Diet!!!

All too often I hear the word diet used as a “4-letter word”, a highly negative thing that evokes nothing short of total disgust from all those within ear shot of the poor tortured soul that dares to mutter such a disgraceful word. I feel strongly that this should not be the case, because diet should simply be a word used to describe what your daily and or typical food and nutrient intake consists of. So you see your diet is merely what you eat and drink, and when you view it as such you will be able to remove all those negative connotations attached to the word and move forward toward reaching your goals by controlling your nutrient intake to produce the desired results.

Now, let’s take a look at different ways we can alter our diet and the results those changes will have on our body’s and our goals. To keep things simple we will split the possible outcomes from diet modifications into 3 categories; 1 Loss, 2 Gain, and 3 Maintenance. Before we dive in to any of the preceding categories we will first need to determine and establish what our B.M.R. (Basil Metabolic Rate) and T.D.E.E. (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) is. For information on how to determine your B.M.R. and your T.D.E.E. read my article on calories in vs. calories out, you can find the full article at, http://changeisachievable.blogspot.com/2011/06/diet-makeover-continued-day-2.html, but the most relevant part follows.

The first thing you want to do is use the Harris Benedict equation to calculate your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), next factor in your daily activity level and this will give you the amount of calories you need to consume to maintain your current weight, otherwise known as your T.D.E.E. (Total Daily Energy Expenditure), decrease that by 500 calories a day, and your weight loss will be about 1 lb per week (+/- 500 calories a day = 3500 a week, it takes about +/- 3500 calories to gain or lose 1 lb of body weight). Now that you know the amount of calories you need to lose 1 lb a week, this is when we will factor in macronutrients and their ratios. The ratio I recommend starting out with is 40% protein, 35% carbohydrates, and 25% fat, and once you see how your body responds to this you can tweak these percentages to what works best for your body. So for example if the amount of calories you needed to lose weight was 1500 you want 40% protein, 35% carbohydrates, and 25% fat, (keep in mind that protein and carbohydrates are 4 calories a gram, and fat is 9 calories a gram). So 40% of 1500 = 600 calories, divide that by 4 calories per gram = 150g protein, next carbohydrates, 35% of 1500 = 525 calories, divide that by 4 calories per gram = 131.25g carbohydrates, and finally fat, 25% of 1500 = 375 calories, divide that by 9 calories per gram =41.6g fat. So your new diet will be 1500 calories a day consisting of 150g protein, 131.25g carbohydrates, and 41.6g fat. I know it sounds somewhat complicated but it’s really not, just Google the Harris Benedict equation and it will walk you through the entire process. Just keep in mind you want your carbohydrate sources to be complex carbohydrate, and your fat sources to be healthy fats.

Ok, good news, once you have your B.M.R. and your T.D.E.E. all you have to do is determine what your desired outcome or goals are and you then select one of the 3 categories, (1 Loss, 2 Gain, and 3 Maintenance). So for example if you goal falls in to the loss category then you would want follow the example above and take your T.D.E.E. and subtract 500 calories a day, this will result in about a 1lb loss per week. If your goal is to gain, then you will want to add 500 calories a day to your T.D.E.E. this will result in about a 1lb gain per week. Then finally if your goal is to maintain then you would want your intake to equal your T.D.E.E. this will result in no change in either direction.

If you have any queations about this or if you would like to open this topic for discuession you should head over to http://forums.fitlifestyles.com.

What is fitness, and how do we obtain it?

http://www.dictionary.com/ defines fitness as; the state or condition of being physically sound and healthy, especially as the result of exercise and proper nutrition. Now what I would like to point here is the part that says; especially as the result of exercise and proper nutrition, the reason I am emphasizing this is because these are the factors that we have the most control over and that we should spend the most time making improvements on. However there are factors that can affect our level of fitness that are outside the realm of our control, the biggest and most obvious being genetics. That is not to say that if we have certain genetic predispositions to disease or other chronic health issues that there is nothing we can do and it would be a waste of our time to even pursue any increased level of fitness, because no matter what your current fitness level or current health issues are you can ALWAYS, and I do mean ALWAYS, increase your level of fitness and better your health.

Now that we know what fitness is, and we know that we can always improve our level of fitness, how do we go about doing this? The first step is to ascertain what your current level of fitness is and there are many different ways to go about this. The easiest way would be to go to your local gym, purchase a training session with a personal trainer and ask them to assess you current level of fitness. They will probably use several different tests to do this, such as the sit and reach test for flexibility, the push up and or the sit-up test for muscular strength/endurance, the step up test or the YMCA bike test for cardio and or VO2max, the list goes on and on. However you may not be comfortable having someone judging, scoring or quantifying your current level of fitness, so in that case having a personal trainer proctor these tests may not be the best approach for you. There are other ways to do this as well, for example many of the newer cardio machines that you will find at your local gym have fitness tests programmed into them, these different tests will not only allow you to gauge your current level of fitness but also keep track of your progress by taking the same test periodically and compairing the scores.

In addition to the tests and methods listed above you will also want to look at your body composition/BMI, your diet, your stress level, your typical mood, how much you drink, if you smoke or not, and how active you are on a daily basis, because all these things factor in to your overall level of fitness and health. For example how fit are you really if you score well on these tests but you drink excessively and smoke? To obtain a true understanding of your current level of fitness you need to look at all aspects of your life not just your activity level or your diet, although these are important factors that contribute to your overall level of health and fitness.

When trying to better your health and fitness you should do it step by step, bit by bit, this is a lifelong process not something that will be accomplished in one fast and feverish session of goal setting. The best way to go about doing this is to make consistent, well advised, health and fitness conscious choices as frequently as possible in your day to day life. This does not mean that you can never eat cake and ice cream again or that if you skip a workout you will start right back at GO and completely undo all your hard work and progress. Simply put, you just want to make more good choices than bad choices and you want to make more good choices than you did the day before. If you follow this protocol I have no doubt in my mind that you will be well on your way to improving your health and fitness.

Periodization Training!!!

One of the mistakes most people make in regards to training is doing the same old thing even when it is no longer producing results, what many personal trainers will tell is that you should plan to change your training style every so often. Now there are two different approaches to this, and we will look at both.

First we will look at the more of the structured of the approaches where you set up a plan for an entire year. In this approach the idea is to have micro cycles through out the year where you will change your training style at predetermined intervals. This sounds complicated but it’s really not and this can all be set up in a relatively short amount of time. To keep everything fairly simple we will not get to technical, or go into the theory or science behind it because that could end up being enough content to fill a book.

We are going to break the year in to 3-5 micro cycles, these micro cycles are usually; hypertrophy (mass), strength, power, endurance, and plyometrics. The selection of the different micro cycles is largely biased on your goals. For example some people exclude Plyometrics, and some exclude power. So for example lets say you wanted to incorporate all 5 I have listed, you would first choose what one you wanted to start with, I recommend selecting one that if different from what you are currently doing, then alternating them to make the changes as drastic as possible to force your body to respond and grow from this different/new stimulus you are placing on it. So let’s start with power, what you will do is train in a very low rep range (1-3) with low total volume, and utilize large compound movements with lots of weight in an explosive manor. You will train like this for 8-12 weeks (I usually do 8 weeks per micro cycle). Next you are going to want to shock your body so you will switch to hypertrophy for the following 8-12 weeks, this will be a very slow tempo style of lifting with a higher rep range (10-15). From there you are going to want to shock the body yet again, so for the next 8-12 weeks you switch over to plyometrics. Plyometrics is a method of training muscle elastic strength and explosiveness to enhance athletic performance, we will not go to much in depth with how to set up a plyometrics routine as this content could fill its own book as well, but you would incorporate things like jumping box squats, clapping explosive push-ups, and things of that nature. Here is a big surprise, we are going to want to shock the body again so we change gears to the strength phase. This phase is going to be a rep range of 4-8 with heavy weight. Finally we are at the endurance phase, this phase uses lighter weight and a much higher rep range usually 15-25+ reps. It should also be noted that some people include a de-train period of 1-4 weeks where weight training is kept to a bare minimum or avoided all together, that way when they get back to training hard they are shocking the body again, thus forcing it to grow.

With the 8-12 weeks for each of the micro cycles that gives you 40-60 weeks for the entire rotation, so it could be any where from just under 1 year, to just over 1 year. It should also be mentioned that some people also make the micro cycles only 4 weeks in length, that way they are able to get 2+ rotations in one year.

The second method is very similar, but rather than having a predetermined amount of time that you stay on one micro cycle you would switch when your progress slows or stops all together. This is a good approach because you don’t waste time once your progress has stalled, but you have to be very in tune to your body and keep a good record of your numbers so you can tell when its time to switch to the next phase, other than that the rest of the set up is the same.

Please note that this is in no way intended to be a full and in-depth look at periodization training, but rather just a very brief over view. If you have any questions about this type of training or would like to learn more about it head over to http://www.fitlifestyles.com/ and visit the forums, there you can read over the different topics already being discussed or start your own and get any questions you may have about this topic answered.

Diet Makeover! (Continued) day 5

Ok, so now I know what complex carbohydrates are, but what are healthy fats?
To keep this as simple as possible we will split fats into 2 main categories, good fats and bad fats. Then we will split each of those into 2 subcategories.

There are 2 main types of good fats, monounsaturated fat, and polyunsaturated fat. From these 2 groups the fats and foods that contain these fats are as follows; olive oil, canola oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil, sesame oil, avocados, olives, nuts (almonds, peanuts, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, pecans, cashews, walnuts), peanut butter, soybean oil, corn oil, safflower oil, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, flaxseed, fatty fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring, trout, sardines), soymilk, and tofu.

On the bad fat side the 2 main groups are saturated fat, and trans fat. From these 2 groups the fats and foods that contain these fats are as follows; high-fat cuts of meat (beef, lamb, pork), chicken with the skin, whole-fat dairy products (milk and cream), butter, cheese, ice cream, palm and coconut oil, lard, commercially-baked pastries, cookies, doughnuts, muffins, cakes, pizza dough, packaged snack foods (crackers, microwave popcorn, chips), stick margarine, vegetable shortening, fried foods (french fries, fried chicken, chicken nuggets, breaded fish), and candy bars. The objective is not to remove fat from your diet but rather to have as much of your dietary fat come form the good fats as possible, and consume as little as possible of the bad fats.

Diet Makeover! (Continued) day 4

So what are complex carbohydrates, and where can I get them?

A complex carbohydrate is a carbohydrate containing chains of three or more single sugar molecules linked together. There are many different sources of complex carbohydrates, and they can be obtained from grains, potatoes, and vegetables just to list a few. One way to make sure that you are getting complex carbohydrates is to only purchase whole grain or complete grain products when buying things like; bread, pasta, flower, or cereal. Also you will want to choose sweet or red potatoes over white potatoes and brown rice over white rice. Oatmeal and legumes are also excellent sources of complex carbohydrates. As long as you make sure you are getting your carbohydrates from sources like the ones listed above as opposed to sugars or refined, bleached, and over processed items like white breads, pastas, and cereals, then you should be headed in the right direction. Some of the benefits of consuming complex carbohydrates over simple carbohydrates are; higher fiber content, they take longer to digest, you will feel fuller longer, and they don’t spike your insulin levels as much as simple carbohydrates.

Diet Makeover! (Continued) day 3

Yesterday we talked about how to determine how many calories you will need to lose weight as well as the proper ratios for your macronutrients. Now that you have that, the next thing I want to go over is the proper way to split those calories and macronutrients up. Some people think it’s best to have a big breakfast, an average lunch, and an average dinner. Other people believe is good to have a small breakfast and lunch and a big dinner. However for optimal results what you are going want to do is split your calories between 6-8 small meals spaced about 3-4 hours apart. Your first meal should be upon waking and should have more carbohydrates than the other meals, your last 2-3 meals should be mainly protein and fat meals and your last meal should be right before you go to bed. Follow this in addition to the protocol you learned yesterday for calculating your BMR and the proper ratios for macronutrients, add in a solid exercise routine and weight loss should come fairly easy. Just remember as you lose weight you will need to recalculate your BMR, (about every 10lbs or so should do it.)

Diet Makeover! (Continued) day 2

Calories in VS calories out!!! This is a hotly debated topic, there are those out that will tell you if you take in less calories than you burn then you will lose weight. Then there are others out there that will say this theory is a complete misconception, they will tell you it’s all about the macronutrients, their ratios and timing. Well I have news for all of you, it’s both!!! Although generally speaking if you consume less calories than you burn you will lose weight, however if your macronutrients are not in check that weight loss will be short lived as your body could go into a catabolic state as well as slow your metabolism down.

So where do you go from here? The first thing you want to do is use the Harris Benedict equation to calculate your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), next factor in your daily activity level and this will give you the amount of calories you need to consume to maintain your current weight, decrease that by 500 calories a day, and your weight loss will be about 1 lb per week (+/- 500 calories a day = 3500 a week, it takes about +/- 3500 calories to gain or lose 1 lb of body weight). Now that you know the amount of calories you need to lose 1 lb a week, this is when we will factor in macronutrients and their ratios. The ratio I recommend starting out with is 40% protein, 35% carbohydrates, and 25% fat, and once you see how your body responds to this you can tweak these percentages to what works best for your body. So for example if the amount of calories you needed to lose weight was 1500 you want 40% protein, 35% carbohydrates, and 25% fat, (keep in mind that protein and carbohydrates are 4 calories a gram, and fat is 9 calories a gram). So 40% of 1500 = 600 calories, divide that by 4 calories per gram = 150g protein, next carbohydrates, 35% of 1500 = 525 calories, divide that by 4 calories per gram = 131.25g carbohydrates, and finally fat, 25% of 1500 = 375 calories, divide that by 9 calories per gram =41.6g fat. So your new diet will be 1500 calories a day consisting of 150g protein, 131.25g carbohydrates, and 41.6g fat. I know it sounds somewhat complicated but it’s really not, just Google the Harris Benedict equation and it will walk you through the entire process. Just keep in mind you want your carbohydrate sources to be complex carbohydrate, and your fat sources to be healthy fats.