Nutrition

3 Food Swaps That Will Save Your Diet

Nutrition
Without upsetting your taste buds

By Cassie Shortsleeve

Try these three tips today to enjoy your favorite foods sans the guilt:

Earth & Turf Burgers
Roast and grind mushrooms and swap for half of the beef. It’s an obvious calorie- and fat-reducer, but adds more umami—the flavor of savory or what literally makes your mouth water—and this therefore increases flavor impact. It’s a win-win.

Oatmeal or Barley Risotto
Swap grains for rice in indulgent recipes. Substitute Stella cut oats for risotto rice, and quinoa or millet for a fried rice dish. This is a great way to add health benefits and come off as a creative genius.

Apple Turnover
Substitute combinations of cinnamon or vanilla where sugar is called for. Our minds register cinnamon and vanilla as sweet, but they aren’t. This is a great way to cut back on calories and bad carbs.

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The 20 DUMBEST Things Ever Said By “Bodybuilders

Nutrition, Training

By IFBB Pro Ben Pakulski of Hypertrophy MAX




1) Chicken, egg whites, rice, and rice cakes ONLY…..If you want to get shredded



PLEASE DO NOT do this! Your body needs micro nutrients and vitamins.
I know of so many aspiring bodybuilders and people that just want to better
their physique that hire people who tell them to follow this diet. FIRE THEM!

2) Fats make you fat

Fats are essential for countless essential body processes.  All fats are good 
(trans fats excluded) in the correct ratio. Rotate your fat sources and watch
your libido and test levels skyrocket. I’m just saying…

3) You’ve gotta lift heavy to grow

Cmon people! If you’ve ever read anything I’ve written you know this is not
 true. You’ve got to lift properly, and maximize tension to grow! Don’t worry, 
its easier than it sounds once you get it. In fact, MAX-TENSION is the name
 of Phase 1 and we’re shipping it to your front door — on your terms — until
 this Friday.

4) A calorie is a calorie (all calories are created equal) 



Sounds like meathead math to me! Even when trying to get as big as possible, 
the WORST thing you can do is eat indiscriminately. This will set you up for 
insulin resistance and LESS muscle growth. I can’t believe all the kids 
brainwashed into thinking pop-tarts are okay!

5) I’m trying to work my “tie ins”


I still laugh when I read this. WTH is a “tie in”? There is NO SUCH THING
people. A muscle is a muscle, and its structure is what it is. Where two 
muscles tie together is simply where two muscles tie together. You CAN’T 
train that. You can certainly train a muscles ENTIRE length, but not the 
space between two muscles.

6) I’m training to stretch my fascia

Ummm, FASCIA DOES NOT STRETCH! 100% proven fact that fascia has 
the tensile strength of STEEL. It may expand, much like muscle does when 
it gets warm, and become more pliable, but as soon as it cools it’s right back 
to where it started. Fascia grows in much the same way muscle does. You 
may break fascial adhesions which gives the illusion of expansion or greater 
range (this is a great thing!) but unfortunately its not stretching to allow for 
muscle growth peeps.  Volumize your muscle via training and fascia will see 
a need to adapt and expand or grow.

7) Narrow grip T-Bar rows work my inner back



A-mazing! NO-IT-DOES-NOT! Narrow grip on back simply impedes ranges and 
forces you to use greater internal rotation of the shoulder joint (rotator muscles)

8) I don’t want to “overtrain”



Listen, an hour or two 5 days a week IS NOT overtraining…EVER…PERIOD. Unless you don’t eat, and don’t sleep…in which case overtraining is the least of your worries.

9) Low intensity cardio is best for fat burning

Hopefully, by now, most of you know that this is a big load of BS and that low intensity cardio does in fact burn a greater percentage of overall fat WHILE doing the exercise but does NOTHING for your BMR aka calorie burning for the rest of the day.

10) Fasted cardio burns more fat



NOPE!  Never been proven. Ever. In fact, it has been shown that cardio (or any exercise for that matter) done after consuming calories has a greater thermogenic effect. (more calories burned)

11) Preacher curls work my lower bicep

Oh boy! We’ve ALL done this at some point. Myself included. But thankfully I know better now. As much as it would be nice to work my lower bicep or lengthen my bicep, preacher curls do not do this, and either do any exercises. They may overload the lower portion of the strength curve, thereby making you stronger in that part of the range giving you the misconception that you’re lengthening your bicep. In reality, you’re just getting overall thickness to your bicep.

12) Close grip bench works my inner chest



Or ANY exercise for that matter…you CAN NOT work your “inner chest”. I actually had a fight with another pro about this. To improve development of your inner chest it is simply necessary to fully shorten your pec muscles. Much like a bicep curl “for peak” forces your muscle to be fully shortened and thereby grow upward, same idea for inner chest.

13) I must touch the floor on a stiff leg deadlift for a full range and maximum stretch in my hammies.



Cool, you can touch your toes. That doesn’t mean that you’re getting a greater range in your hamstrings. It often means that you’re achieving a greater range via putting your spine in a compromised position. Go only as far as your hamstrings flexibility will allow.

14) When you stop working out, does all that muscle turn to fat?



Clearly every bodybuilder that stops training will turn to a massive fat slob. All that muscle has to go somewhere right? Well, no. Fat and muscle are two completely different entities. It’s like turning chicken breasts into donuts. Although it might be cool, I don’t see it being likely anytime soon unless you can track down Doc Brown and his flying Delorean.

15) Saturated fat is bad



Actually, saturated fat has never been shown to have any correlation with all the 
negative things the media might have you believe. Heart disease etc. When it does become bad is when it’s combined with sugars! Saturated fat on its own actually has many great positive benefits in the body. Hormone production etc.

16) Taking glutamine and Whey protein together is bad. They compete.



In fact they can help with increased protein synthesis when combined. In fact 
glutamine improves immune function and immune function is an indicator of
 strength.  Weak immune system = weak muscles.

17) I’m going to diet and lose bodyfat before I start weight training



Ok, maybe not said by a lot of bodybuilders, but I still hear this idiocy all the time. Listen people, Weight training is THE best way to lose body fat and change composition.  Vinny and I can take ANY physique to 10% body fat with weights and diet alone!

18) Can I get a lift off?



If somebody says this before they start, walk away! If you can’t lift it on your own, 
you have no business lifting that weight. The only exception is some crappy old 
shoulder and incline presses that make you reach 4 feet behind your head to 
grab the bar. In such cases I remove #18 😉

19) Creatine causes cramping and muscle tears.



Nothing even close to that has ever been shown, but the media loves to tell stories that sensationalize everything that they put out.

20) I just can’t build my triceps (insert YOUR lagging bodypart here).



YES you can. You just need to learn HOW to do things properly. They might never be the best in the world, but you can bring up any lagging bodypart to match the rest of your body with knowledge of proper execution.
=== End===

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How I Recommend You Lose 10 Pounds

Nutrition, Weekly Motivation

By Dr. Kareem F. Samhouri

Cut sugar, rehydrate and do high-intensity exercise anytime you make a mistake; plus, find time for 5 minutes of exercise 3x per day.

The rules are simple, and you can be there before you know it. Eliminate sugar from your diet, entirely, and cut out the possibility of putting on fat; you’re addressing the hormonal imbalances your body has brought on since you developed insulin sensitivity, and you’re re-stabilizing your body without all of the inflammation that processed sugars create in our bodies.

Eliminating sugar, while rehydrating, stimulates an increase in cellular metabolism while simultaneously eliminating energy crashes, excess-sugar fat deposits that happen when you consume more sugar than your body can process, and abnormalities in blood pressure and heart rate response that take place with dehydration. In turn, your body realizes its ready for change, and it responds.

There is a lot of controversy about whether or not you should do cardio, interval training, build muscle before you lose fat, or do high repetition-based exercise. The fact of the matter is that all approaches help people with weight loss, but let’s compare and contrast these four methods for a greater understanding and increased likelihood of success:

Cardio For Weight Loss High Intensity Interval
Training (HIIT)		 Building Muscle
For Weight Loss		 High Repetition/
Intensity-Based Exercise
For Weight Loss
Burns Calories During Workout Yes Yes Yes Yes
Burns Calories After Workout Is Over No Yes Yes Yes
Helps Body Burn More Calories Over Time No Yes, with plateau effect Yes, no plateau Yes, with effect plateau effect
Uses “Carb-Based Calories” To Burn Fat Yes, tons. Yes, tons. Barely Yes, tons.
Uses “Protein-Based Calories” To Burn Fat No, barely. No, barely. Yes, tons. Some
Uses “Fat-Based Calories” To Burn Fat Yes, if greater than 40 minutes. Yes, but only in afterburn effect. Yes Yes, but not quite as much as muscle building
Leads To Higher Exercise Tolerance For Increased Workout Capability Over Time Slowly Rapidly Moderately Quickly
Functional Carryover To Weight Loss Through ADL’s None Depends on whether or not this is done outside or on a machine Often, but not always. Often, but not always.
Increases Risk of Injury With Workout Yes, but usually not during cardio. Yes, when over VO2 max or 20 minutes. Yes, especially without a spotter Low, but possible

 

Now that we’ve listed out the various benefits of each form of weight loss exercise, let’s discuss the importance of each row above in your weight loss efforts:

Weight Loss Factor: Importance For Weight Loss:
Burns Calories During Workout Calories In vs Calories Out still determines your overall ability to lose weight, but this doesn’t take into account the necessity to discuss ‘nutrient density’ in your caloric intake.*
Burns Calories After A Workout This is the result of an ‘afterburn effect’ (EPOC) that takes place when your body craves oxygen after a workout, and it forces repair of injured muscle tissue used to train. Muscle naturally gets injured in a small way when you do high intensity exercise or you lift weights; repairing this muscle, and ridding it of lactic acid, is what leads to burning calories for days after a workout.
Helps Body Burn More Calories Over Time Building muscle leads to an increased metabolism by increasing your muscle:fat ratio. Your muscle:fat ratio ultimately determines your metabolism, as increasing muscle mass forces your body to work harder to feed itself, ultimately burning more calories throughout each day.
Uses “Carb-Based Calories” To Burn Fat Generally speaking, people overeat carbs, so it’s great to have a solution that burns through your sugars and carbs when you need to. However, the better advice would be to do the minimum amount of exercise needed to burn excess carbs, and then work on utilizing your other macronutrient categories for caloric burn and weight loss.
Uses “Protein-Based Calories” To Burn Fat Biasing protein-based calories for weight loss means that you are building muscle, which ultimately affects your muscle:fat (muscle to fat) ratio.
Uses “Fat-Based Calories” To Burn Fat Oddly enough, these aren’t the most important calories to burn during a workout, as this will often mean that you are losing the main benefit of your workout. Fat-burning calories get affected with low-load, high-duration exercise, or after a workout that involves the ‘afterburn effect;’ this is when your body is continuing to burn calories, but at a lower heart rate and with less work.
Leads To Increased Exercise Tolerance For Increased Workout Capability Over Time Increasing exercise tolerance, or VO2 max, is one of the most important factors for someone who is just starting out or who hasn’t reached his/her fitness potential. If your body has the ability to tolerate more work (i.e. more reps, more weight, longer workouts, etc.), your body has the ability to get more results from every workout.
Functional Carryover To Weight Loss Through Activities of Daily Living (ADL’s) When you choose exercises that “remind” your body of your workout during your day, your body naturally engages your muscles a bit more, remembers postural setting, and believes it needs to grow to survive. From a practical example, when we were hunters and gatherers, running more meant that we needed to be able to run further to find food; similarly, lifting heavy rocks meant that we needed to build a home, so we needed more strength. Our bodies are smart, so they respond.
Increases Risk Of Injury With Workout Avoiding injury is paramount in your exercise success. Not only is injury avoidance important for sustainable results, but it’s also important to help with your motivation levels. Finally, an injured muscle/joint remembers the injury for longer than the expected time period, and it causes muscle imbalances to take place. Without specifically reversing these muscle imbalances, your results will naturally plateau over time, or even reverse in some situations.

 

*NOTE on ‘Nutrient Density’: All calories were not created equally. At the end of the day, calories in vs calories out will let you know if you are in a caloric deficit, which leads to weight loss. However, protein-based calories are known to consume 20% of themselves, so these calories don’t count for as much. Also, all excess calories derived from any macronutrient group that go unused ultimately turn to sugar and get deposited as fat. Therefore, if you ate 2000 calories of only carbs, your body would store much more fat than if you ate a blend of carbs, proteins, and fats.

Awesome! So now you know that cardio can be an effective way to burn calories in the moment, and it helps you get rid of carbs, but it might not be the best way to burn calories long-term. Also, it is not the most efficient way to lose weight, although it does work.

Next, you understand that interval-training is an effective way to burn calories both now, and after you go to the gym; but alone, it will lead to plateau. The reason for this is because your body needs to build muscle to sustain an increased metabolism. There are two ways to increase your metabolism:

  1. Lower your bodyfat
  2. Increase your muscle mass

Interval training does a great job of lowering bodyfat, as you rid your body of all of its excess sugars, bias protein and fat-burning for days to come, and increase your exercise tolerance. However, it will not lead to increasing your muscle mass, whatsoever. So, interval-training, alone, is not the answer.

Building muscle is great for #2, above, but often times these workouts force you to increase your caloric intake in order to grow muscle. Also, long rest breaks are important for muscle building, so you need to factor in a decreasing heart rate response to exercise that takes place with interval training.

To come full circle, let’s discuss high repetition/intensity-based exercise as a plan to lose weight at full speed. In this case, we’ll eventually plateau if we don’t build muscle, but we will accomplish both #1 and #2, albeit more of #1 than #2. Your body will have the same response as interval training, in terms of bodyfat response, because you can actually train with intervals while lifting lighter weights. Naturally, since you are lifting weight, you will build a bit of muscle as well.

When it comes to losing 10 pounds and sustaining those results, high intensity-based exercise is the way to go in my opinion, but now you can decide for yourself. Your body needs to crave an increased exercise tolerance, consume its own carbs on a daily basis, and bias protein-breakdown for increasing your muscle mass over time. Ultimately, you should periodize this type of program to alternate with muscle building every 4-6 weeks for the best effect, but this is how I’d recommend you lose ten pounds, especially if you’re in a hurry.

Noe sure of what to eat click here

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An Early Merry Christmas & Early Happy New Year

Nutrition
Five Perfect Breakfast Meals
Breakfast wakes up your metabolism and tells it to start burning fat, decreasing your risk of obesity
Banana Split Smoothie

(number of Powerfoods: 3)

What you need:

1 banana

1/2 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt

1/8 cup frozen orange juice concentrate

1/2 cup 1% milk

2 teaspoons whey powder

6 ice cubes, crushed

 

How to prepare: Blend until smooth in blender. Makes 2 8-ounce servings.

Calories per serving: 171; Protein: 8 g; Carbs: 33 g; Fat: 2 g; Saturated fat: 1 g; Sodium: 94 mg; Fiber: 2 g

Very Berry Smoothie

(number of Powerfoods: 4)

What you need:

3/4 c instant oatmeal, nuked in water or skim milk

3/4 c skim milk

3/4 c mixed frozen berries

2 tsp whey powder

3 ice cubes, crushed

 

How to prepare: Blend until smooth in blender.

Makes 2 8-ounce servings

Per serving: 144 calories, 7 grams (g) protein, 27 g carbohydrates, 1 g fat (0 g saturated), 4 g fiber, 109 milligrams (mg) sodium

Breakfast Bacon Burger

(number of Powerfoods: 4)

What you need:

1 Thomas’ Honey Wheat English Muffin

1/2 teaspoon trans fat-free margarine

1 egg

1 slice low-fat American cheese

1 slice Canadian bacon

Vegetables of choice

 

How to prepare:

1. Split the muffin, toast it, and add margarine.

2. Break the egg in a microwavable dish, prick the yolk with a toothpick, and cover the dish with plastic wrap.

3. Microwave on high for 30 seconds. Let stand for 30 seconds. Add cheese, egg, and Canadian bacon to the muffin, then nuke for 20 seconds.

4. Add vegetables to taste.

Makes 1 serving.

Calories per serving: 300; Protein: 22 g; Carbs: 28 g; Fat: 11 g; Saturated fat: 3.5 g; Sodium: 868 mg; Fiber: 3 g

The I-Haven’t-Had-My-Coffee-Yet Sandwich

(number of Powerfoods: 3)

What you need:

1 1/2 teaspoons low-fat cream cheese

1 whole-wheat pita, halved to make 2 pockets

2 slices turkey or ham

Lettuce or green vegetable

 

How to prepare:

1. Spread cream cheese in the pockets of the pita.

2. Stuff with meat and vegetables.

3. Put in mouth. Chew and swallow.

Makes 1 serving.

Calories per serving: 225; Protein: 10 grams; Carbs: 42 g; Fat: 3 g; Saturated fat: 1 g; Sodium: 430 mg; Fiber: 6 g

Eggs Beneficial Breakfast Sandwich

(number of Powerfoods: 5)

What you need:

1 large whole egg

3 large egg whites

1 tsp ground flaxseed

2 slices whole-wheat bread, toasted

1 slice Canadian bacon

1 tomato, sliced, or 1 green bell pepper, sliced

 

How to prepare:

1. Scramble the whole egg and egg whites in a bowl.

2. Add the flaxseed to the mixture.

3. Fry it in a nonstick skillet treated with vegetable-oil spray and dump it onto the toast.

4. Add the bacon and tomato, pepper, or other vegetables of your choice.

Makes 1 serving.

Wash it all down with 8 ounces of orange juice, and make it the high-pulp kind. More fiber that way.

Per serving: 399 calories, 31 g protein, 46 g carbohydrates, 11 g fat (3 g saturated), 6 g fiber, 900 mg sodium

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14 day fat loss plan (are you in or out)

Nutrition, Uncategorized

I have a goal for you. Oh, not for this January or even this next year. On January 1, 2015, I want you to weigh one pound less than you do today. That’s my goal for you…..(NOT)

Now, if you’ve fasted from Thanksgiving 2014 until New Year’s Day, 2015, I am fine with that challenge, and this is NOT for you.

If you have to sat in a sauna in plastic all New Year’s, I am comfortable with that too, but I ask why the torture…

Wait? What do I hear? Is it scoffing and coughing about our next New Year’s Feast, too little work for you, (Hats off to Dr. Seuss here.) If you do the math and can remember that one pound is 3500 calories, you only need to cut nine calories out of your daily intake each day!

That’s all I am asking: one pound less next year……… (NOT)

I will start by making it simple:
1. Don’t weigh over 300 pounds.
2. Walk or exercise a half an hour a day.
3. Eat a Mediterranean diet (gets some colorful veggies in there!).

It’s all so simple. It’s simple, but it is not easy. Which gets me back to my goal for you: I want you to lose one pound this year and maintain it on January 1, 2015!

I can see the hands going up. “What about me? I want to lose fifty pounds this year!” Good for you. I am thinking that one pound is on the way to fifty, but I could be wrong.

Why such a lowly goal? Well, let me say this nicely: If you are sure you can lose one pound in a year, let’s do it. One pound. One year.

Yeah, but why?

I’m not telling you to settle. I am telling you to take a long term look at your health, fitness and performance over the past years (or decades) and realize that something as simple as a one pound loss in a year trumps a slow gradual fattening of the belly and butt and face.

Rather than have twenty goals to be perfect in all things diet, exercise, life and living, why not have one reasonable, doable goal.

I can STILL see the hands going up. “What about me? I want to lose fifty pounds this year!” Good for you and here is your plan.

The 14 day fat loss plan is simple, it easy, and if you get the cookbook (YEP YOU GOT TO COOK), your weight loss should be simple, easy, and many of your friends may join you.

The with cookbook, the 14 day fat loss plan is FREE (that’s a $20 savings) with proof of purchase, plus you’ll be able to get updates, and possible customized meals plans (email me thealiveexperience@gmail.com to discuss further) to bring 2014 the New You.

Now by now some may be saying “I don’t want to buy nothing, I’ve overspent over the holidays” have no fear.

Over the next 14 days I will have articles to assist you in your weight loss goals. Become a member of my RSS feed by subscribing and you’ll get them regularly, as well as other great articles throughout the year

If you change your mind, we’re here to help.

HAPPY NEW YOU!!!

 

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