1. I made a cameo appearance on The Fitcast this week along with my friend Jen Heath. For those of you that don’t know what it is, The Fitcast is a weekly fitness and nutrition Podcast hosted by Kevin Larrabee and Jimmy Smith. Kevin has done a fantastic job with it, and it’s soon going to celebrate it’s 100th episode. Congrats!

2. Being kinda-sorta a big deal in the industry (one person recognized me at the last seminar I went to), I’ve never been bashful in recommending products that I come across that I feel my readers could benefit from. One of the best products I’ve come across this year has been Combat Core Training by Jim Smith (of Diesel Crew fame). Essentially what you’re getting is a manual that shows you unique ways to train your core and look bad-ass doing it. Definitely check it out.

3. Cassandra Forsythe wrote a really cool article titled The Low Fructose Diet. And before people start going bat shit crazy……no, fruit is NOT bad for you. But Cassandra does give some insight on why limiting your fructose intake while dieting might be a good idea. Check it out here.

4. Best. Video. Ever. Warning: geek factor very high it is.

5. I’d like to give a shout out to my client Michelle for starting her own blog devoted entirely to hating on people who piss her off at the gym where she trains when she’s not at Cressey Performance. I should just quit right now, because I’ll never write about anything so awesome (unless Jessica Biel decides she hates wearing clothes and confesses she loves strength coaches who’s name start with T and end with ony Gentilcore)

Ever have stuff on your mind and you just need to lift heavy things off the floor? Tony + things on his mind + trance music playing in the background* + 550 lbs on the floor = OMGIAMSOAWESOMEGIRLSWILLWANTTOHANGOUTWITHMENOW

*Dude, don’t judge me because I listen to trance while I train; or John Mayer for that matter. We all have our quirks that make us fun and unique individuals. I mean, I didn’t pass judgment on you when you asked me to set the DVR to record Army Wives last week did I? Or how bout that time you went to the movies by yourself to watch Brokeback Mountain? I didn’t say anything then. What’s that you say? That was actually me? I HATE YOU!!!!! *runs away crying, but not before grabbing my Jake Gyllenhaal autographed cowboy hat*

In our great nation’s history, there have been several lawsuits that have had a great impact on our society and have affected millions of lives. A few that come to mind (thank you Wikipedia)

Roe vs. Wade (is a controversial United States Supreme Court case that resulted in a landmark decision regarding abortion).

Brown vs. Board of Education (was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court, which overturned earlier rulings going back to Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, by declaring that state laws that established separate public schools for black and white students denied black children equal educational opportunities. As a result, de jure racial segregation was ruled a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution).

Gentilcore vs. Megan Fox (still under ruling by the United States Supreme Court, whereupon it would be illegal for Ms. Fox to show her fun bags/face pillows/BOOBIES!!!! to anyone other than myself.)

And now, we have Sugarman vs. Carter, which will undoubtedly be remembered as a turning point in the American justice system.

From The New York Times:

Last month, a jury acquitted Mr. Christopher Carter of assault charges for manhandling the stationary bike of a fellow gym member, Stuart Sugarman, who was shouting and grunting during a spin class. Even though Mr. Carter’s defense lawyer acknowledged in court that his client had grabbed Mr. Sugarman’s bike by the handlebars, tilted it back and then released it, with Mr. Sugarman astride, the jury decided that he was not a criminal for having done so.

The altercation occurred at an Equinox fitness club on the Upper East Side last August. Mr. Sugarman, a 49-year-old senior partner at an investment firm, was yelling things like “You go, girl!” and “Good burn!” in spin class, and Mr. Carter could not take it anymore. He twice asked the instructors to get Mr. Sugarman to quiet down, according to trial testimony. But after Mr. Sugarman continued, harsh words were exchanged.

Mr. Carter, 45, a stockbroker, stormed over to Mr. Sugarman’s bike and lifted it, crashing the back of it into a wall, witnesses said. Mr. Sugarman said the force of the bike dropping to the ground caused a herniated disc in his neck.

Christopher Carter is officially my new hero. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure this qualifies him for the National Medal of Honor, or I don’t know, at least a high five. Maybe a free dinner at KFC? Regardless, the man did us all a favor and he should be commended for it. However, I have to say that if I were in the same situation, I probably would have skipped the whole “harsh words being exchanged” thing, and just gone right to throwing this Sugarman guy (and his bike) out the window. 47th floor be damned. There you have it folks, case closed.

But this whole story does bring up a conundrum. Namely, what other annoying things do people do in the gym that warrants such justified behavior? For the heck of it, I made an informal list which I’m pretty sure will be made into an Amendment:

1. Guy who yells “all you, all you, all you,” while essentially doing an upright row for the person he’s spotting.

1.2. Guy who loads the bar to 225 and says he’s going for five reps and then barely gets one. He then looks at you with a look of bewilderment, shrugs, and says, “yeah, I trained my triceps yesterday, so I’m pretty tired today.”

1.3. Guy who claims he used to bench 400 lbs back in high school. It’s amazing how often this happens. I’ve been around some REALLY strong guys and I’ve only seen a handful bench over 400 lbs. Yet, every Tom, Dick, and Harry claims he used to bench 400 lbs for reps back in high school.

2. Guy (or girl) who flexes in front of the mirror after each set of bicep curls. Bonus points for actually kissing your bicep or muttering, “yeah, I’m so swole” afterwards.

3. Girl who wears sunglasses while she trains. I saw this a lot while I was a trainer in downtown Boston and always thought it was borderline retarded.

4. Guy who walks into the gym with a sweatshirt on and then proceeds to strip down every ten minutes in this order: sweatshirt…long sleeved shirt…sleeveless shirt/wife beater/UnderArmour shirt.

5. Anyone who talks on their cell phone while “working out.” Matter of fact, at CP we don’t even allow cell phones into the facility. This is the sign that greets all our athletes/clients before they step onto the gym floor.

So lets have it people. What other stupid things do people do in the gym that annoy you?

Here’s a dessert that you won’t be seeing in the next version of Gourmet Nutrition:

Stephen Bruce, owner of Serendipity 3, otherwise known as “Restaurant I Won’t Be Taking My Girlfriend to For Her Birthday,” designed this $25,000 dessert, named the Frrozen Haute, out of the world’s most exotic and expensive cocoas, edible 23-karat gold flakes, and topped with whipped cream covered with more gold and a side of La Madeline au Truffle from Knipschildt Chocolatier, which sells for $2,600 a pound.

Not to be out-blingafied, Bruce went all Mr. T and also included an 18-karat gold bracelet with 1 carat of white diamonds at the base of the gold encrusted goblet. As an aside, the dessert is eaten with a gold spoon decorated with white and chocolate-colored diamonds, which can also be taken home.

Who in their right mind would spend that amount of money for a dessert, let alone a dessert that according to the woman in the video, tastes “exactly like a frozen hot chocolate?” Does frozen hot chocolate even exist? Which is it lady, frozen or hot? Needless to say, for $25,000, I would half expect a magical leprechaun to jump out and lead me to my brand new Jetta waiting outside in the parking lot. I hope it’s low carb, I’m on a diet.

I know I’ve been absent for a few days, but lucky for you, I had seven bowls of awesome flakes this morning and I’m back with a vengeance.

The seminar this weekend was fantastic. It was great to see so many people make the trip out to Hudson and Cassandra touched on many topics that were eye opening. Namely, people need to be more cognizant of their fructose intake (I’m going to touch on this topic in a future article), purity of fish oil is kind of a big deal, saturated fat is actually not that bad (the asshats who wrote Skinny Bitch deserve to be nunchucked to the throat), and tweaking one’s diet/training around their menstrual cycle actually has a lot of merit.

Normally, I’d rather swallow live bees than talk about the female menstrual cycle, but in this case, I’m going to make an exception because it has a lot of applicability to women and how they can change their eating habits to coincide with their friend.*

Estradiol (E2) is the predominant estrogen in the body. What’s great about E2 is the fact that it’s associated with greater fat oxidation and improves glucose uptake along with insulin sensitivity. Contrary to what many believe, estrogen keeps your body fat in check, while the actual culprit is progesterone (causes increased fat storage).

So what does this have to do with how a woman can alter her diet? As the graph above shows, during the Follicular Phase (days 1-13), estradiol steadily increases, while progesterone stays relatively low. It’s during this phase where the body can handle carbohydrates more efficiently and it would be wise to follow a diet higher in carbohydrates/proteins and lower in fat.

Conversely, in the Luteal Phase (days 14-28), estradiol steadily decreases, while progesterone spikes rapidly. It’s during this time that the body handles fat much more efficiently and the body does not tolerate carbs quite as well. According to Cassandra, women should try to vary their macronutrient ratio to include more dietary fat and less carbohydrates during this phase (protein can stay the same).

Additionally, to help counteract PMS, women should try to ingest more EFA’s (Essential Fatty Acids) to help reduce inflammation (GLA-borage oil, Omega-3’s) along with focusing on getting more antioxidants (fruits, veggies, Greens product) in the diet to help prevent free-radical damage that is enhanced during this time. Also, women should lay off their husband/boyfriend/significant other and realize that they’ll take out the garbage when they’re good and ready dammit!!!! *slams door*

*= Period. Or what I like to call “the 5-7 days that could be the worst of a man’s life, which in many cases may lead to a breakup if an excessive amount of time is spent with the periodee.” Just a fair warning, ladies.

What a weekend. First, my girlfriend and I went to a house warming party in a swanky Boston suburb Saturday night and I actually didn’t want to kill myself. Yay me. Who knew rich people love to eat cheese and drink red wine while playing Nintendo Wii? High Five!

Second, I pitched a no-hitter Sunday in my over-30 adult baseball league. Granted I’m pitching against guys with mullets who haven’t seen their junk since 1998 because they have beer guts the size of Kansas, but whatever. I totally dominated and I’d like to thank my teammates for playing an awesome game.

Anyways, lets talk about fat loss and how beta oxidation can be sub-divided into HOLY SWEET MOTHER JAZZ HANDS………..why hello Jessica Simpson! Normally I’m not a fan of girls who have had sex with John Mayer, but how can I hate on someone who wears an awesome shirt like this?

Apparently the shirt pictured above caused quite a controversy last week with some people, not to mention made me realize how much I wish Tony Romo was me.

According to PETA, women who eat meat support animal abuse, steal food from starving children, and are fat.

“All the saturated fat and cholesterol in chicken wings, pork chops, and steak eventually leads to flabby thighs and love handles. I hope the upcoming “Jessica Simpson’s Intimates” line comes in plus sizes! Going vegetarian is the best way to get slim and stay that way.”

Hmmm, I thought the whole notion that “dietary fat makes you fat” has been debunked numerous times? While I won’t deny that it’s common knowledge among health professionals, as well as the general pubic that excessive consumption of saturated fat (animal based fats) poses greater health risks than unsaturated fat (think olive oil); to say that saturated fat/cholesterol alone will eventually lead to flabby thighs and love handles is a bit of a black/white statement.

I mean, take Dr. Jeff Volek’s latest book, The TNT Diet, which is based entirely off the research he and his colleagues at the University of Connecticut have done over the past several years concerning dietary (specifically saturated) fat. In short, saturated fat isn’t the enemy that it’s normally laid out to be.

Again, I realize that there are inherent health risks to excessive saturated fat and I’m not advocating that people go out of their way to include more in their diet. All I’m saying is that saturated fat is often stigmatized unfairly, when in fact there are several important benefits.

1. Saturated fat constitutes at least 50% of the cell membranes in our body, which gives them necessary stiffness and integrity. This in turn helps protect us from viruses and maintains a healthy immune system.

2. They play a vital role in the health of our bones. For calcium to be effectively incorporated into the skeletal structure, at least 50% of dietary fat should be saturated.

3. They are needed for the proper utilization of essential fatty acids. Elongated omega-3 fatty acids are better retained in the tissues when the diet is rich in saturated fats.

4. The Framingham Heart Study, started in 1948 and still on-going, is one of the biggest research projects on heart health. In 1992, study leader Dr William Castelli wrote in Archives of Internal Medicine: “In Frammingham, Massachusetts… the people who ate the most cholesterol, ate the most saturated fat, ate the most calories, weighed the least and were the most physically active.”

5. Saturated fats are commonly blamed for raising cholesterol levels. But they raise both the levels of good HDL cholesterol as well as the so-called “bad” LDL cholesterol.

Furthermore, in regards to dietary cholesterol- the liver produces far more cholesterol (up to 2000 milligrams per day) than most individuals would ever consume. Additionally, when dietary cholesterol intake increases, the body will automatically down regulate its own production. Conversely, when dietary intake decreases, the body will up regulate cholesterol synthesis. All in all, this supports the contention that dietary cholesterol generally has little impact on blood cholesterol levels.

I’m sorry but real women do eat meat. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that real women also know how to make a killer roast beef sandwich and understand that whenever Star Wars is on, that they need to use their “inside voice,” and only speak when spoken to. Who says I don’t understand women? Oh look, Episode IV is on. “Hun, can you go make me a sand……………….wait no, not the pepper spray again!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.”