Snack tip

I’m hearing it everyday that people are not doing well with their diet due to poor snacking.  “Oh I was bad this week.  Had some vending machine snacks.  But it was only 2 bag of chips.  1 less than last week.”  Most people agree that as long as you eat in “moderation” you’ll be fine.  BUT if you can’t control yourself while watching a scary movie and you must munch on something the whole 1.4 hrs, buy some healthy snacks ahead of time.  Plan it.  Stick to THIS rule and you’ll do ok.  Buy snacks with less than 2 grams of saturated fat.  That’s it, try it.  You’ll find less choices but better choices.  Go to Trader Joe’s.  Most of their chips and snacks are about 1.5 grams.  But your first choice should be fruits and veggies! 

Good Luck!

Sports Nutrition … Max Muscle

We are now working closely with Max Muscle in San Jose (Addy below).  Lance is the manager and John is his associate.  Real nice guys and  Lance is also a nutritionist so he knows his stuff.  Supplements to gears…go check them out!  Mention Sunnyvale Fitness and get a 15% discount.

1525 MERIDIAN AVE. SUITE #106

SAN JOSE CA 95125

Telephone: (408) 269-6299 Store Hours: Monday – Thursday: 10 AM – 8 PM Friday: 10 AM – 8 PM Saturday: 11 AM – 7 PM Sunday: 11 AM – 6 PM

Vegetarian Dish: Roasted Asparagus

Recently, I bought a vegetarian cookbook.  I’m not a cook but an excellent “microwaver”.  Just watch me heat leftovers!  Well this book has some really simple recipes even a guy like me can do.  Here’s 1 that I found …

1) ROASTED ASPARAGUS W/CARAMELIZED SHALLOT DRESSING:

1 lb (500g) asparagus, trimmed

4 teaspoon olive oil

6 large cloves garlic

4 shallots

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Salt and black pepper

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme, sage, and rosemary mixed, or all thyme

*Preparation time 10 min, plus 2-3 hours cooling, optional, Cooking time: 20 minutes, SERVES 4 people

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven 450 degree.  Place the asparagus in an ovenproof dish, drizzle with 2 teaspoons of the oil, and use your fingers to rub it in so that all the spears are well coated.  Roast the asparagus for 15-20 min, depending on the thinkness of teh spears, until they have softened and browned slightly.  Meanwhile, peel and quarter the garlic and shallots.  Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons of the oil in a wok or heavy pan over high heat.  Add the garlic and shallots and stir fry for 5 -7 min until they are golden brown.  Add 4 tablespoons water, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 10-15 min, until softened.  Then increase the heat and boil until most of the water has evaporated.  Add the vinegar and bring to a boil, then pour the dressing over the hot asparagus.  Season with salt and pepper to taste, and sprinkle with the herbs.  Serve immediately or set aside for a few hours to allowthe flavors to develop, then serve at room temp.

NUTRIENTS PER SERVING:  Total Calories 76, Carbs 6 g (sugar 6g), Protein 4 g, Fat 4 g (saturated fat 0.5 g), Fiber 2.5 g, Sodium 2 mg, plus asparagus is full of fiber and iron.

*I like this dish cause it’s low in Saturated fat and has good portion rate of carbs to protein.  I will definitely be trying this dish this week sometime.  I’ll let you know how it goes.  If you try it, let me know how it goes!!

Why Carbs?

In last month’s Men’s Fitness magazine, it lists a few reasons why we shouldn’t completely avoid carbs.

1) Lousy Attitude:  Going too low-carb isn’t just bad for you body.  It’s bad for your spirit.  Extreme low carb diets negatively impact your mood.

2) Laziness:  Carbs supply your muscles wiht the glycogen you need to hit they gym.

3) Stupidity:  Going too low carb can impair brain function and reduce your ability to concentrate properly.

4) A slower metabolism:  Fueling your muscles with carbs helps you get through exhausting fat-loss routines.  Your body needs a decent amout of carbs to help post workout to keep that burn going as long as possible.

5) Hunger:  Slow digesting carbs like oatmeal take longer to enter your blood stream and help satisfy your appetite much better than junk food.

6) A speedy Recovery:  After working out, your body needs carbs to repair your muscles and get stronger.

7) The bottom Line:  Eating fewer calories will let you carb out in peace.  Reduced-calorie diets, whether carbs predominant or carbs poor, all produced similar weight loss results.

*A few great points here.  Besides all the side effects listed above, you definitely need more carbs as your activity level increases.  About 50 – 65% of your total calorie intake should consist of carbs.  Your total calorie intake should be 80% of your BMR if you’re on a weight loss.

Cheers!

A Quick Primer on the Science of Avoiding Carbs

No, carbs aren’t inherently bad.  They aren’t the devil and they don’t single-handedly cause rising rates of obesity in America.  We all know McDonald’s is the cause of that!  Kidding…

But the truth remains that we can all afford to cut down on carbs for a few simple scientific reasons.

1.  Carbs cause insulin secretion.  Insulin basically signals your body to stop burning fat and start the fat (glycogen) storing process for hours to come.  In addition, the presence of insulin turns off HGH and glucagon, which are instrumental in muscle development and fat burning.  Frequent insulin spikes can lead to insulin insensitivity, and we all know what that can lead to – diabetes.

2a.  Carbs aren’t your primary energy source. Generally, fats are your preferred, first energy source, proteins go to your muscles and carbs are stored (a vestige of our ancestors) and your secondary energy source.  So when you eat fats, they are consumed first, leaving your current stores of fats and carbs untouched and growing if your energy expenditure isn’t great enough.  When you eat carbs, you’re just adding to the stockpile of calories to burn behind the fats that are always present.  Basically, fats go to the front of the calorie consumption line and carbs to the back, so they are far more conducive to being stored.  You’re always playing catchup.

2b. I suspect one of the biggest reasons that “fat makes you fat” became so prevalent starting in the 80′s was that fats are 9 calories per gram, whereas protein and carbs are only 4 calories per gram.  This means, yes, it does take more to burn off a calorie of fat.  But what good does it do if you never get past your quotient of fats to the carbs?

2a and 2b were extremely simplified for ease of application.

3.  The satiation factor of carbs is far less than protein or fat. This means simply that you will need to eat more carbs to feel the same amount of fullness that you get from a smaller amount of proteins or fats.  Because of this, carbs discourage portion control.

So you can see that it can be good to have a higher fat, higher protein and lower carb diet.  I suggest something to the tune of 40% protein, 30% fat and 30% carbs… yes this is applicable to you women as well.  (Another note about fats: there are many good and even necessary ones. The omegas are quite beneficial and your organs need a certain amount of fat.  Take amenorrhea for example, the lack of body fat starts adversely affecting bodily functions.)

Healthy Eating on a Busy Schedule?

I’m pretty sure I’m in the minority when I say this, but I actually think it’s easy to eat healthy on a busy schedule.  Let me explain.

We’ve all experienced a long day at work, and wishing this existed and wasn’t amazingly disgusting so we wouldn’t have to move the rest of the night.  At this point, all you want is something to eat and you don’t care what it is… To me, that sounds like the perfect situation to get all the bland, healthy food in that you would have a hard time stomaching otherwise!  But it still has to be convenient, so therefore…

My simple suggestion is threefold.
1.  Precook simple, healthy things like chicken breasts, hard boiled eggs and whole grain pastas so I will always have these in case I am too tired to cook something more substantial.  Just dab some pasta sauce and basil on that and you’ve got yourself a reasonably healthy meal.  Love your tupperware and bring it everywhere.  And reaching into the fridge is pretty convenient.
2.  Have healthy snacks lying around, so even if I get the munchies, my insulin isn’t shooting through the roof.  Almonds and most nuts are great for this purpose – healthy, calorie dense and filling.
3.  Just don’t eat.  A controlled fast isn’t always a bad thing… in fact it’s a good practice that many people overlook.  “But won’t I start cannibalizing my muscles for my nutritional needs?”  No, studies have shown that it takes over 36 hours for that process to start happening, shorter time periods just promote more HGH, less insulin and ketosis – all important for healthy living and especially weight loss.  One way to think about it is this: did our ancestors eat a regular three squares a day?

So drive right past the Jack in the Box to your tupperware containers and your waistline and metabolism will thank you.

Protein Supplementation for Weight Loss

Let me be up front – I think protein powder is a great product.  Whether it’s whey, casein or egg protein, they all have their uses and it is one of the few supplements that research actually backs up.  (Most supplements aren’t FDA-approved, so they can claim literally whatever they want.)

Protein typically gets all the publicity in the context of hypertrophy and generally getting big and jacked, but a far overlooked benefit of it is to those seeking to lose weight and body fat %.

In the context of weight loss, think of protein powder as a substitute.  It allows you to get the protein you need to build and retain lean muscle mass while avoiding all the other macronutrients and extra calories that would usually be associated with such a large amount of protein.  Avoiding the other nutrients allows you to tap into your fat stores more quickly and easily – basically the main tenet of the Atkins diet.  This is especially effective in conjunction with a workout plan because you will need the additional protein for muscle growth and maintenance.  Basically, you’re isolating the good parts of a steak and omitting the bad, all in a nice controlled and regulated portion of a scoop.  In essence, if you’re looking to shed some pounds, you could take 1-2 scoops of protein instead of the last 1/3 or 1/2 of a meal.

Here’s an article talking about the “VDiet,” which I don’t necessarily condone, but shows the ketogenic (fat burning) effects of a protein diet.  Of course, this is the extreme end of the spectrum.  Root around the site for Part 2 to see his fairly amazing results.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_diet_mass/the_velocity_diet

PS.  When buying protein powder, avoid the Pina Colada flavor no matter how tempting it sounds.