So you sit down one night and grab a low carb beer to drink, thinking “hey, it’s low carb and it’s just under 90 calories. This won’t have any effect on my fat loss progress.”
Well, think again.
First, your body is always burning fat for energy. Sometimes it’s burning a lot of it in order to recover from a workout, and other times it’s not burning much at all. At the same time, you may be storing some body fat because you are taking in excess calories. But, the cycle continues, your body at some level is always burning fat.
Alcohol though, throws a little curve ball into this.
When you drink alcohol, in the end it turns into a substance known as acetate. When this happens, your body uses the acetate for energy before using any body fat, carbohydrates, or protein. In other words, your natural fat burning metabolism has shut down and won’t start back up until all that acetate is moved out of the system.
Another problem with alcohol is that it tends to increase your appetite. Admit it, you start drinking and the next thing you know your ordering potato skins, cheese sticks, nachos and whatever else is on the appetizer menu. So now not only are you not burning fat because your body has to use the acetate as energy first, but, you’re now taking in a ton of inefficient calories that will end up as body fat.
Alcohol also has an effect on testosterone levels. When you drink alcohol, the body increases the release of cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone that breaks down muscle. So by increasing cortisol and also decreasing your testosterone levels by drinking alcohol, you end up with muscle being eaten away. This is the reason why you see a lot of heavy drinkers who have bigger waists and at the same time, smaller muscles.
Does this mean that you should avoid alcohol all together? No, not entirely. Having a few drinks on special occasions isn’t going to hurt, you just need to make sure you don’t go overboard.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
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Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
De-Tox For Your Body
In the past, whenever I saw the words "Detox Your Body" I would kind of glance past it, thinking stereotypically that it was going to be some sort of existential material that has a Utopian tone to it.
But, keeping with my new year's resolution that I keep and open mind about everything, I decided to take a read of this article when I found it on the web.
I was kind of surprised by it because for the most part, it wasn't giving you a list of a bunch of supplements that would supposedly rid your body of any and all evil once and for all.
What I basically got out of it was: STOP EATING CRAP!! Meaning, start eating things that are not processed with a ton of chemicals. Eat things that are organic, get your fruits and vegetables, and your legumes, and leafy greens. Make up some juices using real fruit.
In other words, it's like De-Tox really means: "Eat the way we are supposed to eat: natural foods."
So in a way, it's like I've been detoxing for the last number of years and didn't even know it. So I hope you are as well and if not, get with it!
www.leanbodyfitness.com
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But, keeping with my new year's resolution that I keep and open mind about everything, I decided to take a read of this article when I found it on the web.
I was kind of surprised by it because for the most part, it wasn't giving you a list of a bunch of supplements that would supposedly rid your body of any and all evil once and for all.
What I basically got out of it was: STOP EATING CRAP!! Meaning, start eating things that are not processed with a ton of chemicals. Eat things that are organic, get your fruits and vegetables, and your legumes, and leafy greens. Make up some juices using real fruit.
In other words, it's like De-Tox really means: "Eat the way we are supposed to eat: natural foods."
So in a way, it's like I've been detoxing for the last number of years and didn't even know it. So I hope you are as well and if not, get with it!
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Friday, March 27, 2009
March Madness Workout
So we're down to the Sweet Sixteen.
How about a little workout in front of the TV while watching your favorite team try and pull out a victory to take one more step to coming to Detroit for the Big Dance?
So I came up with a workout that you can do right in front of your television with just your bodyweight.
Here's how it works:
Whenever there's a whistle, you take the last digit in the score for both teams and add them together. The number you come up with is the number of repetitions that you do for each of these exercises. You do each of these exercises back to back with no rest. Once you've completed all the exercises, you sit and watch the game until there is another whistle and repeat.
Here's the exercises:
1. Alternating Forward Lunge - appropriate number of reps on each side
2. Decline Pushups
3. Alternating Reverse Lunge - appropriate number of reps on each side
4. Mountain Climbers - appropriate number of reps on each side
5. Tricep Dips using a couch or chair
As an example, if the score is 14-12 and the whistle blows, you'd take the last digit of each of the scores and add them together (4+2=6 in this case) and you would do six repetitions of each of the exercises listed above one after the other with no rest. Then once you're done, you sit down, watch the game some more until the next whistle and do the same thing.
If you need an explanation of the exercises above, don't hesitate to e-mail me at mike@leanbodyfitness.com
Good luck (with both the workout and for whatever team you're cheering for).
www.leanbodyfitness.com
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How about a little workout in front of the TV while watching your favorite team try and pull out a victory to take one more step to coming to Detroit for the Big Dance?
So I came up with a workout that you can do right in front of your television with just your bodyweight.
Here's how it works:
Whenever there's a whistle, you take the last digit in the score for both teams and add them together. The number you come up with is the number of repetitions that you do for each of these exercises. You do each of these exercises back to back with no rest. Once you've completed all the exercises, you sit and watch the game until there is another whistle and repeat.
Here's the exercises:
1. Alternating Forward Lunge - appropriate number of reps on each side
2. Decline Pushups
3. Alternating Reverse Lunge - appropriate number of reps on each side
4. Mountain Climbers - appropriate number of reps on each side
5. Tricep Dips using a couch or chair
As an example, if the score is 14-12 and the whistle blows, you'd take the last digit of each of the scores and add them together (4+2=6 in this case) and you would do six repetitions of each of the exercises listed above one after the other with no rest. Then once you're done, you sit down, watch the game some more until the next whistle and do the same thing.
If you need an explanation of the exercises above, don't hesitate to e-mail me at mike@leanbodyfitness.com
Good luck (with both the workout and for whatever team you're cheering for).
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Starvation Mode - Re-Evaluating
You may have heard the term "starvation mode" before and even heard of different definitions of it.
Probably the most common definition when used in every day conversation is the theory that when you stop eating for a certain period of time, your body will go into starvation mode and start to eat away at your lean mass (muscle, skin, organs, etc) in order to slow the metabolism down so that your body doesn't need as many calories to function, thus allowing you to live on a smaller amount of food.
The starvation mode theory even has it going so far as saying that you need to eat once every 3-4 hours in order for your body to avoid eating away at all the hard earned muscle you've been developing. I'll admit, this is what I learned a number of years ago, follow it to this day, and advise my clients to do so as well.
But, I found this study that tells a very different tale.
The study was actually looking at historical studies and comparing how starvation (or very low caloric diets) would affect the basal metabolic rate (BMR) between lean and obese individuals. In other words, in a controlled setting under controlled conditions, when individuals were fasting or on extremely low-calorie diets, what was the effect on their metabolism?
One of the first things that is mentioned I think is extremely fascinating:
After two days of starvation, they actually saw an INCREASE in people's metabolism.
Another quote:
Again, "NO DIMINUTION" of the metabolism during the first few days of acute starvation.
The study also goes on to say that even protein oxidation tends to show an increase over the first few days of acute starvation.
It kind of throws a little curveball at the idea that we have to eat 6-7 meals a day, one every 3-4 hours in order for us to keep our metabolism going and to not fall into "starvation mode."
When thinking about this from an evolutionary standpoint (and I'm not basing this on anything other than what is popping up in my brain), this makes a lot of sense.
You're an early human 50,000 years ago. Food is always sparse and you never know when your next meal is going to come from. If the body was designed to start eating away at your lean mass immediately after not having food in it for a few hours (or even a few days), then you wouldn't have the energy and strength to take down that mammoth that's rolling through your neighborhood on a cross country tour. Humans (and if you think about it, any species for that matter) wouldn't be able to survive if we had to keep eating every few hours in order to keep our lean tissue intact in order to have the energy to continue to hunt for food.
Now going further into the study, it does show that after the initial 1-3 days of starvation, this increase in BMR and protein oxidation starts to decrease.
But overall, I think the take home point is, relax and don't worry so much about skipping a meal or thinking that if you don't eat every 3-4 hours your body is going to turn into the Blob and all your muscles will shrivel up into raisins. If you've got your overall eating under control and you're on an efficient resistance training program, you'll be just fine.
When Exercise Will Kill You
This was just such a bizarre story I had to include it in the blog.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Probably the most common definition when used in every day conversation is the theory that when you stop eating for a certain period of time, your body will go into starvation mode and start to eat away at your lean mass (muscle, skin, organs, etc) in order to slow the metabolism down so that your body doesn't need as many calories to function, thus allowing you to live on a smaller amount of food.
The starvation mode theory even has it going so far as saying that you need to eat once every 3-4 hours in order for your body to avoid eating away at all the hard earned muscle you've been developing. I'll admit, this is what I learned a number of years ago, follow it to this day, and advise my clients to do so as well.
But, I found this study that tells a very different tale.
The study was actually looking at historical studies and comparing how starvation (or very low caloric diets) would affect the basal metabolic rate (BMR) between lean and obese individuals. In other words, in a controlled setting under controlled conditions, when individuals were fasting or on extremely low-calorie diets, what was the effect on their metabolism?
One of the first things that is mentioned I think is extremely fascinating:
...during the first 2 days of starvation there is often a small absolute increase in BMR relative to values obtained after an overnight fast.
After two days of starvation, they actually saw an INCREASE in people's metabolism.
Another quote:
As early as 1907, VAN NOORDEN wrote "during the first few days of acute starvation the general metabolism of the body suffers no diminution".
Again, "NO DIMINUTION" of the metabolism during the first few days of acute starvation.
The study also goes on to say that even protein oxidation tends to show an increase over the first few days of acute starvation.
It kind of throws a little curveball at the idea that we have to eat 6-7 meals a day, one every 3-4 hours in order for us to keep our metabolism going and to not fall into "starvation mode."
When thinking about this from an evolutionary standpoint (and I'm not basing this on anything other than what is popping up in my brain), this makes a lot of sense.
You're an early human 50,000 years ago. Food is always sparse and you never know when your next meal is going to come from. If the body was designed to start eating away at your lean mass immediately after not having food in it for a few hours (or even a few days), then you wouldn't have the energy and strength to take down that mammoth that's rolling through your neighborhood on a cross country tour. Humans (and if you think about it, any species for that matter) wouldn't be able to survive if we had to keep eating every few hours in order to keep our lean tissue intact in order to have the energy to continue to hunt for food.
Now going further into the study, it does show that after the initial 1-3 days of starvation, this increase in BMR and protein oxidation starts to decrease.
But overall, I think the take home point is, relax and don't worry so much about skipping a meal or thinking that if you don't eat every 3-4 hours your body is going to turn into the Blob and all your muscles will shrivel up into raisins. If you've got your overall eating under control and you're on an efficient resistance training program, you'll be just fine.
When Exercise Will Kill You
This was just such a bizarre story I had to include it in the blog.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Weight Loss Brain Surgery
This article talks about a surgery this woman received on her brain to help control her appetite.
The article states that she's already tried diets and has even had her stomach stapled.
From the article:
Further on in the article:
I don't know. I was a skeptic for a long time when it came to gastric bypass surgery and thought it was an extreme (and expensive) measure to use for weight loss but, after some time realized that for a lot of people it was the only option left that was probably going to help them lose weight and likely save their lives.
I may come to that point if this surgery catches on but, for the moment, it makes me wonder if the reason that we're headed in this direction is because gastric bypass surgery is not working. Meaning, maybe what we're finding is people have gastric bypass, lose weight, but over time, put it back on, and then we're back to square one.
I guess I'm concerned about what the next step is if this brain surgery is the new weight loss surgery of the future, and we find out 15 years down the line that it's essentially not working like maybe gastric bypass isn't, and where we go from there. The slippery slope on this could lead us to some even more extreme and even more dangerous paths.
Book Recommendation
I have a recommendation for a great cook book with some amazing healthy meals that are also incredibly tasty. The book is called Gourmet Nutrition and a lot of the meals can be prepared and served in 30 minutes. Here is the link and I don't think you'll be disappointed.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
The article states that she's already tried diets and has even had her stomach stapled.
From the article:
Last month, she took part in a clinical trial at West Virginia University hospital in which neurosurgeons drilled into her brain and used electricity to control her feelings of hunger and satisfaction.
Further on in the article:
Poe was awake during the three-hour surgery, in which wires carrying an electrical impulse were inserted into her brain in the region where the stomach is controlled, and linked to two pacemaker devices implanted in her chest.
The voltage going into her brain is turned up slowly over future months to give Poe the sensation of feeling full.
I don't know. I was a skeptic for a long time when it came to gastric bypass surgery and thought it was an extreme (and expensive) measure to use for weight loss but, after some time realized that for a lot of people it was the only option left that was probably going to help them lose weight and likely save their lives.
I may come to that point if this surgery catches on but, for the moment, it makes me wonder if the reason that we're headed in this direction is because gastric bypass surgery is not working. Meaning, maybe what we're finding is people have gastric bypass, lose weight, but over time, put it back on, and then we're back to square one.
I guess I'm concerned about what the next step is if this brain surgery is the new weight loss surgery of the future, and we find out 15 years down the line that it's essentially not working like maybe gastric bypass isn't, and where we go from there. The slippery slope on this could lead us to some even more extreme and even more dangerous paths.
Book Recommendation
I have a recommendation for a great cook book with some amazing healthy meals that are also incredibly tasty. The book is called Gourmet Nutrition and a lot of the meals can be prepared and served in 30 minutes. Here is the link and I don't think you'll be disappointed.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Recession and Healthy Lifestyle
This article is unfortunate in some ways but also fortunate in others.
Basically it goes into the fact that due to the current global recession, people are cutting back on buying healthy foods. This unfortunately is where the food companies that produce the junk have an upper hand because they hold the products that are cheaper. But I have to say, it's really not that much cheaper. I'll admit though that I've done the same thing of sorts by pulling back on organic products and settling for the non-organic. But, at least I'm going from an organic apple to a non-organic apple, not an apple to Oreos.
But, the article also states that at least in the UK, the number of people seeking help in trying to stop smoking is significantly higher. I'm guessing that people are looking at their essentials and noticing how much they can save by cutting out the smokes. Which the timing of this article ran fairly close to this article in the Detroit Free Press that stated the state hotline for people to get help to quit smoking was so high that it caused a logjam of callers to the point that the state had to publicize an additional phone number for people to call.
Don't let the recession hit you where it's going to hurt you in the long run. Eating healthy is what's going to keep you healthy and away from the doctor's office which in the end, could cost you more than buying those healthy foods.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
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Basically it goes into the fact that due to the current global recession, people are cutting back on buying healthy foods. This unfortunately is where the food companies that produce the junk have an upper hand because they hold the products that are cheaper. But I have to say, it's really not that much cheaper. I'll admit though that I've done the same thing of sorts by pulling back on organic products and settling for the non-organic. But, at least I'm going from an organic apple to a non-organic apple, not an apple to Oreos.
But, the article also states that at least in the UK, the number of people seeking help in trying to stop smoking is significantly higher. I'm guessing that people are looking at their essentials and noticing how much they can save by cutting out the smokes. Which the timing of this article ran fairly close to this article in the Detroit Free Press that stated the state hotline for people to get help to quit smoking was so high that it caused a logjam of callers to the point that the state had to publicize an additional phone number for people to call.
Don't let the recession hit you where it's going to hurt you in the long run. Eating healthy is what's going to keep you healthy and away from the doctor's office which in the end, could cost you more than buying those healthy foods.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Monday, March 23, 2009
Timeout From Fitness
I'm taking a timeout today from fitness because it's a very special day.
Today is my little girl's birthday.
Scarlett turns two today and she's just been my little bundle of joy (although at times a terror) since I got her. I don't think a day goes by where she doesn't put a smile on my face for something silly she does or a look that she gives me.
Happy Birthday girl and thanks for a great couple of years and for many more to come. You're my best buddy in the whole wide world.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
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Today is my little girl's birthday.
Scarlett turns two today and she's just been my little bundle of joy (although at times a terror) since I got her. I don't think a day goes by where she doesn't put a smile on my face for something silly she does or a look that she gives me.
Happy Birthday girl and thanks for a great couple of years and for many more to come. You're my best buddy in the whole wide world.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Friday, March 20, 2009
Recipe Friday
A little different theme today.
I found this recipe the other day and thought it looked good enough to make an endorsement of it. It's got a nice amount of protein, a lower level of carbs (although I wouldn't object if you served this over Jasmine Rice) and good fat and it just looks really good. The only thing I see as a bit misleading is the term "Quick" in the title of the recipe as it doesn't quite look like it's something you could whip up in 5 minutes (but then again, maybe I'm just a slow cooker..).
Have a good weekend.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
I found this recipe the other day and thought it looked good enough to make an endorsement of it. It's got a nice amount of protein, a lower level of carbs (although I wouldn't object if you served this over Jasmine Rice) and good fat and it just looks really good. The only thing I see as a bit misleading is the term "Quick" in the title of the recipe as it doesn't quite look like it's something you could whip up in 5 minutes (but then again, maybe I'm just a slow cooker..).
Have a good weekend.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Thursday, March 19, 2009
School Fitness Programs Don't Work
Not that this should be any surprise considering the number of kids I see daily that have just a eye popping waistline, at least it's coming out that how we're currently training kids in "gym" class isn't working anymore.
From the article:
I couldn't have said it better myself. Workouts for kids don't really need to be any different than how it is with adults (meaning, there needs to be a progression from basic exercises to slowly more intermediate and advance exercises). We can use resistance training with them, as well as interval training (although I don't think schools need to invest in expensive equipment to accomplish this, kids can do just fine for a very long time using bodyweight exercises (then again, so can adults))..
Although sure, low-carb diets would probably be fine for the youngsters, there may be an even simpler way: GET THE CRAP FOOD OUT OF THEIR HANDS. I don't care how much pasta the kid eats, if you just take away the cookies, candy, ice cream, regular soda and anything else that is filled with added sugar, you'd see a huge reduction in overweight kids (the other thing you can do is pull them away from time to time from that video console and kick 'em outside to run around a little bit).
I think childhood obesity is going to get worse before it gets better. Things need to change at home, but they also need to change in schools in order to provide the right prescription of physical exertion in order to keep these children's waistlines from growing. Stay tuned to this blog as this is something I get more and more passionate about by the day and I hope to have products and programs available to take this head on in the near future.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
From the article:
Hahn, co-founder of the National Council for Exercise Standards, wants to equip school gyms with exercise machines and dumbbells. He said strength-or resistance-training combined with a low-carbohydrate diet is the most effective way to battle childhood flab.
I couldn't have said it better myself. Workouts for kids don't really need to be any different than how it is with adults (meaning, there needs to be a progression from basic exercises to slowly more intermediate and advance exercises). We can use resistance training with them, as well as interval training (although I don't think schools need to invest in expensive equipment to accomplish this, kids can do just fine for a very long time using bodyweight exercises (then again, so can adults))..
Although sure, low-carb diets would probably be fine for the youngsters, there may be an even simpler way: GET THE CRAP FOOD OUT OF THEIR HANDS. I don't care how much pasta the kid eats, if you just take away the cookies, candy, ice cream, regular soda and anything else that is filled with added sugar, you'd see a huge reduction in overweight kids (the other thing you can do is pull them away from time to time from that video console and kick 'em outside to run around a little bit).
I think childhood obesity is going to get worse before it gets better. Things need to change at home, but they also need to change in schools in order to provide the right prescription of physical exertion in order to keep these children's waistlines from growing. Stay tuned to this blog as this is something I get more and more passionate about by the day and I hope to have products and programs available to take this head on in the near future.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Stress and Weight Gain
Stress can cause havoc on trying to reach your weight loss goals. But it actually comes in two parts:
1. When you're under stress, you're body can increase the amount of cortisol that it releases. One of the functions of cortisol is to breakdown muscle proteins. Which, after a workout is a good thing because it breaks them down, and then your protein drinks and clean eating, helps rebuild those muscle stronger. But, when you're stressed, you could have longer time periods of when cortisol is released, muscles being broken down, with nothing there to help build them back up.
The article goes into some research that when you get stressed, the body releases cortisol, which can cause you to eat high calorie foods. After eating the high calorie foods, you could then feel even more stressed because you know you just didn't do a good thing, thus possibly resulting in more cortisol release, and the cycle continues.
Which leads to number two (although it's similar to number one). Let's say you're watching what you eat. But you have a stressful day, come home, and sit down with a spoon and a pint of Ben & Jerry's and eat the whole thing. You did that because you need comfort food and you told yourself that you needed to do that because you had a stressful day (it's kind of the same thought process that smokers users that are trying to quit in order to rationalize falling off the wagon and lighting one up). Then you feel even worse and "guilty" after you realized what you did, get more stressed, and then fall completely off your diet.
Bottom line, stress is a part of life. It happens all the time and you just need to work through it. When something stressful comes up, just sit down for 2 minutes and clear your mind, take a few deep breaths, relax and realize you'll get through whatever it is that is causing you the stress. Don't use stress as a reason to jump into an unhealthy binge.
In fact, as the article states, one of the best things to do when stressed is to exercise. Again, it's shocking how many things exercise seems to help.
Thanks to Chris Standish for forwarding me the article.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
1. When you're under stress, you're body can increase the amount of cortisol that it releases. One of the functions of cortisol is to breakdown muscle proteins. Which, after a workout is a good thing because it breaks them down, and then your protein drinks and clean eating, helps rebuild those muscle stronger. But, when you're stressed, you could have longer time periods of when cortisol is released, muscles being broken down, with nothing there to help build them back up.
The article goes into some research that when you get stressed, the body releases cortisol, which can cause you to eat high calorie foods. After eating the high calorie foods, you could then feel even more stressed because you know you just didn't do a good thing, thus possibly resulting in more cortisol release, and the cycle continues.
Which leads to number two (although it's similar to number one). Let's say you're watching what you eat. But you have a stressful day, come home, and sit down with a spoon and a pint of Ben & Jerry's and eat the whole thing. You did that because you need comfort food and you told yourself that you needed to do that because you had a stressful day (it's kind of the same thought process that smokers users that are trying to quit in order to rationalize falling off the wagon and lighting one up). Then you feel even worse and "guilty" after you realized what you did, get more stressed, and then fall completely off your diet.
Bottom line, stress is a part of life. It happens all the time and you just need to work through it. When something stressful comes up, just sit down for 2 minutes and clear your mind, take a few deep breaths, relax and realize you'll get through whatever it is that is causing you the stress. Don't use stress as a reason to jump into an unhealthy binge.
In fact, as the article states, one of the best things to do when stressed is to exercise. Again, it's shocking how many things exercise seems to help.
Thanks to Chris Standish for forwarding me the article.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Shocker: Exericse Keeps You Healthy!
The findings of the studies that are discussed in this article really shouldn't surprise you: Exercise helps improve bones, leads to less lower back pain, better eye health, and seems to reduce the chances of getting colon cancer.
I'm not going to go into detail on all of those because really, they aren't saying anything new. The one that I did find interesting though was the one about better eye health:
It's kind of a strange finding (and it also seems strange that someone would actually want to do research on this...) and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. I guess it's something that they at least have a starter study on and can hope to do more research to find out why exactly exercise seems to reduce the chances of cataracts and other eye related degeneration.
Finally, I thought this last part of the article was interesting:
Why would that be? Who were the subjects of this study? I found the summary of the study here and it turns out the subjects were just your typical college students, this wasn't a research study just dealing with specifically people who were obese. Anyway, the conclusions are a bit strange and I'm not sure that what they are insinuating can really be concluded from what they found.
They presented a variety of pictures to the subjects, some exercise related, some not and then afterwards placed 20 raisins (or other small amounts of peanuts, raisins, and M&Ms) in front of the students and told them they could eat as many as they want. They then counted up the number of remaining pieces of food left and determined that those that saw the pictures of the exercise messages ate more.
I'm not quite sure what to make of that or why that happened. Is it because (as the study seems to think) that this is a way of the body eating extra food because it thinks exercise is coming and it wants extra energy stored for it? It seems to go against all that we know about advertising and subliminal messaging where being shown something tends to lead us to want that (example: seeing pictures of popcorn at the concession stands at the movie theater leads us to want to eat popcorn).
In my opinion, a lot more work needs to be done to investigate this some more before we start thinking that seeing advertising of exercise leads us to immediately want to eat.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
I'm not going to go into detail on all of those because really, they aren't saying anything new. The one that I did find interesting though was the one about better eye health:
Also, vigorous exercise has now been linked with significantly reduced onset of cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. In the study, detailed in Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, researchers reviewed the eye health of 41,000 runners over seven years and found that both men and women had significantly lower rates of these two diseases than the general public.
It's kind of a strange finding (and it also seems strange that someone would actually want to do research on this...) and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. I guess it's something that they at least have a starter study on and can hope to do more research to find out why exactly exercise seems to reduce the chances of cataracts and other eye related degeneration.
Finally, I thought this last part of the article was interesting:
So, are there any studies out there that link exercise with a negative outcome?
In a recent study published in the journal Obesity, Dolores Albarracín, professor of psychology at the University of Illinois, did find that people who are shown posters with messages like "join a gym" or "take a walk" actually ate more after viewing these messages than those that saw messages like "make friends."
"Viewers of the exercise messages ate significantly more (than their peers, who viewed other types of messages)," Albarracín said. "They ate one-third more when exposed to the exercise ads."
Why would that be? Who were the subjects of this study? I found the summary of the study here and it turns out the subjects were just your typical college students, this wasn't a research study just dealing with specifically people who were obese. Anyway, the conclusions are a bit strange and I'm not sure that what they are insinuating can really be concluded from what they found.
They presented a variety of pictures to the subjects, some exercise related, some not and then afterwards placed 20 raisins (or other small amounts of peanuts, raisins, and M&Ms) in front of the students and told them they could eat as many as they want. They then counted up the number of remaining pieces of food left and determined that those that saw the pictures of the exercise messages ate more.
I'm not quite sure what to make of that or why that happened. Is it because (as the study seems to think) that this is a way of the body eating extra food because it thinks exercise is coming and it wants extra energy stored for it? It seems to go against all that we know about advertising and subliminal messaging where being shown something tends to lead us to want that (example: seeing pictures of popcorn at the concession stands at the movie theater leads us to want to eat popcorn).
In my opinion, a lot more work needs to be done to investigate this some more before we start thinking that seeing advertising of exercise leads us to immediately want to eat.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Monday, March 16, 2009
Anti-Aging Foods
This a good article that goes through a list of 7 things you can eat to help keep you young (it won't put a hold on time however but at least help make it feel that way).
1. Eat your produce (especially blueberries, the king of the fruits).
2. Get your protein. Although I don't necessarily agree with the article in the part where it talks about eating the protein to stop from losing muscle. The best way to slow protein catabolism in your muscles is resistance training.
3. Eat your fish. Salmon, my favorite. Full of great nutrients and monounsaturated fat to help keep your cholesterol in check.
4. Whole Grains. Eat your oatmeal, whole grain bread (with the first ingredient being "Whole Wheat Flour"), whole wheat pasta etc.
5. Exercise. All I'm going to say is: "Duh."
6. Red Wine. You might have had to look at that twice to see if I really wrote that but sure, the resveratrol found in red wine has found to have some great anti-oxidants in it. BUT, keep it to a 5 ounce glass a day.
7. Nuts and chocolate. Again, you're probably scratching your head that I'm even mentioning these. Almonds, can't go wrong with them (and whole almonds, not slaughtered in salt and honey or smoked or anything else). DARK chocolate is the key to the chocolate part. With the other part being, just a little bit, not the entire King Size bar.
Side Note Again
Make sure to get on Facebook. I've been posting a lot more articles on health and fitness over there on the Lean Body Fitness, LLC page that are different that what you'll find here. Check it out.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
1. Eat your produce (especially blueberries, the king of the fruits).
2. Get your protein. Although I don't necessarily agree with the article in the part where it talks about eating the protein to stop from losing muscle. The best way to slow protein catabolism in your muscles is resistance training.
3. Eat your fish. Salmon, my favorite. Full of great nutrients and monounsaturated fat to help keep your cholesterol in check.
4. Whole Grains. Eat your oatmeal, whole grain bread (with the first ingredient being "Whole Wheat Flour"), whole wheat pasta etc.
5. Exercise. All I'm going to say is: "Duh."
6. Red Wine. You might have had to look at that twice to see if I really wrote that but sure, the resveratrol found in red wine has found to have some great anti-oxidants in it. BUT, keep it to a 5 ounce glass a day.
7. Nuts and chocolate. Again, you're probably scratching your head that I'm even mentioning these. Almonds, can't go wrong with them (and whole almonds, not slaughtered in salt and honey or smoked or anything else). DARK chocolate is the key to the chocolate part. With the other part being, just a little bit, not the entire King Size bar.
Side Note Again
Make sure to get on Facebook. I've been posting a lot more articles on health and fitness over there on the Lean Body Fitness, LLC page that are different that what you'll find here. Check it out.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Friday, March 13, 2009
Michelle Obama's Arms
There's been a lot of chatter about First Lady Michelle Obama's arms and yes, they're pretty impressive.
Here's an article that talks about how to get those arms into "show off" shape like hers.
I'm not a huge fan of using resistance bands, especially when it comes to isolation exercises such as bicep curls. But I like the advice that you need to challenge the muscles with a heavy enough weight to get the biceps and triceps to grow using rows and pushups (and the article doesn't mention it but, don't forget about dips.
Remember, if you want to get your muscles to grow even in places such as your arms, you need to do exercises that use a lot of muscle groups in order to get that hormone release that is going to be more of a factor in building muscle then doing isolation exercises (check here for a post where I talk about doing squats to help build your arms for a more thorough explanation).
Have a good weekend everyone.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Here's an article that talks about how to get those arms into "show off" shape like hers.
I'm not a huge fan of using resistance bands, especially when it comes to isolation exercises such as bicep curls. But I like the advice that you need to challenge the muscles with a heavy enough weight to get the biceps and triceps to grow using rows and pushups (and the article doesn't mention it but, don't forget about dips.
Remember, if you want to get your muscles to grow even in places such as your arms, you need to do exercises that use a lot of muscle groups in order to get that hormone release that is going to be more of a factor in building muscle then doing isolation exercises (check here for a post where I talk about doing squats to help build your arms for a more thorough explanation).
Have a good weekend everyone.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Thursday, March 12, 2009
American Caloric Consumption
Not sure why I have been thinking about this lately but, I started wondering if the numbers that we normally see on what the "average" American eats in a day is actually in the ballpark, or if it's over the fence.
A lot of things that I've read (articles, studies, etc) have stated that the "average" American eats between 1800-2500 calories a day. Which is fairly in line with what the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) is that the government has formulated as a guideline.
But that brings up a question though: If the "average" American is eating within the range of the RDA, then why are we now in a position where 66% of the population is either overweight or obese?
One answer that seems simple enough is that we aren't as active anymore like we were 10, 20, 30 years ago. But can that really be the entire reason? Simply a result of no activity (supposedly)?
Then I came across this chart that was published by the United Nations and it shows what they average caloric consumption for Americans was for various time periods:
The "average" American is consuming over 3700 calories a day? That can't be right!!
But, think about it. Don't think about it in the sense of the number of calories that you're eating day in and day out. Think of the number of calories that you're eating within a week, or within a month, or within a year and then average it out from there.
Sure, maybe most of the time on a plurality of days you're eating between 2000-2500 calories. But think about those times when you're out to dinner. Or you're at a party. You snack on a few things here and there (but it's more than "here or there"). For some reason in your mind you don't think of them as real "calories." You're not hungry, but you just keep putting those chips in your mouth.
Or you stop at a fast food place once a week. That value meal isn't that bad. But in reality, you just stuffed down a 2000 calorie meal in 10 minutes, and that's on top of the rest of the calories you ate during the day.
When you look at it in those terms, I don't think it's out of the question that it's possible that over a course of the year, the average American eats 3790 calories a day.
Even if you think that's way off and you wanted to be a little more conservative, I think it would be hard to argue that the average American consumes 3000 calories a day.
Think about it in this terms of soda. We'll use Mountain Dew as an example. In a 20 ounce bottle of mountain dew (and let's be realistic, if you're going to drink soda, the vast majority of people are going to drink a 20 ouncer), there are 275 calories. I don't think it's out of the realm of possibilities that a large segment of American Society drinks 3, 20-ounce bottles of soda in one day. So that's already 825 calories in one day. If you throw on 2500 more calories in actual food that a person might take in one day, you're at 3325 calories in a single day.
This is on a "normal, average" day. when you throw in the outliers such as parties, bar night, baseball game, etc, then you're bumping it up even more.
So overall, I think we need to stop lying to ourselves into thinking that on average, we're only consuming 1800-2500 calories a day, because in the bigger picture, it just doesn't make sense. The longer we keep lying to ourselves about this, the large the waistline of this country is going to get.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
A lot of things that I've read (articles, studies, etc) have stated that the "average" American eats between 1800-2500 calories a day. Which is fairly in line with what the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) is that the government has formulated as a guideline.
But that brings up a question though: If the "average" American is eating within the range of the RDA, then why are we now in a position where 66% of the population is either overweight or obese?
One answer that seems simple enough is that we aren't as active anymore like we were 10, 20, 30 years ago. But can that really be the entire reason? Simply a result of no activity (supposedly)?
Then I came across this chart that was published by the United Nations and it shows what they average caloric consumption for Americans was for various time periods:
The "average" American is consuming over 3700 calories a day? That can't be right!!
But, think about it. Don't think about it in the sense of the number of calories that you're eating day in and day out. Think of the number of calories that you're eating within a week, or within a month, or within a year and then average it out from there.
Sure, maybe most of the time on a plurality of days you're eating between 2000-2500 calories. But think about those times when you're out to dinner. Or you're at a party. You snack on a few things here and there (but it's more than "here or there"). For some reason in your mind you don't think of them as real "calories." You're not hungry, but you just keep putting those chips in your mouth.
Or you stop at a fast food place once a week. That value meal isn't that bad. But in reality, you just stuffed down a 2000 calorie meal in 10 minutes, and that's on top of the rest of the calories you ate during the day.
When you look at it in those terms, I don't think it's out of the question that it's possible that over a course of the year, the average American eats 3790 calories a day.
Even if you think that's way off and you wanted to be a little more conservative, I think it would be hard to argue that the average American consumes 3000 calories a day.
Think about it in this terms of soda. We'll use Mountain Dew as an example. In a 20 ounce bottle of mountain dew (and let's be realistic, if you're going to drink soda, the vast majority of people are going to drink a 20 ouncer), there are 275 calories. I don't think it's out of the realm of possibilities that a large segment of American Society drinks 3, 20-ounce bottles of soda in one day. So that's already 825 calories in one day. If you throw on 2500 more calories in actual food that a person might take in one day, you're at 3325 calories in a single day.
This is on a "normal, average" day. when you throw in the outliers such as parties, bar night, baseball game, etc, then you're bumping it up even more.
So overall, I think we need to stop lying to ourselves into thinking that on average, we're only consuming 1800-2500 calories a day, because in the bigger picture, it just doesn't make sense. The longer we keep lying to ourselves about this, the large the waistline of this country is going to get.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Turbulence Training 300 Workout
Craig Ballantyne is without a doubt one of the top trainers that I learn from in how to develop workouts that are the most efficient at burning fat.
He's always coming up with the greatest (yet most painful) routines I've ever seen and tried.
In this video, he takes you through 10 exercises where you do 10 repetitions of each exercise. You rest for a minute, and do that workout set 2 more times, so that when it's all over, you've done 300 repetitions. Take a look and give it a try...if you dare...
www.leanbodyfitness.com
He's always coming up with the greatest (yet most painful) routines I've ever seen and tried.
In this video, he takes you through 10 exercises where you do 10 repetitions of each exercise. You rest for a minute, and do that workout set 2 more times, so that when it's all over, you've done 300 repetitions. Take a look and give it a try...if you dare...
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Your Happy Weight
How many times have you looked at someone else and thought that you would love to have a body like him or her?
Have you every actually put your head on that body and imagined what you'd look like?
This article talk about what our ideal or "happy weight" is and how to determine and accept it.
There's five things that are listed:
1. Take into account when you're looking at your body things like your age, exercise habits, whether you've had kids are going to have an effect on your "happy weight." The link to the article also provides a link to a calculator to determine what you're happy weight is.
2. Aim for a healthy body fat percentage. Seems as though the definition of a "healthy" body fat percentage is around 22%. The article again gives you a link to a calculator to determine your percentage (although looking at the calculator, I'm a bit skeptical that it's going to even give you a ballpark figure).
3. Be critical of media images of women. This has been a problem for a long time and will probably continue to be. Some of those models out there are just walking skeletons that I would never want to see any of my clients strive for.
4. Give yourself enough time to take the weight off. I've always pushed that if you lose 1 to 2 pounds a week, you're on a good path. Not that I think there's anything wrong with losing a little more than that a week, but losing 1 to 2 pounds can add up to 25-50 pounds in 6 months.
5. Recognize that you're ideal weight is going to change over time. That stupid thing called "getting older" can cause problems with your weight. Have stressful jobs, have a kid, metabolism slows down, etc can all have an impact on how your body is going to respond and it may respond differently than it use to before.
I think the article is getting at that you don't want to get to the point of being completely consumed and obsessed over how you want your body to look.
At the same time, I don't think there's anything wrong with having a goal. If you have an ideal in your mind and you want to give it a shot to try and get to it, then by all means give it a try. But just give yourself time and don't let it take over your life.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Have you every actually put your head on that body and imagined what you'd look like?
This article talk about what our ideal or "happy weight" is and how to determine and accept it.
There's five things that are listed:
1. Take into account when you're looking at your body things like your age, exercise habits, whether you've had kids are going to have an effect on your "happy weight." The link to the article also provides a link to a calculator to determine what you're happy weight is.
2. Aim for a healthy body fat percentage. Seems as though the definition of a "healthy" body fat percentage is around 22%. The article again gives you a link to a calculator to determine your percentage (although looking at the calculator, I'm a bit skeptical that it's going to even give you a ballpark figure).
3. Be critical of media images of women. This has been a problem for a long time and will probably continue to be. Some of those models out there are just walking skeletons that I would never want to see any of my clients strive for.
4. Give yourself enough time to take the weight off. I've always pushed that if you lose 1 to 2 pounds a week, you're on a good path. Not that I think there's anything wrong with losing a little more than that a week, but losing 1 to 2 pounds can add up to 25-50 pounds in 6 months.
5. Recognize that you're ideal weight is going to change over time. That stupid thing called "getting older" can cause problems with your weight. Have stressful jobs, have a kid, metabolism slows down, etc can all have an impact on how your body is going to respond and it may respond differently than it use to before.
I think the article is getting at that you don't want to get to the point of being completely consumed and obsessed over how you want your body to look.
At the same time, I don't think there's anything wrong with having a goal. If you have an ideal in your mind and you want to give it a shot to try and get to it, then by all means give it a try. But just give yourself time and don't let it take over your life.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Monday, March 9, 2009
Yo-Yo Dieters
This article goes over what probably most people go through: yo-yo dieting. They get on a new diet, stick with it for a little while determined to stick with it forever and then it all comes crashing down.
From the article on some reasons why it's not working:
Completely agree with those. Especially the one about setting unrealistic goals. I do think it's a good thing to have an overall goal of what you want your weight to be and what you want to look like. That's a good long term goal. But, you need to also take it in steps. You need to realize that it's going to take some time and you are going to hit some frustrating plateaus. But, you have to keep pushing forward.
Not enough social support. That's another big one. When you decide that you're going to lose weight and stick with it, have a talk with your family and friends and let them know what you're doing. A lot of times family and friends think it's great that you're trying to lose weight. But then want you to continue to do the same things that you've always done, whether it be go out to dinner and/or drinks every weekend, have parties at your house, etc. They need to know that this is a big change, and for at least for an initial time period in order to get your self control in line, those types of things are going to have to stop.
The rest of the article gives some talk about whether yo-yo dieting is healthy or not and gets into the issues that Oprah Winfrey has had with it.
Eat right, stay on a good efficient workout program that changes things up every month or so, get your social support network in line, and be patient. I know, easier said than done but, if it's something that you really want, then it'll be worth it to you in the end.
Side Note
Are you on Facebook yet? If not, sign up. If you are, I've got a page out there now so go ahead and become of fan of Lean Body Fitness, LLC here.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
From the article on some reasons why it's not working:
Experts cite many reasons for weight regain, including:
• Relying on fad or crash diets that often make people feel deprived.
• Practicing bad habits, such as skipping meals, that lead to overeating.
• Setting unrealistic weight-loss goals.
• Not having enough support.
Completely agree with those. Especially the one about setting unrealistic goals. I do think it's a good thing to have an overall goal of what you want your weight to be and what you want to look like. That's a good long term goal. But, you need to also take it in steps. You need to realize that it's going to take some time and you are going to hit some frustrating plateaus. But, you have to keep pushing forward.
Not enough social support. That's another big one. When you decide that you're going to lose weight and stick with it, have a talk with your family and friends and let them know what you're doing. A lot of times family and friends think it's great that you're trying to lose weight. But then want you to continue to do the same things that you've always done, whether it be go out to dinner and/or drinks every weekend, have parties at your house, etc. They need to know that this is a big change, and for at least for an initial time period in order to get your self control in line, those types of things are going to have to stop.
The rest of the article gives some talk about whether yo-yo dieting is healthy or not and gets into the issues that Oprah Winfrey has had with it.
Eat right, stay on a good efficient workout program that changes things up every month or so, get your social support network in line, and be patient. I know, easier said than done but, if it's something that you really want, then it'll be worth it to you in the end.
Side Note
Are you on Facebook yet? If not, sign up. If you are, I've got a page out there now so go ahead and become of fan of Lean Body Fitness, LLC here.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Friday, March 6, 2009
The Perfect Diet
So what's the perfect diet to be on to lose body fat?
Turns out, there isn't one. This article talks about a recent study that shows that the type of diet that people were on came out with basically the same results in the end.
From the article:
So the key seems to be not the type of eating your doing (low carb, low fat, carrot diet, etc), it's that you stick with it. That's where I think we run into some issues as it seems to me that's the hardest part for people: sticking to it for more than a couple of weeks.
I had written back a while ago here on how the number of diets out there are really making it confusing for people.
I'll admit, in the past I've been a pretty ardent supporter of low-carb diets because they've worked for me. But, I've loosened up a bit lately and opened up to other possibilities that work just as well, and it seems that a study like this is helping me realize that even more.
Bottom line, try out a couple of diets and see which one works for you and stick with it. Or, maybe an even better route is to take a few diets and cycle through them. Do one diet for a month, then another diet for another month, then another one a month after that, and then swing through all three of them again. That way you keep the variety going and you don't get bored (because chances are, when you start getting bored with a diet, that's when the trip through the candy aisle occurs).
A final note that should be mentioned about the study that I think is really important was that the people on the diets got social support throughout the study. Meaning, you're going to have more success losing that weight when you work with others. Don't try to do this alone. Get together with some friends and do it together and look up a nutritionist to consult with on a recurring basis.
On that same note, I'm currently using myself as a guinea pig on a new diet I found. Although it's really not a diet. More to come on that in the following weeks so stay tuned.
Have a good weekend.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Turns out, there isn't one. This article talks about a recent study that shows that the type of diet that people were on came out with basically the same results in the end.
From the article:
The kind of diet doesn't matter, scientists say. All that really counts is cutting calories and sticking with it, according to a federal study that followed people for two years. However, participants had trouble staying with a single approach that long and the weight loss was modest for most.
So the key seems to be not the type of eating your doing (low carb, low fat, carrot diet, etc), it's that you stick with it. That's where I think we run into some issues as it seems to me that's the hardest part for people: sticking to it for more than a couple of weeks.
I had written back a while ago here on how the number of diets out there are really making it confusing for people.
I'll admit, in the past I've been a pretty ardent supporter of low-carb diets because they've worked for me. But, I've loosened up a bit lately and opened up to other possibilities that work just as well, and it seems that a study like this is helping me realize that even more.
Bottom line, try out a couple of diets and see which one works for you and stick with it. Or, maybe an even better route is to take a few diets and cycle through them. Do one diet for a month, then another diet for another month, then another one a month after that, and then swing through all three of them again. That way you keep the variety going and you don't get bored (because chances are, when you start getting bored with a diet, that's when the trip through the candy aisle occurs).
A final note that should be mentioned about the study that I think is really important was that the people on the diets got social support throughout the study. Meaning, you're going to have more success losing that weight when you work with others. Don't try to do this alone. Get together with some friends and do it together and look up a nutritionist to consult with on a recurring basis.
On that same note, I'm currently using myself as a guinea pig on a new diet I found. Although it's really not a diet. More to come on that in the following weeks so stay tuned.
Have a good weekend.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Why Your Workouts Aren't Working
This article from Shape gives a list of ten reasons why your workout isn't working anymore. Let's briefly go through them:
1. You're doing the same routine over and over again and your body has adapted. Change it up every 6-8 weeks (although, there's some studies that show that you don't even need to change exercises, just change the rep range and the amount of weight you're using for each exercise and that should be enough to get past a plateau).
2. You're performing the repetitions to quickly (the article states to take 6 seconds for each rep and I think that's a little slow. If you take a controlled movement going down, pause a second, and then come up in a controlled manner, you'll be fine).
3. Get your rest between hard workout sessions. Your body repairs the muscle and breaks down the fat after the workout so give time for that to happen so you don't overreach.
4. Mix some intervals into your workout (it doesn't take a genius to see where I stand on this).
5. Lifting the wrong amount of weight. This is absolutely on the money. Go progressive. Don't just lift the cute little pink weights, challenge yourself but do it progressively so that you don't overtax your muscles too soon.
6. Squats and don't let your knees go past your toes. Absolutely disagree with this. I won't get long winded as I've already written about this.
7. Bend Over Lat Row. It's a good description of the correct form for these. The important piece of it is to make sure you're pushing your butt back to support your body and not just lowering your back down with your legs straight.
8. Tricep Kickback. These are just stupid in most cases. As a friend of mine Lou Schuler once said in an article, these are like Chinese water torture. You're doing a lot of them but not getting any real benefit because they're an isolated exercise and only working a very small muscle. Do pushups and their variations instead.
9. Crunch. I'm actually falling away from doing these as I've found other ab exercises to do that I think are much more effective, such as planks, side planks, bird dogs, mountain climbers, elevated pushups, just to name a few. But, a weighted crunch on a stability ball isn't so bad.
10. Dumbbell Bench Fly. I don't like this for the same reason I don't like the tricep kickback. So see number 8 above.
Clear as mud?
www.leanbodyfitness.com
1. You're doing the same routine over and over again and your body has adapted. Change it up every 6-8 weeks (although, there's some studies that show that you don't even need to change exercises, just change the rep range and the amount of weight you're using for each exercise and that should be enough to get past a plateau).
2. You're performing the repetitions to quickly (the article states to take 6 seconds for each rep and I think that's a little slow. If you take a controlled movement going down, pause a second, and then come up in a controlled manner, you'll be fine).
3. Get your rest between hard workout sessions. Your body repairs the muscle and breaks down the fat after the workout so give time for that to happen so you don't overreach.
4. Mix some intervals into your workout (it doesn't take a genius to see where I stand on this).
5. Lifting the wrong amount of weight. This is absolutely on the money. Go progressive. Don't just lift the cute little pink weights, challenge yourself but do it progressively so that you don't overtax your muscles too soon.
6. Squats and don't let your knees go past your toes. Absolutely disagree with this. I won't get long winded as I've already written about this.
7. Bend Over Lat Row. It's a good description of the correct form for these. The important piece of it is to make sure you're pushing your butt back to support your body and not just lowering your back down with your legs straight.
8. Tricep Kickback. These are just stupid in most cases. As a friend of mine Lou Schuler once said in an article, these are like Chinese water torture. You're doing a lot of them but not getting any real benefit because they're an isolated exercise and only working a very small muscle. Do pushups and their variations instead.
9. Crunch. I'm actually falling away from doing these as I've found other ab exercises to do that I think are much more effective, such as planks, side planks, bird dogs, mountain climbers, elevated pushups, just to name a few. But, a weighted crunch on a stability ball isn't so bad.
10. Dumbbell Bench Fly. I don't like this for the same reason I don't like the tricep kickback. So see number 8 above.
Clear as mud?
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
The Fizzle on Diet Soda
I tend to go back and forth on the issue of diet soda and whether I'm for it or against it (I know this would appear obvious but, there really is no reason to drink regular soda, see my write up on that here).
But I think i'm starting to lean a little more towards the side that it's not the end of the world is someone is addicted to it.
This article talks about the "dangers" of it and quite frankly, I think the author is reaching a little bit.
Here he says:
I guess I just don't know if I can relate to that. What he's saying is that because diet soda taste sugary, then it might lead you to dive into wanting to eat something else that really does have sugar in it (ice cream, candy, etc). I think that's assuming a lot. From my own experience, there are times when I'll grab a diet soda just to get a little caffeine in me because maybe I'm feeling sluggish. I've never had one and then thought "I know those Ho-Ho's are around here somewhere!!"
His second part of the argument says:
Okay fine. I'll give him this one.
And lastly he states:
This one bothers me the most. These side effects in my opinion don't seem all that common. But the bigger issues I have with this is that these effects are no where NEAR the effects that other man-made ingredients such as trans fats and High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)
have that can out and out lead you to possibly falling over dead while waiting for the bus.
I guess the bottom line is that I think we need to look at the big picture and realize that sure, maybe diet soda isn't the greatest if you're consuming a case a day, but, I don't see any studies out there that are concluding that it's leading to heart disease, increases in cholesterol, causing your brain to drip out of your ear, etc. Let focus on the man-made crap out there that we're consuming that's actually doing us harm rather than maybe making us sit on the toilet a little longer than we wanted in the morning.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
But I think i'm starting to lean a little more towards the side that it's not the end of the world is someone is addicted to it.
This article talks about the "dangers" of it and quite frankly, I think the author is reaching a little bit.
Here he says:
Just because diet soda is low in calories doesn't mean it can't lead to weight gain.
It may have only 5 or fewer calories per serving, but emerging research suggests that consuming sugary-tasting beverages--even if they're artificially sweetened--may lead to a high preference for sweetness overall. That means sweeter (and more caloric) cereal, bread, dessert--everything.
I guess I just don't know if I can relate to that. What he's saying is that because diet soda taste sugary, then it might lead you to dive into wanting to eat something else that really does have sugar in it (ice cream, candy, etc). I think that's assuming a lot. From my own experience, there are times when I'll grab a diet soda just to get a little caffeine in me because maybe I'm feeling sluggish. I've never had one and then thought "I know those Ho-Ho's are around here somewhere!!"
His second part of the argument says:
Guzzling these drinks all day long forces out the healthy beverages you need.
Diet soda is 100 percent nutrition-free, and again, it's just as important to actively drink the good stuff as it is to avoid that bad stuff. So one diet soda a day is fine, but if you're downing five or six cans, that means you're limiting your intake of healthful beverages, particularly water and tea.
Okay fine. I'll give him this one.
And lastly he states:
There remain some concerns over aspartame, the low-calorie chemical used to give diet sodas their flavor.
Aspartame is 180 times sweeter than sugar, and some animal research has linked consumption of high amounts of the sweetener to brain tumors and lymphoma in rodents. The FDA maintains that the sweetener is safe, but reported side effects include dizziness, headaches, diarrhea, memory loss, and mood changes. Bottom line: Diet soda does you no good, and it might just be doing you wrong.
This one bothers me the most. These side effects in my opinion don't seem all that common. But the bigger issues I have with this is that these effects are no where NEAR the effects that other man-made ingredients such as trans fats and High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)
have that can out and out lead you to possibly falling over dead while waiting for the bus.
I guess the bottom line is that I think we need to look at the big picture and realize that sure, maybe diet soda isn't the greatest if you're consuming a case a day, but, I don't see any studies out there that are concluding that it's leading to heart disease, increases in cholesterol, causing your brain to drip out of your ear, etc. Let focus on the man-made crap out there that we're consuming that's actually doing us harm rather than maybe making us sit on the toilet a little longer than we wanted in the morning.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Trying to Find Healthy Fast Food
Okay fine, we've all been there where we just can't help the circumstances (or at least that is what we tell ourselves...) of stopping at a fast food place for a bite to eat. Maybe you're traveling, got home unexpectedly late from work, whatever.
This article TRIES to give you some tips on how to get through a fast food meal without completely going over the top.
I guess they work in an emergency, but that's about as far as I'm going to go with an endorsement. It's still just jaw-dropping the amount of calories that are in that stuff (even with the modifications) and how quickly you can eat it AND actually feel hungry again about 30 minutes after you're done.
On a related note, I guess if i really did have to give an endorsement to a fast food place I'd have to give it to Subway. Last summer it seemed I was addicted to that Oven Roasted Chicken Breast sub....
www.leanbodyfitness.com
This article TRIES to give you some tips on how to get through a fast food meal without completely going over the top.
I guess they work in an emergency, but that's about as far as I'm going to go with an endorsement. It's still just jaw-dropping the amount of calories that are in that stuff (even with the modifications) and how quickly you can eat it AND actually feel hungry again about 30 minutes after you're done.
On a related note, I guess if i really did have to give an endorsement to a fast food place I'd have to give it to Subway. Last summer it seemed I was addicted to that Oven Roasted Chicken Breast sub....
www.leanbodyfitness.com
Monday, March 2, 2009
Portion Control
If I had to guess, one of the top three problems in the weight loss fight is with portion control. I know I've read this somewhere that for the most part, people underestimate the amount of calories they eat by at least 20% (and I actually think that's pretty conservative).
This is a good article with some tips on how to control the portions of food that you eat. I found this interesting in the beginning part on the study that was conducted on cookbook recipes and how the amount of calories in the servings of food have steadily increased over the last number of decades:
Which is interesting because I was looking at my plates today and thinking about when I was growing up and it occurred to me that the plates I have now are quite a bit bigger than the ones that I remember having growing up.
Here's a summary from the article of how you can control the portion sizes of your meals:
1. Downsize the size of your plate.
2. After you get done cooking, immediately stash half of it away for leftovers for the following days.
3. Eat in one room, but leave the remainder of the uneaten food in another room so you don't get tempted to pick at it.
4. When out to eat, order off the kid's menu (but don't accept the crayons when the waitress/waiter offers them to you...).
5. When out to eat with others, order things that you can all share, and make sure it includes salad, a non-creamed soup, and a vegetable dish.
6. Learn how to estimate what the measured serving size is from the nutritional information part on the food container (in other words, if the ice cream container says a serving is only 200 calories for a half a cup...don't think a half a cup is half the carton of ice cream...).
7. And the 7th thing was a promotional part to sell you something that you can probably do for free so I won't waste my time mentioning it here.
Give these a shot and see how they go.
Thanks to Ingrid Kreger for forwarding me this article.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
This is a good article with some tips on how to control the portions of food that you eat. I found this interesting in the beginning part on the study that was conducted on cookbook recipes and how the amount of calories in the servings of food have steadily increased over the last number of decades:
The study covered cookbook recipes over the last several decades (with emphasis on recipes in The Joy of Cooking), and it was discovered that calorie counts have gone up dramatically as authors have increased portion sizes to conform to new cultural norms. Where the 1936 edition of the kitchen classic averaged 268 calories per serving, the most recent 2006 edition averaged 384 calories. Lower costs of food and larger plate sizes are theorized as part of the reason for the increase, but nutritionist Marion Nestle says that mainly it's just a reflection of people becoming accustomed to eating more and more overall.
Which is interesting because I was looking at my plates today and thinking about when I was growing up and it occurred to me that the plates I have now are quite a bit bigger than the ones that I remember having growing up.
Here's a summary from the article of how you can control the portion sizes of your meals:
1. Downsize the size of your plate.
2. After you get done cooking, immediately stash half of it away for leftovers for the following days.
3. Eat in one room, but leave the remainder of the uneaten food in another room so you don't get tempted to pick at it.
4. When out to eat, order off the kid's menu (but don't accept the crayons when the waitress/waiter offers them to you...).
5. When out to eat with others, order things that you can all share, and make sure it includes salad, a non-creamed soup, and a vegetable dish.
6. Learn how to estimate what the measured serving size is from the nutritional information part on the food container (in other words, if the ice cream container says a serving is only 200 calories for a half a cup...don't think a half a cup is half the carton of ice cream...).
7. And the 7th thing was a promotional part to sell you something that you can probably do for free so I won't waste my time mentioning it here.
Give these a shot and see how they go.
Thanks to Ingrid Kreger for forwarding me this article.
www.leanbodyfitness.com
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