Weight Loss TIP #3

Eat several small meals throughout the day.

You can actually have a normal breakfast, lunch, and dinner with nutritious snacks between meals if that's how you roll.

Think about the usual day at work. You might eat breakfast at 8 am before work, and then by 12 or 1 when you get a lunch break, you are starving. When we are really hungry, we eat faster. We eat so fast that by the time our brain gets the message that we are full, we have already overeaten. If we have a small snack mid morning and mid afternoon, then by our next regular meal, we won't be starving. Then we can sit and slowly enjoy our smaller portions. We will be able to recognize satiety as it sets in.

Weight Loss TIP #2

Eating out!

How many times in a week do you eat out? The goal of a restaurant is to make yummy food that you want to come back for. You know what makes food taste good? FAT! It has a wonderful mouth feel. That is why we like it. The bad thing about increased fat in our diet is that doesn't prolong satiety. It is digested fairly quickly, which means in a few hours we will be ready to eat again even though we had 2 meals worth of calories.

Make a realistic goal for eating out. If you eat out 3 X a week, make a goal of only eating out 2 days a week. Your goal should be specific (# of days/week), measurable (# of days is measurable), and attainable. If you set your goal too high at first, you won't keep up with it for the long run.

The point is to make a lifestyle change. You won't lose a pound a week by cutting out a 1 day of fast food, but in 6 months of this lifestyle change, you may have lost 5-10 pounds.

Remember, a "diet" is pointless if you return back to your old ways of eating afterward. It has to be an attainable lifestyle change.

Weight Loss TIP #1

#1: Limit your intake of juices, and eliminate your intake of regular sodas.

These drinks are high in sugar, which add unnecessary calories. But isn't juice good for us? Well, juice has a lot of good vitamins, but it still has a lot of sugar, and is very easy to over consume.

Solution: Make sure you are drinking small amounts of juice when you drink it. Switching to Crystal Light and diet soda can immediately decrease a significant amount of calories from ones diet. This may be difficult for people who absolutely cannot stand the taste of diet drinks. If this is you, then try making a goal to reduce your intake of sodas and juices. Depending on how much you are currently taking in, try to limit these drinks one can at a time.

Getting Big!

Most guys want to know how to get big
Common Belief:
One common misconception is that loading up on protein will help put on the muscle mass.

Actuality:
Although protein has an important part in developing muscle mass, there are a few other things that need to be taken into consideration. The type of exercises you are doing and the total amount of calories you are consuming are what will really make a difference.

Example:
Think of a football player. Football requires both cardio and strength training. That is a lot of exercise! That means a football player is going to need a TON of calories just to MAINTAIN all their weight and muscle. To GAIN muscle mass during a regular football season (meaning practicing every day) a football player would have to eat a ridiculously massive amount of calories. The off season is the best time to "get big" because you can limit the amount of cardio exercise you do and therefore consume enough calories to gain muscle weight.

Success strategies:

• After every workout, whether cardio or strength training, eat or drink something that has a generous amount of carbs and protein. Milk is my personal favorite.
• Eat a well balanced diet.
• Keep track of your weight AND your body fat. If you have a way of measuring your body fat % (skin fold calipers, bio electrical impedance) then you can keep track of whether you are gaining fat or muscle. If your weight gain is due to fat, you know you are eating too much. There is a fine line between what you need to gain weight in muscle and what will cause you to gain weight in fat.
• If you cannot seem to gain, then increase the amount of food you eat at each meal and throughout the day.
• Your workout routine is important. Doing a lot of reps and sets for each exercise is what will help your muscles gain size rather than strength. Supersets are excellent!
• Superset example: 4-6 sets, 10-20 reps, rotate back and forth between 2 exercises that work the same muscle. No more than 45 seconds of rest between sets. (Biceps: preacher curls and alternating curls, switch back and forth with very little rest between sets)

Does skipping breakfast before working out burn more fat?

Yes, BUT...
You will burn more muscle as well.

Explanation:
Your body stores carbs and fat for energy. Carbs are stored in our muscles and liver. They are a quick and easy source of fuel. Fat is stored all over our bodies and is a much slower source of energy. When you sprint, you are burning 100% carbs, and no fat. When you do endurance exercise, you are burning some carbs, but also a lot of fat.
While you sleep at night, your body will burn mostly fat because energy is in low demand; however, you will still burn a lot of carbs during those 8 hours. If you exercise without refilling those carb stores, then your body will look for another source of fuel. That is when you will start burning muscle (protein).

Solution:
Eat SOMETHING before working out. Breads and cereals are excellent because they are easy, but any carbs will do. Remember, you don't need any protein until after the workout.

Eating During a Ride

Cyclists must eat during a long ride so they have enough fuel. Otherwise they will hit the wall, which feels horrible and even worse, muscle becomes the major fuel because carbs in your blood are in low supply.

What foods are good in the middle of a ride?
You want something low in fat, protein, and fiber. You want the snack to be high carb, and as refined as possible. This way there is no delay in digestion. Refined carbs are digested so quickly that they practically go straight to your blood stream and can be used for fast fuel. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water with it because food decreases the absorption of water, and can dehydrate you.

Examples:
Bagels, tortillas, crackers, bread, sandwich (with limited peanut butter, meat, cheese, mayo, etc), and pancakes.

YES! I said PANCAKES! They are my favorite mid ride snack. I make them the night before and freeze them. In the morning I put them in my back pocket and start riding. They thaw out pretty quickly, they don't mash up, they don't get stale, and they stay tasting good! I have IHOP in my pocket! Pancakes are made with totally refined flour, and have very little egg and oil. They are perfect. I don't even keep them in a bag. They just stay right in my pocket. Give it a try!

Vegetarian Cooking!

I count calories every day using the exchange system. I usually never have less than 2000 calories in a day. Last week I had a vegetarian dinner one night and at the end of the day I was only at 1600 calories! Dinner tasted great, and it was very low calorie. Even if you're not vegetarian, try vegetarian cooking.

Stir Fry, Mixed Vegetables in Oyster Sauce (don't be afraid of the sauce, it's good)
1 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 cup broccoli florets
2 cups bok choy, chopped
1 red bell pepper, julienned (match stick sized)
1 zucchini, sliced
2 Tbsp Chinese oyster sauce
salt and pepper to taste

In a skillet over medium-high heat, saute onions in oil until tender. Add vegetables and cook until crisp tender. Stir in oyster sauce and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over rice.
We added boneless skinless chicken breast cut into cubes. It was a good addition.
Bon apetite