Category Archives: Fat Loss

Becoming Lean

Vitamin B & Fat Loss

Posted on by
Reply

Welcome back:

This week we’re going to look at three special B-Group Vitamins that compliment your fat-loss quest, while keeping you healthy and strong.

Losing body fat is a bit like fighting a war – you need the right strategy the right weapons and the right troops plus the will to overcome if you are going to win.

To win the war against excess body fat, the B-Group Vitamins should be amongst your best friends and a part of your arsenal. They’re a vital component of nutrition that enables your body to turn food into energy.

It is easier to work out and to exercise your will power when you are full of energy – without the B-group Vitamins your energy levels will be low and your ability to recondition your metabolism and to withstand temptation will fall. This in turn will make your fat-shedding efforts so much the harder…

There are three (3) main B vitamins that I want focus on. Individually they are important to your health – when used together they keep you strong, healthy, energised and compliment your fat loss efforts.

But first – What are B-Group vitamins exactly?

The B-Group Vitamins

The B-Group Vitamins are water-soluble vitamins. This simply means that they once they are processed by your body any excess is excreted in your urine.

Overdosing on B-Group is rarely an issue…

This also means that they are quickly depleted in situations of high sweat loss and activity. Because water-soluble vitamins are not stored in the body in appreciable amounts and are used up and depleted rapidly, it’s important that you ensure that you are getting enough of them by eating foods that are rich in these vitamins or by taking a supplement to make sure that you have adequate levels in your system.

I recommend that you do both.

Drinking alcohol also increases the need for the B-Group Vitamins so after a heavy session of ‘glass raising’ taking a B supplement before hitting the sack is always a good idea. It’s even better if sleep is followed by another Vitamin B Group tab or 2 upon rising the next morning.

There are eight B-vitamins, which include thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), pyridoxine (B6), folic acid (B9), cyanocobalamin (B12), pantothenic acid and biotin.
These vitamins act as coenzymes and as catalysts in the chemical reactions that transfer energy from the food we eat to our body systems.

They are essential for the breakdown of the macronutrients(Carbs to glucose,

Hangover – alcohol increases your Vitamin B needs – a lot!!

proteins & fats to a number of elements essential for the repair and maintenance, growth, normal functioning of our nervous system and healthy hair, skin and nails. You need to be getting B-group Vitamins everyday – without them you’ll ail.

Several of these B-Group Vitamins are especially important to having a fast (ie fat burning) metabolism and by extension a leaner, fitter body.

Pyridoxine: Vitamin B6

Vitamin B6 has three chemical forms (as pyridoxine, pyridoxal, and pyridoxamine) and is the B-group Vitamin most necessary for proper protein metabolism. The coenzyme form of B6 is associated with more than 100 other enzymes which are critical for amino acid breakdown from protein foods and the conversion of certain amino acids from one type to another.

Amino acids as you know are essentially the body’s building blocks and are a necessary part of tissue repair, muscle growth, nerve sheaths, nails, hair etc etc.

B6 also helps your body to access and use the glycogen in your muscle cells for energy when you are moving and especially when you are working out. No glycogen = no movement.

If you’re not sleeping then your B-Group needs go up!!

Also the breakdown of glycogen plays an important part in the regulation of blood sugar levels (blood sugar is stored as glycogen in the muscles and liver but once these areas are full the excess is stored as body fat!).

Another important function of B6 is its ability to diminish the actions of hormones such as cortisol – the stress hormone. As we’ve previously explored on this blog when you’re under stress your body releases lots of cortisol which does a number of negative things primarily for our discussion – it promotes the storage of belly fat. It also promotes the breakdown & use of muscle tissue as fuel.

Great double whammy – you store more fat and lose muscle so your metabolism slows even further…

Adequate B6 levels are critical in times of stress (bad stress like job, money or relationship worries or even good stress like exercise) so your body does not store extra body fat and use precious muscle protein for energy.

Because B6 is so important for protein metabolism, it’s requirement depends on the

B-group helps you feel like this!!

amount of protein you consume on a daily basis. An intake of about 1.6 mg of B6 for every 100 g of protein is considered by the National Academy of Sciences to meet the needs of adults under normal conditions .

However, for athletes and people that exercise regularly (and often eat more protein), their vitamin B6 requirements will be higher given the greater need for energy and protein metabolism. Scientific studies have shown that exercise greatly depletes B6 levels in the body and needs to be kept in check through supplementation.

As you can see, when you’re an active person consuming more protein than the” Average Westerner”, your needs for vitamin B6 are increased, and it’s critical you get at least the minimum amount in each day.

Some of your best food sources of B6 include fortified cereals, potatoes, bananas, chickpeas and chicken (contains ~ 0.5-0.7 mg), but even if you are eating those foods you’d be wise to take a B-Group supplement.

Cobalamins: Vitamin B12.
What we call Vitamin B12 is actually a collection of compounds that are different molecules all containing the element cobalt. The most common form is the B12 vitamin known as cyanocobalamin.

The various forms of B12 work in the body to maintain normal brain and nervous system development and function, and play a role in influencing DNA synthesis and regulation.

B12 also plays an important role in the metabolism of fatty acids and creation of energy from foods containing fats.

You’ll hit the wall without enough B-Group Vitamins in your system… 

People with insufficient B12 in their diet suffer fatigue, depression, and can develop poor memory. In severe cases cracks may form in the corner of their mouth ( a condition known as angular cheilitis).

The cause of this tiredness and skin damage is related in part to B12’s role in red blood cell production which is necessary to carry oxygen and iron through the body. Because of this B12 is important in assisting the prevention of anaemia.

Athletes and hard exercisers may have low body B12 status, due to their increased metabolism and the raised demand for this vitamin to be used repair damaged blood cells and injured muscle tissue; and to carry more oxygen around in the blood while exercising.

This means that if you are working out regularly and hard then you will need more than the average daily allowance of ~2.4 mcg/day.

Vitamin B12 is only found in animal based foods so vegetarians – especially vegans – are

Good B6 Source – Chicken!!

at risk of developing the above mentioned symptoms of deficiency unless they supplement their dietary income.

The foods highest in B12 are shellfish (mussels, lobster), oily fish (trout, salmon, tuna), and organ meats (liver).

Biotin
Biotin is an essential cofactor for several key enzymes in the production of glucose (& glycogen) and the metabolism of fats and proteins. For example, in order for the liver to make glucose (through a process called gluconeogenesis), an enzyme essential to this process called pyruvate carboxylase requires biotin in order to function correctly. No biotin no liver produced glucose…

Biotin is also needed for the breakdown of the branch chain amino acids from protein (leucine, isoleucine and valine), and some fatty acids from fat-containing foods.

B-Group Vitamins help when you’re stressed…

People who exercise often have an increased need for biotin for several reasons:

• Increased metabolism resulting in the loss of this vitamin in urine or sweat
• Increased mitochondrial enzymes that require more biotin for cofactors
• Increased need for tissue repair and maintenance
• Increased food intake requiring biotin for metabolism

The richest source of Biotin is cooked eggs (Forget the ‘Rocky’ raw egg eating – raw egg whites bind biotin due to the protein avidin). Although the average daily allowance is set at least 30 mcg of biotin each day, there is no toxicity associated from higher intakes, especially in people who are active.

B-Group Vitamins = Good Health

As you can see, ideal intake of these B-Group Vitamins helps gives your body the energy

B-Group Vitamins help you look like this…

to exercise hard, so that you can burn more fat and build more lean muscle. If you’re constantly tired because your metabolism is sluggish, if you can’t create the right energy from the food you eat then you’ll be unable to rid your body of excess body fat or achieve a lean, strong physique. So, make sure that you get plenty of these simple but potent vitamins via eating unprocessed foods and topping up with a supplement.

If you do so then your body will lose fat, your metabolism will run better and your overall health will improve.

See you next week.

 

Three Ways to Shape Shift

Posted on by
1

Welcome back!!

Hi folks – just a quick one today – here are 3 ways to shape shift…

Shifting you shape is all about altering the composition of your body so you have a greater proportion of lean tissue and less fat.

Shape Shifting deals with complex biochemical processes, metabolism, mental attitude and hormones. It is not a simple thing to do. But the actions you can take to achieve greater leanness and less body fat can start off simply enough.

1) Try to eat “single ingredient” foods as much as possible

Diet accounts for over 80% of your efforts to recondition your metabolism and alter your shape so it is important to begin to get it under control.

Learn to read these - the fewer ingredients the better...

If you are buying packaged food check your labels. The fewer ingredients listed (especially the fewer chemical names & numbers & different sugar types) the better. Avoid anything with Transfats listed as more than 1% ( zero is better) or anything that screams Low fat but is full of sugar – if fact if any food you buy is over 10% sugar you probably should give it a miss.

Even better try to increase the fresh component so that you are buyibng the majority of your food so fresh that it has NO labels! Think Lamb & Letuce, Beef & broccoli etc etc.

Our bodies just run better on whole foods and the less procesing involved the better for us & our health. These foods are typically more nutrient dense, usually calorie sparser and give us feelings of satiety more quickly and for a longer period of time.

The exception to this is canned & frozen foods like vegetables and beans. Nutritionally these are usually as good for you as fresh food (in some cases even better).

Again check the labels for high suagr or sodium – avoid any with these in high proportions. Use the Single Ingredient rule – the fewer items listed on the label the closer to nature and less processing that has taken place.

2) To Shape it you’ve got to Move it!! – Move more…

An effective metabolism is your greatest tool for fat loss and better health. If you don’t move your metabolism slows down.

The more you move the happier you are...

This does not mean that you have to live in the gym but that you should incorporate a range of physical activity into your daily life. So go to the gym (3 times a week no more than 1 hour at a time) to lift heavy weights, walk every day, climb hills, go padddle Boarding, ride a bike, do dance classes (even Zumba), wrestle your kids, throw the ball for the dog, re-arrange the furniture – whatever hits your switch, If they stop swimming sharks diejust move!!

If you work in an office download this free little timer (http://www.harmonyhollow.net/cool_timer.shtml) set it for 45 minutes and when it goes off stand up and go for a quick walk, do a few squats – anything but get out of the chair! Then reset it for another 45 and get back to work. Your metabolism & back will thank you.

Studies have shown that people who walk 10,000 steps or more a day are happier, less stressed and have higher energy levels…

Your metabolism slows down if you don’t move and you fat goes up. Remember our bodies were designed to move…

3)Sleep on it…

Studies have shown clear links between lack of sleep and fat gain. We live in times of long work days, meals on the run and watching late night television to ‘wind down’. The net effect is that we are sleeping less and our bodies, in particular our metabolisms are paying for it.
The biological rhythm of sleeping and waking is called our circadian rhythm. And this is intricately tied to our metabolism.

If you wake up like this you need more sleep...

This 24-hour circadian rhythm governs just about all of our fundamental physiological functions.
Researchers have discovered (Science 1 May 2009: Vol. 324 no. 5927 pp. 654-657 DOI: 10.1126/science.1170803) that an enzyme protein called SIRT1 interacts with a protein nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD for short) that senses cell energy levels and modulates metabolism and aging. In other words there is a tightly regulated co-dependency between your circadian clock and your metabolism and cellular performance.

This also suggests that proper sleep and diet may help maintain or rebuild the balance between your circadian clock and your metabolism, and could also help explain why lack of rest or disruption of normal sleep patterns can increase hunger, leading to obesity-related illnesses and accelerated aging.

So if you regularly deprive yourself of sleep, you’re effectively disrupting your biological processes, including those regulating your metabolism. The news gets worse – lack of sleep has been shown to affect levels of leptin and ghrelin, the two major hormones linked with appetite and eating behaviours. When you are sleep deprived, your body decreases production of leptin, the hormone that tells your brain there is no need for more food. At the same time it increases levels of ghrelin, a hormone that triggers hunger.

The end result is decreased satiety, hunger pangs, and a sluggish metabolism…

So what is the right number of hours of sleep to get? Truth is there is no one-size-fits-all number of prescribed hours, although there’s some evidence indicating that somewhere around seven hours a night is ideal from a general health perspective.

If you are waking up feeling sluggish you need more.

So there you have simple ways to begin to ‘Shift your Shape’

Let me know how you go with them.

That’s it. And it really can be that simple. No gimmicks. No fads. Just small, proven life changes that have a lasting impact.

And that’s what Body Shape Shifters is all about — permanent long term change based on skills you take with you. Knowledge is power, and we’re sitting on top of fuel grade uranium!

Real Training for Real Fat Loss

Posted on by
2

Welcome Back!!

Today’s blog is about laying out the facts of how to train for real fat loss. Regular readers will know that I believe you should focus on fat loss, not weight loss. (If you don’t have a copy of my free report on fat loss myths you can get one from the box to the right of this post)

Simply put, after over a decade of my own ups, downs & failures to achieve lasting fat loss I have developed some fairly strong opinions on this issue.

Lots & lots of reading these last 10 or so years...

I have come to hold theses opinions through a combination of educating myself by reading articles, chasing down scientific papers, following an ever changing cast of fitness ‘gurus’ and by trying just about every program there has been. Like famous author Tim Ferriss, I have used myself as guinea pig, and I have arrived at some convictions about fat loss.

The biggest mistake I made and the one I still see the most people making is this belief that low intensity, high volume cardio is the best way to lose fat.

Let me tell you this is a crock – not true at all!!

They have their place, but not the one you've been told!

Short sharp cardio (think Tabata’s or sprints) will burn more fat for longer than hours on a treadmill, a stationary bike, stepper, strider or slider. There is a heap of research out there on this. Trouble is many Personal Training organisations, many medicos and other ‘health’ professionals are either using information from textbooks that were old when they did their degrees or else they are playing politics to gain more mainstream acceptance. Doesn’t really matter – high volume low intensity cardio is a mug’s game. Period.

Second in line is the belief that doing high volumes of circuit training exclusively is the best means of burning fat.

When I first started coming across the research on the effect of high volume circuit training on fat loss I thought that I had found the Holy Grail. The more I looked the more research I found to support this, the more of the Gurus I found who supported this – it seemed like a no-brainer.
Again – this is not right!!

One of the benefits of being your own guinea pig is that you can judge what actually works and what the effects are.

The truth is that no one exercise modality can or should be used exclusively when fat loss is the goal. What you need is a mix of exercise types that hits different energy systems in your body and works to drive your metabolism.

Using circuit training exclusively I found:

1) That the perception of effort was right up there – these were hard & challenging workouts!! So hard in fact, that I started to collect niggling injuries from too many repetitions.

2) This came about from the high volume of exercises were giving my joints, tendons & ligaments a real beating. I developed overuse injuries and these required me to stop & heal – no fat burning happens when you can’t work out!!

Injuries mean no fat loss

3) The type of exercise done in these ‘fat loss’ circuits did not allow for much weight to be used 9nor could it be safely used) so my strength began to drop off. Rapidly. A beginner may have gotten stronger (if they avoided overuse injuries) but anyone with any time using weights just seems to get weaker.

4) A drop in strength and a lack of challenging weight coupled with high volumes = Muscle loss. High volume circuits when used exclusively as a fat loss modality leads to lean tissue loss which leads to a slower metabolism which leads to shifting any fat just gets harder & harder to do.

5) High Volume Circuits also cause physical stress out of proportion to their benefits which increases your levels of cortisol (everyone’s favourite ‘fat to the belly’ stress hormone) and decreases both Growth Hormone & testosterone release. Certainly not what you want for fat loss.
However this does not mean circuits are bad. Nope they just become bad when they are used exclusively for fat loss and other exercise types & protocols are not used.

An effective, metabolic reconditioning program needs to contain most if not all of the following key factors:

1) Lift weights, heavy weights using compound (multi-joint) exercises. Think Deadlifts, chin / pull ups, squats, overhead presses, clean & jerks or even one-armed push ups. Think 4 – 6 reps and no more than 3 or 4 sets.
Not only does this preserve lean tissue, it promotes strength and better fat utilisation as fuel

2) Train fast but safe. In other words perform your exercises as fast as you can whilst maintaining good form. This engages your nervous system and leads to a faster metabolism.

3) Perform some size work – use weights that you can move for 6 – 10 reps and again no more than 4 sets. Again try for compound moves or bodyweight exercises where you are at a mechanical disadvantage. NB these sets should always come after your heavy sets.

4) Circuit training – no more than 3 stations, no more than 15 – 20 reps a time and only 3 – 4 rounds.

5) Sprint. Great for fat loss, great for your legs, do wonders for your cardiovascular & aerobic systems. Best done either later in the day or the day after your weight / circuit training.

Move your body through space - the faster the better!!

So there you have it – the best way to achieve maximum fat loss via exercise.

Give this style of training a try, and see for yourself!

The Top Current Weight Loss Scams

Posted on by
2

Firstly let’s be clear – you want to look for fat loss not weight loss. You can lose weight through water loss, muscle loss or even bone mass loss – none of which will do anything except make you into a smaller ‘skinny’ fat person with a lousy metabolism and a host of health problems.

Secondly let’s take a look at what passes as the latest & greatest solutions to being ‘overweight’… Some are new, some are old timers dressed up in new clothes…

Everyday there seems to be a new miracle cure or miracle machine available everytime you turn on the TV. Each one promises 6-pack abs, and the body of your dreams ( also notice how most of them miraculously seem to give you a tan, whiter teeth, and big hair…)

But it is not just TV – every newspaper or magazine you pass on the newsstand or open has more miracles waiting for you to try – Pills, secret herbal formulas, tibetan fruits, extracts from the South Sea islands, Nepalese diets or yet other machines.

Radio has it as well, and so does the internet – especially the health & Lifestyle sections of on-line news… we are bombarded by the patently untrue mesage that there is amagic bullet, pill, potion, herb, diet or machine that will transform our bodies with minimal effort and virtually overnight.

Scam machines have been around for long, long time...

Emotionally we go “Well it sounds plausible, those people look a lot better and they couldn’t advertisie it if it didn’t work could they…’ This drowns out the logical part of us that goes ‘Hang on – None of this stuff I’ve tried has worked in the past, people get paid for these ads, this just can’t be right – it all seems too good to be true’

Marketing is an art that uses advertising to excite the emotional part of us and shut down the logical part. They do this by appealing to our vanity, our wants & desires; by having celebrities endorsing the latest machine / potion / pill and by using incredibly good looking people as demonstrators.

The truth is that far too often we fall into the artful marketing trap and end up buying a machine that does not do as it promises or else has a restrction on how heavy you can be to use it (and this is always not a level that enable males in particular to use them); or with pills / potions or lotions that just don’t work. Even worse is the diet plans that wreck your metabolism even further by encouraging poor nutrition or is impossible for an adult with a job or a family to keep to..

yep - that'll work...

Then if we do lose weight on the miracle program we put it all back on in short order and usually add a few pounds more than when we started.

Worst of all we waste our hopes, our time and our money things that just don’t work. Remember the old marketing adage – ‘Sell the sizzle, not the steak.’In short we waste time, energy and most of all hope on these scams.

I have personally beeen caught out by these things many times over the years and I want to help you avoid making the same mistakes that many of us make by getting involved in these rip offs.

Here are some of the curent ones:

Scam#1: The you-beaut, fantastic, proven by thermal imaging amazing 6-pack machine / gadget / device

Everyone wants a flat stomach. Every male (and quite a few females) want 6-pack abs and every year there are at least 7 or 8 new machines put out on the market. Each one promises that it is / uses the latest tchnology and will transform your body in only minutes a day or week.
(to be fair some of them also – usually passed over or in the fine print – mention that you have to use the machine AND their special diet as well to achieve results)

Of course we know that to lose fat we have to:

  • Create a calorie deficit
  • Manipulate your hormones through diet, food choice, frequency of meals
  • Exercise
  • Recondition & fire up your metabolism through all of the above.

Not only can you NOT lose fat by sitting / lying/ twisting / jumping on the latest machine for 7 or 10 minutes a day (or what ever the latest claim is ), you CAN’T spot reduce. No machine short of the ones plastic surgeons use for liposuction can deliver spot reduction. Not a one.

Oh yeah and doing 100’s of crunches doen’t reduce your fat or weight either.

Fat loss results happen due to reductions in the fat carrried by your entire body. Physiologically you can’t just burn the fat from a selected area. (although there is some research out about BAT – brown adipose tissue, a type of body fat designed for quick burning – that may support spot reduction in very specific areas 9 upper back – and under very specific conditions – just wait until the marketing guys get their hands on that!!)

What they promise...

The models using the machines were already in shape and were hired for the ads because they were in shape and could use the machine without falling off!! They shure did not get into shape using the machine they are smiling about on TV.

None of us should fall for the fiction that by by rocking back and fort or by circling or twist stepping that we will end up looking like the models. We let hope (or despair) overrule commonsense.

Still literally millions of these useless devices / machines are sold every year. I have a friend who has a collection fo them – all were flavour of the month for about 2 weeks – all ended up in the basement, the closet or under the bed. Not a few have made appearences on EBay.

All failed and yet my friend like others just keeps falling for the marketing again. And again. (By machines & devices I include sliders, treaders, walkers, gliders, swings, bean, roll ups twisters, circlers etc etc)

My personal favourite is the one that ‘works’ your abs by giving you small electric shocks. Comedian Robin Williams has got it 100% correct when he says: ‘You’d be better off wrapping it around your head, turning it on and saying ‘I will not buy stupid s*it like this again!!”

Scam #2: Special Super Weight Loss diet plans.

This one is easy to spot – it either involves diet plans that totally cut out an entire food group or it is based on using an exotic fruit / vitamin, extract or juice.

Another scam easy to spot is those diets that require you to eat only 1 type of food for an extended period of time – no-carb, low-carb, no meat, no cheese, no fish, lemon juice only, high protein, watermelon, no fruit, fruit only, cabbage soup, chicken fruit, Israeli Army diets, food combining, lemon pepper, grapefruit diets banana diets, bean diets, French diets, Hollywood diets, Beach diets, fat diets – etc etc

Not for the long term & most are a scam...

A hallmark of these types of diets is their lack of nutritional balance, their rebound weight gain after you go of them and a further slowing of your metabolism.

These all have several things in common – they do work (for a short while) for weight loss, they wreck your fat metabolism and they are a waste of time. Any severe alteration to food ingestion and reduction in calories will result in some weight loss, even, in some cases, some fat loss – but most of them cause weight loss by fluid loss and as these are often poor in terms of protein you also lose lean tissue. Result – an even more compromised metablism and rapid weight gain.

It may be necessary to recondition your metabolism and refresh your food habits by using a short term more restrictive program (like Lose 20 in 30) but unless such programs are nutritionally balanced and based around better dietary choices they will not work.

Of course once your metabolism is reconditioned then you can move to a lifestyle program that ensures you stay lean & fit & healthy.

Scam #3:  The ‘Unbelievable Body Transformation with a side of Miracle results in a short period of time’ Products

It is possible to lose 30 pounds or more of fat in a month – but this requires a strategic and holistic program covering diet, hormone manipulation, food choices, feeding frequency metabolic reconditioning and not a small measure of discipline. Fat loss of this magnitude cannot be continued on and on either – mentally & physically you will need a rest. My point is that to lose fat rapidly requires a structured, strategic program that covers a lot of ground.

If you see a diet plan that tells you you are going to see rapid, overnight results – you know the type ‘lose 10 pounds in 3 days!! – just walk away. If you see an ad for the latest fat burning / blocking / destroying pills – walk away. Because they don’t work in nearly all cases and the few that do only work for a short time.

If people are not trying to recondition their metabolism and are taking the long view, then losing up to 4 pounds (2 kilos) a week is about the average healthy fat loss. Most people who are watching their food choices, eating less processed crap and moving more tend to lose fat at this rate. Nearly everyone loses more weight in their first few weeks than later on. This is because of a number of factors. The main factor is homeostasis – your body does not like change and tries to stay the way it was before you began to alter your habits. The other reason is that a lot of the initial weight loss (not fat loss) can be fluid that is freed up as your body adjusts to new food choices and calorie limits.

It is also true that less fat you have to lose the slower you’ll lose it – see homeostasis above…

The miracle results scams usually require you to go a liquid / shake only diet, buy their special calorie controlled diet food or use special pills or / patches. All in all just a way to part you from your money. Again the results of these types of programs tend to be short term and when the pills run out (if not before), the last shake has been taken then the weight comes back. With a vengeance.

(I should point out that there are some Doctor prescribed medicines that do indeed speed metabolism and assist in fat loss, but these are not the ones you see with celebrity endorsements or on TV. Nor are they the ones you can buy over the internet, proper medically supervised liquid only diets do exist and they are used in life threatening circumstances and are administered in medical facilities – not your kitchen.)

But real fat loss, lasting leanness comes from what; when; & how much you eat and how often and how much & often you move. That’s it. No magic potions, pills, patches, foods or bullets exist to do the job for you. None.

Save your money and your emotional well being.

Scam #4: ‘Diet Foods & Foods that cry out ‘Fat Free’!!

My favourite – ‘Fat Free’ they scream from the packaging as if all fat was the enemy (its not) and yet they fail to mention the amount of sugar they have put in to the products to replace the fat, or the amount of indigestable gums they have added to replace the mouth feel of food that has had the fat removed.

Nutritionally these foods are a disaster area and they can actually add to a tendency to put on fat. Most of these pre-packaged, processed ‘fat-free’ foods contain a wide array of additives, such as high fructose corn syrup, refined sugars, MSG, sodium and saturated fats. Yes fat.

You see current US law requires that fat content of greater than five grams be listed in one gram increments, less than five grams be listed in .5 gram increments, and lower than .5 grams as containing zero grams of fat. Thius means that if a product has .49 grams of (any including trans) fat, the label can list the fat content as zero. In the case of trans fats this amount (.49 grams) is way over the recommended daily allowance and could contribute to various adverse health effects.

Moreover most of these foods are low in protein, which as regular readers of this blog know is needed to stimulate your metabolism, maintain and build muscle tone.

In theory, I like the idea of pre-packaged meals to assist in weight loss. They make it easier to control portion sizes but the truth is that they too are examples more of the marketer’s art than of any real fat loss benefit. Plus they tend to be more expensive than real food.

Then there is the issue of dependence – what happens if someone stops using these foods and has not learnt about proper food choices? They return to old habits and the cycle begins again…

So if you’re thinking about using pre-packaged foods because of the convenience factor, just be sure to look at the ingredients and if you see a high amount of sugars and gums put them back on the shelf. After all, many pre-packaged diet foods are stuffed with additives that encourage rather detract from obesity.

Scam #5: Celebrity or fake doctor-endorsed diets.

Celebrities are paid big bucks to endorse products – famously many Hollywood types go to Japan and make millions by endorsing products that have not and never will use.

But they wouldn't use it if it didn't work...

It is not so different in the West. Celebrity endorsement works – people want to be ‘Like Mike,’ they want to be able to identify with their heros – whether from sports or entertainment.

Look use commonsense – if a celebrity is promoting a product the chances are they did not use it to get the way they look, or to gain the effect of the product they are promoting. (I think that Chuck Norris is one of the few who actually used a product they promoted – the body weight gym thing.) Even if the celebrity actually used the product does not mean that it is safe, effective or works – just that the celebrity involved has a bit more integrity than others…

Look don’t trust celebrity advice on weight loss. Particularly if you know they’re being paid to say what the company wants them to say. Just because an actor used to star in your favorite TV show, doesn’t mean they’re suitable to, or qualified to, give you cogent weight loss advice. Remember, most celebs, even the Bor D grade ones, have a whole behind-the-scenes team helping them get, look and stay slim.

Worse still are the Doctors for hire. In Australia we see few medicos endorsing weight loss products, but we do see an endless stream of nutritionists, dieticians and personal trainers doing so. This is not the case in other countries where you can add Doctors for Hire to the advertising mix.

In these cases it is usually some Doctor (often a Dentist, a Chiropractor, Doctor of Philosophy or from some non-medico type) you have never heard of touting some miracle pill / potion / device that is a breakthrough you’ve also never heard of. Just remember he is being paid for his time & endorsement. Many of these Docs for hire hail from fields of study that have as much to do with fat loss as a mechanic has to do with flower arranging.

Scam #6: Toning Shoes & Shake Weights

It seems that everyone has their own version of ‘toning shoes’ out now. Target & K Mart carry in-house brands, and many international footwear companies have their own versions. Does this proliferation mean that they work? Do the celebrity endorsements mean that these are one of the ‘secret’ tricks used by the celebs in question to stay in shape?

No – it just means that the idea behind them is logical enough that a whole lot of people are buying them.

By stimulating various muscle groups through an unstable platform, these shoes supposedly increase both muscle tone and weight loss. Unfortunately testing by various consumer groups have conclusively proven that this is not the case and that the shoes could in fact cause you injury.

Just because a celeb says they use them doesn’t make it true. And even if they do, it doesn’t mean that they work…

Just like Shake Weights.

Apparently there are hundreds of fit, chiselled, lean men & women who shake weights for 15 minutes a day to get in and stay in shape. Entire armies of closet weight shakers…

If you look at the weights involved and how they are supposed to used youn will see that they are closer in concept & performance to those Ab belts of the 70’s & 80’s. or take a look at your local bar tender – he is unlikely to show a musclar physique from all of those cocktails he has shaken and served…

Sorry – they don’t work – the idea that the vibration they provide stimulates your muscles enough to burn significant calories and stimulate muscle growth is laughable.

Stay away from them.

Scam #7: Performance enhancing hologram embedded braclets.

Seriously a piece of silicon rubber with a ‘hologram’ embedded in it is supposed to enhance your athletic ability and therfore assist in developing the body & sport’s perfomance of your dreams. And this piece of ‘technology’ only costs $60 (unless you go to EBay & buy from China where this fashion accessory will cost you about $2)

In Australia they have had to withdraw their claims and offer refunds...

I really don’t have to go any further with this one do I??

So there you have it – some of the top weight loss scams to avoid.

Be well, I’ll be back soon, and focussing on foods you can add to your diet to help you drop the fat..

5 Truths about Fat Loss

Posted on by
Reply

Welcome back!!

Here are five truths about fat loss that you often do not get told by the ‘weight loss gurus’ out there:

1. Prepare to be uncomfortable – At least for the first while.

In order to ose fat you have to make changes and as we have seen inprevious posts your body doen’t like change very much. in fact it fights it!! Thsi means that if you are serious about fat loss and are using a real program you will feel uncomfortable for a little while while your body starts to accept and then utilse the changes you are making.

One of the easiest changes to make is to eat less. by this I mean try to eat less than you are normallycomfortable with.

Changes from a poor to a good diet can be a litle uncomfotable for a few days...

We all know that lose fat we have to create some form of calorie deficit on a regular basis and a simple way to do this is to eat less than what has become ‘normal’ for us.

The key to doing this succesfuly is to eat foods that promote a feeling of satiety – and this means lean proteins, fibrous carbs and good fats with a distinct lowering of processed carbs.
If you can do this on a regular basis, eating less will quickly become the new ‘eating normal’ for you.

2. This is a tough one, especially in this day of media overkill interms of how we should look & act – but compare yourself to yourself.

No two people’s shapes are the same, everyone has a different body shape so it makes no sense at all to say I don’t look like Brad Pitt (I don’t!) or Angelina Joie ( I definately don’t!!) as no=one does.

The photos we see on magazine covers of either celebrities, models or just ‘beautiful people’ are photshopped, airbrushed, and taken from expertly lit photo shoots done by professionals. No real person can look like that without the same technology and support (make-up, lighting, personal chefs etc etc) being available. Yet we tend to compare us to these images and almost EVERY picture you see a completely unrealistic illustration of a human body. And like it or not, no matter how hard we try we will never look like these images…

It will take a while to get to look like this - if ever. be your best, not the media's...

By all means use the mass media images as a means of inspiration but the ONLY person you should be comparing yourself to is yourself. Use the mirror and way your clothes fit to chart progress and focus on becoming the best that you can, not the bestt hat Photshop can produce…

3. Be in a hurry but be patient. At the same time.

Sounds crazy but what I mean is that there is NO evidence to back up the idea that the maximum ‘safe’ fat loss is a couple of pounds a week. This is an arbitary number that has gained widespread acceptance without any scientific backing.

It is possible to lose a lot of weight more quickly than this – but (notice I said weight and not fat) the usual drastic means often mean fluid loss, wrecked metabolisms and ending up a skinny fat person.

You can safely lose over 20 pound of fat in a month by using the right protocols – eating nutrient dense, calorie sparse foods; increasing your lean protein intake, exercising so you maintain muscle mass and increase your metabolic rate and use diet tricks that manipulate your hormones and enable you to successfully combat your body’s desire to maintain the status quo. These things usesd together will deliver a string fat loss.

So you you sould be in a hurry to get on the right program and begin to make the necessary changes so your metabolism becomes fitred up again.

Move it more...

You should be patient as even with a fat loss of 20 pounds in a month you are unlikely to see thaose 6-pack abs or get as lean as you want. This is where you keep at it and twatch the results come.

In my experience most 30 -day body recompositions for someone who is over 30 pounds overweight progress something like this:

First Week – Some cravings, your body is fighting back some soreness from unaccustomed exercise.

Second Week – The odd craving or 2 surfaces, your body is getting used to eating differently, you have dropped some size, exercise is not as challenging and you feel stronger.

Third Week – No cravings, visible changes, clothes fit better you are stringer & feel fitter & stronger, energy levels rise.

Fourth Week– Waist measurements are lower, your shape is diffeent- especially in the arms & legs and under the chin; the food is second nature, the exercise a habit and you are seein gthe results of a 20 pond fat loss and feeling great.

Feel fitter & stronger...

Again – this is generic – how your body and your mind react will be unique to you but in general if you follow a program like the ones outlined in previous blogs thisis what will happen.

4. Just because you are exercising more does not mean that you can eat more. Not yet.

Remeber you are trtying to fire up your metabolism and a proper program will enable you to eat the right fuel and not feel hungry. However there is a persistent myth that just because you exercise you can ‘reward’ yourself by eating lots more or even re-introducing some of the foods that got you fat in the first place.

Wrong – you cannot & should not. At least not until you are at your goal shape (again shape NOT weight). Once you are there you can switch to a maintenance program and frankly after 30 plus days of eating correctly you will not likely want to over eat or eat junk. (NB a good program allows for ‘Cheat days” where you eat what you want but again over time even on the cheat days you’ll find your desire for poor food much diminished.)

5. Lastly understand that your weight will flucuate over your fat loss journey.

So don’t weigh yourself every day – this is the quickest route to depression and falling off the leannes wagon there is.

Your goal is fat loss, part of this is increasing lean mass. Lean masss weighs more than fat so the scales could show you even gaining some weight in the early weeks. Add to this diferences in fluid intake & retention, Menses, the differing effects of different foods and your weight can alter as much as 6 or 7 pounds from day to day.

Get off the damn scales!!

Use the mirror, use your clothes and if you have to use the scales do it once a week at the same time and on the same day.

Stay the course and focus on the monthly trend.

I’ll be back soon!! Be well!!

How to Master Hunger

Posted on by
Reply

Welcome back! I hope that you & your family had a safe & enjoyable New Year’s celebration.

When you are trying to lose fat, recondition your metabolism manipulate your hormones, exercise intelligently and still create a calorie deficit experiencing hunger is the quickest way to fall off the fat-loss wagon.

Constant, nagging hunger pangs are usually the sign of a diet too full of processed carbs and sub-par protein. Your body is so used to eating nutrient sparse foods that it has become conditioned to hit he hunger switch so it can get as many nutrients as possible. On a processed food diet these nutrients are sparse so they come with a load of sugars & so-called empty calories.

Lots of calories with little nutrition...

Even worse it is now believed by researchers that when you don’t consume enough nutritious foods your body enters a state of nutrient under supply which creates inflammation and a release of metabolic waste products that are toxic. The end result is a hunger pain that is truly painful & only alleviated by eating.

A recent study (Changing perceptions of hunger on a high nutrient density diet. Fuhrman, J. et al., Nutrition Journal 2010 Nov 7;9:51. Carried out at Hahn School of Nursing, University of San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA ) has the answer though. And it echoes what I put forward in my 4-part post on reconditioning your metabolism.

The study involved 768 people who changed from diet lacking in micronutrients to one that was high in micronutrients. They then completed a survey that dealt with a number of the dimensions of hunger – things like mood swings, irritability, physical symptoms and where they felt the hunger in their bodies – on the 2 diet types.

In the study the level of and pain associated with hunger experienced (and the level of difficulty involved in coping with it) both dropped dramatically when the people involved switched a diet heavy in healthy foods. Large differences in the physical & emotional symptoms were found in the reporting between the 2 diets.

On the nutrient dense diet, hunger was not experienced as often as the sparse nutrient diet, nor was it as painful or even as unpleasant. This held true even when meals were skipped! Positive changes to the way in which they experienced hunger were reported by almost 80% of participants with 51% saying they had experienced ‘a dramatic or complete change in their experience of hunger.’

The study concluded a nutrient dense, though calorie low diet reduces or removes the less pleasant aspects of hunger. They found that it was not the amount of calories that influenced hunger but the density of the nutrients in the food eaten.

This is the ticket for nutrient density...

So – forget about counting calories; instead fill your meals with nutrient dense, low- or unprocessed foods. Focus on quality foods like nutrient-rich fruit, vegetables, whole grains with lean proteins and healthful fats – if you don’t your body is going to miss them and demand more fuel.

Just imagine – once you start feeding your body better it will make hunger a more pleasant and rarer experience, it will crave good food instead of processed crap, and you’ll find it easier to stay on the fat loss wagon.

I’ll be back soon – in the meantime why not leave a comment, Tweet this to others or ‘Like’ us on Face Book.

Be well.

Try this Trick to Avoid Overeating on Christmas Day…

Posted on by
1

Happy Festive Season to you & yours from me & mine!!

Look – we all know what is going to take place once the presents are opened, the hugs exchanged, and you and your family sit down for Christmas lunch – you’re going to eat too much, way too much.

If you’re like me, you vow every ear not to overindulge and every year you slip up. ( in my case it is particularly hard – Lynne is a gourmet class cook who loves to put on a huge spread for the family for Christmas and damn it she knows ALL my favourites!!)

The Calm Before the Storm...

The aromas of the Turkey, of the roast Pork, the leg of Lamb, the baked Ham; the sight of the salads, the roast vegetables, the fresh  prawns and sea food, then desserts – all of these combine to overwhelm even the best intentions and steeliest of wills.

So what to do?

How can we avoid eating until we are so full that we feel like the Michelin Man and need to have a lie down?

How can we avoid the latent guilt that comes up over the next few days and makes us feel bad about our lack of control?

It’s simple – apart from the most fanatical amongst us we really can’t… BUT there is one simple thing we can do that will give us at least a modicrum of control…

Eat your Protein foods first. (Hah!! You thought I was going to say use smaller plates, or drink a glass of water first, or chew on a chunk of cheese  – Nope – a very important part of Christmas is to celebrate and to let go – even if it is just a bit!)

Start off with the Ham or the Turkey, with the Pork or the Lamb or the Prawns – just eat your proteins first.

If you have been reading this blog for a little while  you’ll know that Protein foods not only fill you up faster, but they assist in the the secretion of the chemical messengers that let your brain know you are full.

In general it takes about 20 minutes from the time your stomach is full until your brain gets this message, but Protein has the ability to send get that message from your stomach to your brain much faster than other nutrients. Protein promotes feelings of satiety (feeling full & satisfied at the same time) better than any other food.

Start with this...

Eating your Protein first will prevents over eating because it helps you realize you’re well-fed and not starving!! Even better, Protein will not elevate your blood sugar as dramatically as high GI ‘fast’ carbs. A rapid rise in blood sugar (almost an instant hyperglycemia experienced at just about every Christmas Dinner) can actually make you feel more hungry by stimulating the hormone Ghrelin which is the ‘feed me more’ appetite stimulating hormone. Protein shuts down this hormone – a good thing!

Even worse a sugar ‘high’ actually switches off your ‘stop eating you’re full’ mechanisms so you get shaky and start shovelling food in – usually faster and faster, without even really tasting it.

Instead, protein keeps your blood sugars within a normal range so you don’t go through the rollercoaster highs and lows that make you feel even less satisfied.

So Protein first, then eat the high fibre vegetables (think brocolli, green beans, asparaghus etc). These too will add your sense of satiety so you feel full & satisfied.

Then it is open slather – go for the high carb, low fibre fare but you’ll likely find that your servings will be smaller and you will need less to satisfy your taste for them.

There you have it – a simple plan for Christmas that will enable you eat well, feel full & satisfied, indulge without bloating and more importantly not upset the cook by eating like a monk!!

I hope that you & your families have a great Festive Season, no matter what your spiritual beliefs.

May your God go with you!

Enjoy!

So Are Low Carb Diets Still Effective For Fat Loss?

Posted on by
Reply

Hi welcome back!!

Low carb diets are back in the news again so it seeems timely to revisit them. Let’s be clear – cutting out ANY macronutrient group is a mistake, BUT certainly sub-types of macronutrients should be curtailed for health benefits and fat loss.

Say Low Carb & most fok think that this about all you can eat...

There is no doubt & lots of studies that prove that Low Carb diets result in weight loss (not just fat – more on this later) for those who follow the protocols correctly. The protocol, roughly speaking is eating less than 100 grams of carbs per day over an extended period of time. (in the Atkins phasing in period it is down to 20 or 30 grams)

The instinctive knee jerk from the popular press and most nutritionists is that low carb diets are bad for your health. A lot of these people who lost weight on these older style low carb diets became, in effect, skinnier fat people.

This is because shedding carbs usually involves water loss and if too severe for too long can also result in muscle being broken down for fuel in preference to fat – so you lose weight but end up percentage-wise just as fat as before. But with less muscle, a slower metabolism and rebound weight that is incredible to endure!!

The howls of outrage about the evils of low carb are based upon outmoded, and frankly decades old types of low carb diets. Originally Atkins cut out all types of carbs, but as the years went by they then developed the idea of ‘net carbs’ where eating fibre rich carbs was okay as these were nutritionally dense but calorie & more importantly sugar poor.

So the idea of low carb meaning no carbs at all is not only out of date and old fashioned but it is plain wrong. Likewise the idea that low carb means that you must eat loads of fat. The best low carb diets do NOT advocate an open slather approach to fat in your diet – they advocate eating lean protein wherever possible.

These days low carb means cutting out processed carbs, and eating your fill of fresh vegetables and some fruit. Eating low carb in this fashion supplies all of the nutrients that the nutritionists are concerned about you missing out when you eat ‘traditional’ low carb.

Not a lot of processed carbs here...

But there has been further research papers published recently that shows that folk on low carb diets did not lose a lot of weight.

Let’s talk weight first – the most beneficial thing for your health, if overweight, is to lose fat. Losing weight is a misnomer and a dangerous one. Many diets cause you to lose weight through water and muscle loss. The infamous detox & some shake only diets do this which is why the rebound weight gain is so high. Unfortunately when this happens you ahave less muscle, your metabolism has slowed and you find it harder to lose fat. And so it goes.

Upon examination however it turns out that the folk who ate low carb had one or more of the following failings:

1) They cut carbs but kept their alcohol consumption at their regular level. Alcohol, as we’ve noted in other posts, kills fat loss.
2) They didn’t eat lean meat & protein but went the high fat route. Again not the way to lose weight nevermind about fat.

Not lean - High Protein should not mean high fat!!


3) For a number of people dropping back to 100 grams of carbs was not really going low carb, just dropping their own carb intake lower. 100 grams of carbs is considered moderate in most studies.
4) At the other end were the folk who declared all carbs bad and so deprived their bodies of not only the preferential fuel source but also a lot of needed nutrients.

So what is the right way to use a low carb diet?

Well firstly you should view it as a lower processed carb diet – not a low carb one.
When followed properly, a lower processed carb diet sees you eat more lean protein to supply your body the nutrients to build new lean muscle. The amino acids from protein sources can also be used to provide your body with some of its energy needs.

Couple this with a moderate intake of healthy fats, a lowered alcohol intake and you have a solid basis to lose fat.

As you’ve heard me say before – carbs are not the enemy but we tend to eat not only too many carbs but too many of the wrong types of carbs. In the main eating high GI, highly processed carbs leads to fat gain.

So doing something as simple as replacing half of your current processed carb intake with low GI un- or lightly processed carbs may very well help you to begin to lose fat.

This is why a lower processed carb diet may be beneficial to you is because it forces you to stop eating all the processed simple carbs that usually contain a lot of calories but not a lot of nutrients. And we know that a lack of needed nutrients leads to cravings and increased hunger which leads to more eating which leads to…

By eating a greatly reduced amount of processed carbs you also re-train your body to adjust the way it utilises the calories. Add to this the increase in lean protein with good fats and your body will become more efficient at functioning with fewer sugars. Also by lowering processed carbs it becomes easier to use up the stored carbs and fat you are carrying around.

Following a low processed carb diet is an effective way to lose fat, to learn to eat in a healthier manner by choosing better foods and training your body to use the nutrients differently and more efficiently.

The original low carb approach had a lot to recommend it but the true value lies in a low processed carbs diet. This is the one that works.

Have you followed a true low carb diet before? Were you successful with it?
Let me know in the comments section below…

Is there a Correlation between Obesity and low Fruit & Vegetable Intake?

Posted on by
1

Hi Welcome back!

Well is there a correlation between low Fruit & Vegetable & High Obesity rates? It certainly seems so…

The USA’s (& by extension the Western world in general) Fruit and Vegetable Intake has now become a Major Chronic Public Health Issue.

Vegetables in Bowl

Hmmm... looks like we don't these very much at all!

In November 2010, The Produce for Better Health Foundation has just released its ‘State of the Plate’ report and the results are a shocker!!

Back in 2000 the USA Health Department (with other government agencies) set targets for fruit & vegetable consumption. Targets that have been sorely missed…Back then the goal was to get every American eating an average of 5 – 13 servings of Fruit & Vegetables every day.

The averages, according to the State of the Plate are 1.13 cups of vegetables and 0.68 cups of fruit every day. A long way away from the targets… In fact only 6% of people hit the vegetable target and 8% for the fruit intake. In plan terms over 90% of the American public do not eat enough fruit & vegetables on a regular basis. The reality is that the average American eats 2-3 servings a day combined!

Despite a positive rises in fruit & vegetable consumption by under 6 year olds and in the 6 – 12 year old groups (Fruit 11% & & 7%, Veges 3% and 2% respectively) 13 – 17 year old reduced their consumption. As did the men 45-54 and women 55 and older…No group increased consumption by more than 5%.

These results are in spite of enormous advertising and public education programs run by groups like the National Fruit & Vegetable Association. Obviously newer and more effective programs need to be developed.

Not only is this frightening, but it highlights what must surely be a looming chronic public health issue. It is well accepted by now that by including fruits and vegetables as major components of a healthy diet there is a reduction in the risk of chronic diseases such as stroke, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes and even certain types of cancer. Fruit & Vegetables also help reduce body fat because they are high in nutrients and fibre, but low in calories.

Out of the top 10 states with the highest rates of obesity, eight of them had the lowest per individual consumption of vegetables and fruit. There seems to a direct correlation between the amount low / no or unprocessed carbs consumed and the amount of obesity present. Plainly, as a general rule, the fewer fruits & vegetables you eat the fatter you are.

too tight jeans

Not enough Fruit & Vegetables being eaten here!!

With obesity related health care costs of an estimated $147 Billion (more than the GDP of some countries!!) in 2008, the USA is spending around 10% of its total outlay on healthcare in this area. I know that here in Australia that our spending is also on the rise…It seems like a high price to pay for not eating your Fruit & veges….

But it gets worse – it is unlikely that even the 8% who hit their 12-15 servings a day are not eating a wide enough variety of colourful fruits and vegetables to get all of the necessary vitamins and minerals for good health. No wonder Doctors are regularly suggesting people take a multivitamin every day – something unheard of a decade ago.

What can you do? Follow the information being put out here on this blog – move more, eat less processed foods and increase your lean protein, fruit & vegetable intake.