Category Archives: Exercise

How you can fix a Broken Metabolism Part 2

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Welcome Back!!

Remember – if you are more than 20lbs (10 KG) overweight the chances are your metabolism is slowing and may even, in terms of fat loss, be broken.

No sign of a broken metabolism here…

Today in part 2 of how to fix a broken metabolism we look at the Affect of Diet on Hormones:

The Affect of Diet on Hormones:

  • Fat Storage
  • Fat Sparing
  • Fat Burning

The main hormones in question are:

  • Cortisol – the stress & belly fat storing hormone
  • Leptin – the anti-starvation hormone,
  • Ghrelin – the ‘I’m hungry‘ hormone
  • Insulin – The blood sugar controller

In the last post we looked at the effect various foods can have on our metabolism – either raising it or blunting it. Now we need to look at the effect of diet on our hormones. Hormones are responsible for just about every physiological / chemical process that starts or stops in our bodies.

How we react to stress, how happy we are, how quickly a bruise disappears, a cut heals, a fingernail grows, how much lean tissue we create, how much fat we store (& where), gain or burn for fuel, how & what is repaired – our hormones control all of this and more besides.

No excess fat here – this is a peak metabolism…

To lose a pound of fat we have to shed / use / forego 3500 calories. That is the mathematical fact and in the past most fat loss programs looked at cutting calories as the main way to lose fat. What they did not take into account was the type of calories (see http://bodyshapeshiftersonline.com/?p=100) or the unintended consequences of calorie restriction on our body’s hormonal systems.

Our bodies equate a sudden & sustained drop in calories (especially those from carbohydrates) as a famine situation and they have a sophisticated defence system to stop us starving. If our body thinks we are starving then these hormonal systems kick in and fat loss becomes that much harder.

In many ways successful fat loss has more to do with our body’s hormonal environment than any other factor. As important as exercise and metabolic training is, as important as sleep and the right fuel is – the battle to lose fat is won or lost largely on the hormonal side. And this side of the equation is incredibly complex. Because of this complexity the discussion on hormones & their manipulation here will be necessarily lacking in depth and detail.

Unlike poking out your tongue, whistling, lifting your arm, rolling your eyes or breathing more deeply we cannot consciously control our hormones or their actions. But we can manipulate them in a gross sense through diet, sleep and exercise. Further if we know what certain hormones do and what triggers their actions we can at least alter our internal environment enough to make these hormones work with us rather against us as we work on losing body fat.

Cortisol:

Cortisol is not a villain – it is essential to our health and performs many beneficial functions. Cortisol is released in response to physical, emotional & mental stress. If this stress is constant it signals your body that it’s under attack and your body responds by

The best way to stop the negative effects of Cortisol – get plenty of sleep!!

increasing the amount of cortisol in circulation. Through cortisol, our bodies by increase our belly fat reserves. This location not only offers protection to our organs but also positions this fuel source for easy availability for sudden energy needs.

Too much cortisol has the following effects:

  • Increased belly fat storage
  • Increased sugar cravings
  • Lowered immune system
  • Slower healing
  • Increased lean tissue breakdown
  • Decreased Liver function
  • Impaired cognitive performance
  • Suppressed thyroid function
  • Blood sugar imbalances such as hyperglycaemia
  • Decreased bone density
  • Higher blood pressure
  • Higher LDL (the ‘bad’ cholesterol)
  • Lower HDL (the ‘good’ cholesterol)

So how do we manipulate our cortisol levels?

Firstly by getting more sleep. Cortisol levels can increase by up to 30% just from missing some sleep. Getting at least 8 hours a night is a solid way to reduce Cortisol.

Secondly by lifting heavy weights. Although Cortisol is released in response to stress and weight lifting is a physical stress – lifting heavy weights also increases the release of Human Growth Hormone. HGH has many actions but one of which is to reduce cortisol levels. (HGH levels also increase with sleep – another reason to use sleep to blunt cortisol) By heavy weight lifting that increases HGH release

Thirdly by eating frequently. It takes only 14 days to kick in fully but by eating ‘mini-meals’ no more than 3 hours apart, during the day has been shown to reduce Cortisol levels by up to 17%.

Lastly decrease your intake of simple starches (breads, pastas, processed junk) and sugars. In a vicious circle increased sugar intake increases the release of cortisol which in turn increase the craving for sugar which…

Leptin

Sharply lowering carbs creates lower leptin levels in the body. Falling leptin levels triggers signals to the brain suggesting that a famine is imminent and that the body needs to slow the metabolism, hold onto fat and try to maintain the current state of homeostasis in terms of body composition. Low leptin levels are the surest way to hold onto body fat.

Fortunately it is relatively easy to fix – add more carbs back into your diet, and eat 5 – 6 times a day. Whilst it takes a week for leptin levels to drop, they can be replaced with only a day of carb loading. This is the thinking behind carb cycling diets.

Ghrelin

Ghrelin is the hormone which controls cravings – heightened levels of it mean that your appetite is elevated. Ghrelin reacts in concert with Leptin so long carbs, sustained low calorie intake and low leptin levels means that ghrelin levels rise and you are hungry. The fix for ghrelin is the same for leptin – add in more carbs and if leptin rises ghrelin will fall and appetite drops off as well.

Insulin

Insulin is most associated in people’s minds with diabetes and fat storage – two things no-one wants. However a bit like Cortisol Insulin is not a villain – it is the main hormone responsible for helping your body recover properly after exercise. Insulin increases blood

Insulin resistance is a result mainly of a poor Western diet…

transport to and from your muscle cells so the “waste products” of exercise, like carbon dioxide, can be removed; helps reduce elevated cortisol levels that are formed during intense exercise, which helps reduce stress on your body and ensures that the muscles get sufficient nutrients for repair.

Insulin is both a storage and a transport hormone. It transports glucose from the blood into the muscles (&liver) to replenish glycogen stores. When these are full it then changes to a storage medium and moves the excess glucose into your body’s fat cells.

So if your glycogen stores (muscle & liver sites) are full and you eat enough simple carbs to cause a blood sugar spike then insulin spikes as well and stores the excess glucose in

Here’s one way to help overcome insulin resistance – move heavy weights…

the fat cells. Creating a ‘spike’ in blood sugar causes the body to ‘over react’ and release a surge of insulin. This causes a sudden drop in blood sugar creating tiredness and increased fat storage.

Unfortunately high insulin levels triggers a halt in fat burning when there is glucose present in the blood stream. Basically Insulin activates the shift from fat to glucose burning.

We can manipulate Insulin by:

  • Eating 5-6 times a day (seeing a pattern here?) which keeps blood sugar levels & therefore insulin levels more stable.
  • Eating complex carbs and avoiding simple carbs, sugars & starches which quickly metabolise into blood sugar.
  • Cut out processed foods as much as possible – including Bread, Biscuits, Cakes
  • Basically up your vegetable and fruit intake, cut out the grain based foods…
  • Increasing the amounts of healthy fats in our diet.

Don’t forget our next post will look at the ways that you can use the burn rate of different macronutrient types, meal timings & meal frequency to recondition your metabolism.

So we can manipulate our hormones by eating 5 -6 times a day, avoiding / reducing simple carb intake, getting enough sleep and exercising with heavy weights.

Next time we’ll look at the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF)

Thermic Effect of Food

  • Macronutrient ‘Burn rates’
  • Food timing
  • Meal Frequency

Don’t forget our next post will look at the ways that you can use just eating food itself to recondition your metabolism.

Be well!!

54 tips to lose fat

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Welcome back!

This week some quick but useful tips to help you lose fat (you’ll notice a lot are food based – remember you can’t out train a bad diet!!)

  1. Be clear on your fat loss goal:  Know the amount of fat you want to lose. You’re your time frame. Tell others to invoke accountability. Write in all down in an exercise book or a journal. Be clear.
  2. Have a pair of skinny jeans ready for ‘success’ day. Or a jacket o blouse or bathing costume – whatever. Just have this on display where you can see it every day. It’ll help keep you on track.
  3. Take your ‘before’ pictures. Stick them in a book with your weekly measurements next to your clear goals. (Waist, upper arm, mid-thigh, belly, chest)
    No don’t keep these ones, keep the SKINNY ones where you can see them!!
  4. Don’t weigh yourself every day.  Weigh yourself the same day at the same time every week. Take your measurements at the same time. Write them down in your book. (Don’t have a fat loss journal – get one – any old exercise book will do.) The best 2 ways to judge your progress is how your clothes fit and how you look in the mirror. Muscle weighs more than fat so you have your weight go up yet be losing fat. Be wary. “
  5. Understand that it’s not all or nothing; if you fall off the fat loss wagon, dust yourself off, don’t beat yourself up and get right back into it!! This is a journey of inches not miles…
  6. Be honest. With yourself— The only person that you fool by sneaking food or eating ‘off reservation’ is yourself.
  7. Eat breakfast.  Simply put those that ate a protein heavy breakfast ate less during the day, had more energy and less body fat. It can be eggs & bacon, a protein smoothies, nuts & yoghurt – so long as it is protein plus unprocessed carbs you’re be on the right track.
  8. Drink tea. Lots of research suggests that drinking tea (any tea EXCEPT herbal teas) stimulates your metabolism, works on body weight re-partitioning and lowers your body fat – especially belly fat.
  9. Drink more water.  2 glasses before a meal helps you feel fuller and interacts with fibre from vegetables to bulk them up. Water also helps shift fat by helping your kidneys & liver to function properly. 8 Glasses a day is good rule to follow.
  10. Get at least 8 of these bad boys into each day!

    Drop the store juice and sodas: Change to low or no-calorie drinks. Home- made iced tea, Coke Zero, diabetic sodas – all are good alternatives.

  11. Eat more veggies. Calorie sparse, nutrient dense they fill you up, without loading you up with too many calories.  Avoid the high fat/high calorie dressings.
  12. Eat eggs.  Every day.  Forget the cholesterol BS – eggs don’t raise bad cholesterol and are nature’s perfect fast food.
  13. Get enough fibre.  Think of fibre like a sponge; it absorbs water and makes you feel full. Focus on fibre, not carbs.
  14. Eat more fruits: No one ever gained weight from eating more fruit even the so called “high sugar” fruits, like bananas, melons and others.
  15. Eat more protein.  Lean protein helps satiate you, and increases your metabolism, through the thermic effect of food.
  16. Eat protein at every meal & snack.  This maximises the effects of #10
  17. Eat less Grains. Increasingly it seems that grains and grain based foods are not good for us and predispose us to fat gain and a number of debilitating diseases like arthritis. Try to cut down on them. Besides most grain based foods are highly processed and that’s definitely not good for you.
  18. Start meals with soup or a salad.  Either will help you feel full more quickly so your
    Prefer Chicken? Either is right!!

    calories at the meal will be less. E sensible with your soup and dressing choices.

  19. Steak & Salad Rules. Best way to get your veges & lean protein have a steak & salad meal at least once a day.
  20. Add cayenne pepper to your meals.  A study published in the British Journal of Nutrition showed that when compared to placebo, capsaicin (the active ingredient in cayenne) increased fat burning. Spice up your meals!!
  21. Watch your portions.  Each meal try for a palm sized portion of protein and 2 fists of non-processed carbs. Don’t Supersize.
  22. Bake, don’t fry. Slow cook in the oven or quick stir fry on the stove top. Both are healthier than pan frying.
  23. Switch to smaller plates; visually your plate looks fuller and you’ll eat less.
  24. Use a Barbeque or a grill.  Less fat, more flavour. Marinade your meat overnight to cut down on the potential of carcinogens from naked flame cooking. Don’t cook or eat well done.
  25. Keep it out of your house – or at least out of sight!!

    Keep your house crap free. Chips and Cookies and cakes and banana bread and …you can’t eat them if they’re not in the house. For those of us with families – have less of these in the house and keep them out of sight – in the garage or back shed. Studies show that the food we see more of we eat more of.

  26. Have a big bowl of fresh fruit in plain sight. See above
  27. Don’t grocery shop when you’re hungry.  Recipe for disaster. Have a meal or grab a  handful of nuts first then go shopping for food otherwise you’ll fill the trolley with all the self-control eroding processed foods you’ve been conditioned to love & want.
  28. Become a nutrition label guru: If you have to eat packaged foods check the labels and put back those with heavy sugars, Trans fats or HFCS.
  29. Decrease/eliminate processed carbs wherever possible.  They do nothing for you outside of creating a favourable environment for gaining fat
  30. Eating out? Swap side dishes with steamed veggies.  Restaurants will often allow you to switch the fries or chips with steamed veggies; all you have to do is ask.
  31. Order dressing on the side, dip the fork in dressing, and then in the salad. 
    Ready for what?? Not ready to support health or fat loss…

    This saves a ton more dressing than if one was to order it on the side, then poor the entire cup on the salad anyhow.  Less calories equals less weight.

  32. Skip buffets.  These are a trap to overeating. Don’t.
  33. Skip the Designer Coffees.  Great way to get up to an extra 500 calories in one hit. Have black coffee or a tea instead.
  34. Don’t socialise around the food tables at parties; Grab some food and move away from the table otherwise you’re more likely to pick, and eat mindlessly even though you’re not really hungry.
  35. Try to eat slower.  It takes approximately 15-20 minutes for your stomach to sense it’s full.  Eat too fast and you’ll shovel in more than you need to.
  36. Stay away from the alcohol— I‘ve written on this before – just drink sensibly – 1 or 2 a night is okay but any alcohol will put a dent into your fat loss efforts. Remember your body stops burning fat to deal with alcohol first. Plus having alcohol lowers your inhibition so you overeat other calories too – kebabs at 3 AM anyone??
  37. Take a brown bag lunch. Do this as often as possible – not only will you control what you eat but you’ll save money.
  38. Keep some healthy snacks on hand — like nuts — in your bag, your briefcase or your glove box so you’re prepared at all times. Swap them out regularly so they are always fresh
  39. If you’re working this hard today – carbs aren’t going to be a problem…

    Match your carb intake to your energy output. You need fewer carbs on the days you aren’t working out hard than the days when you are. Up the protein on non-workout days to support recovery and satiety.

  40. Have fish oil – several grams a day.  Omega-3s have more benefits than possible to list in this short blog – but one is more Omega-3 = less body fat!
  41. Wake up and exercise; not only do you burn more fat but you’re more likely to exercise in the AM than at night after a day in real world.
  42. Lift weights. Heavy weights.  Build more muscle, burn more calories.
  43. Do complex exercises like squats, deadlifts, pull-ups, chin-ups, shoulder presses and push-ups.  The more muscles you involve in each exercise the more benefit you’ll get. Leave the triceps’ kickbacks to the folk who aren’t serious about getting leaner and stronger.
  44. Cut down rest time between sets.  Just because you’re lifting heavy does not mean that you take a 10 minute break between sets. Rest long enough for your breathing to ease and then do the next set. Repeat. This keeps your metabolism surging and those calories burning…
  45. Do intervals.  HIIT = Faster fat loss. Study after study continues to show intervals are more effective for fat loss (and in less time) than traditional cardio. Ditch the treadmill and the marathon runs – get down get dirty get lean!!
  46. Sprint twice a week. Sprinters have lower fat and more muscle.  Just look at the
    A sprinter. ‘Nuff said…

    body of a sprinter vs. the body of a marathoner.

  47. If you have a dog, take it for a walk—Aim to do this every day. Set it as a routine.
  48. Buy a pedometer and aim for at least 10,000 steps each day.
  49. At work set a timer. Most of us work at a desk so set a 30 minute timer like ‘Cool Timer’ and get up for a stretch every 30 minutes. Go for a brisk walk after lunch, but sit less and move more.
  50. Try not to use internal email. Whenever possible get up and walk to a co-workers desk.
  51. Eat standing up.  In tandem with the above have your snack or lunch at work standing up – you’ll burn more calories. Want quicker meetings? Have them standing up with no chairs in the room.
  52. A classic – Use the stairs, skip the escalator and the lift.  Tried and true every bit of additional movement helps you lose fat. Doing this by itself won’t have a huge impact but as a part of the overall effort to move more it helps.
  53. Even at work – move more sit less…

    Another classic – Fidget. In Australia the Gut Buster program has this as one of its mainstays – fidgeting. Move more and more often. Get thinner.

  54. Change who you hang out with.  If your friends are all overweight, don’t show an interest in getting leaner, eat pizza or other fast foods a few times or more a week then you need to change who you’re hanging with. Research has shown conclusively that the people we hang out with can either assist or undermine our efforts to lose fat and get healthier.

Be well – see you next week.

The 30 day ‘Rip off the Fat with the Best Foods for Fat Loss’ diet…

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Welcome back!!

This week an extremely ‘doable’ 30 day fat loss via food plan… Read it, do it and you can expect dramatic and EASY Fat Loss…

Regular readers know that you can’t out train a bad diet. In your quest to lose body fat and to re-condition your metabolism food has to come first.

I’m far from the first to say and I certainly won’t be the last – and anyway you already know

Even over 70 you can look this good!!

this. It might be deep down, it be hidden but you KNOW this…

So food is first – here are some simple but effective guidelines for your nutrition. Follow these and you’ll rip off the body fat in no time (well about 30 days actually)

As a definite plus if you adopt these guidelines for the long term than you’ll likely live longer with more energy, more health and a lot more enjoyment…

Okay – the Guidelines:  Eat lots of these foods…

In order to maximise fat loss and improve overall health you need to eat:

  • Foods that are nutrient dense and calorie sparse
  • To improve the absorption of these nutrients in your gut
  • Food in a macronutrient format that improves your body composition
  • Enough good quality foods to meet as many of your micro- & macro- nutrient needs as possible from your food
  • Using sensible timing & spacing to control both cravings and hormone release

You should NOT eat:

  • Foods that harm you – and you know what they are!!
  • Foods that are calorie dense and nutrient sparse
  • Foods that say now with added vitamins!
  • Foods that contain what I’ll call antinutrients – like most grains and processed grain products
  • Foods that contain trans fats, HFCS and lots of sugar in any form.

Look there are (last time I looked 12+ months ago over 2.5 Million diets & programs out

Cops may lov’em but the trans fat keep you fat…

there. Some are good (anything by Berardi of Precision Nutrition fame or Rousseau of Warp Speed Fat for example), a few great, many crap and more than a few that deliver short term results only…

Even simplistic programs like the Slow-Carb-Diet from Tim Ferriss’ book The 4-Hour Body is one that you can use long term and it does get results.

Thing is, even on the better touted diets, most of them work for so long as you are compliant. When compliance stops so does the results and fat gain usually occurs.

Here are my thoughts on using food for fat loss…

What follows is a 30 day full on program. Follow it as written and you’ll lose fat and gain energy and likely without any hunger pangs or uncontrollable cravings. It’s really that easy and this is an easy program to follow…

You might not get to look like Thor, but you will drop fat…

The program is designed around food. So if all you do is the foods I mention in the way I mention then you will lose fat.

So – are you ready to start losing some fat? If so then this is the absolute ‘no deviation allowed’ ever rule for ALL of your meals – eat your food in the following sequence:

Lean Protein first, then good Fats then Vegetables – preferably low starch ones. Lastly if you have some room left – some Fruit – berries, cherries, apples or pears preferred…

Again eat you’re your food in that order for the next 30 days.(or longer) and you’ll get your fat loss well under way…

But how does this work you ask? This is the ‘guts’ of fat loss and improving your health – buckle up!!

I recommend that you eat this way – eat your protein until you are about three quarters full, make sure that you’ve had your healthy fats and then eat veges until you are full and have had enough.

Why lie this? Getting in the amount of protein that I’m recommending will be tough – read on…

Protein.At every meal for the next 30 days eat your Protein first. And it should be solid, chewable protein – no shakes, no meal replacement powders – just good old fashioned solid protein. Why solid? Chewing your food helps to trigger satiety and this in turn a) stopsyou over eating and b) actually reduces the chance of any cravings popping up.

Don’t get me wrong I think that whey powders are a great source of protein and very

Yum…Protein!!

convenient but this program is manipulating a lot of variables (i.e. satiety triggers etc.) so the shakes are out for 30 days.

You’ll see a lot of writers these days extolling the virtues of only eating grass fed beef and wild salmon, free range eggs and chicken etc etc. and there is something to what many of them say – especially if you are in the US or Canada – about the potential health risks inherent in ‘normal’ foods, farmed the normal way. In Australia & New Zealand the use of drugs in livestock and so forth is a lot less.

It is true however that grain feed beef has a high Omega 6 to omega 3 ratio and this is a ratio that needs redressing (see Fats section below for the reasons why) But we don’t all live in a world of financial plenty…

There is the issue of cost. I know that your health is priceless, but the reality is that if you are an adult with adult responsibilities then you may not be able to afford those ‘wild’ sources of protein.

Guess what – so what.

Just eat the protein that you can afford (a quick note here along

Forget grass fed versus grain fed eat eat you can afford…

with shakes – no soy, no tofu no TVP or Quorn etc. – real flesh based protein only) and you’ll get results. Add some supplements (buying & using the few that I’ll suggest further on will still be cheaper than going the organic / grass fed / free range / wild only route) Again of you can afford it, fine go the organic route if not then leave the optimum protein sources out of your musings – if you can afford grass feed beef or free range eggs – great have them! If not, then eat the beef you can get – just try to make it as lean as possible, and the eggs you can afford.

No matter what though – eat your protein first.

How much protein? Try to eat about a gram of protein per pound of bodyweight or more. This will not be easy – a 100 gram steak contains about 21 grams of protein. So when I say 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight I don’t mean 1 gram of steak (or Chicken / veal / lamb / pork / salmon etc) I mean I gram of protein. If you weighed 200 pounds then to get your 200 grams of protein from steak you will need to eat about 100 grams (2 pounds) of steak.

Beginning to see why you won’t have to worry too much about hunger…

So in order to get this amount of protein into you each day you need to be a bit strategic and break your protein intake up over each of your daily meals – I find that if you are willing to do some prep time 4 or 5 meals a day makes this easy, but if you’re not then aim for 3 or 4.

Regardless of how often you eat you have to make the protein and the amount of protein specific to you a priority.

Sounds like you have to count calories & grams etc doesn’t it? I hate counting and I bet that you do too, so do it this way:

Figure out what you daily protein target is (for me at 205 pound it is 205 grams) and then plan your protein requirements using the tables below.

For example to get my 205 grams I’d need to eat – over my 5 meals – about 41 grams of protein a meal. So if I have 2 hamburger patties, a decent sized steak then I’m already be half way there. Add in a chicken breast, a can of tuna and a couple of eggs and I‘ve hit my protein target.

NB: 1 Ounce = approx 28grams so 4 oz of steak would weigh 112 grams

Beef

  • Hamburger patty, 4 oz – 28 grams protein
  • Steak, 6 oz – 42 grams
  • Most cuts of beef – 7 grams of protein per ounce

Chicken

  • Chicken breast, 3.5 oz – 30 grams protein
  • Chicken thigh – 10 grams (for average size)
    Lots & lots of way to cook & serve protein…
  • Drumstick – 11 grams
  • Wing – 6 grams
  • Chicken meat, cooked, 4 oz – 35 grams

Fish

  • Most fish fillets or steaks are about 22 grams of protein for 3 ½ oz (100 grams) of cooked fish, or 6 grams per ounce
  • Tuna, 6 oz can – 40 grams of protein

Pork

  • Pork chop, average – 22 grams protein
  • Pork loin or tenderloin, 4 oz – 29 grams
  • Ham, 3 oz serving – 19 grams
  • Ground pork, 1 oz raw – 5 grams; 3 oz cooked – 22 grams
  • Bacon, 1 slice – 3 grams

Eggs and Dairy (avoid yoghurt – too much sugar even in Greek styles and watch the amount of cheese you eat – remember we want to drop fat and eat lean protein!)

  • Egg, large – 6 grams protein
  • Milk, 1 cup – 8 grams
  • Cottage cheese, ½ cup – 15 grams
  • Soft cheeses (Mozzarella, Brie, Camembert) – 6 grams per oz
  • Medium cheeses (Cheddar, Swiss) – 7 or 8 grams per oz
  • Hard cheeses (Parmesan) – 10 grams per oz
One of the best sources of protein…

Fat. For the next 30 days eat healthy fats second at every meal. By fats I mean healthy quality fats, not manufactured ‘franken-fats’ like trans fats.

As I’ve written before eating good fats is essential for fat loss and health. Given the anti-fat blitz of the last few decades this seems counterintuitive but the facts are the facts – processed carbs sugars make you fat, not fat itself. Even the worst of the saturated fats has little effect on fat storage unless it is eaten with processed carbs…

The idea is to try to cook in fats like coconut or macadamia, use olive oil where & when you can, cut out the commercial vegetable oils (really seed oils) like canola, corn or peanut and the like… This way you’ll begin to limit your Omega 6 intake and increase your omega 3’s (more on this below) you’ll not only be helping your body burn more fat but you’ll be reducing one of the main causes of inflammation in the body with all of the attendant horrors like arthritis, heart disease and so forth.

There are many types of saturated fats (our body’s makes omega 9 for example) but we need to get omegas 3 & 6 from our diet. Both are needed for our health but the ratio of 6 to 3 is the problem.

For the US of A consumption patterns over the last 40 years look like this:

Among 18 – 44 year olds in the United States, saturated fat consumption was in at 30 grams per day in 1970, and 27.8 grams per day in 2005.

Omega-6 fatty acid intake, however, was 9 grams per day in 1970, and almost doubled to 17 grams by 2005. Some reports have it even higher now in 2012.

High intakes of omega-6 fatty acids have been linked to cellular inflammation — one of the main factors behind a substantial number of degenerative diseases.

This is why I think everyone should prioritise good healthy fats like this: first increase your intake of omega-3 fatty acids, add in some monounsaturated fats, then use healthier saturated fats (like coconut, macadamia and cacao), and leave omega-6 fatty acids (especially from cooking oils) and less healthy saturated fats (like that in soft cheeses, pork, and chicken skin) last.

Although omega-6 fatty acids are essential to our health, they are so prevalent in so many foods that you would have to try extremely hard (and eat a significantly and dangerously limited diet) to not easily meet your daily requirement.

Healthy fats…

I want to finish this section on fat by making sure the main points are clear:

  • Omega-6 fatty acids are NOT intrinsically unhealthy – we need to consume a certain amount every day for optimal health.
  • Many very healthy foods are good sources of omega-6 fatty acids, so I am not advocating total avoidance of foods that contain omega-6 fatty acids.
  • However, our western diet contains consistently higher amounts of omega 6 and this pushes our intake of this particular fat too high. There is a very real need for this intake to be reduced because in this case, more is certainly NOT better.

Increasing your omega 3 intake is important to your health and is best done through eating deep sea oily fish (salmon or sardines for example) avocadoes, or taking a quality fish oil or krill supplement. You need to redress the 6 to 3 imbalance (some say it is as high as 20:1) as soon as possible.

The detailed benefits of omega 3 intake will be the subject of another post but for the moment take it as a given you need lots more 3 than 6 in your diet and the sooner the better.

The way to achieve this is to limit your 6 intake as much as possible and then to increase /

Don’t get ahead of yourself…

top up your 3 levels.

So eat your protein and then top up your Omega 3, by having some high quality fish oil with every meal. Aim to be having 2-3 grams of combined DHA/EPA per meal. (again – a fish oil capsule is usually 1 gram but it only contains about 450mg of 3’s so you need to take a few capsules – 5 or 6 at least)

But how much Omega 3 do I need?

Frankly I believe that everyone should be having 4-6 grams a day because of the many beneficial effects of Omega 3s’. Omega 3’s fight inflammation, help regulate insulin response, are used in a host of body repair mechanisms, are used in hormone production are important for brain health and even, it is not suggested are associated with maintaining telomere length – one of the most sought after anti-aging effects. Your body needs these…

Other writers suggest the following:

 

Abs so lower need of Omega 3’s

If you can see your abs, you have no sore joints (except after a heavy session in the gym) and have no arthritic signs then you’ll be okay with 2-3 grams a day.

If your joints ache, you have a touch or more ) of arthritis, your abs haven’t been seen for a while – then you’ll need to be having 4-8 grams total EPA/DHA per day.

If you get back to the visible abs level then you can reduce this to 3-4 grams.

Again try to divide your daily intake roughly equally across your meals.

Remember though the focus is on food so the supplements I’ll suggest will be few.

To top up the fat content of your meals try adding a tablespoon of one of these healthy fats: Butter – not dairy soft, not a blend just good old butter; ghee, coconut oil, olive oil, avocado oil or best of all the rendered fats from an animal source. Yep good old lard – nothing makes cooking taste better. In fact all of these good fats when used for cooking add flavour that is second to none.

Of course if your meal is heavily weighted towards salmon, sardines, anchovies or lean

Deep sea fish are great for protein & omega 3’s

beef / pork / lamb then you can skip the added tablespoon (still use the above sources for cooking though!)

Cook your meat with the fat on, leave the skin on your chicken – these fats are not the enemy. Feel free to remove the skin or the fat after cooking if you must ( I still do with pork – just can’t eat it I’m afraid!)

For Cooking: Cook in coconut oil (low to high heat), Macadamia oil (high heat), olive oil (low temperatures) or use red palm oil (all temps) or use lard or butter.

Any other so-called vegetable oils other than those mentioned above should be banned from your table, kitchen & pantry for good – your good and the wellbeing of your family.

FAT SUMMARY:

  • The best way to get good fats into your diet is through lean protein sources such as beef, & lamb or through marine sources like oily fish – salmon sardines etc.
  • Next is to use the right oils to cook with (see above)
  • Butter & Ghee
  • A Fish Oil or Krill supplement
  • Avocado

Vegetables.  Eat these third at every meal for the next 30 days. Yep last but for fruit ( that only if you are still hungry)

You should be about 80% full after your protein & fats so now fill up the remaining 20% with veges.

Some folk will say avoid starchy vegetables like potato – ignore this have some if you want just don’t fry them because this makes them lethal in terms of adding fat.

The best path to follow is to eat as many colours of vegetables as you can every day and at every meal.

The red of capsicum, the yellow of squash, the white of cauliflower, the green of rocket, the orange of carrots – there is a lot of colour to try & fit in!!

Just finish each meal by eating a variety of vegetables until you are no longer hungry. The colour idea is important as this will ensure that you get the widest range of micronutrients

Colourful eating is key…

possible.

You can do by having a stir-fry, steamed veggies, raw veggies, a big salad, a casserole, or roasted in the oven. Have whatever makes you happy.

Use spices and olive oil and a touch of vinegar or soy for flavour.

Remember variety is the key – don’t get stuck with the same 2 or 3 vegetables – you’ll get bored and you won’t get as much nutrition as you could.

Still hungry? – then have some fruit but aim for berries or apples or pears.

What about bread you ask?

Ancestrally, we didn’t eat any processed carbs, or even a carb heavy diet, and when / if we did we didn’t eat a lot of it.

None of these…

It is only in modern times that processed carbs have become a staple of out diet.

The longer you go without processed carbs the quicker your body changes its composition and the sooner you get over any carb addiction. You’re trying to lose fat and rebalance your body.

Grain based foods are all processed and all are increasingly indicated as being related to causing various inflammatory diseases (not to mention that good old white bread spikes your blood sugar as fast & as high as table sugar…)

So no grains, no cereals and no legumes for the 30 days and you’ll lose your desire for them long before then). While legumes are a “lessor evil” when compared to grains and gluten, the anti-nutrient content (lignans, lectin, saponins) plus the carb content rules them out. All cereals and all grains out means no quinoa, no oats, no brown rice, even if those grains are also lower on the scale of anti-nutrients.

If you’re fat and need to lose some you’ve probably got at least a touch of an insulin

What you’re after – less fat, more lean…

resistance problem and some the need for some metabolic reconditioning.

Drink tea green is good hot or cold), coffee, diet sodas and lots of water. That’s it no fruit juices, no vege juices, no Coca-Cola, no chocolate shakes – just sensible low calorie beverages.

Eat the way that I‘ve suggested above and prepare to be amazed as your body changes and you feel better, stronger and leaner. The nutrient density of a meal like this is incredible.

Here is the main guideline again.

Make every meal a healthy sequence of Protein, Good Fats, and Veggies in that order.

Add in Omega 3 supplements, a multivitamin (to ensure that you get all of your micronutrients) & Vitamin D3 (if you’re not getting much sun). Anything else is surplus, and purely elective.

Try to eat only when you’re hungry but make sure you get your protein target hit every day!!

Exercise: Move more. Lift heavy weights 2- 4 times a week, for never more than an hour

Get outside & move more…

at a time. Walk often. Stand more, sit less. Do some sprints every now and again. Remember HIIT. Jump rope, ride a bike – have fun!!

Get outdoors more often for Sun and fresh air and just for not being indoors so much!

Chase down 8 or 9 or even 10 hours of sleep a night. Sleep helps you lose fat. Lack of sleep helps make & keep you fat!

Do this for 30 days and be amazed.

See you next week.…

 

The 4 Fat Loss Principles You Must Know to Drop Fat Fast…

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Welcome back!!

In the spirit of last week’s list of 5, here are 4 principles that you have to apply if you are going to see fast fat loss results…

Principle the First – You gotta keep your metabolism humming along…
Cutting calories like most folk do when they decide to lose weight (ie Fat) results in a dive in the various processes that make up your moverall metabolic rate.

You eat less so you lose out on the thermic effect of food. Eating lessbecause most folk

Keep your metabolism humming – but don’t do crap like this!!

severley cut their calories back means you have less energy and so you move less and exercising becomes difficult.

Your basal metabolic rate drops off as you body enters into good ole starvation mode.

These things then combine to deliver a thump to your hormones.

Leptin (the ‘okay we’re full stop eating’ hormone) levels fall off a clif in as little as a week of moderate calorie reduction.

So you fix this by cycling your calories or even easier if you are going low carb then you must make sure that you a ‘Cheat day’ – the trick here though is to eat with some sense –

Eaten intelligently even pizza can help you lose fat…

don’t gorge and overfeed, just allow yourself to have some processed carbs one day a week if you are on a serious drop fat fast diet. ne day of ‘spiking’ your carb intake will reset your leptin levels to pretty much normal so you can cut calories for ht efollowing week and then reset again with a ‘cheat day’ and so on…

This strategy works best if you workout hard the day before your cheat day. here is a program from renowned training Expert Craig Ballantyne that you can use:

Do a minium of 3 rounds and try for 5 if possible.

Rest 15 seconds between exercises and 1 minute at the end of the circuit.

Do as many repetitions as possible in the given time.

Make sure to do a bodyweight warm-up of squats, lunges, and
pushups before this circuit (2 sets of 8-12 reps each).

1) Lunge Jumps – 20 seconds
2) Pullup or Bodyweight Row – 30 seconds
3) Spiderman Pushup – 30 seconds
4) KB Swing – 30 seconds
5) Walking Prisoner Lunge – 30 seconds
6) Cross-Body Mountain Climber – 30 seconds
7) KB Goblet Squat – 30 seconds

Lunges – work!!

By doing this you deplete your body’s store of glycogen and when you cheat the next day these stores get refilled so the extra carbs not only reset your leptin they don’t 9unless you are foolish) create a calorie overwhelm that results in fat loss. In fact doing this can help predispose your body to burn fat as preferred fuel…

Principle the Second – You gotta cut calories a lot if you want fast fat loss…

You’ve read it here before a pound of fat is 3500 calories (closer to 7200 for a kilo) and the only way that you get your body to shift those pounds / kilos is for you to eat less so your body burns more…

Of course there is more to it than just eating less – what you eat, how often and and so on all has an effect but the base line info to grab onto here is that you have to create a strong energy deficit for fat loss to occur.

Which would you rather be carrying around…

Dropping 5 kilos (about 11 pounds) of fat equates to a energy deficit of around 38,000 calories..

if you’re hooked on thinking in terms of weight loss rather than fat loss then you need to understand that a pure fat loss of 5 kilos probably means a total weight loss of 7.5 to 10 kilos becuase of fluid loss that comes along with dropping weight.

Principle the Third:  You gotta use both DIET & Exercise to achieve your fat loss.

  I’ve said it before – you can’t out train a bad diet and you can’t lose fat unless you get a number of things working together.

Forstly – take as many of the processed, then the the starchy processed carbs out of your diet as possible. Replace these with loads more vegetables, lean protein and fruit.

Step up your exercise and use HIIT protcols to get your metabolism revved up. Lift heavy weights at leat once a week to keep your muscle mass intact 9if not increase it!0 and then use cheat days to keep your homones on your side.

Is there more to it than this? Yep – but just do the above and you’ll get results better than 80% of the folk who try to lose ‘weight’…

Principle the Fourth:  You gotta keep the muscle you’ve already got… 

I mentioned this above but it is worth locking down on its own.

Muscle is more metabolically active than fat. The more you have the faster your basal

Lift heavy once or twice a week to hold onto fat burning muscle mass…

(resting) metabolism is and the more calories that you burn at rest. Likewise when you exercise if you have muscle your body will burn more calories more quickly than if you were fatter with less muscle.

Most people lose muscle when they diet becuase once your body goes into starvation mode it tries to protect fat stores and turns to breaking down muscle to supplement your energy needs. But you can stp this. Dead. How? Lift heavy weights. It has been shown in a number of studies that lifting heavy weights once or twice a week makes your body preserve if not add to) your muscle mass and gets it to burn more fat – even if you are in starvation mode due to calorie cuts.

Well there you have it – 4 principles to follow for rapid fat loss.

See you next week.

4 Ways to Speed Up a “Slow” Metabolism

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Welcome back!

How my friend wants to go back to looking like…

I was talking a friend of mine the other day who is trying, to lose weight. (Long term readers will know that I consider this ‘wrong thinking’ we should be focussed on losing fat, not weight…)

The amount of weight in question is only 7 kilos (about 15lbs) so my friend is not obese yet she has been struggling with this same 7 kilos for years now…losing most if not all of them only to have them come back often with extra  ‘friends’…I’m sure that this sounds familar to many of you – it was certainly my experience in the past.(For my story and why this happens to so many of us sign up for the free report at the top right of this page)

You know the situation Lose 5kg.  Gain 4. Lose that 4.  Gain 6. And so on.

From our chat it was obvious that this pattern had been repeating over & over since her early 20’s. Having 3 kids in her late 20’s may have made it a bit worse, but nonetheless this weight has become a decade long issue. Her husband, a big athletic ex-kickboxer has also been fighting the same fight since he hit his late 30’s. This is not just a female or male only issue – we all want to look and feel healthy and the older we get the harder it becomes to get into and then stay in shape.

This is because our metabolism becomes de-conditioned. It is just not a matter of it slowing down – it actually becomes less efficient in a whole lot of areas all of which impact our health & well being.

This how we want see ourselves – lean & fit…

Now my friend & her husband are example so this. They get in shape about once a year through an all out campaign of huge exercise increase and dietary restriction. They drop weight (though not necessarily fat) look slimmer for a period of time and then the slow (or not so slow) weight regain happens and they end up being the same size as before if not larger. Even worse it takes more & more effort to get into shape each year and once there they are staying ‘slim’ for shorter & shorter periods of time.

Accepting a future of becoming ‘comfortably chubby’ is on the cards as far as they are concerned…My friend is concerned about this and wanted to know how she can speed up a slowing metabolism.

So how do you speed up a “de-conditioned” metabolism?

The bigger you are the faster your metabolism will be – this is simple fact. However if you took 2 people the same size and weight – the one with the lower body fat would have the faster metabolism and the easier time of it when it came to losing fat and getting healthier.

Why? Well because muscle – lean tissue – does increase metabolism more than fat, so less fat and more lean tissue keeps your metabolism running faster. A faster metabolism burns more calories and this means decreased fat.

Build muscle. The more muscle you have the faster you metabolism, the lower your body

Lift weigths, move more – get your metabolism reconditioned…

fat and the better you look naked – pretty good reasons to strive to get more lean tissue onto your frame don’t you think!!??

Muscle is more metabolically active at rest and when moving. Now some folk will tell you not to get too excited about this because for every 1 lb (500 grams) of muscle, research shows its only about a 9-15 calorie/day increase in metabolism. But as you know losing fat and looking better and being healthier is a game of synergy  and incremental gains What you eat, when you eat, how often you eat; when & how you work out, how much sleep you get, your stress level, your DN – all of these things work synergystically for or against your fat loss. So in the scheme of things burning an extra 9 or so calories a day at rest is not exciting BUT fat loss is a game of increments not huge differences!! It all adds up – so while 1 lb of muscle doesn’t offer a huge calorie benefit, adding on more muscle than that does.  Plus working out to gain that muscle has a ton of other health related benefits – including better calorie burn! If you work out properly you can be burining extra calories for hours afterwards.

Eat More.Unprocessed carbs and protein that it. It sounds contradictory but the other way

Eat more often & eat more protein with unprocessed foods…

to speed metabolism is to eat more. I have spoken about the Thermic Effect if Food (TEF) here: Metabolism-what-it-is-how-you-can-make-it-work-for-you-part-6

When you eat, especially if you eat protein and fibrous vegetables & fruits, your body has to use energy to digest & process your meal so your overall metabolism increases.  Protein, of course, does more to boost metabolism than either carbs (even unprocessed ones) or fats because it takes more energy to break it down & process it.  So make sure each meal includes a little protein — fish, eggs, chicken, turkey – skip the nuts, beans or soy their protein is not complete (they have to be eaten with foods containing a complete amino acid profile – ie flesh based protein) are less bio-available and does not have a) the same thermogenic affect and b) confer fewer health benefits.

Eat breakfast.  Eating a good solid breakfast after what is effectively at least an 8 hour

A family favourite at our place….

fast gets the metabolism rolling in quick order. Again though it is protein and fibrous carbs that do the trick. That oatmeal, boxed muesli or buttered toast are marginally better than skipping breakfast entirely but only just.and is likely to be causing a lot of other less desirable health effects. (Mmm – insulin spikes for breakfast just what I need to stay fat!!)

The best breakfast to rev up your metabolism is eggs with spinach, mushroom, onions and capsicum as an omelette, along with some cheese, some fruit and a small handful of nuts. (Colby cheese and pear is one of Nature’s great duos – right up there with tomato and onion, bacon & eggs, cauliflower and cheese sauce..)

There’s now some solid data suggesting eating eggs in the morning boosts weight loss above and beyond choosing toast, cereal or a bagel.

Do HIIT for your workouts. I’ve said it before (Interval-training-the-1-not-so-secret-fat-loss-tool) – long, slow cardio sessions do next  to nothing in terms of creating a post

When you’re fit enough sprints are a great HIIT workout…

exercise calorie burn (EPOC) when the workout is done.  On the other hand, shorter, harder intensity exercise bouts cause a much longer increase in metabolism, even hours after your workout is finished.  In fact, a number of studies show s much as a 14+ hour increase in metabolism after a high intensity bout of exercise.  This boost burned an additional 190 calories!  Again it is a game of increments so this will add up.

There you have it — 4 simple strategies to boost a slowing metabolism. If you’d like to know more about speeding up and reconditioning your metabolism go here and read the series.  How-you-can-fix-a-broken-metabolism-part-1

PS My firend & her husband have adopted the above and in addition have gone ‘paleo’. They’ve never looked or felt better. I’ll write about Paleo soon.

See you next week – be well.

 

 

Top 7 Tricks To Keep The Weight Off For Good…

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Welcome Back!!

You probably already know that your lifestyle is the biggest reason behind why most folks can’t keep their body fat at lean levels. It is the reason why after dieting & working out or plain starrving to reach a particular weight (instead of focussing on how you look and your clothes fit…) getting there on the scales and then within weeks often end up back where they started… or even worse – fatter than before!  The reality is we tend to live unhealthy and fat storing lifestyles is because they are EASILY ACCESSIBLE to us.

Hungry?  There’s a fast food restaurant within a few blocks from almost wherever you are.

Thirsty? It’s soooo easy to crack open a can of sugar laden soda or chemical filled diet soda, isn’t it?

Exercise?  It’s too easy to just hop on the treadmill for a few minutes and casually jog or walk while watching TV and say to yourself, “Now I’ve gotten in some exercise”.

BUT HERE’S THE TRUTH:

Eating better, exercising better and living better isn’t much harder…it’s just that we have to figure out ways to make it just as accessible…just as easy as living in an unhealthy manner.

So here are my top 7 tricks to make living leaner and stronger a true lifestyle, so you keep that weight off forever:

1. Drink water from a water bottle, not from a glass. It may seem like a little thing, but simply switching to a 32oz. water bottle and refilling it 3 times (rather than having to refill an 8 oz. glass 10 times a day) can make a HUGE difference in how much water you drink. 

2. Use pre-cut fruits and veggies. How many times have you chosen to eat something pre-packaged over a fruit or vegetable because it was just easier?  Getting your fruits and veggies in ‘ready to eat’ form will have you getting more of the micronutrients that your body thrives faster than ever.

3. Keep your healthiest foods at eye level. Whether in your cupboard or fridge, what you see first is typically what you’re going to eat, especially at snack times.  Don’t hide the fruits and veggies in a drawer…keep ‘em in front of your face, where they’ll be saying, “eat me!”.

4. Keep junk food out of your house. While it is not a good idea to completely cut out some of your favorite treats, keeping them out of your house is!  If it’s constantly in plain sight, guess what, you’re going to eat it! A wise man once said it’s much easier to control your environment than to control yourself.  Keep your special treats for when you’re enjoying a night out every so often.

5. Have ‘go-to’ meals and snacks. You know that eating smaller meals every 3 hours or so is the best way to keep your metabolism going and preventing over eating…but make that process easy and accessible by having a list of 2 or 3 go-to meals or snacks you can prepare in 5 minutes or less. One of my favorites is a quick whey proten shake made with frozen mixed berries using a stick mixer…

6. Work out in the morning…before you do anything else. While it’s usually best to work out when you have the most energy, many people find that their day just gets away from them and they end up with ‘no time’ to work out.  Wake up a bit earlier and knock out 25 or 30 minutes of HIIT training…now you can get on with your day without having to worry when you’re going to find time to work out. Even better your brain will be in top gear and you’ll energised and terrific!

7. Get a home gym setup now. This is another way to make it easier on yourself…and you don’t have to try to recreate a commercial gym for it to be efffective. All that you need is some basic strength training equipment. This means a skipping rope, a set of dumbbells or a couple of kettle bells, a chin up bar and if you can a weighted vest. This way you can ad some extra resistance and variety to bodyweight exercises.

Alright, I know these 7 tricks will make living the lean body lifestyle EASILY ACCESSIBLE to you starting today, and every day!

Remember, it doesn’t have to be difficult to live the way you want to live…it’s quite simple once you make the easy choices the right ones.

How many of these tricks are you following right now?  Do you have any others to share with us? Post ‘em in the comments below…

HIIT, Burst & ignore the CDC’s exercise guidelines!!

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Welcome back!

Just how much time to exercise do you need to shift weight and to recondition your metabolism?

The Centre for Disease Control in the USA recommends a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate intensity cardio exercise per week for 18 – 64 year old adults in its Physical

Got 5 hours a week to spend on this??

Activity Guidelines for Americans1. On top of that, to the CDC’s credit, they also recommend at least 2 sessions per week of ‘muscle strengthening’ exercise. And that’s if you are not overweight.

This recommendation ups to 300 minutes+ of cardio and then more resistance training if you want to lose fat. That’s 5 hours a week of cardio and likely another 3 or 3 of resistance training. Say 8 hours a week. Out of the 168 hours a week that we have available to us 8 hours doesn’t seem like a lot – but let’s look a little more closely.

  • Sleep (@ 8 Hours per night) = 56 hours
  • Food preparation, eating & clean up = 15 hours
  • Hourly commute to work = 10 hours
  • Work itself = 45 hours (8 hours work + 1 Hour lunch & breaks per day, 5 days)
  • Showering, laundry, household chores = 16 hours
  • Exercise (as per the CDC) = 8 hours

That leaves 18 hours a week for shopping, TV, recreation, reading, loving etc etc or a little over 2.5 hours a day.

Real Adults have real world responsibilities…

Really for most of us finding 8 hours a week just for exercise (this does not mean sport or recreation just fat loss focussed, fitness maintaining exercise) is not really feasible for the average adult with adult responsibilities.

In a word the CDC’s recommendations are not real life practical.

Now if fat loss is an imperative in your life, if it is deeply held goal then you will find the time – but such an effort is unlikely to become a regular habit for most of us. We’ll do it short term to drop fat for an event like a wedding or a reunion, but sustaining this type of effort is just not realistic for most of us.

And let’s be honest if we were to follow these guidelines who wants  to spend 5 or so hours a week on an exercise bike, stair climber, treadmill or elliptical trainer?

Just ain’t going to happen, no where no how.

 To make matters even worse it appears that everything we have been told for years about exercising especially for fat loss has been wrong.

It is not about duration, nor about finding some mythical fat burning zone – studies from conservative sources like Harvard University indicate that the key to effective exercise for fat loss and overall health is all about intensity.

Here are some guidelines for judging your level of intensity using a PRE(perceived rate of

Stair runs – now that’s intense!!

exertion) protocol:

  • Level 1 = Warm-Up or Slow Pace
  • Level 2 = Medium (you can talk easily
  • Level 3 = Medium-High (you can still talk)
  • Level 4 = High (Talking is in short bursts
  • Level 5 = Hard as you can go (Talking is not possible)

These levels are based on your current level of personal condition.

The available data shows that the long, slow, constant-speed aerobics that we’ve all been inculcated to believe are so good for us is exactly the wrong thing for us to be doing.

 In fact I’d go as far as to say doing continuous cardio is a waste of time.

 Why?

Hmm…Cortisol and low intensity perhaps??!!

Long slow constant cardio doesn’t get your metabolism running faster, nor does it build your fat burning capability or even really condition your cardiovascular and respiratory systems. It does increase cortisol release – which is not a good thing as high cortisol is associated with belly fat accumulation.

Look I’ve posted before on the benefits to your metabolism (both reconditioning and improving), your fat loss and your overall health of HIIT (high intensity interval training).

There has been a heap of research showing that high intensity interval training is better than traditional, long, slow aerobics if you want to:

  • Recondition your metabolism
  • protect your heart
  • burn body fat
  • build lean muscle
  • boost your overall metabolism
  • reduce insulin resistance
  • decrease cortisol levels
  • increase levels of HGH
  • increase your energy levels
  • improve your sleep patterns
  • Not waste time

You can get faster results in a shorter time period using HIIT. And that was where we

The results of HIIT (and okay maybe some help genetically…)

came in – 8 hours a week of exercise for so-so results when you could do HIIT style exercise for 12 – 20 minutes three times a week, add in a couple of 30 – 45 minute resistance training sessions and you you’ve got more time and better results. (in fact if you combined the 2 into what is called metabolic resistance training then you’d get all the benefits in under 80 minutes a week! – more on MT and how to design a program next week)

This is just not me speaking – here are some results from recent studies:

Harvard School of Public Health: A study of over 7,000 people found that the more intense the exertion, the lower the risk of heart disease.

Physical Activity Sciences Laboratory, Laval University, Ste-Foy, Quebec, Canada: Compared to treadmills and hour-long aerobics classes, HIIT helps you burn fat more efficiently and quickly.

Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada: Moderately active women (not on their backside all day but not running marathons either…) lost an impressive amount of fat doing just two weeks of HIIT.

School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh, Scotland, UK: Young males who did HIIT / Burst Training substantially reduced their risk for type 2 diabetes.

Department of Kinesiology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada: For people with type 2 diabetes, HIIT Training can improve blood sugar levels and reduce risks for diabetes-related complications.

The next level of HIT is a thing called ‘Burst Training.’ Regular HIIT requires intense effort for fairly short periods of time interspersed with short rest periods. Now I have to go on record here and say that I think that Burst training is largely a marketing term– if you are

Either way – HIIT or Burst – this is time efficiant and fat burning to the max!!

hitting high levels of exertion in your HIIT training then you are already ‘Bursting.’

Why this term has come about is because I think that many people say they are doing HIIT when they are really only doing timed exercise. It’s Tabatas – most folk do 20 seconds on and 10 seconds off for 4 minutes and say they’ve done a Tabata.

Unless you worked so hard during those 4 minutes that you are lying on your back sucking air then you have NOT done Tabatas – you’ve done timed interval exercise which is nowhere near as challenging or stressful. Nor does it deliver the health benefits we are after in as short a period of time as true HIIT or Tabatas.

Make no mistake unless you are going ‘balls to the wall’ for short periods of time followed by short periods of rest then you are NOT performing HIIT or Burst training. You’re working out, likely getting some benefit but far less than if you go flat out.

Burst training involves short (20 – 60 second maximum) bursts at such a high intensity that the created oxygen demand is higher than your body can supply.

Think about doing sand dune sprints, prowler sprint pushes or where Rocky runs the Philadelphia stairs…

This is so much more time efficient than the CDC’s ‘moderate cardio’…

This ‘over demand’ for oxygen creates a high level of  metabolic “stress” in your body that it depletes your glycogen stores which requires your body to not only work harder to repay this ‘oxygen debt’ but means that it has to burn more fat.

The Health benefits of “burst training” are not dissimilar to that of HIIT and include…

  • Increased fat burning
  • Increased lean muscle mass
  • Improved cardiovascular health
  • Combined aerobic and anaerobic activity
  • Increased “feel-good” beta-endorphins
  • Increased human growth hormone (HGH)
  • Increased energy
  • Improved athletic performance
  • Reduced inflammation
  • Increased EPOC

If you really want to go for it then move to what is called “Threshold” intervals. These are insanely hard bursts of intense exercise that, unlike the shorter ‘burst’ style, last anywhere from 65 seconds all the way up to 2 or sometimes 3 minutes.

Now that is a HIIT and that will burn fat & recondition your metabolism like little else!

They are also so demanding physically & mentally that you can’t do this oftenwhich

Threshold training should leave you feeling like this…

means this training style should only be used on those days when you are feeling in touch with the Universe when a flow state is nigh and you want to up the ante a bit.

Few of us mortals can train this way on a regular basis – but if you can incorporate them once a week then:

1. Research shows that performing “Threshold” intervals is one of the best ways to accelerate glycogen depletion (which = faster fat loss).

2. Test subjects who regularly performed threshold intervals burned more fat when they performed steady state or higher intensity intervals.

In other words, using the Threshold system  develops your metabolism where it becomes more adept at burning fat in less time that either HIIT or Burst style training.

So forget what the politically correct exercise guidelines are – get HIITing, Bursting or jump over your Threshold!! This is how you can recondition your metabolism in record time, get leaner, get healthier and LBN.

See you next week – don’t forget to share this!!

1)      http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/adults.html

Reversing MS – Foods as Drugs

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Welcome back!!

Thanks for putting up with lack of ‘on blog’ updates – it turns out one of the apps on the site had corrupted…Now we’re back with a new look & feel and some big plans for 2012.

This week I want to draw your attention to one of the most important TED (Technology Entertainment & Design) talks ever. This 17 minute Video could literally change your life for the better.

(TED, if you don’t know, is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate “ideas worth spreading”. Essentially it is a platform for the world’s best thinkers, scientists, artists and humanists to share ideas and thoughts. Since June 2006, the talks have been offered for free viewing online, TED.com. Check it out.)

Regular readers will be familiar with my (researched!) beliefs about the damage that our Western Diet does to our bodies. Whilst my focus has been on fat loss, reconditioning your metabolism and getting lean an underlying theme has been becoming smarter in the way we live & eat so our overall health improves.

Our bodies have an almost limitless ability to survive adverse conditions and adapt o changing environments. Our internal environment can become damaged through improper nutrition and a poor lifestyle and yet despite decades of abuse our bodies can heal themselves if given the right support.

I know of no better example of this than the story of Dr Terry Wahl.

A noted, active Doctor & Academician she was struck with MS in the early 2000’s and underwent the normal, prescribed therapies available. Her condition, like every MS sufferer continued to worsen despite her best efforts. She became wheel chair bound and watched as her body slowly deteriorated.

Then she fought back! Through her own research she not only found a way to halt the progress of the disease but she reversed many of its effects.

Watch the video for a truly inspiring and more importantly scientifically documented story of courage and cure.

 

Watched it? Inspiring and somehow frightening as well. What are we and have been doing to ourselves and our children for all of these years? It almost doesn’t bear thinking about.

Simply put good health and longer health and dare I say a fit and lean body is within all of our reaches. As Dr Wahl says eating the way she describes may cost a bit more but it is much cheaper than the seemingly inevitable hospitalisation, drug therapy and health care that awaits too many of us in our later years as our poor diet catches up with us.

The idea of food as a drug is not new and has been around for centuries but rarely has there been as compelling a case for the truth of this as DR Wahl’s example. When the latest pharmaceutical drugs failed she turned to food for a cure and found one in no uncertain terms.

DR Wahl went from Wheel chair to Bike riding in 12 months

It’s true – over80% percent of our health & vitality comes from our diet.

We are truly what we eat.

Dr Wahl’s case proves that eating a more nutrient dense diet of whole foods can indeed reverse a debilitating neurological disease that conventional medicine and drugs have not been able to so far.

The implications here are enormous – we could, perhaps, through better diet actually undo decades of dietary abuse and get rid of what we currently accept as the ‘diseases of old age’ – arthritis, Type II diabetes and more besides…

In Dr. Terry Wahl’s case she specifically designed her diet to combat the effects of MS, but her results are so astonishing perhaps eating this way will achieve the same results for other chronic conditions? Research continues.

Dr Wahl’s diet was aimed at being rich in the B group vitamin (B1, B9, and B12), Omega 3 Fatty Acids, Sulphur, Iodine and antioxidants. These nutrients were researched by Dr. Wahl as being essential to proper myelin formation, nervous system action and mitochondrial health.

Whole foods - good carbs & no grains!

Here are the main foods Dr Wahl includes in her diet – the ones that are responsible for reversing her MS disease:

  • Dark green vegetables – especially Kale – that are rich in vitamin B, A, C, K and minerals
  • Foods from the Cabbage family are rich in sulfur – cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, turnips, & radishes.
  • The Onion family including leeks, chives, shallots and garlic.
  • Mushrooms & asparagus
  • Bright coloured foods such as beetroot, carrots, peppers, capsicum, red cabbage, berries, mangoes, tomatoes and strawberries. These are important sources of the flavonoids and polyphenols which act as powerful antioxidants that help support your retina, mitochondria, brain cells and even be used in toxin removal.
  • Omega 3 rich protein sources like salmon & herring, grass fed beef and lamb.
  • Organ meats like liver, kidney, heart, and sweetmeats which are high in the vitamins, minerals (including Coenzyme Q10 which is particularly important in protecting your mitochondria)
  • Seaweed for its richness of iodine and selenium. Not only does your brain need theses to produce myelin (The protective sheath that protects your nerves) but they help remove toxins such as heavy metals like mercury and lead.
  • Few grains, no wheat products and little if any dairy as these food groups have high incidences of food intolerance and sensitivities which increase inflammation in your body.
  • No sugar except that in fruits.
  • No transfats

Despite using some supplements at the beginning of her radical self-treatment Dr Wahl decided eventually to get all of the essential vitamins and minerals needs met through whole foods.  She came to believe (as many nutritionists do) that whole foods contain many co-factors which assist in the assimilation and uptake of the nutrients contained in the food.  Co-factors that supplements don’t have.

No grains!! Very Paleo style!!

In fact Dr Wahl’s diet is very close to a Paleo (AKA Caveman) diet. It is also dead in line with the one I have been talking about here – high vegetable and fruit with quality protein and no highly processed carbs.

In reality the diet Dr. Terry Wahl tailored for herself to deal with her MS is very similar to the diet that promotes an overall lean, fit and healthy body.

So eat better, move more and avoid processed crap and you will be going a long way to not only becoming leaner but the chances are that you’ll also be on the road to undoing decades of damage from our Western diet.

Don’t forget to leave a comment, Tweet this or even drop by the Face Book page.

See you next week.

 

By the time you read this you’ll need it…

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Welcome Back!!

I hope that you all had a great Christmas day and that Santa brought you what you wanted!!

I hope that you spent good times with family and friends. That the food was good & plentiful, the company enjoyable and the weather good…

Well Christmas lunch has come & gone and dinner is over, done and dusted. And you’re feeling….well stuffed, over fed, pants too tight, got a good case of belly bloat going on and that furry tongue feeling that comes from either too much alcohol. too many sweet carbs or a mixture of both. (in my case Lynne – as she always does – cooked up a superb all day feast that began with Christmas Brunch and continued all day…)

Ahh.. post Christmas Dinner bloat...

You know you should have followed the last post and eaten your Protein first but the honeyed veges looked too good, the egg nog was too plentiful, the christmas cake too inviting and well you just let go and enjoyed yourself. You let go of all of that hard won disciplne, that laser like focus on only eating to stay healthy & lean… Another Christmas day come & gone and you feel a bit guilty, like you blew it and find part of your mind saying (again) never again..

Okay time to move past this, time to get back on track, time to recognise that this was a temporary diversion and most of all time to repair some of the damage done.

So how to do this?

Firstly realise that letting go of your diet control once & a while is okay, just make sure that you climb back on the wagon. It’s really not something to beat yourself up about unless ‘once & a while’ turns into every week or….

Here’s how to get back in harness– your metabolism has been given a hiding, and your digestive system has been stressed far beyond normal limits… You need to hit the ‘reset button’.

This little trick will do what’s needed:

Once Christmas day and the following one (Boxing Day here in Australia) are done then make a decision to stay away from all highly processed, high GI foods and focus on lean Protein, fresh fruit and fibrous vegetables. Add some healthy fats via nuts & avocado and you are well on the way to getting back on track.

This means waking up and having an omelette with some Spanish onion and mushrooms in it and avoiding cereal & milk. It means grabbing an apple or a peach and some almonds for a snack, having big salads with

Drink lots of this...

olive oil dressing and chicken or turkey breast, it means avoiding breads, crackers or that the left over Christmas pudding, Pavlova or pie.

It means drinking a lot of water. A lot of water.

Eating like this will reduce the bloat, ease the stress on your digestive system and beat back those sugary carb cravings.

This works by allowing a number of things to happen – fewer carbs means your body has a chance to normalise & stabilise blood sugar levels after the havoc of the days just gone.

Your pancreas gets a break and you insulin levels will drop also. Your body will release excess fluids (high sugary carbs creates water retention – and drinking extra water when eating lower carbs actually forces a situation where excess retained water is ‘let go’).

High sugary carbs also unleash the cravings monster and eating as described above will blunt these.

So December 27th or 28th get stuck into water and left over protein, veges and fruit. Pass on the potatoes, the bread and sweets, pie & cakes. Not only will you lose the bloat but you’ll feel better quicker and be back on track for a fit & lean 2011.

Oh yeah add some gentle exercise – go for a walk, toss a Frisbee, ride a bike do some tai chi or or some swimming. The key here is to eas back into exercise not jump back in like a demon! There are some

May your dreams come true in 2012

psychological considerations for this time of year to take into account as well. Our mind tells us we should be taking it easy, we should be on holidays so our bodies are going this way as well. Don’t stop exercising just ease back into instead…

My best wishes for a Safe & Happy New Year – may 2012 be the year all your dreams come true!!

Fat Loss, Pain & Metabolism

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Welcome back!

If you’re a regular reader of this blog then it’s a sure bet that you are either looking to take back control of your body or are at least pursuing a leaner, more toned body.

It also means that you know that I believe that reconditioning or at least elevating your metabolism is the keyto achieving this.

Body Weight works well...

There are many definitions of metabolism the one I like is: “Metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that happen in living organisms to sustain life.”

However if you are carrying too much body fat, or want to develop more muscle and become stronger and fitter, not to mention healthier – then simply sustaining life isn’t the goal to aim for.  Just surviving shouldn’t be your standard. Changing how you look & feel, what you eat, how (& how often) you move basically moving past mere survival towards thriving, growing, exceeding, and surpassing – this is a worthy goal.

It is in fact a life goal.

Becoming fitter & leaner is as simple (& as complex) as the fact that the higher level your metabolism functions, the better become your results as far as fat loss and maintaining a slim, trim body. Notice I didn’t say the more efficient your metabolism becomes…(although it will of course do so)…in many ways we want our metabolism to stay somewhat irregular because once your body become efficient at anything homeostasis sets in and your body fights against change…

It is better to think in terms of elevating your metabolism by manipulating the components of it that we can exert influence over. Of course once you’ve achieved your desired fat loss / lean body then keep doing what got you there and create a new metabolic set point – this way you co-opt your body’s desire for homeostasis to work for your goal, not against it…

Metabolism is complex (& simple)

So let’s revisit some of the strategies that you can utilise to make your metabolism work at a higher rate for you…

Human metabolism can be broadly broken down into two parts: catabolism and anabolism. Catabolism is concerned with tearing things down – it is the burning of calories, the digestion of food, the breaking down of body tissues for energy or as a precursor to rebuilding (think sore muscles after a hard work out – for the sake of simplicity the muscle soreness you feel is associated with catabolic processes). It is essential the processes whereby your body fuels your cells with energy by breaking down available fuel sources.

Without the catabolic part of metabolism we would not have the energy to provide the energy to our muscles that is needed to stand, sit, move, breathe and generally create movement. It is often talked about in a negative sense but without catabolism we would just be inert sacks of chemicals & minerals.

The other side of this simplified metabolic coin is Anabolism. The anabolic side of the equation is the building part of our metabolism. Cell repair, muscle, hair, & nail growth are all anabolic processes. Basically anabolism takes energy and uses it to link / bind chemical compounds together to make larger molecules & cells.

In order to use these processes in your quest to become less fat, stronger & healthier you need to maximise both of them. For catabolism this means challenging, regular exercise that causes your muscles & other energy pathways to burn fuel like fat, carbohydrates, and sugars. For anabolism it too means challenging exercise coupled with protein and nutrient rich foods. The more intensely that you

Tabata protocol using KBs works both sets of muscles & burns fat...

train the more your metabolism elevates and more opportunities your body gains to shed fat and gain lean mass.

As we’ve seen intense training is not long duration training and more importantly training that uses protocols like Tabatas or HIIT tend to work a lot of muscles – and this is important for overall fitness, well being and fat loss.

Muscles are the furnaces that burn fat in your body. Muscles are numerous and together they have 2 general roles to play – mobility & stability. You know by now my preference for whole body workouts that use compound movements. Compound movements are important because they not only use the large muscles but they also activate and exercise the stabilising muscles. Stabilising muscles are an often overlooked component of movement & fat loss.

The larger muscles (think quadriceps, deltoids, pecs & lats) are called ‘prime movers’ and allow your body to move with what is called ‘Dynamic Mobility’– which is another way of saying through a full range of motion.

The stabilising muscles tend to be smaller, less obvious (even when developed) and lie deeper in the body & closer to the joints. Their role is to do as their name suggests – to stabilise. Stabiliser muscles like your shoulders rotator cuff, like your deep abdominals, like your infraspinitus and spinal multifidi all work to keep our bodies ‘together’ whilst it moves. Whether walking, pitching a ball, skiing a slope or sitting in a meal these muscles stop the actions of the prime movers from pulling us apart as we move dynamically. They are in use all of the time and as such are major (but oft times unsung) users of energy.

Working both types of muscles is important for another reason – if the Prime Movers become too strong &

Stress releases cortisol - belly fat anyone!!??

overwhelm the stabilising muscles then we begin to collect injuries – often chronic ones. Or if the stabilisers become weak then the Prime Movers have to pull ‘double duty’ and act not just as movers but also as stabilisers. This type of overload can lead to joint dysfunction and pain. Note I mean pain, not the soreness that accompanies a good workout, but deep lasting hurt!

Pain is read by your body as a source of stress and causes it to release stress hormones like cortisol which not only blunts anabolic metabolism but also directs fat storage to the belly area.

Chronic muscle imbalance = Pain = more belly fat.

 So in order to avoid this you’ve got to move often, move intensely, & move well. This means using compound movements (think Olympic style lifts) with activities like sprinting and walking.

To get the most out of your metabolism, both in terms of catabolism & anabolism your training should involve training intensely in a way that is without pain. Chronic Pain will constantly undermine the effectiveness of your workouts and pull your metabolic levels down.

See you next week.