CategoriesNutrition

Nutrient Timing Is Much Simpler Than You Think

There was a time in my life when what I ate (and when I ate it) ruled my clock. Now, granted, I wasn’t the guy bringing a cooler full of grilled chicken and asparagus to social gatherings, popping BCAA’s pills like candy, or injecting maltodextrin intravenously within 17 seconds of finishing my last set after a workout.

No, I didn’t take things to those extremes.

However I did place a lot of emphasis into my pre and post-workout nutrition, meticulously measuring my carbohydrate-to-protein ratios in an attempt to not turn into Christian Bale’s character from The Machinist.

Did it work? Sure.

Did it matter? Probably not.

In today’s guest post written by fitness trainer (and someone I hate because I am not nearly as handsome as he is), Michael Gregory, he explains how and why “nutrient timing” may not be as big of a deal as we’ve been led to believe.

Copyright: serezniy / 123RF Stock Photo

 

Nutrient Timing Is Much Simpler Than You Think

Here’s all you need to know about timing your nutrient intake:

At some point in time, you need to eat food, or you will die.

“Nutrient timing” is one of those things people love to nerd out on. But the truth is, the timing of food consumption doesn’t matter if you aren’t already doing a whole host of other things perfectly first.

Before ever wondering WHEN you should be eating your protein or carbs, it’s important to understand the amount of time food takes to digest in your body. On average, a meal takes 6-12 hours to get to the colon, and up to 40+ hours to be fully digested.

via GIPHY

With such a large window of time to play with, you may start to wonder how the timing of your meals affects your workouts. Essentially, if you eat anything within the six hours before your workout, it is somewhere in your system being actively absorbed while you are working out.

This is good news for the normal trainee. As long as you eat a meal comprised of adequate amounts of protein, carbohydrates, and fat sometime within the six hours before you workout, you will have fuel to support your training.

Why You Need Each Macro

Protein: Your body is literally built out of it. Stressors like exercise break the body down. This means that without a new supply of proteins running through your system, your body is breaking down and not repairing itself.

Carbohydrate: Carbs are what give us energy. Without them performance takes a nosedive. This is a fact. By fueling up with carbs for a workout, you elevate your work capacity and can make more gains in the gym.

Fat: Fats also give us energy, and our nervous system is composed of them. Fats make and balance our sex hormones and other crucial steroids that we need in order to function normally, they transport certain vitamins around our bodies that would otherwise just get excreted. With so many necessary functions for our bodies, fats are a vital part of our diets, and we certainly can’t perform optimally in the gym without them.

Regardless of current training status or experience, research has shown repeatedly that the number one most important dietary concern is total caloric intake with appropriate macronutrient ratios.

Just about everyone is deficient in some aspect of their diet, be it protein, fats, or some specific micronutrient.

If you are deficient in any aspect of your diet, nutritional timing will be a waste of your time.

The most common example of this I’ve seen are gym bros supplementing with protein pretty much constantly, but they haven’t touched a vegetable or a quality source of fat in a half decade. When your main food groups are protein, Red Bull, beer, and sugar it doesn’t matter when you drink that shaker cup of powder.

That’s the closest alligator to your boat. Shoot that dinosaur first.

But Wait; There’s A Catch

If you are 100% dedicated to hitting your nutrient targets and are trying to maximize gains, then you may fall into the very small portion of the population that can benefit from some nutrient timing-based practices.

Here are the categories of human in question:

  1. Endurance athletes who train multiple hours at a time
  2. Bodybuilders who train multiple hours and are trying to maximize body composition.
  3. Athletes in weight class-based sports who train multiple hours or multiple sessions and are trying to maximize body composition.
  4. Military athletes who train multiple hours or multiple sessions. (This often doesn’t get mentioned, but I come from that world and know what it’s like to cramp out in the middle of a 20 mile hike or watch someone slip into rhabdomyolysis.)

That’s four categories of 1%ers.

And this isn’t the rich kind. These are the apocalypse survivors: people who know what it means to accept struggle to accomplish a goal.

Again, notice that there are two major reasons that you would need to worry about nutrient timing strategies.

  1. If you are training multiple hours or multiple sessions in a day.
  2. If you are trying to maximize body composition.

Future Apocalypse Survivors

Congratulations, you are officially in the small pool of individuals who are ready to apply nutrient timing protocols to your workout schedule.

In three simple steps, here’s how it goes.

Step 1: Pre-Workout Nutrition

Consume a normal high protein meal with a solid source of starch or carbs, some good fat, and plenty of micronutrient-containing veggies 2-3 hours before your workout.

Protein before a workout, even hours before a workout, can help maintain and increase muscle size, reduce and prevent chronic muscle damage, and put plenty of amino acids in your bloodstream when your body is most apt to use them.

Carbs before your workout will fuel your training by putting glucose readily in your bloodstream and by topping off your muscle and liver glycogen stores. In addition, carbs stimulate insulin, which is good if you are consuming protein. Insulin prevents muscle protein breakdown and promotes muscle protein synthesis to help your muscles grow.

Fats, although they don’t seem to directly impact performance, do slow down digestion. This means you will have more energy longer because your body is slowly burning the fuel from the rest of your meal.
.
Bottom line: No need for fancy sports gels or drinks here!

Have a real whole food meal 2-3 hours before. You could also opt for an easier-to-digest shake with all the needed essentials.

Step 2: During-Workout Nutrition

Protein during a workout prevents muscles from breaking down and aids in quicker recovery. For people grinding out multiple hour runs or multiple workouts a day, this is imperative.

Carbs keep your energy substrate elevated during a workout. Once you deplete your glycogen stores, you need to refuel them to stay at a high level of performance for anaerobic activity. This is key if performance is a high priority for you.

Fats aren’t really necessary during training. Plus, they could hit your stomach like a ton of bricks. Stick to protein and carbs. Ensure you are getting your fats in your other meals of the day.

You’ll notice a sports drink here. The ONLY time you need one of these sugar bombs is when you are training like a maniac. Otherwise, it’s just destroying your teeth and body.

Step 3: Post-Workout Nutrition

A meal that looks pretty much just like your pre-workout meal is spot-on for post-workout nutrition, consumed within 2 hours after your workout.

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to throw a protein shake down your throat the minute you stop working out. Relax, go home, have a shower, cook a nice meal, and enjoy it.

You easily have up to 90 minutes, maybe even more, after a workout to get the nutrition your body requires.

Besides, the protein you ate before your workout is still peaking in your system. Having a full meal rather than a pure protein shake also helps slow down muscle protein synthesis, which is a good thing. It means your body will have more of a chance to get those amino acids from the protein to where they are needed most in your body.

Pre-workout and BCAAs

The bottom line on both of these is that they are unnecessary. In fact, I would go so far as to say that they are both a complete and total waste of your money.

There is little use for BCAAs, unless you are training fasted. But even then, whey protein is probably better.

Pre-workouts are one of the biggest scams in American History, right behind medical circumcisions. You would receive more pre-workout  benefit from flushing your money down the toilet and then subsequently unclogging the toilet (plunging a toilet is a full body workout.) The only “pre-workout” that is worth the money in my book is caffeine.

Everything else is false positives and fancy marketing.

NOTE From TG: CAFFEINE!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhh.

Nutrition Timing Is Actually Quite Simple

Chances are the time of the day in which you eat a certain food item is not what needs to be fixed in your diet.

Late night carbs, the anabolic window, butter coffee, second breakfast are means to an end if they work for you. Maybe you need help putting on weight or getting adequate protein, then these methods may help in various ways.

Only if you’re a hobbit trying to put on some mass.Just remember, your body is not some precise state of the art machine that will self-destruct if one microchip is a nanosecond out of time. Your body is the result of millions of years of evolution, in which there was no guarantee of a fresh Brontosaurus steak within 20 minutes of running from a pack of Velociraptors.

In 99.9% of clients I’ve personally worked with timing related eating tactics have functioned merely as methods to get people to eat more or less of certain foods, not because some eating protocol is actually optimal for your body.

About the Author

Michael Gregory is a fitness professional and former U.S. Marine Captain who helps weekend warriors and fit pros get ready for their next challenge be that a fight, an intense military school, or beach season. You can find him in the real world on a wave in Bali or eating a cheesesteak in Philly. For more by Michael check out his Instagram @composurefitness, or his website www.composurefitness.com.

 

CategoriesNutrition

My Take On the Keto Craze

I know I may regret doing this, but here it goes.

Lets talk about “Keto.” Or, the Ketogenic Diet.

It is E.V.E.R.Y.W.H.E.R.E of late and it seems you can’t have a ten minute conversation with anyone, or walk more than a city block, before it casually comes up.

It goes something like this:

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

“Man, this humidity is brutal.”

“I know, right? I wonder when it’s going to end?”

“I heard Wednesday. Say, have you heard of Keto?”

And that’s pretty much how it goes.

Copyright: designer491 / 123RF Stock Photo

This Will Not Be a Scientific Breakdown

I know my lane as a fitness professional. My expertise orbits around helping people get stronger, more athletic, move a little better, or otherwise building a bunch of deadlifting Terminators.

My strengths aren’t in debating macros, breaking down the Kreb’s Cycle, or discussing the complicated layers and intricacies of gluconeogenesis.

There’s a reason why I rarely (if ever) write about nutrition.1

That being said, I’d be lying if I said the topic doesn’t make up a large portion of my professional (and personal) life. What kind of coach would I be if I never discussed the importance of (total) caloric intake with a client who’s goal is to fat loss?, or if I never divulged the power of protein (and the many sources to get it from) for muscle maintenance and growth?, or if I didn’t go out of my way to mention dietary fat has a ton of health benefits?2

Moreover, what kind of coach would I be if I never extolled the wonders of Tupperware and the myriad of foods one can eat out of their containers at home, at work, on the train, or while flying an Apache?

Needless to say I talk about nutrition on an almost daily basis with my clients/athletes and I always attempt to answer honestly and to the best of my ability (and within my scope of practice). In addition I’ll often go out of my way to direct them towards sources and authorities I trust and respect.

To that end, I’m not going to attempt to explain the Ketogenic Diet in a thorough fashion here. There are entire websites and books you can peruse and nerd out on if you’re looking for an entertaining Friday night.

Nor am I going to attempt to sway you one way or the other, my dear reader, as to its validity and efficacy.

NEWSFLASH: I concede: It works!

Instead all I want to do is provide a little perspective and insight on how I view/interpret things when it comes to this latest health/fitness trend.

What Is the Ketogenic Diet?

This may come as a surprise to some, but “Keto” isn’t new.

It’s been around for quite some time.

To give credit where it’s due: My introduction to the Ketogenic Diet was back in the early-mid 2000’s after reading Lyle McDonald’s apropos titled book, The Ketogenic Diet (originally published in 1998).

In short, the diet is all about minimizing carbohydrates while following a moderate protein, high-fat plan with the end goal to nudge the body into a state of “ketosis” where it’s then less likely to be using glycogen (stored sugar) as it’s main source of energy.

I.e., the body runs out of glycogen stores so it then needs to find alternative fuel source(s). When this plan is followed long (and stringently) enough, the body (liver) begins to process fat into ketones which then becomes a fuel source your body can use.

NOTE: I say “stringently” because to my knowledge, it’s really, really, really, really hard to get into TRUE ketosis (let alone stay there). Like SEAL Training is easier. Even though the diet is considered a “moderate protein” approach, it’s actually not due to the insulinogenic properties of protein. Eating “too much” protein or going a smidgeon over can push someone out of ketosis rather easily.

Anyway.

The idea is that once you’re in “ketosis” you’re burning a boatload of body-fat.

Surprising to some, the Ketogenic Diet was first developed to address tough-to-address cases of childhood (and adult) epilepsy, because it was shown that ketones helped to reduce their frequency.

Pretty baller. Science and research works.

But lets pause.

Someone, at some point, was like:

“Huh, I see this diet is designed for epileptics, but I also see that these people are ripped AF. I wonder if I did it….if it would give me abs?”

via GIPHY

I’m being facetious of course.

“Keto” definitely works with regards to fat/weight loss, but it also hits the mark on some other things too.

Other “benefits” attributed to the diet include but aren’t limited to:

  • Weight Loss (weird how that happens when you pretty much omit an entire macronutrient).
  • Appetite control.
  • Mental clarity and acuity.
  • More energy.
  • Improve key markers in blood sugar, triglycerides, cholesterol, blood pressure.
  • Can walk through concrete walls.

But the question I have to ask is:

“Given all those benefits, is “Keto” a superior way to achieve them compared to other approaches?”

Well Is It?

To get to my answer I first have to share a story from this past weekend.

I was in dire need of some caffeine as my wife and I were walking around running errands with our 1.5 year old in tow. I meandered into my local GNC to pick up a quick energy drink and the guy behind the counter started some small talk.

First he asked about what I do? (strength coach), where I work out of? (my own place nearby), how long have I been doing it? (before smart phones existed), and he seemed genuinely interested in picking my brain as to what HE should be doing to put on some weight?

He mentioned protein powders, how he’s been trying to figure out the proper nutrient partitioning ratio, and a few other unimpressive words that really, in the end, mount to nothing other than him saying “blah, blah, blabidy, blah, blah. Insulin.”

It was fine.

Small talk.

No big deal.

He then looked at me and asked if I had ever heard of “Keto?”

(Cue Jaws theme music here).

“Sure,” I said.

“What do you think of it.”

“I know it’s popular now and that it works well for some people.”

“Do you like it?”

“Personally? No.”

“What do you like then?”

“I like whatever diet or approach allows people to best adhere to something long-term and matches their goals.”

SHORT ASIDE: I am not a fan of ad hominem remarks, and I KNOW this will come across as cliche because 50% of the time whenever anyone tells a “GNC story” the same description comes up. But I’m being 100% honest when I say the guy I was talking to was 6ft, 135 lbs soaking wet. Clearly hasn’t lifted a weight in his life.

“I like what you said there. But why are you against Keto?”

“I’m not against it. I just feel it’s not magic. And for all the work it takes someone to actually get into ketosis, I don’t feel there’s much benefit over all the other diets or approaches when matched for protein intake and calories.”

“My manager is a personal trainer and he’s a big fan of Keto. He mentioned the sugars in yogurt and that those should be avoided.”

“Yeah, I don’t think sugar is the enemy or all that bad.”

Now, imagine I hadn’t said what I just said (sugar not being bad) and instead said any of the following:

– “The world is flat.”
– “I’m not wearing any underwear.”
– “Jon Snow should have never been named King of the North.”

Imagine I had said any of those things and then I told him my best friend is an invisible dragon named “Derek.” Imagine the expression on 95% of the population’s face if they had heard something as crazy and blasphemous.

That’s the look I got back.

The dude’s eyes could not have widened enough.

“Wait, you mean you don’t feel sugar decays the body?”

“Fruit has sugar, is that decaying the body?”

Sensing a mental gymnastics quagmire I wasn’t going to get out of any time soon (and knowing five minutes of my life had just passed) I immediately responded with “My wife and kid are waiting for my outside dude.”

Which they were. As was Derek

He ringed me out and I left.

Keto = Not Magic

Notice I am NOT saying “Keto” doesn’t work. I think this is the second or third time I’m saying this to make it abundantly clear.3

It does, and I’m ecstatic for those individuals who have found something that works for them and has allowed them to stick with something long-term.

But what I find dumbfounding – and I see researchers like Alan Aragon and Layne Norton, who are way smarter than myself on this topic, fighting this fight often – is that there are a lot of people out there who think “Keto” is the end-all-be-all approach that will have everyone losing weight, reducing their risk of diabetes, and getting them accepted into Hogwarts.

But when matched for calories and protein….so does every other diet in existence.4

Side Note: And for every person who waxes poetic on how euphoric they feel following this diet, there’s another person who feels like garbage and wants nothing more than to kick you in the pancreas.

It seems even though the “science” backs up other approaches leading to the same results, when it comes to Keto, people become really adept at denying said science.

To use a real world example I had a friend of mine reach out yesterday who felt compelled to do so after I shared my GNC story on Facebook.

“I have a health and wellness friend who is very prominent on Instagram/YouTube/Facebook who is a HUGE proponent of Keto and he regularly shares blood panels with the message that Keto is the way and superior to anything out there.

Let’s just say that my nutrition is quite the opposite of Keto and my blood panels are almost identical to his…including panels we both had done in early spring. More proof to my belief (and yours) that it’s an individual thing for each of us.”

That last sentence is money.

I can’t understand why this train of thought is such an insurmountable hurdle of commonsense for some to fathom.

My suspicion (and that of my friend above) is that there are deeper psychological issues or disordered eating around food at play, and that one’s relationship with food (not to mention body image) are no doubt festering beneath the surface.

And, of course, we can’t deny a certain percentage of people have a financial incentive to stress the Ketogenic lifestyle.

That’s dandy and far be it from me to tell someone they can’t make a living (much less how to do it).

But can we please stop with the fantasy and proselytization of this diet?

It works.

As do others (when people actually follow them and are consistent).

It’s not fucking magic.

This is.

via GIPHY

CategoriesNutrition

How to Approach Pre and Post Workout Nutrition

I’m over in Europe being all bourgeois and stuff at the moment.

Thankfully I had a few people reach out asking if they could write some content for me while was away chasing foxes in England with the Queen.

Today I’ve got a good one from Toronto based nutritionist, Marc Capistrano, discussing a few intricacies of pre and post-workout nutrition.

Enjoy!

How to Approach Pre and Post Workout Nutrition

The goal of this post isn’t to give you the ideal plate of food that should be eaten before or after training, but rather to provide you with some insight into that immediate post workout window before your next meal.

The same goes for the odd time that occurs 30 minutes to an hour before training.

I know many of you may be rolling your eyes saying that things like “the post workout window is a myth” and that in the greater scheme of things, what you eat immediately before or after training isn’t as important when your intake of food is balanced throughout the day.

I’ll agree that this is somewhat true, but I’ll also say that the timing of your food intake in and around training can have an effect on overall performance.

Before we get into the sexy takeaways like the specific foods to eat before and after our workouts, let’s get a couple things straight. First, we need to consider a few factors to help inform our unique, individual pre and post workout meal needs:

Current Eating Habits

At the end of the day, nutrition will always come down to the individual.

What works for you may not work for someone else.

As an example, I know some people who thrive training fasted and then there’s some people who need a little bit of glucose in their system to perform. Some people are fat adapted and some people, like myself, need their carbs before training.

With that being said, don’t build around a set of nutrition rules, instead, build off of what has worked for you and upgrade that shit.

Nutrient Intake

If vitamins and minerals are cofactors for the body to support ATP production, then we need to  consider how nutrient dense our food actually is. Nutrients are more influential on energy production more than calories.

Calories aren’t the only influence on energy production.

Blood Sugar Management

If you’re counting macros, then you’ll have your food and caloric intake set for the day, but the specifics of pre and post workout nutrition takes into consideration meal timing and what types of foods you choose to eat around your workout.

Some may argue that meal timing isn’t that important. But to me, meal timing means blood sugar management. When it comes to the fine details, the time in which you eat and digest your food can play a role in overall performance.

Rate of Digestion

The rate at which we assimilate and digest our food matters. This influences how efficiently our food is used as substrates for energy production. Also, have you ever eaten at a buffet then trained immediately after?

Keep the garbage can close if you do decide to try it.

The Intensity of Your Workout

If you’re a power-based athlete then consider fueling your body with expensive fuel; aka carbs.

As for the keto people reading this, I think we can all agree that being fat-fueled is an efficient method of energy production, but utilizing fat vs. carbs prior to training is the difference between using a Hybrid and a Ferrari to win on a race track.

The same can be said for the lower carb Paleo followers as well.

Carb Consumption

Are your goals recovery-oriented?

Or are you more concerned with body composition?

Recovery methods will usually require higher carb intake before and after your workouts, while lower carb intake will allow the body to use fat as a substrate to fuel your workouts if improving body composition is your goal.

Pre-Workout Nutrition

To keep it simple, pre-workout nutrition is based around providing the body with the right amount of amino acids while also maintaining a slow and steady release of glucose to be used during your workout.

Here’s what to eat…

Have Some Fat

If you’re fat adapted this is especially important, as it’s the primary substrate of energy production for you.

Even if you’re not following a strict keto diet, I like having clients include some sort of quality fat source prior to training because of its ability to provide a slow and steady release of available glucose during your workout.

I especially like Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT’s) because of their ability to cross the mitochondrial membrane and be used as energy immediately. Other fats require a series of events that need L-carnitine for entry into the mitochondrial membrane while MCT’s don’t.

Some quality fat options include: coconut, avocado, cheese (if dairy is your thing) and most nuts and seeds are great options. In case you were interested, below is a quick video of how I incorporate MCT oil into my pre-workout training session.

 

Just a Little Bit of Protein Bro

You’ve heard this before, but I’ll remind you that having protein and its available amino acids limits protein from being used as a substrate during exercise while keeping protein synthesis (MPS) levels steady as this tends to go down during workouts.

A full steak may be too dense of a meal immediately prior to training, but a protein shake or BCAA supplement will do just fine.

Other quick and easy protein source for pre-workout nutrition include: beef jerky, turkey jerky or a simple protein shake.

Coffee. The Original Pre-Workout

Coffee offers a jolt of energy by blocking adenosine receptors in the body that would otherwise reduce neural activity.

For a more balanced and reduced intake of caffeine, opt for a Green tea, which contains an amino acid known as L-Theanine, which balances the stimulatory effect of caffeine. It also contains far less caffeine than the average cup of coffee.

Post-Workout Nutrition

For the most part, post workout nutrition involves higher insulinogenic foods paired with adequate protein intake.

Not only does the consumption of carbs post-workout replenish glycogen stores that we tapped into or depleted during intense exercise, but as a storage hormone, it promotes the absorption of amino acids into the blood stream needed for protein synthesis.

The body also happens to be more insulin sensitive and more receptive to food right after exercise, which is why I opt to have my calorically dense meals in the post workout window.

Ketosis and being fat adapted aside, post-workout nutrition can have an effect on cortisol secretion. This is particularly important post-workout as we’ll want cortisol to gradually come back to normal levels.

Don’t get me wrong, cortisol has a very important role during training, but if chronically elevated, it can have negative effects. Post workout carbs will bring cortisol levels back to a normal range and have favourable effects on things like the immune system.

Here’s what to eat…

Fast Carbohydrates

When it comes to starchy carbs, I opt for faster digesting carbs like white rice. The fact that its fibre content is lower is beneficial in this context.

The faster it spikes insulin, the faster the absorption rate. Good post workout starchy carb sources include white rice, potatoes, rice cakes, and yes, bread. Clearly there are more fun ways of spiking your insulin (sugar, candy, cake), but lets consider gut health, long-term health and quality when choosing post-workout food options.

Fruit

Opt for fruit lower in fructose as fructose is slower to absorb. This is due to the fact that it needs to be processed in the liver first.

Fruits that are lower in fructose include blackberries, blueberries, pineapple, kiwi, papaya, strawberries and grapefruit.

Protein: Whey or Vegan Protein Powder

It’s fast, easy to prepare, and even easier to digest…making protein powders an ideal option for post workout consumption. The amino acid Leucine is particularly beneficial because of its ability to keep protein synthesis (MPS) high after exercise.

Notice that fat is excluded here?

That’s because of its ability to slow down the absorption of food.

This is beneficial from a blood sugar standpoint as this can be useful for times when we need a slow supply of glucose, but not beneficial during a the post workout meal where quick absorption and assimilation is needed. When it comes to post workout nutrition, taking advantage of the body’s insulin sensitive state is the most important note to take home.

I get it.

For some: These recommendations may simply not matter, but for someone in the dark or struggling with general nutrition, building a habit based approach to what’s eaten immediately before and after training will produce at the very least, consistency.

For the trainers out there: Providing clients with a set of go-to recommendations gives the client a feeling of purpose and direction with training and nutrition. That in itself carries value and at the very least something to take away from this.

About the Author

Marc Capistrano is a Toronto based Certified Nutritionist, fitness enthusiast and content creator. He currently works out of downtown Toronto and maintains the Live It Holistic Nutrition blog.

Catch him on his YouTube channel and Instagram page.

CategoriesFat Loss Nutrition

5 Myths Killing Your Fat Loss Progress

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Boston-based strength coach and trainer, Ryan Wood. Ryan’s made a cameo appearance on this site in the past writing a two-part series on lessons he learned preparing for his first powerlifting meet. You can check those out HERE and HERE.

Switching gears, today he’s discussing lessons learned and myths he avoided in losing 25 lbs. and dropping down to 10% body fat. Like a boss.

28110314 - loosing weight, close up of muscular built man wearing too large jeans isolated on white background

Copyright: rangizzz / 123RF Stock Photo

5 Myths Killing Your Fat Loss Progress

Today I’m going to outline five fitness myths I avoided to lose 25lbs. (I previously wrote a post talking about seven things I learned dropping to 10% body fat which you can read HERE.)

Fitness myths run rampant, and, unfortunately, steer many people in the wrong direction. If fat loss is your goal then follow along closely as I discuss five of the most common fitness myths killing your fat loss progress.

Myth 1- You’ll Lose Strength

A lot of people fear losing strength when they begin a fat loss diet. Common belief says if you cut calories your strength has to suffer.

While you shouldn’t be too concerned about hitting one rep max personal records, you certainly don’t want to risk losing strength.

So what should you do?

The answer is carbohydrates. Too many people drastically cut carbs when beginning a fat loss diet. This usually results in quick weight loss but also a huge decrease in performance and strength. Carbs are your main energy source and fuel your training sessions. If you’d like to retain as much strength as possible while shedding excess body fat then keep your carbs in your diet for as long as possible.

I believe when fat loss is the primary goal you should train with higher volumes to help retain muscle mass as calories decrease.

Because of this, I suggest aiming to hit new 8-10 rep maxes

The higher volume training will help you preserve muscle, which when you transition back towards building strength, will be imperative for improving your top-end numbers.

Here’s me hitting some sumo deadlifts towards the END of my diet:

 

My best all-time sumo pull is 510lbs which was done at a powerlifting meet after months of prep and peaking.

It’s definitely possible to keep most of your strength, if not improving it slightly, albeit in different rep ranges.

Take home points:

  1. Keep carbs as high as possible to help fuel hard training sessions.
  2. Focus on improving 8-12 rep maxes, not maxing out.
  3. Keep the goal the goal. Don’t worry if you can’t hit your all time best at this exact moment in time. Focus on your fat loss goal if that’s your priority.

Myth 2- You Must Eat Clean And Avoid Certain Foods

The gurus say the only way to get leaner is to eat clean or only eat gluten free, organic, dairy free, or sugar-free .

This is what I think of when I hear ‘clean eating’:

Now, don’t get me wrong, I think eating whole foods the majority of the time is a great way to get leaner and in better shape. It’s what I do *most of the time.

But eating clean 100% of the time is not a requirement for fat loss. Nor is avoiding entire food groups or demonizing certain foods.

Why?

Because I love ice cream too much.

And burgers.

And ice cream. Oh, I said that already.

You can and certainly should be able to enjoy a treat every now and then while still reaching your fat loss goals.

I did it and you can, too.

You just have to be in a calorie deficit, which means you’re consuming fewer calories than you’re burning.

If you’ve got room to spare in the calorie department, enjoy an ice cream. Just make sure you’re still under your calorie allotment for the day.

Remember, calories are your number one fat loss priority. No amount of clean eating will help you get results if you’re consuming 1000 more calories than you should be.

Take home points:

  1. Create an energy deficit by taking away 250-500 calories from your baseline diet.
  2. Eat a balanced diet of whole foods but don’t fear or avoid certain foods because someone tells you to.
  3. Enjoy treats every now and then provided they fit into your calorie goals.

Myth 3- You Have to Diet For A Set Amount of Time

About a week and a half left on my 12-week diet I hit my goal weight and felt pretty good with my physique and the progress I had made.

So I ‘ended’ my diet.

what the what? GIF – wut tinafey 3orock GIFs in wut

Basically, I went from continuing to try to lose any more weight right into a maintenance phase.

You can set goals to diet for 8,10, or 12 weeks but that doesn’t mean you HAVE to diet the entire time.

If you hit your goals early, then by all means, stop the diet and move into a more sustainable diet.

You’re the only one that can determine if you’re happy with your progress and if you should stick out your diet for another couple weeks.

I’m not saying this to give you an excuse to end your diet a month early. I’m simply saying if you’ve put in 8 or 9 weeks and have hit your goal weight OR better yet, feel phenomenal with how you look, then stop your diet.

Dieting is not a sustainable part of fitness. It’s a somewhat brief period of time in the grand scheme of things to help you reach your goals.

Put in the work, be consistent, and end your diet early if you’re happy with where you’re at physically and mentally.

Take home points:

  1. You can end a diet early if you’re happy with where you’re currently at progress wise.
  2. Once you end your diet, slowly add calories back in to stabilize your weight and give yourself some diet ‘relief.’
  3. On the flip side, don’t extend your diet week after week because you aren’t at your final end goal. Sometimes it takes several 10 or 12 week periods to reach your goal. As a point of reference, my progress took about 7 months.

Myth 4- You Must Do Cardio to Lose Fat

I’m not a cardio hater, I promise.

But the truth is, cardio is not the magic to fat loss.

33301123 - sport, fitness, lifestyle, technology and people concept - men exercising on treadmill in gym

Copyright: dolgachov / 123RF Stock Photo

Better yet, it’s 100% not required to lose fat.

Can it help? Of course, it can.

But it’s definitely not something you have to do in order to trim up. As long as your diet is in order, you will lose fat doing pretty much anything. I prefer a heavy dose of resistance training combined with a calorie deficit.

Cardio is a tool that can be used to enhance progress but I wouldn’t rely on it as your only form of exercise if you can help it. Check out THIS piece where I discussed why I prefer lifting over cardio for fat loss.

Take home points:

  1. Cardio is not a requirement for fat loss. A calorie deficit is the number one most important. Period.
  2. If you like or enjoy cardio then include it in your programming. Try to have more lifting days than cardio if possible. This will help you retain more lean mass while losing body fat.
  3. Cardio is not magic. Don’t rely on it to make up for a poor diet.

Myth 5- You Shouldn’t Get Hungry If You’re Eating the Right Foods

Yea. I know. It’s crazy to think some people believe that eating the ‘right’ foods will keep them from getting hungry during a diet.

The truth is, if you aren’t getting hungrier the further you get into your diet, your results are probably pretty crappy. Hunger is a fact of dieting. Eating less (calorie wise) is required to lose body fat.

There are no magical foods that will alleviate your hunger when you’re 10 or 11 weeks into a fat loss diet. Sure you can increase food volume by consuming more low-calorie foods like dark green veggies, but hunger is real and very important.

It tells you whether or not you’re headed in the right direction. You should be experiencing hunger as you progress week to week in your diet. At the beginning of your diet, you might not be super hungry. However, every time you make an adjustment to your plan, you will feel hunger rumbling deep down inside your stomach.

Use this as feedback that progress is being made. Don’t get tricked into believing that you shouldn’t get hungry after losing 10, 15 or 20+ pounds. Anyone that says you won’t be hungry during your diet is completely crazy or has never dieted before.

Remember, you won’t starve. Being hungry is completely normal during a diet so try your best to embrace it.

Take home points:

  1. Hunger is a normal part of dieting
  2. While still controlling for calories, eating lower-calorie, volume-dense foods can help with hunger a little bit.
  3. Use hunger as feedback that you are making progress

Wrap Up

If you can avoid these five fitness myths you’ll likely be off to a good start. To help you set up your own fat loss diet, grab your free copy of ’10 Commandments of Fat Loss’ HERE.

Remember that progress, especially fat loss, takes time and lots of hard work. It won’t happen overnight that’s for damn sure.

About the Author

Categoriescoaching Nutrition

Why Eating With Your Non-Dominant Hand Can Help With Weight Loss

Everyone has ran into a situation where they have had great intentions to eat healthy but somehow find themselves mindlessly reaching for a bag of chips or ice cream rather than the fruit or vegetables they had planned on eating.

By the time they realize what they are doing half the bag or carton is already gone!

Most people tend to underestimate how many food-related decisions they make every day.

That is to say: most of the food decisions we make happen automatically or without conscious intention (4). Behavior that occurs without conscious intention is descriptive of habit. The two important components of habit are repetition; the behaviors occur often, and context; the behavior occurs in the same environment.

Many people battle between their bad habits and their good intentions.

If the context or environment in which behaviors occur is not changed it is likely that bad habits will win out over good intentions more times than you would like.

Note From TG: Reminds me of the concept of the Elephant, Driver, and the Path5alluded to in Dan and Chip Heath’s awesome book, Switch: How to Change, When Change Is Hard.

There are many environmental contributions to behavior. However, for the purposes of this article the environment will constitute the where and how behaviors occur.

In a research study Neal and colleagues found that interrupting habits is as easy as switching the hand you eat with.

They found that individuals who scored high for habitually eating popcorn during a movie ate relatively the same regardless of if the popcorn was fresh or seven days old!

That is, they ate without thinking.

However, when high habit popcorn eaters were asked to eat with their non-dominant hand they ate considerably less when the popcorn was stale.

Participants ate slightly more than 40% of their bucket when they ate stale popcorn with their dominant hand whereas they ate slightly more than 20% of their stale popcorn when they switched to their dominant hand (1).

This small environmental disruption apparently brought behavior under intentional control and allowed high habit participants to follow their goals (to not eat a lot of popcorn that tasted like Styrofoam!).

Disrupting automatic eating may be as easy as moving unhealthy food out of sight6 (2) or changing the sequence of events that leads to automatic eating.

For example, picture that every day you come home from work and enter your home through the kitchen door.

Note From TG: Or, if you’re me, parachuting from an Apache helicopter onto the roof of the apartment complex. Same difference.

From there you open the fridge and stare at the leftover pizza slices from last night. A few minutes later you’re still standing in front of the fridge and are working on your third piece!

In this case the series of events as well as the location of the food could have been changed to help disrupt mindless eating7 (3). This individual could have done the following:

  1. Walk through the front door rather than the kitchen door to avoid temptation.

  2. Put the pizza in a less noticeable place such as the bottom shelf. Place healthy food at eye level so it is a more noticeable snack than the pizza.

  3. Rather than eat food in front of the fridge put one piece on a plate and bring it to the dinner table.

It is easy to imagine how these concepts could apply to different scenarios.

For example, you may drive home from work past a series of fast food restaurants. It has been a long day and you’re hungry now. Rather than mustering up the willpower to say no to four different restaurants find an alternative route home.

If you find yourself engaging in an unhealthy behavior think about the series of events that led up to the behavior.

Note: HERE’s some further reading on how to go about changing behaviors.

From there think of ways to interrupt this sequence of events or make the behavior more difficult to do. The environment is an important and overlooked contributor to habit. By modifying it you may be able to bring your actions under voluntary control and perform the healthy behaviors you would like to do!

Author’s Note

This article covered one important part of how personal trainers can help clients make healthier decisions. I believe that this information is just one important aspect of how trainers can provide better services for their clients.

Because of this passion I have put together a full day conference where great coaches and researchers will share their knowledge to help trainers provide a better service.

These speakers include Tony Gentilcore, Mark Fisher, Dr. Cassandra Forsythe, Dr. Spencer Nadolsky, and John Brand. The conference is Saturday April 2nd at SUNY Cortland. For more information you can go HERE.

CEUs will be available and the cost is only $20 for students and $60 for professionals.

Also, I totally don’t have bigger biceps than Tony.

References

  • Neal DT, Wood W, Labrecque JS, and Lally, P. How do habits guide behavior? Perceived and actual triggers of habits in daily life. J Exp Soc Psychol 48:492–98, 2011.
  • Wansink B, Painter JE, and Lee YK. (2006) The office candy dish: Proximity’s influence on estimated and actual consumption. Int J Obesity 30: 871-875.
  • Wansink, Brian.Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think. Bantam Books, 2006.
  • Wansink B. and Sobal J. Mindless eating: The 200 daily food decisions we overlook. Environ Behav 39(1): 106-123, 2007.

 

 

CategoriesNutrition

Diet vs. Habit Based Nutritional Coaching

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Missouri based personal trainer, Stevan Freeborn. I don’t provide nearly enough nutritional content on this site, so it’s nice whenever I have the chance to have someone with more experience on topic shed some light.

Enjoy!

Restriction, Restriction, Restriction.

That’s the name of the game for most people when it comes to eating healthier.

Just about everyone has had that experience where they have bought the latest trending diet book, threw out everything in their pantry, restocked it with whatever buzzwords the expert author used (organic, gluten free GMO free, zombie proof) or claimed was “clean” or “healthy” and then proceeded to prepare a week’s worth of “healthy” and “clean” meals that will help you lose that excess belly fat you have been carrying around for the last couple years.

Note from TG: on the topic of GMO’s, I really like THIS article via Precision Nutrition.

But what follows this experience is never what we all hope for.

Usually it consists of several days filled with frustration, self deprivation, and envy followed by a quick and swift return to your old diet and grocery store list.

So the questions we need to be asking ourselves is why does this happen?

Why do we start off so motivated and excited to start something new, yet quickly lose our dedication to the cause? Why do we keep repeating this chain of events that always ends in a crash and burn scenario?

I think the answer lies in the approach we are taking in regard to how we are taught and teaching how to make food choices. I think if we can change the way we coach people to change their diet we can dramatically improve the outcomes for those people who want to eat better, fee better, and look better.

In my mind there are two different approaches for nutritional coaching and food choices.

One is habit-based and the other is diet-based. I will spend time later in this post explaining more about each concept, but it is important to remember that both are tools that can be used effectively with or by the right person in the right situation.

SPOILER ALERT: I think you are going to find that I personally have a huge biased towards one approach over the other because of my own personal experience and logical conclusion about its practicality.

Diet-Based Nutritional Coaching

This is the approach everyone has been using for the past 20 years. The experience I initially described to you is a product of this kind of approach.

Someone teaching or practicing a diet-based nutritional approach focuses on the things they can and cannot eat.

They create list of foods that are “good” or “clean” and a list of foods that are “bad” or “dirty” and make all food decisions based on where the foods fall on these master lists.

This approach can be done on a macroscopic scale looking at whole foods or it can be done on a microscopic scale looking at the macronutrients which make up the foods. Depending on which scale or combination of the two the foods that make up the lists can be greatly varied. Good examples of this approach are the popular ancestral diets (Paleo) and the “If It Fits Your Macros” approach.

Pros

This type of nutritional approach sets very clear and defined guidelines as to what should be consumed and what shouldn’t be consumed leaving no room for interpretation or time spend worrying over what food to pick.

It allows people to make comprehensive grocery lists and meal plans that gives them peace of mind that they are making healthy choices. It provides people with a system to categorize and label foods which as we all probably know by now is something the human brain loves to do.

Cons

On the flip side this approach often creates a restriction mindset (except if you are practicing a macronutrient based version).

It tells people they can’t eat any of their old foods and requests that people change their entire way of eating overnight.

It typically is centered more about what you are not supposed to eat than what you are supposed to eat. It requires incredible levels of organization, dedication, self discipline, and motivation to stick with it long enough to have this way of eating become a way of life. It places labels on foods such as “good” or “bad” and thus creates negative connotations toward foods and subsequently negative emotions when these foods are consumed.

Habit-Based Nutritional Coaching

This is the approach I prefer and have had great success with clients.

In this type of approach we are focusing on what exactly you are eating. We aren’t concerned with the minutia of where it was grown and how it was grown. Habit-based nutrition is about using what we know about human psychology to better leverage our efforts to change.

We focus on creating a singular habit which we perceive as super duper easy to do and than practicing that habit for two weeks becoming the master of whatever this habit makes us do.

Note from TG: I LOVE The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.

The habit will be different for each person depending on where they struggle more with their diet and how far off they are from a complete and nutritious diet. Once someone has successfully mastered a habit for two weeks you simply add another habit which again we perceive to be super duper easy. This process continues in piece-wise fashion until we are eating a diet that supports the person’s overall health and specific performance goals.

Pros

This approach gives people action.

It focuses on what a person can do to eat better than what they can’t do. It applies the power of less, which means that by focusing on one change instead of several the likelihood of success significantly increases.

It provides direction, but allows the person to take ownership over the specific execution of the habit. It meets the person where they are at currently with their way of eating.

It focuses on creating lasting and sustainable change. It acknowledges the fact that the action of eating is rather complexed and is preceded by a crap ton of other behaviors all of which influence the likelihood of actually eating what you are suppose too.

It acknowledges the scientifically validated concept that self-discipline is a depleting resource and can’t be used endlessly. It is scalable to the person’s level of commitment and motivation meaning the habits can be made incredibly specific or broad with a lot of room for improvisation. Most importantly to me it eliminates the self deprivation attitude towards eating better.

Cons

Honestly from a personal and professional standpoint I really see no downsides with this approach other than it won’t sell a lot of books or allow for the development of niche food brands that can profit off of someone’s dietary restrictions.

*Cough, cough, cough* Food Babe.

Like I said I am biased towards one approach over the other I acknowledged that at the beginning of this discussion as well as the fact that both approaches can be used successfully with the right people in the right situation.

We have to see these differing approaches as tools and use them for the correct job. I think we have to stop trying to use one size fits all models for trying to improve our health and rather tailor the approach based on the individuals psychology.

For example, if I had a client who was 40 years old morbidly obese, recently been diagnosed with hypertension, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia, prescribed several different medications to treat all these health problems, and still had a family to take care of and look after…my approach would be to use a diet based approach.

Why?

First this client is probably highly motivated. He knows that if he can lose this weight he will be able to stop taking all these expensive medications he is buying every month and that he will be able to live long enough to take care of his family and see all his children become adults. Second he really doesn’t have the rest of his life to figure all this nutritional stuff out. He needs to lose weight now and the best way to do this is to create an energy deficit which will require coaching him on specifically what foods and how much of these foods he is allowed to consume.

Conversely, if I also had a 25 year old female who was 50 pounds overweight with no medical conditions or injuries and just wants to be able to walk around in a bikini and feel like a rockstar I will more than likely try to start her on a habit based approach.

In this case for two large reasons.

First this lady is young and she needs to develop a relationship with food that will contribute to long lasting and sustainable results both in her overall health, but also in the way her body appears. Second I have found that women practicing diet based approaches often develop some serious dysfunctional eating patterns specifically, being over restrictive on food intake and/or practicing binge-purge cycles.

You see the approach has to fit the clients situation not the other way around.

These are just a couple of examples of how you could decide on which approach is better than the other. You could also look specifically at each persons level of commitment and motivation in order to select an intervention that fits where that person currently stands in both areas. You could also ask the person or yourself how much success in the past have they had with dieting.

I hope this helps you find a way of approaching nutrition that best fits your needs or the needs of your clients and leads to increased success in the long run.

About the Author

Stevan Freeborn B.Sc. ACSM-CPT is a trainer from Joplin, MO. He trains clients both in person and online. When he isn’t, he enjoys picking up heavy things, crushing trail mix, and being a coffee snob. He would love it if you would connect with him on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter and spend a few minutes getting inside his head at Freeborn Training Systems.

CategoriesMotivational Nutrition

My Diet Home Base

I have a home base or “go to” for just about everything. And by that I mean the thing – however ordinary, ornate, ominous, or obligatory – I’ll always default to when in a pinch or when I know I won’t be able to make up my mind and just want something familiar.

Home base restaurant (general): Chipotle

Home base restaurant (in Boston): Beehive or Sunset Grill.

Home base movie: GoodFellas

Home base television show: House Hunters International Fresh Prince of Bel Air re-runs.

Home base book: anything written by Kurt Vonnegut (or has lots of pictures).

Home base lazy day activity: hanging with my cat or going to the local bookstore.

Home base musical artist: Norah Jones. Whatever dude, don’t judge me! I saw that REO Speedwagon mix tape in your glove compartment.

Home base is simple. It’s what we know. It’s consistent. No matter what, it’s what we’ll always gravitate towards when left to our own devices and just want to go with the flow. It’s home.

Many of us have forgotten what our home base is when it comes to diet and nutrition.

There’s a lot of noise out there to distract us. Every week there’s a new diet book that hits the New York Times Best Seller list.

Last week it was Paleo Rules: The Ultimate Diet We Have Little Proof Existed In the First Place and Meant Different Things to Different Parts of the World Depending on What Food Was Available to Them At the Time (Yet Will 100% Cure Everything, Ever. Including How Fat You Are)8, and this week it’s the seminal hit, Gluten Is Basically Worse Than Ebola9.

Adding fuel to the fire, one week dietary fat is bad and will steal your lunch money, and the next it’s our BFF. A few years ago intermittent fasting was all the rage. Now it’s all about if-it-fits-your-macros, yo!

NOTE: for an excellent, all-encompassing (free) resource on intermittent fasting go HERE.

It’s no wonder so many people are so confused on what to eat! I overheard a conversation not too long ago between two women at Panera where one of them was having a mid-life crisis on eating an apple before bed. She had been so indoctrinated that all carbohydrates were bad, she needed to find solace from her friend to reassure her that it was okay. The fructose police weren’t coming after her.

Listen, I’m not a hater. I recognize that what works for one person, may not be an ideal fit for the next. I also recognize there’s going to be a bit of experimentation to figure out what works best for any one individual. If you want to eat nothing but grapefruits for 17 days or ingest some magical pills that have you shitting detox rainbows, have at it!

I feel the whole “detox” trend is BS, but if that’s your bag so be it.

If it works for you and it makes you happy, cool. However, I do feel it’s important to have a home base. A place you can feel “safe” and revert to when things get dicey or unclear.

Using myself as an example, I know what works for me and what makes my body feel good. I remember I did an intermittent fasting experiment two years ago for a month to see what all the buzz was about. I hated it.

I typically train between 9-11 AM and my lifts suffered because I’d get halfway through my session and think about nothing other than when I was going to eat.

I lasted 3-4 weeks and reverted back to my “normal” diet. Lots of whole eggs, beef, chicken, fruits/veggies, etc. Sounds very Paleolike, right? I guess you could say I roll with that crowd…..to a degree. Keep reading.

I also remember a stretch where Lisa and I went hardcore Paleo. We took grains, lentils, and beans out of our diet. We also omitted peanut butter – GODDAMMIT!!! – and pretty much all dairy.  It was tolerable, but I noticed after awhile I was feeling a bit more lethargic and tired during the day – especially in the mornings, which shouldn’t happen after 9-10 hours of quality sleep.

It didn’t take long before I went all Wilford Brimley and said, “fuck this I’m eating my oatmeal.”

I felt better.

I know my body. I know my body handles carbs well10; I know it prefers a big breakfast every morning; I know it prefers I “taper” carbs as the day progresses; I know it likes potatoes, beans, oats, grains, and everything else people who like to sell books hate; I know it loves eating dead animal flesh; I know it can handle dairy (I’m obsessed with cheese); I know supplements aren’t going to trump real food; and I know it loves mine and Lisa’s “Date Night,” where we go out to eat every Saturday night and not only eat bread, but ask for more than one basket. And then we eat dessert.

If I’m paying $30+ for an entree you better believe I’m having some carrot cake!

I know what works for ME and what allows me to hit my goals. If I ever stray too far away from what I know works, I can always go back. That’s the beauty of having a home base in the first place! Once you know what it is, you know where to find it.

It may take you or someone you know a bit longer to define home base – it can mean different things to different people. For some, home base is 10% body-fat year round and being able to “fuel” every grueling workout. For others, home base is eating GMO, organic sawdust. And for others, home base is eating well-balanced diet (what ever that means).

The point is: a home base exists. It works for YOU. You feel great and it allows you to reach (and MAINTAIN) your goal(s).

Basically what I’m trying to say is: oatmeal is my home base.

What’s yours?

UPDATE: maybe I need to write a little sumthin, sumthin in my training home base?

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 4/25/14

I became the regular “Friday Bootcamp Guy” at CP a few weeks ago.  I had been filling in sporadically the past year to 1) give Greg a bit of a break from having to get up at the butt-crack of dawn and 2) for a slight change of pace on my end.

Coaching bootcamps allows me the opportunity to work with people I normally don’t have the chance to see, and well, it’s just plain fun!

Not that people who make a consistent habit of getting up at 5AM to exercise need any more motivation to do so, but this morning while each bootcamp was warming up I alternated between playing the Al Pacino “One-Inch!” speech from Any Given Sunday and the Kurt Russell “screw the Soviets” speech from the movie Miracle.

It….was…..awesome.

By the end I’m pretty sure each bootcamper wanted to either fight a polar bear or challenge one another to a cage match as a finisher.

It sure beats Prowler medleys or kettlebell swings!

Nevertheless, it’s been a long day and since I’m sitting here at the car dealership as my car gets serviced (oil change), I figured I’d toss up a few things for you guys to check out.

How to Bullet Proof Your Body – Girls Gone Strong

I shared a video with you the other day from Molly (Galbraith), which discussed some of the differences or tweaks that many women must make with their fitness training if they truly want to make progress.

In anticipation of their new manual, The Modern Women’s Guide to Strength Training, which is being released next week, Molly is back with another FREE video discussing how women can “bullet proof” their bodies.

In short:  less is more.

Why Haters Make It So Much Easier For You to Succeed – Jason Ferruggia

Holy f***balls this was an awesome article.

I’ll be honest:  It used to bother me whenever someone on the internet went out of their way to say hurtful or spiteful things towards me.  I wouldn’t stay at home, plop on my couch with a pint of Ben & Jerry’s, and watch a Julia Roberts movie or anything….but I’d be lying if I said certain things didn’t affect me or make me want to react.

It wasn’t long before I learned to ignore the haters and to just chalk it up to “ it’s what people do when they have nothing else to do and they suck at life.”

Jason hits the nail on the head with this post.

Workout Nutrition: What to Eat Before, During, and After Exercise – Brian St. Pierre

Okay, I’ll admit it:  I’m a bit biased in that Brian’s a good friend and a former employee of Cressey Performance.  But man if this isn’t one of the most detailed and thorough articles I’ve read on this topic!

I’m so proud to see how much of a big deal Brian’s become in the industry and it’s so cool to see him putting out such amazing content.

CategoriesNutrition

Understanding the Importance of Satiety

I guess some people took my comment that I don’t include nearly enough nutrition content on this site to heart.  The “Dynamic Duo” (Chris and Eric Martinez) are back, and with some quality information concerning the topic of satiety.

We’ve all been around someone who’s been “hangry” before.  You know… hungry and angry. And it’s not pleasant. Borderline dangerous if you ask me.

How can we combat this phenomena?  Read on to find out!

“In all pleasure there is satiety.” –George Hakewill

In all honesty how many of you can relate to the above quote?

We sure hope many of you are nodding your heads and saying yes. When you stop and think about it, isn’t life more enjoyable when you feel satiated and not hungry? Who wants to be that guy or gal with their stomach growling like there is a volcano about to erupt? We certainly do not; all you can really do when you hear hunger pangs like that is just look straight forward with your eyes widened like you saw a ghost.

We all should be aware that satiety means to feel satiated (aka feel full).

By accomplishing this feeling, one must actually eat throughout the day!

With how society works now there is quote on quote no time to eat right? We get it, life can be stressful, we are all on the go, we don’t have time to cook, we don’t know what to eat, etc.

These are just excuses at the end of the day. By not eating throughout the day you are just doing your entire body and brain a disservice. So, the question becomes, how long can you stand being hungry before you start eating again? Well, only you can really determine that.

Understanding Hunger and Satiety

Hunger is one of your body’s strongest and most beneficial stimuli, it helps ensure you consume enough calories for your needs. It also works against you when you’re trying to lose weight. You could easily lose weight just by eating less, but the less that you eat or the longer you postpone eating, the hungrier you become, and the longer it takes your hunger to subside once you do begin to eat. (1)

Typically the hungrier you are, the more likely it is that you’ll overeat, consuming extra calories that can quickly inhibit or reverse your weight loss progress.

As we mentioned earlier, the only way to end hunger and feel satiated is to eat. Yes eat, which is one of the most enjoyable things to do in life and pretty important from a human physiological stand point. With that said, our main point here is eat and cure those awful hunger pangs and give your body the nutrients it needs to operate and function properly throughout the day.

Are All Foods High in Satiation Levels?

Some foods are better than others for satisfying your hunger. A baked potato, for example, will most likely “fill you up” much more than a serving of candy that has the same number of calories.

We have often heard people claim that you have to cut potatoes out in order to lose weight. Funny thing is they never have any data or proven references to back up these narrow minded claims.

For example, Chris Voigt, head of Washington State Potato Commission, went on a 60 day potato only diet and lost 21 lbs while improving his blood lipid profile and reducing his fasting glucose levels. Still think you can’t lose weight while eating potatoes? Another study found that potatoes were far more satiating than all 38 common foods tested, including protein dominant foods. (2)

Some foods fill your stomach faster and/or remain in your stomach longer, and therefore do a better job of holding off hunger. For example, Higher GI carbs, which are fast digesting breakdown faster into the blood stream and store faster in your glycogen levels. As opposed to complex carbs that take longer to break down will keep your satiety levels much higher throughout the course of a day along with keeping your blood sugar levels stable.

In another study which was conducted by Suzanna Holt of the University of Sydney, fed human test subjects fixed calorie portions of 38 different foods, and then recorded the subject’s perceived hunger following each feeding.

The results of Holt’s study, like many similar studies, indicate that satiety is most strongly related to the weight of the food consumed. In other words, the foods that weigh the most satisfy our hunger best, regardless of the number of calories they contain.

However, higher amounts of certain nutrients, such as protein and dietary fiber, also appear to improve satiety. (3)

Can Satiety Be Predicted?

Sure it’s that popular hormone we call “Ghrelin” that many of us dislike.

All kidding aside, if there was a way of predicting satiety, we would be able to select foods that satisfied our hunger, but contained fewer calories. These foods would greatly improve our ability to create meals that were effective for weight loss. Some research studies have mentioned to consume foods with low caloric densities (foods that have the lowest total calories per gram). (4)

We feel caloric density alone is not a reliable predictor of satiety, and it overlooks many enjoyable foods that would make awesome additions to your diet. The last thing we would ever suggest is to cut out certain food groups or foods that people enjoy. This is a recipe for disaster, possible binge eating occurrences, eating disorders, and more.

The best way to predict satiety is to have foods that contain large amounts of water, dietary fiber, and are high and rich in protein. Whole foods such as complex carbs, veggies, fruits, quality fat sources, and lean meats do a better job of satisfying your hunger.

Best Food Options to Maximize Satiety Levels are?

This list of foods was adapted from Holt et al. (5) The foods are listed from most filling to least filling:

  • Potatoes, boiled
  • Ling Fish
  • Oatmeal/Porridge (<—- Tony’s personal fav!)
  • Oranges
  • Apples
  • Brown Pasta
  • Beef
  • Baked Beans
  • Grapes
  • Whole Wheat Bread
  • Popcorn
  • Eggs
  • Cheese
  • White Rice
  • Brown Rice
  • All-Bran

As you can see it is quite the variety and the list still continues, but we feel you get the idea of which foods are more filling than others.

Wrapping This All Up

As we mentioned earlier, isn’t life more enjoyable when you feel satiated and not hungry and deprived of food?

We hope this article cleared up some confusion about satiety and what foods are more satiating than others.

The bottom line here is pretty much trial and error. Experiment with different food sources and see what foods are more filling for you. Of course we are not saying to go out and splurge and try a bunch of chocolate or candy. We are simply saying do this experiment all while hitting your macronutrient ranges and micronutrients and enjoy life. If you are confused about macronutrients, we suggest you read this very informative article on FLEXIBLE DIETING.

Once you really figure out what food sources keep you full throughout the day, it is a thing of beauty because you are not always thinking about when your next meal is, you are less likely to pick at foods which will hinder weight loss progress, and depriving yourself from certain foods you want.

Oh yea, and you won’t be that person everyone can hear your stomach growling.

References:

1.)   Anderson, G.H., and Woodend, D., “Effect of glycemic carbohydrate on short-term satiety and food intake,” Nutr Rev 2003.

2.)   Voight, Chris., “20 potatoes a day,” 1995. http://20potatoesaday.com/

3.)   Holt, SH., Miller, JC., Petocz, P., Farmakalidis, E., “A Satiety index of common foods,” Eur J Clin Nutr 1995.

4.)   Porrini, M., “Effects of physical and chemical characteristics of food on specific and general satiety,” Phys Behav 1995.

5.)   Holt, SH., Miller, JC., Petocz, P., Farmakalidis, E., “A Satiety index of common foods,” Eur J Clin Nutr 1995. 

About the Authors

Chris and Eric Martinez, CISSN, CPT, BA, also known as the “Dynamic Duo” operate a world class personal training and online training business “Dynamic Duo Training,” They’re also fitness and nutrition writers, fitness models, and coaches that love helping people reach their goals. Their philosophy is “No excuses, only solutions.”

Visit them at:

Dynamic Duo Training

Blogsite

Twitter

YouTube Channel  

 

 

CategoriesUncategorized

I Can’t Gain Weight – Help!

Oh boy. I can only imagine how some people who, upon reading the headline to this post (and are feverishly trying to lose weight), already dislike the person who submitted this question.

Waaaaaaa, poor you!  You have to eat more food. I haven’t eaten a carb since Christmas……cry me a river! 

As a strength coach, however, and someone who works with high-school and college athletes on a daily basis, I can tell you that struggling to gain weight (in an effort to improve performance on the field) is an all too common dilemma, and something that can just be as hard to resolve.

Which is why I felt I’d spend a little time addressing the topic here after receiving the following email in the Cressey Performance account recently.

Q: I’m 5’11 and weigh 150lbs. Last season I weighed 175 and then lost all of it because we ran so much, and ended the season weighing 135 lbs. That was a crisis for me. I have done the same exact thing as I did before but can’t seem to gain the weight back! Help me dude it’s killing me!

But I also have another question, and that is, would it hurt me to take half doses of creatine just to get a little bit bigger? 

A: Wow, that’s a pretty drastic drop in weight! First off, every time I hear a story of a baseball coach running his players into the ground I want to set my face on fire.

What’s the rationale?  What’s the longest distance that a baseball player will need to run?  It’s 90 feet from home plate to first base.  If someone rounded the bases that’s 360 feet.  Where does a 3-5 mile jog fit into the picture?  How does that prepare a player for the more explosive nature of the sport?

HINT:  it doesn’t!

Eric Cressey already chastised this sacred cow and explained why distance running really has no place in the sport HERE and HERE, so I won’t kick a horse when it’s down.

That said:

1.  Two points for Gryffindor for including not one, but two idioms in one sentence!

2.  Please stop running (for distance, anyways), if you haven’t already.

3. Maybe show the above articles to your coach, and he’ll have a change of heart….;o)

Looking at the positives, you’re already 15 lbs up, so you’re obviously doing something right.  But if there’s one piece of advice I can give you, it’s this:

You Need To Eat More

I know, I know – you eat, like, all the time.  And you couldn’t possibly eat any more.  I’ve heard that same excuse a few thousand times, and I’m sure I’ll hear it a thousand more.

Take my word for it: you’re not eating enough.

But before we get into that, lets address the more pertinent question: Creatine isn’t dangerous.  It’s the most researched supplement in human history, it works, there’s a ton of efficacy towards its use, and I’d highly encourage you to check out THIS review by the guys over at Examine.com for all the information you’ll ever need on the topic.

But, it’s not what you need nor should it be at the top of your list of priorties.  Not even close.

I’ve trumpeted this sentiment before, and I might as well say it again:

Supplements are progress enhancers, not progress starters.

If your current training and nutrition plan(s) aren’t yielding the results you want, than a supplement isn’t really the right approach. More to the point, the word supplement shouldn’t even reach the tip of your tongue until you have your nutrition in order.

You need CALORIES to grow.  If you’re not providing the body the ample nutrients it needs to not only grow, but recover, you’re just going to be spinning your wheels and wondering why you look like that skinny dude from Road Trip – and you’re certainly not going to be hitting any 400 ft bombs over the centerfield fence.

[Giving credit where credit is due, at least he’s pwning some pancakes in that picture].

Here’s a quick quiz, and one of the first questions I’ll always ask an athlete who’s trying to put on weight:

What did you have for breakfast this morning?

9 times out of 10 I get a stammering answer that consists of a lot of “um’s” and uh’s” and every excuse in the book as to why they never have time to eat in the morning.

If you’re not eating breakfast, then again, you have no business asking about creatine, and you sure as heck-fire better start setting your alarm ten minutes earlier in the morning to MAKE TIME to eat breakfast.

As an example, here’s my typical breakfast that I eat every morning.

5 whole egg omelet with goat cheese and tons of cut up veggies (onion, broccoli, and sun-dried tomato) sprinkled with garlic powder, pepper, turmeric, and oregano.

1 cup oatmeal plue a scoop of Biotest Grow with a banana and cinnamon.

Save for maybe your post-training meal, breakfast should be your largest meal of the day.  But you can’t stop there!  One of the biggest mistakes I see guys make is that if they do eat breakfast (high five!), they’ll maybe nibble at lunch, and won’t eat another decent meal again until mom plops something on the dinner table.

If you can, try to stash some extra calories in your locker like beef jerky, nuts, fruit, or even better – and an idea I stole from John Berardi – several bagels with some peanut butter slapped between each side which you can easily crush while walking to your next class.

Some other food for thought (pun completely intended):

1.  Try your best to focus on whole, natural, un-processed foods like rice, potatoes (sweet and white), oatmeal, veggies, fruit, beef, chicken, fish, cheese, milk, various nuts, unicorn tears, you name it.

Of course if you have good allergies you have to take that into consideration, but don’t use the excuse of “dude, I’m bulking” as a free-pass to eat shitty food like pizza, chips, and Pop-Tarts on a regular basis.

Be a teenager, I’m not saying to avoid those types of foods at all costs, but at the same time need to take it upon yourself to provide you body with QUALITY nutrients.  In short:  eat like a grown-up.

2.  Stay hydrated!!!!!  Drink water, and lots of it.   A good rule of thumb I like to follow is to take half our bodyweight and drink that amount in ounces.  So, if you weight 150 lbs, you should strive for roughly 75 ounces of water per day.  And that’s just the minimum!  More active people should drink more.

Oh, and Red Bull isn’t water.

3.  While it sounds hypocritical given my speech above, it might not be a bad idea to look into getting a protein powder to include in the mix.  Hard gainers often have a hard time EATING their calories, and it’s sometimes easier to drink them.  Don’t worry about getting Ultra Mass Gainer 3000 or anything like that.  Just look for your typical whey protein blend, and you’re fine.

4.  In the weight room, you need to make sure you’re focusing on those movements which will force you to grow!  Drop the leg extensions and bicep curls and opt for deadlifts, squats, chin-ups, rows, etc. Focus on getting stronger and not training like a bodybuilder.

5.  Additionally, it’s important that you don’t go too crazy with the volume.  You need to save your calories.  While I can respect those who want to get after it on a daily basis, heading to the gym to perform those two hour marathon sessions isn’t doing you any favors.  For guys who are looking to add weight I generally opt for LESS volume and strive for three, full-body weight training sessions per week.

6.  In terms of an actual caloric number to shoot for, it’s anyone’s guess as to where the magic number is for you.  For simplicity’s sake I like to tell guys to start with 20% ABOVE maintenance levels.

To find maintenance, take your current bodyweight and multiply by 15.  So, for a 150 lb person, they’d want to strive for 20% ABOVE 2,250 kcals per day – which would be +450 kcals above maintenance.

Just so we’re clear:  this is a GENERAL number to hit and only serves as a starting point.

7. Likewise, keep calories up even on “off” days. Another mistake a lot of guys when trying to gain weight is lowering caloric intake on non-training days.  DON’T DO THIS!!!!!  Keep calories on par with your training days, and if by some chance you notice you’re putting on a little too much fat for your liking, just lower intake slightly – by like 10%.

8.  Did I mention you need to eat a lot?

9.  You need to eat a lot.

I know you (and many others) are trying to look for the magic pill and that my advice isn’t remotely sexy or mind-blowing.  It doesn’t have to be.

Oftentimes keeping things simple is the better way to go.

Now go eat!