I was WRONG!

Hey guys, 

 

This summer has been super busy and it got me thinking about how busy you guys must get. I realize time is at a premium for most of us. If we spend an average of 9 hours a day working, 1 hour a day commuting, 2 hours a day eating, 7 hours a day sleeping that leaves us...5 hours to do our own thing. This doesn't include the morning ritual of waking up and getting ready for work. That could be another hour!

 

I've spent blog upon blog telling people how important it is to record what they eat. The main idea behind this was for you to see how many calories you're eating. As well as But often this would become overwhelming. In the past our nutrition evaluations would have a printout with what percentage of your meal should be carbohydrates, protein and fat.

 

But we don't eat protein, carbohydrates and fat. We eat food. So I thought the evaluation needed to be redesigned. 

 

So here I am saying I was wrong. When I designed our nutrition evaluation, I placed too much emphasis on calories, macronutrient distribution and activity level. 

 

In reality, nobody needs a program that is exact. Why? Because nobody would follow it. If an eating plan is too strict, most people will be too busy for it.

 

So what should you look for instead? Look for guidelines. But here's the kicker.

 

If you're given rules to follow instead of a strict diet and meal plan, then you need to follow the rules!

 

And there are some pretty simple rules:

1. Eat 4-5 meals per day
2. Eat fruits and vegetables with every meal.
3. Eat a lean protein with every meal
4. Don't drink your calories.
5. Only eat grains (bread, pasta, oats, pancakes) during your first meal

And in reality, you don't even have to start all of those habits at once. Pick one that you can succeed with and then do it. When that becomes a habit, simply choose another habit and add to it.

But whatever you do, do something. Exercise is great for increasing strength, improving cardiovascular fitness, increasing flexibility and other performance measures. But it's not all it's cracked up to be when it comes to fat loss. If you want to lose fat. You MUST follow the 5 rules above.

Does exercise even WORK for fat loss??

If this is your breakfast, exercise will NOT work for fat loss

Being that I am a fitness specialist, this must sound like a ridiculous question. If exercise doesn't work for fat loss, then what the heck am I selling?

I'm selling health: increased strength, flexibility, endurance, heart function, decreased cholesterol, improved movement and overall quality of life

But does exercise work for fat loss?

In previous posts I've said yes. In another I said NO. But here is the final word (until I change my mind again!)

In the presence of a diet that EXCLUDES breakfast, and INCLUDES high refined carb intake, only 1 or 2 meals a day, minimal levels of sleep and no supplementation, EXERCISE SUCKS for fat loss.
"Well dang, Aaron. That's pretty rough." But it's true. If you do all of the above and expect 4 hours a week of exercise to undue the damage, your hoping for rain without a cloud in the sky.

If this is your breakfast, exercise works WONDERS for fat loss!

But if you:

1. Eat a high protein breakfast
2. Eat 4-6 times per day
3. Include protein (dairy, meat, tree nuts)
4. Minimize grains in your diet
5. Drink 1-2 liters of water per day
6. Get 8+ hours of sleep a night

Then exercise will certainly help with fat loss!

But as you can see, nutrition is the key to fat loss. But what should people eat for fat loss? And even now that you've read the rules on fat loss, how does the plan work? What should my day of eating look like? Well, below is a sample!

Wake-up - 1/2 cup oatmeal with protein powder mixed in, +  fruit + 3 fish oil capsules
+3 hours - 1 cup yogurt, palmful of almonds, + 1/2 Liter water
+6 hours - turkey sandwich (open face), salad + vinagraitte dressing with walnuts, + 1/2 liter water
+9 hours - protein powder + spinach + strawberry smoothie
+12 hours - chicken, 2 servings of veggies, 1 cup milk + 3 fish oil capsules
+15 hours - almond milk, peanut butter smoothie, 1/2 scoop protein powder

As you can see it really isn't that difficult. But you have to plan. If you hope to do this by the seat of your pants, your looking for gold in a dry river.

So in summary, does exercise work for fat loss. Absolutely. And absolutely not. It all depends on your eating. Follow the rules above and you'll be on your way.

100th Post!! - 5 Habits to develop for the New Year...

Well, Christmas day has come and gone. Which means that Christmas parties are gone and....New Year's parties are just days away.

But even more irrelevant, this is my 100th post on the blog!! Hopefully you're finding the information in each blog post useful, relevant and interesting! If not, just go ahead and send me an email or leave a comment with your suggestions!

Onward and upward to 2011!!

Being that between 42-45% of Americans make New Year's Resolutions but only 8% of resolutions are maintained, I wanted to give you guys 5 Healthy Habits to develop for 2011.

So here are 5 Resolutions that are easy to keep and help shred fat:

1. Eat Breakfast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day for a variety of reasons. The first being that it stimulates your metabolism that has slowed considerably over night. Secondly it stimulates peristalsis which is a process that moves food through your digestive system, helping to maintain a healthy digestive system! A healthy breakfast is also incredibly easy to make!! Try some "Coach's Oats" with chopped apple, walnuts, a teaspoon of brown sugar and a cup of green tea!

2. Start eating 1/4 of  mixed nuts per day. Although these guys are high in fat, the fats they are highest in are the good, artery cleaning unsaturated fats. Just stay away from the flavored and honey roasted nuts. Stick with raw almonds, walnuts and cashews. When nuts are roasted, the fats change chemically and many are unusable by the body when they are heated. Mixed nuts are also a high protein, low carb snack that will keep your metabolism up and your insulin levels low and stable, keeping you in the optimal belly fat burning "zone."

Seated Adduction Machine

3. Don't just buy a gym membership, sign up for class. Gym memberships are just that: a membership. It's not a workout, it's not activity. In fact, its like purchasing an anatomy book and then saying you're going to become a doctor. You have to have somebody teaching you how to USE what is available to you. Most people purchase a gym membership, walk in, hit the treadmill for 15-20 minutes and then look around for something that looks like it works their "trouble" spots, such as the seated adduction machine that wastes tons of time and only serves to make those muscles stronger, not to lose fat from that area. 

A class will help you stay focused, will be progressive and will open your mind as to exercises you can do on your own when the time comes. Plus, with classes all you really have to do is show up and put forth some effort. No thinking, wandering or guessing as to what to do next. Just show up and follow the instructor. Plus there is a set schedule so if you miss it, it's like missing any other appointment. I personally recommend our Hi-5 FitCamp. But I bet you already knew that!

4. Buy a book on nutrition and start learning. It's difficult to follow rules when you don't understand why the rules are there. By purchasing a quality nutrition book, you'll begin to understand why you need to eat so frequently, why your body NEEDS fat, why Low-Fat foods can actually MAKE YOU FAT, and why protein is so important in losing weight. I recommend The Metabolism Advantage by Dr. John Berardi. Great book, quite inexpensive and an easy read.

 
5. Look back at last year. Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. If you aren't satisfied with the way you looked and felt last year, then you need to know why you looked and felt that way. Look back at pictures of yourself and become determined to make a change. Take a picture on January 1st and then take one on the first day of every month and make sure that you are making progress. If you aren't changing, then something in your life isn't working. Most often its a result of inconsistent eating, poor food choices, and not enough movement. In which case you need to look at Number 4 again.

Look, 2011 doesn't have to be the year your resolutions drop flat. Set goals, write them down and achieve them. After all, we aren't getting any younger!

Why we gain weight over the holiday's...

A real fat-burning Christmas Party!

With Christmas only 9 days away, many people are right in the middle of Christmas Party Madness. That time when everybody and their brother has a family, work or just for fun Christmas party. 

But many people are almost afraid of this time of year. Why? Because it's that time of year when everything seems to go downhill with their nutrition program. 

But why is it that we do indeed gain so much weight at this particular time of year? Is it because we eat too much? 

Well, partially, yes. But that isn't the whole story.

As a country we are actually MAKING THE PROBLEM WORSE!! 

How can this possibly get worse you ask?

Well how many people are chasing the "low fat" options at these holiday parties? For that matter, how many foods actually even have ANY fat on them?

When we as a country realize that too much fat in food isn't what is making us fat, but instead it is too much sugar is what is causing us to gain weight!! 

Remember a few weeks ago when I talked about hormones and how they dictate how our body functions? Based on our exercise and food intake, our body responds by releasing hormones. When we eat high sugar or high carbohydrate meals our body releases INSULIN to get that sugar out of our blood stream and into our muscle cells and fat cells.

You see there is an optimal zone of functioning for our blood sugar levels. If our blood sugar is too high, then a massive insulin release occurs and we end up storing all this food as fat. If we don't have a high enough blood sugar, then our body goes into a type of "starvation mode" and our body will hold onto fat and instead use muscle and other proteins as fuel.

We want to be right in the middle. Like Goldilocks. Not too high, not too low, but juuuuust right!

So how can you find that "just right" blood sugar level at a Christmas Party??

Here are 4 simple guidelines:

MMMM...Can you taste the insulin yet?

1. Look for meats at the party. Meat inherently has little to no sugar. As a result, you have a minimal insulin release while still getting plenty of energy and protein that INCREASES your metabolism.
2. Avoid sweets. These are by definition loaded with sugar and going to send your blood sugar levels into "fat creation" mode.
3. ABstain from alcohol consumption. Alcohol really isn't a great idea for anybody trying to change the way they look. But also, alcohol is broken down into carbohydrates and actually is a very simple sugar that increases insulin release. So you can imagine the carnage that ensues when you put booze and cupcakes together.
4. Find the deviled eggs and veggie platter. For some reason everybody is afraid of deviled eggs. Perhaps its because they are creamy and taste like they are bad for you. But remember that they are almost entirely protein and good fats. So load up on those bad boys!! Also remember that veggies have a MUCH lower insulin response than grains that are found in cookies and other treats. So make it your goal to demolish the veggie platter!! 

So there are 4 simple guidelines to burning fat at Christmas parties! Enjoy the season, enjoy the time with friends and family, and remember the REASON we celebrate the day that is Christmas!