Friday, November 8, 2013

Nutrition Myth: Coconut Oil is the Next Best Thing


Scrolling through my daily fitness news I came across several articles talking about the health benefits of Coconut Oil.  As a nutrition student this makes me cringe!  Just today I have read two articles claiming Coconut Oil is the next best thing since kale.  So why does this make me cringe?  The TRUTH about Coconut Oil is that it’s filled with saturated fat!  Yes, saturated fat is not good for you I don't care what you heard from the latest "guru".  Coconut Oil is in fact over 95% saturated FAT!  That is more saturated fat then BUTTER.  I have no idea who thought it would be a good idea to use Coconut oil as a "healthy" substitution for cooking.  This couldn't be further from the truth.  The only reason I could see Coconut as being a healthy option is if you were stranded on an island and had to eat it because you were starving.  So please stick to canola oil or olive oil.  These two oils are the lowest in saturated fats by far.  Coconut oil on the other hand is dead last.  Always research a new health claim or food product before believing it....or just read my blog!  

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Maxamize your Workout with your Heart


Heart rate training is the BEST way to have the BEST workout.  It is a simple device with complex interactions that gives you the ultimate result.  I don't work for a heart rate monitor company or do I get commissions off selling heart rate monitors, but as a personal trainer, I HIGHLY recommend them to all my clients for MAXINUM results.  How else would you know how to push yourself a little harder?  How else would you know to rest 30 seconds longer?  Without knowing what your heart rate is after each exercise you can’t. 

What heart rate monitor should I buy?  There are thousands of heart rate monitors on the Internet.  Just like any other product some are very high quality and some are very bad.  The company that makes the best heart rate monitors for a relatively economical price is Polar.  For a beginner, I would recommend their FT 7 heart rate monitor watch, which you can buy on Amazon for only 65$.  Here is the link FT 7 Polar. The FT 7 will give you your heart rate and how many calories you burn from each workout you track.  Some of the more expensive model will tell you which ZONE you are in and for the amount of time spent in each zone.  This is a very cool perk, but don't worry I am going to show you how to calculate this on your own using the FT 7 so you can save your money!  

How does a heart rate monitor work?  The monitor works by putting a strap around your chest that is going to pick up your heart rate with the device connected to the center of the strap.  MAKE SURE BEFORE YOU PUT THE STRAP ON YOU GET THE METAL BOLTS ON THE BLACK DEVICE WET OR ELSE IT WILL NOT PICK UP YOUR HEART RATE.  Once the strap picks up your heart rate it will send it to your watch and tell you what your heart rate is throughout your workout.  There is more detail on how to use the buttons on the watch that you can find in the instructions manual once you get your watch. 

How do you use your heart rate monitor?  Ok so this is the practical section of this article.  To use your monitor you first need to know what your heart rate max is.  This is a very simple calculation (220-AGE).  So for me my max is 220-24= 196.  Now that you know your max so you can figure out your training zones.  Zone 1 is 60-70% your max heart rate so for me it would be 196 x.6= 118 196x .7 137.  So when my watch is from 118-137 I am in zone 1.  Zone 1 you burn the most calories from fat but you also burn the least amount of calories.  It is the zone I like to use for recovery after going into zone 2 and 3 for a short period of time it is always good to come back down to zone 1 and the faster your heart rate comes back to zone 1 the better shape you are in.   Zone 2 is 70-80% and Zone 3 is 80%+.  So for me zone 2 would be anywhere from 137-157 and zone 3 would be 157+.  This is also easy to calculate, just take your max heart rate and times it by the percent of each zone like I did for zone 1 above.  Zone 3 you will be burning the most calories and really pushing your heart to the max.  It is good to only stay in zone 3 a couple minutes at the MOST at one time.  After an intense moment in zone 3 come back down to zone 1 to recover.  Training like this will not only burn 700+ calories per workout it will increase your aerobic capacity very fast and significantly.  If you are not doing zone training I suggest you buy a heart rate monitor and start today.  It literally is your own personal trainer.  If you are working out and can't get out of zone 1 it will push you to work out harder and it will also give you the appropriate amount of rest that otherwise would not be possible.  








Sunday, August 4, 2013

MyFitnessPal:How Many Calories do you Eat????


One of the first questions I ask someone interested in either LOSING weight or GAINING weight is how many calories do you eat a day?  Almost 100% of the time the answer is "uh I don't know" or "I have no idea but I try to eat HEALTHY".  The latter is my favorite response because even if you’re eating "healthy" you can still gain weight by eating a surplus amount of calories. (E.g. 1,000 calories "salads")  That is one of the biggest problems in the food industry today- no matter where you go to eat healthy or not it’s going to be calorie packed unless you get the skinny portion.
I could go on and on with all the science behind it but you would probably flip to the next website because your head will be hurting.  

So to save time just think of this simple question: HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY LOSE WEIGHT WITHOUT KNOWING HOW MUCH YOU EAT?  This is where the app MyFitnessPal comes in.  (There are many other apps that count calories out there I just find this one the best and oh yeah its FREE)  If you have a Smartphone or a computer that downloads apps please download MyFitnessPal and start counting your calories today.  It will even have you break down the macro and micronutrients throughout your day as well (WHICH I FIND THE MOST IMPORTANT PART!).  This is a great first step and I would say CRITICAL step to losing or gaining weight or even MAINTAING weight.  

It is very simple to use and has almost every food you can think of either take out or dining on there, and if it's not you can simply make a new food item for that meal.  The app will calculate how many calories you should be consuming a day based of your activity, age, weight, height, and gender.  Keep in mind this is an ESTIMATE and may need correcting.  I hope you take this first step to a healthier you and start keeping track of your calories today!!! I am going to be posting my next article on HEART RATE MONITORS soon so check back in a couple of weeks !!!! Any questions please comment below!




LINK: http://www.myfitnesspal.com

Monday, May 13, 2013

"Fad" Diets Exposed

I am posting another video from Dr. Layne Norton or BioLayne.  In this video he explains how silly some of the "fad" diets out there really are.  He explains the paleo diet and how caveman were never really trying to get "jacked" or "shredded" but survive.  He goes in depth by looking at studies and the science behind some of the extremism's of the fitness industry.  This will really give you an open-minded view on some of the hottest topics in the fitness world today.  Please check out this video it is one of my favorites!
*Research over "gurus"! I think that should be Biolayne's motto if he has one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=34mViApQiyE


Thursday, May 9, 2013

"Clean" Eating Vs. If It Fits Your Macros

Let me introduce you to Dr. Layne Norton, PhD Nutritional Sciences from University of Illinois, who is a natural bodybuilder and a firm believer of eating your macronutrients. (Carbohydrates, fat, and protein)  In a video log from his website he discusses popular 'guru' theories and debunks them with real science.  One of the “FADS” that has been floating around the web is this idea of "clean" eating.  In this video Dr. Norton discusses "clean" eating and his approach "If it fits Your Macros".  I really encourage anyone who is interested in getting results from all their hard work in and outside of the gym to watch this video.  Knowledge is power in almost any trade of life, especially so in the fitness world.  He has tons of great videos that are free to watch on his website.  If your into the real science of how things work and not popular 'guru' theories you will love his website.  
Warning: you might be shocked to learn some of the things taught to you were total BS!   

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Eat 5-6 Meals a Day for Results!

Everyone who is looking to lose weight gets approached with a million different diets.  Either they are suggested to them or they find them on the Internet.  A lot of these diets are "FAD" diets that are designed to lose weight quickly.  The problem with these diets is you lose weight the wrong way.  These diets do usually work because what they do is limit your calorie intake in some way.  Either lo-carb by decreasing your calories from carbohydrates, or from paleo diet, eliminating calories from grains. Because after all if you want to lose weight you need to limit your calories intake and increase your calorie outtake.  Which is true to the most basic sense.  There are other equations that you have to worry about if you want to maintain your weight loss.  The biggest variable is you Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR).  This is the biggest key to keeping weight lost.  "FAD" diets will typically destroy your RMR, which will then make it that much harder to keep the weight off.  The way to lose weight while keeping your RMR high is to lose it SLOWLY.  Ah!! I said it SLOWLY.  No one wants to lose weight slowly, in fact people would take a magic pill and lose weight in an hour if it existed.  That is why "FAD" diets are soooooo popular because they work quickly.  The only problem is if you want to keep the weight off and remain healthy for your life you have to do it slowly.  By doing it slowly you will not completely crash your RMR and you will maintain the calories you burn at rest.  So now that I got you convinced to lose weight slowly....which has been a key message from good health enthusiast (not gurus) for years.  I am going to discuss to importance of eating 5-6 meals a day.

Eating 5-6 meals a day keeps your RMR at a high level thorough the day.  When your body digests food its core temperature goes up because it needs to work to utilize the food for energy.  When you eat only 1-2 times a day, which is the average for an American, you don't raise your core temperature and you lower you RMR.  So if you want to burn the most calories while sitting on your butt, eat every three hours.  PLEASE don't try FAD diets.  Although they may have worked in the pass or you have heard of these great results from friends, see how they are doing now and if they have kept the weight off.  Usually the answer is NO.  

This is your insulin which goes up after you eat and your glucagon which goes down when you havent ate for a long time.  Fed and Fasted states.  This is similar to when you eat your RMR goes up and when you dont eat it goes down.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Artificial Sweetners a Mystery, better than sugar.


I found an article that concisely highlights the debate over artificail sweetners. Which ones are OK and which are risky to long term health.  The one conclusion is that while all of the research is inconclusive that the artificial swettners are deemed to be "safe" by the FDA and that all scientists agree that they are better than sugar when it comes to leading a healthy life.

Also, Aspartame is two amino acids with a methanol group.  It is not some dangerous "chemical" people make it out to be.  According to my medical nutrition textbook you would have to drink 25 2 liter diet soda's to experience side effects!!!!
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/11/which-sweetener-should-you-choose/