.  For starters, cuts in exercise classes and athletics in schools is a very bad idea when you think of the long term consequnces to society.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/15/us-exercise-fat-kids-idUSBRE90E0UM20130115