How much should I be eating?

Confused about how much you should be eating?

So since i've been working out more, and doing more throughout the day, I haven't been eating as much and I can feel that it has had a pretty astounding effect on me. But not the way you would think.

Most diets tell us to eat less. But what they fail to do is to tell us HOW MUCH less. Should we go on a diet of only 1200 calories or should it be a 2000 calorie diet? Should we even be eating fewer calories at all? What if we just need to rearrange the type and time of our calorie intake as it is right now?

Let me give you a quick example. I just started working with a new athlete. She's not overweight, probably hovering around 16% body fat and being a college athlete, one would assume is in pretty good shape. So as a part of the program she is on, I told her to complete a few days of a food record so that I could see what she was eating.

What I got back was not what I had hoped, but nonetheless not shocking. She's eating good food: lots of fruit, yogurt, chicken, beans, vegetables, wild rice, etc. But she's only getting around 1300 calories. Based on her age, height, lean body mass, and workout schedule, she needs AT LEAST 2200 on non-workout days and 2700 on days she works out.

And unfortunately, this calorie deficit is not helping her workouts either. Poor performance, excessive fatigue and even stagnation of weight loss is usually a result of not eating enough. Think about what happens when a person has a calorie deficit through decreasing food intake. When they lose weight, they have to cut calories more. When they lose more weight, they have to cut calories again. The question begs to be answered: when do you stop cutting calories?

My solution is that you have to feed your muscle, feed your exercise and feed your body if you want it to burn fat and RAISE your metabolism.

You like to eat right? Who doesn't. Well if you eat the RIGHT foods at the RIGHT time WITH resistance training, you'll get there. The biggest hurdle is finding the plan. This is where support from somebody trained in designing nutrition programs comes in. If you can dial in the plan, you can dial down the fat.

Books are often quite helpful too, because diet books have a diet spreadsheet type of page in them for you to print and follow. However, the downfall is that these aren't tailored to your specific needs. So use guidelines instead of following a generic diet to the letter. Here are 3 things that will get you on the right path:

1. Eat breakfast. Only about 25% of your daily energy use comes from exercise. That other 75% comes from A) your resting metabolism, B) your daily chores and work C) eating. So to lose fat you gotta get these 3 calorie burners fired up. Breakfast is the first step.
2. Eat more often. Each time you eat, your metabolism increases because it takes energy to break down food and convert it. So the more frequently you eat, the more you hit the gas pedal on your metabolism. So put the pedal to the metal and start eating 5-6 times per day!
3. Eat more protein. Protein revs metabolism much higher than carbohydrates and fats combined. Plus protein can be used for energy and it leaves you feeling full longer after you eat! So have meat, dairy or eggs with each meal!

So don't wait for the perfect diet book. It's not out there. But by following steadfast rules that are shown to work, you can lose fat and maintain muscle!

NEVER do this!

Here I am, chasing Lucy all over the playground.

So yesterday morning I took my daughter Lucy to the park to go play. She's an adventurous little girl, loves climbing, slides, being chased by her dad acting as an angry pirate, all that fun stuff.

However, while I was there I noticed what appeared to be a personal trainer working with a client at the park. Being in the same field of course I paid attention to what he was doing and what his client was doing. And it made me think of the things I SEVERELY dislike about old school fitness techniques. I'm going to give you a quick run down of this awful event.

1. Super slow exercises using a very light resistance band. Want to burn fat? Build muscle. Not a ton of it. But you need to add some muscle. Why? It burns more calories at rest. And 80% of calories burned at rest come from fat. Want to build muscle? Use some heavy weights.
2. 2:00 rest periods between sets of crunches. Honestly when you're training for fat-loss, you need to chew through (pardon the pun) as many calories as possible in your workout. Why? To burn more calories you need to work harder, move faster and with shorter rest periods. And who's to say you need a dedicated "do-nothing" rest period? Use super-sets to get more from your rest periods. You only need to rest the muscle group you just worked. You don't need to rest your lungs! So do push-ups, then do squats THEN rest for :30. At that point its probably been a minute or so since you finished your push-ups.
3. Skip curls (and other isolation exercises). Doing slow curls while standing on a
   band is another waste of valuable time. Perhaps this lady I was watching has all the time in the world (it was about 9:30am, so maybe she does?) but most people I know don't. So they've got to make their workout count. Instead of isolating muscle groups choose exercises that use multiple muscle groups together. Pull-ups, for example, use biceps, upper back, glutes and abs - talk about bang for your buck!



Betcha she's not talking!


4. If you can converse during the workout (aside from rest) your not working hard enough. Plus, how difficult can the exercise be if you don't even have to focus on your form or mentally focus to push through those last few repetitions? Seriously, if you can chit-chat during an exercise, it's time to up the weight or choose another exercise.

On a side note, I read the other day that you have to be state licensed to be a barber. However, anybody can be a "personal trainer." I'm so embarrassed. 

Have a great Wednesday make sure you're doing everything you can to add some extra movement into your day!

3 things NOT to eat when at a restaurant

Everybody loves a going out for dinner. Even those who love cooking and find it therapeutic, sometimes just want to have somebody else do the food prep, cooking and clean-up. 

But most people really struggle to make wise choices when dining out. How do you order something healthy, yet appetizing? After all, aren't the "healthy dishes" boring and uneventful? Not always. And instead of telling you what to do, how about we look at what NOT to do? That list is a little shorter.

So here are 3 things NOT to eat when out at a restaurant.

It's not the oil that's criminal, its the bread!

1. Bread/chips at the table. I know this is so difficult to do because they are just staring at you, begging to be eaten. Bread waiting for olive oil, chips with the sad look on their face because all they want is to be eaten with salsa. But this is one of the quickest ways to destroy a great day of eating. First off, they are ALL high glycemic carbohydrates that will quickly be digested and stored as fat.

2. 1/2 your meal. Most restaurants grossly over-portion their foods. So you've got 2 options. A) Split the meal with somebody or B) have your server bring a to-go box so you can put 1/2 of your meal away for later. What's that? You got the 1200 calorie cobb salad? Have them bring your other half in a box so you can eat it the next day. Now all of a sudden that 1200 calorie salad is only 600 calories!
 
3. Anything fried. Aside from a psychological reprieve, fried foods do nothing for you. In fact eating fried foods can slow your metabolism and cause your body to store fat rather than use it as fuel! Instead have foods cooked in olive oil. This unsaturated fat is great for you and can help build muscle, improve the health of your heart, fight inflammation and it tastes great!

Here's the big take away with these 3 things: It is very difficult to resist eating chips/bread, french fries/zucchini/onion rings or eating all of your meal. Not many people have the will power to stare at a bowl full of bread or chips and keep their hands out of it, or to stare at a plate full of delicious food and not continue to pick at it, me included. I'm one of the biggest culprits - If there are french fries left over and nobody is eating them, I'll start picking at them. If there's bread on the table, you bet I'll eat it!! So just remove the temptation!

Have more questions about what to eat while your dining out? Then register for our "Eating Healthy While Dining Out" workshop with Diane Campbell, RD. Diane is going to share even more tips and strategies on how to burn fat and eat healthy while still enjoying a night on the town!!

The WRONG way to lose weight...

Perfect conditions for the fat burning flame?

Many people think there isn't a wrong way to lose weight. Their philosophy is if the number on the scale is dropping, the smile on their face is growing. 

But what if you weren't losing fat, but were losing muscle? As we age, muscle helps to reduce injury, improve balance, maintain bone density, increase metabolism, and give your friends something to look at and be jealous of.

Now there have been some pretty strange methods of losing weight (i.e. the Hotdog diet).  But there have also been some methods that had the potential for success, but from a practical standpoint, weren't great for losing fat. One of them was recently written about by a graduate classmate of mine in the Strength & Conditioning Journal.

Brad Schoenfeld wrote a review article titled "Does cardio after an overnight fast maximize fat loss?" In it, Schoenfeld describes the idea behind the technique. Basically the thought is that after an overnight fast, the body will shift from carbohydrate energy source to using fat as the primary energy source during steady state (constant speed and incline) cardio.

Schoenfeld first points out that looking only at the amount of fat burned during exercise is quite short sighted because there are still 23 hours left in the day where our body has an energy demand. In addition, he cites recent studies showing that interval training results in much greater fat loss over the course of days and weeks.

He also cites research showing that a pre-workout meal of protein + carbohydrate actually increases post-exercise energy consumption, and that energy is primarily fat. Another key point that Schoenfeld makes is the fact that in a fasted state, the body will begin to breakdown muscle tissue. The effects of this are slowing of metabolism which actually INCREASES fat storage!! 

Burning nothing but time...and maybe some muscle.

In summary, this article really highlights the arguments for and against early morning cardio on fat loss. Overwhelmingly, the results are that steady state cardio without eating prior to exercise is a BAD idea. Heck, for fat loss, steady state cardio isn't very successful AT ALL!!!

So what does this mean for you? 

Well if you're going to exercise you MUST eat or drink something prior to working out. Otherwise you risk burning muscle for fuel!!But you're not a morning breakfast person? Have some juice mixed with protein powder. This will absorb faster and prevent muscle breakdown as well as increase your fat burning potential AFTER your workout, where it really matters.

Have a great weekend!!

5 ways to TORCH fat in the 2011

Breakfast: Your Number 1 fat fighter!

Every New Year, millions of people join a gym in hopes of changing their lives. But you wouldn't overhaul your car, your home or your stock portfolio without knowing how each of those systems work, would you?

So why are trying to alter something as complex as the interaction between your body and your psyche in hopes of losing weight by yourself? At the minimum you need guidance. At the most you need a personal trainer. 

But regardless of which path you choose, here are 5 ways to absolutely incinerate fat. These are in order of Importance. If can do only 1, start with the first. If only two, do the first two. And so on.

1. Eat breakfast. Anybody, and I mean ANYBODY, who has lost weight and been able to keep it off while still maintaining a desirable figure eats breakfast. And it doesn't have to be extravagant. Here's a strategy. On Sunday evening, get a plastic bowl and 8 eggs. Crack all of the eggs and scramble them in the bowl. Put the bowl in the fridge and now every morning you've got a scrambled egg mix. Just put 1/2 a cup of the mix onto a frying pan and you'll have a hot breakfast in about 3-4 minutes.
2. Start taking a fish oil supplement. Fish oil has been shown to increase metabolism, using fat stores and keeping your arteries soft, pliable and your heart healthy. Why wouldn't you take it? It takes roughly :30 seconds to do this daily.
3. Stretch at work.  Set a timer on your phone, your watch or your computer for 60 minutes. When the timer goes off, push away from the desk and stand up. Put your right hand behind your neck holding your elbow high and tip your head to the left. You should feel this stretch  in your neck and upper back. Next do 5 body weight squats. Then sit back down, reach your arms to the ceiling and lean back. Feel the stretch in your arms, abs and lower back. Feels good, right? Now get back to work!
4. Buy a 1-L aluminum water bottle and use it. Your liver is what metabolizes fat. It also detoxifies your body. The more water you drink, the better your liver works. Drink at least 1-L of water a day.
5. Join the Hi-5 FitCamp. Honestly its the best workout you'll get for the price. The Hi-5 FitCamp uses metabolic circuits to burn fat and build muscle 4 hours each week. Which is more than most people do when they buy that rip off gym membership. All you have to do is show up and put forth some effort. You don't even have to think about what you're going to do as we have a full month of awesome workouts planned and prepped. We started today, but it's not too late to sign up. 

Email aaron@pairmarotta.com to get registered for the Hi-5 FitCamp.

So that's it. 5 easy steps to incinerating fat in 2011. Here's to a healthy and productive year!

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!

Its how you feel AFTER you eat...

If there is one thing that Thanksgiving is associated with, its stuffing your face and then slipping into a food coma. That and maybe football.

But more importantly, its the food. And for some reason people tend to lose all inhibitions during Thanksgiving and go absolutely ballistic with their food intake, more specifically their carbohydrate intake.

As I've mentioned in the past, carbohydrate intake (especially refined carbohydrates) are associated with high body mass and body fat levels. Refined carbohydrates (those that appear in sugary treats and white bread, pasta, and cereals), have a strong insulin response and unless you get out and use those carbohydrates up, you'd better be prepared for a little extra padding on your hips.

Now with all that being said. If you follow a good diet:

• Eating 4-6 meals a day
• Eating protein and fruits/veggies with each meal
• Drink lots of water 
• Eat grains ONLY in the morning or AFTER exercise

Then you can go ahead and have a great meal and enjoy it. Then the next day hop back on your plan.

Here is the thing I have noticed: People who have a good diet that follows the 4 rules above, will not feel guilty about indulging on Thanksgiving. In contrast it's the people who have horrific eating habits who are ALWAYS feel guilty and miserable after Thanksgiving. 

You have to change your mindset with food. Those that are most successful at changing their body and improving their health repeat over and over that they changed the way they look at food. Change your mindset to that of a healthy person and success will quickly follow.

What do you see?

When you look at this picture, what do you see?

Most people will see a great Saturday morning breakfast. And it's healthy too, right? After all it's got banana's.

Hopefully now most of you realize I am being sarcastic.

What I see is a massive load of refined carbohydrates. 3 pancakes (refined grains), syrup (pure sugar), bananas (a high sugar fruit) and pecans (a nice healthy touch, but too little, too late). That comes to 783 calories, about 93% of which are from high glycemic sugars, which results in a magnificently counterproductive insulin release, which as we discussed in a prior post is WORST thing for fat loss.

What I want you to begin to see is that food is fuel. And unless you are planning on running a marathon later in the day, there is no way you are going to use all of that energy that you have just eaten.

Don't look at a bowl of ice cream as a delicious reward for ending the day, look at it for what it is - a big bowl of fat and sugar that is to be consumed with caution and at very infrequent intervals.

Remember that food is not your "BFF" (that's Best Friend Forever in text talk), its not your therapist, its not your soul mate and its not your boss. Food is energy to get you through the day and to fuel exercise and recovery from exercise.

Grains/refined carbohydrates should be looked at as currency that can only be purchased with exercise.

Only when you exercise can you "purchase" extra grains. Other than that, you stay away from them. 

Fill your fuel tank with fruits, veggies, lean meats, nuts, beans, fish, and dairy. These are foods that elevate your resting metabolism, keep your muscle building and energy storing hormones in check and keep your hunger levels stable.

Want some carbs? Payment is exercise. Keep in mind there is a direct relationship between the two. You can't run for 5 minutes and then have a stack of pancakes a mile high. 

In summary, start look at food for what it is - energy. Plain and simple. When you take the emotion out of food, all of a sudden it becomes a bit easier to manage what you eat and when you eat it.

(Order of) Operation: Fat Burn

At the beginning of the year I picked up an exercise physiology book written by Alwyn Cosgrove. Alwyn Cosgrove is one of the MOST SUCCESSFUL trainers in the United States. His gym down in Santa Clarita is hugely successful. He has written a few books, one of which is called "The New Rules of Lifting for Women."  If you are looking to start training on your own, this book is the one tool you will need. This is a great book and really demonstrates his knack for putting together awesome fat loss programs.

One of the things he wrote in his book was the weight loss hierarchy. This was a simple little thing that I have known and incorporated into our programs but for some reason, never put it into a bullet point layout. And I don't know about you, but I like things simple. Maybe it's just a man's brain, or perhaps I fit into the Forrest Gump tag line of "Simple is as simple does," but once I saw this it became burned into my memory.

The hierarchy is simply the steps taken for long term, successful weight loss, starting from the most important "do this first" step all the way down to the least important, "if you've got an extra 4 hours a week in addition to your other training then do this" step.

So here is Alwyn Cosgrove's weight loss hierarchy (and this should look stunningly familiar to you!!) 

1. Nutrition- Most people aren't overweight because they don't move enough. In fact most people who are overweight eat so much they practically could not exercise enough to balance out how much they are eating. The first step in ANY weight loss program should be to get your nutritional situation ironed out and stabilized: eating 5-6 times per day, eating breakfast daily, including protein with each meal and minimizing grain intake.
2. Metabolic Resistance Training- This is simply resistance training done in a way that alternates periods of hard work and rest. But this can't be work hard for 15 seconds then rest for 4 minutes. This is alternating hard work for :30-:60 seconds then resting for :30-:60 seconds. Also alternating upper and lower body exercises works well for increasing the amount of work with minimal actual "do-nothing" rest.  Quick side note: don't worry about how many calories you burn during exercise, rather focus on ways to increase your metabolism during the other 23 hours you aren't exercising. 
3. High Intensity Interval Training - Research shows over and over that by increasing your post-exercise energy usage, you DRAMATICALLY increase your fat burning. So why would you avoid that? Oh...that's right...it is BRUTALLY TOUGH. Choose any activity such as running, cycling, swimming or body weight calisthenics and alternate periods of hard work and easy work. The work rest periods should have a longer rest period than work period to allow adequate rest. For example if you run, alternate 1 minute of fast running with 2 minutes of walking then repeat 6-8 times.
4. High Intensity Aerobic Interval Training - this is similar to the above, but instead of having shorter work:rest periods, make them longer. For example do 5 minutes of faster jogging and then 2 minutes of walking. Repeat 3 times for a total of 21 minutes.
5. The last thing on the list is steady state training. This is simply put hard cardio work. It won't add to an increase in fat burning the rest of the day, but it will chew up some calories during the workout and an extra 300 calories per day will add up.

 Overall, you can see it starts with nutrition. Then it builds to strength training and interval training. Get this one point here though: Do not worry about how many calories you burn during the workout. Instead focus on how your workout will effect your metabolism for the rest of the day.

The dreaded.... PLATEAU!!

Everybody hits a plateau in their fitness journey. Whether it is a weight loss plateau, a strength plateau or simply the program becoming stagnant, plateau's are almost inevitable. But there is a way to break through...

A plateau will occur when the body has reached a point of stability, where it has adapted to the changes that you have imposed on it. For some, this means your body has adapted to the weight you have been using in your training program. This generally occurs after 3-6 weeks. Some people adapt sooner, others take longer to adapt.

For others a plateau will occur when you have been on a restricted calorie diet for a given period of time. You've been doing well on a restricted eating plan, you've consistently had a negative calorie balance but now it seems you are at a calorie equilibrium. Let me attempt to quickly explain how this has happened.

Your body's metabolism is the rate at which it uses available energy. Your metabolism can be changed by a variety of factors but they are primarily hormonal and the change is often regulated by how you are treating your body. During a negative calorie balance (taking in fewer calories than you are using) your metabolism will slow down due to the fact that there is a decrease in energy. It's simply a cause and effect situation.

What most people do once they reach a point of calorie equilibrium, or plateau, is they simply decrease their calories even further. This may work. However, you will eventually reach a point where you are not taking in many calories at all. Many people reach the point to where they aren't bringing in enough calories to get through the day. At this point, your muscle breaks down, your bones break down and you feel sluggish and tired.

But there is HOPE...plateau's can be stopped dead in their tracks with on thing...CHANGE. No not that political type of change! I'm talking about changing your eating habits or changing your exercise program. This is why we change up our Hi-5 FitCamp every 4 weeks. Because it is just enough time to allow our body to adapt to the stress imposed on it, but not so long that we get stagnant and plateau. Keep moving UPWARD and ONWARD toward the goal!

Your eating habits need change too. And here are 5 ways you can change your eating habits to avoid the plateau.

1. Have a scheduled cheat day. Don't go overboard eating everything in sight. But eat the foods you want and eat until you are content, not stuffed. If you want the steak...EAT THE STEAK! If you want dessert, EAT DESSERT! Just don't make it an everyday occurrence and be sure to eat well the other 6 days of the week!
2. Involve more fruits and veggies into your diet. Fruits and veggies are known to speed up metabolism, and there are some that have a dramatic effect on metabolism!!
3. Change your macronutrient ratio. Fats, Carbs and Proteins are macronutrients. Take a look at your plate and see what percentage each nutrient comprises. Most people are around 60:20:20 (Carb:Fat:Protein). So change it up to where you have a 40:30:30 profile for 2 weeks. Eat more protein, fewer carbs and more healthy fats. Set up a Caloriecount.com profile and it will do this for you when you use the food journal!!
4. Switch to full fat dairy for breakfast foods! Research from the University of Alabama shows that they type of food you eat in the morning dictates what your primary fuel source will be for the day. So if you have a higher fat breakfast, your body will use more fat during the day!
5. Split up your meals. If you are eating 3-4 meals per day, split them up to 6-7. This way you are increasing your Thermic Effect of Feeding (TEF). TEF is the calorice cost of digesting and absorbing food. Eat more frequently and you use this metabolic booster to your advantage!

I do not recommend attempting to implement all of these changes at once. Instead, simply make one change per week. This way you will be able to see which change has the greatest effect for you. Plus implementing one change per week ensures that you will prolong the dreaded plateau!!

Fueling a great Hi-5 workout

Last week we talked about what to eat after a workout. But we didn't really address what to eat prior to a workout.

The first thing we need to do is address what we are expecting from our body during a workout and how our body will respond to types of exercise.

The first thing we are expecting our body to do is be able to work at a very high level, often up to 100% of effort levels! This requires that energy be readily available. Unless you are taking creatine, which is another post in itself, your body is going to have to breakdown food to produce the energy required for work. 

Also, we are expecting our body to continue to work at high intensity levels for up to 45 minutes. Therefore we need energy that will last. This is very important for both groups but perhaps more important for morning exercisers who are essentially coming off of an all night starvation period where there metabolism is slow and blood sugar levels are low. 

Eating prior to exercise (within 1 hour of beginning exercise) will require some energy that can be quickly broken down. These types of foods rate high on the Glycemic Index (GI). The higher a food is on the GI, the faster it breaks down. The lower it is, the slower and more sustained the breakdown is.

So a high GI food is recommended up to 1 hour pre-exercise. High GI foods are often simple carbohydrates such as 1/2 a bagel, rice, Cheerio's, a donut, corn flakes, pancakes, and of course a sugary beverage such as Gatorade. 

Now just because I recommended these foods prior to exercise doesn't mean you should go out and demolish a box of donut's  prior to working out. Instead have 1/2 a donut, a small bowl of Cheerio's or a single pancake. Remember, you are not trying to fuel the rest of the day; you only need to fuel the workout.

Try to avoid high fat, high protein, and high fiber foods in the hour prior to exercise as these take much longer to breakdown and can sit very heavy in the stomach. In addition they can cause gastrointestinal distress, or in generic terms, and upset stomach (yikes!) during workout. This, as you can imagine , would be pretty uncomfortable.

 

A terrific pre-workout meal would be toast with jelly, a small bowl of Cheerio's, 1/2 a bagel with some honey, a pancake with jelly or a little syrup. This should be enough to get most people through the workout. 

The rest of the day and day's you DO NOT workout, these foods would best be avoided for maximal fat-loss. On these days and at these times, try to eat lower GI foods such as fruit, vegetables, whole grains and protein.

Remember, the Hi-5 FitCamp Summer Session starts on Monday!! Bring a friend and get 1/2 off the monthly fee!!

Burn Fat with these 4 stead fast rules...

Fat burning nutrition can be a tricky thing.The average person thinks, "If I want to lose fat, why am I still eating?" 

It's as if the idea that not eating will cause your body to lose fat, which isn't completely true. Yes, if you go long enough without eating, you'll certainly lose fat. But to go along with it will muscle and bone.

When trying to lose fat, the LAST thing you want to do is to stop eating. Instead here are 4 things you need to do to start burning fat at rest.

1. Know how much you are eating. Go to a website such as www.caloriecount.com and start tracking how much you are eating. If you don't know how much you are currently eating, you won't stand a chance in your battle against the bulge!
2. Eat breakfast. Breakfast IS the most important meal of the day for a variety of reasons. But here we will focus on its ability to give your metabolism a good jump start! Think about what sleep is: It's 6-9 hours of not eating. When you go long periods without eating, your metabolism slows down due to an increase in sympathetic hormones. Eating breakfast fires up your metabolism.
3. Eat lots of fruit. At this point I don't really care if your fruit is fresh, frozen or dried. Just make sure you get 5 servings of fruit a day. Some fruits that have been suggested to have "fat burning" potential are grapefruit, blueberries, apples, bananas, strawberries and cantaloupes.
4. Eat protein with each meal. Protein has a variety of factors that help to use more fat at rest. First off, it takes a long time to digest and absorb. Remember that every time you eat a food, your metabolism increases during the digestion and absorption of food. Protein has the highest metabolic boost during digestion. In addition protein helps to keep bones and muscles rebuilt. Therefore, protein from dairy, meat, beans, nuts, or fish should be included with each meal, even your snacks.
5. And speaking of Snacks, here is a bonus tip: Eat frequently. Take your calories and break them down into 5 meals. By eating fruits and protein with each meal you A)keep your metabolism up longer, B) keep your body using more fat to fuel the digesting process and C) you are able to keep your energy levels stabilized that reduce the harmful effects of going into a hungry period followed by a binging period.

So there are 4 tips plus a BONUS tip to get you started. But remember, it all starts with knowing how much you are eating. If you aren't willing to track what you are eating, then no recommendations are really going to have much of an effect.

Have a great week and be sure to try the Recovery Week Challenge!!