I am proud to be part of an organization that make so much innovative health and fitness information available so freely. The dedication by the RMAX staff to service and helping all people realize there full potential is truly inspirational. The fact is RMAX is more that an exercise system, it is a family of people of all backgrounds bound together by a mutual goal of enhancing lives. I urge you to learn more about this incredible tribe and join us in this mission. You can start by downloading this magazine and reading for yourself what RMAX has to offer you.
BodyweightCoach.com is a fantastic site from CST Head Coaches Ryan Murdock and Adam Steer. Its full of information about innovative, complete, equipment-free bodyweight workouts. They also post a ton of valuable information on nutrition - here is one great example:
The Truth About Carbs & Fat Loss
Even with a great plan like the Bodyweight Blueprint
For Fat Loss, you can’t exercise your way out of a diet that promotes
fat storage.
And, if you’re trying to lose some fat (or even contemplating the
possibility) no doubt you’ve come face to face with the specter of the
carb conundrum. High carb, low carb, good carb, bad carb, no carb, net
carb. Who’s right? And why?
This post isn’t going to get extremely sciencey. There are a
plethora of great articles on the web that can fill in the gaps for
those who like the geek speak. What we need to do here is give you the
truth about what carbs do once they go past your lips and what you need
to do about it if you want to lose fat.
The simple fact is that carbs drive the release of a hormone called
insulin in your body. And the job of insulin is to make sure all the
sugar (from the carbs) in your bloodstream gets stored somewhere.
Ideally, that’s going to be in muscles, organs and other lean tissue.
But your storage tanks in those areas are only so big. Guess where the
rest goes. It gets converted to fatty acid and stored in your fat cells.
That’s the short term picture. The crazy thing is that over the long
haul, if you consistently eat a high carb diet, your lean tissue
actually gets worse at letting insulin deliver its packages (blood
sugar). But the ever welcoming fat tissue is always waiting with arms
wide.
And guess what else chronically elevated insulin does. It suppresses
a whole bunch of other really cool hormones that promote fat loss and
muscle gain…
Don’t get me wrong. You need insulin. You can’t function without it
(just take a type 1 diabetic as an example). But with our SAD (Standard
American Diet) we’re invoking an entirely unnatural state of constantly
elevated insulin levels.
Here’s a cool little video that sheds some light.
OK, so what are we going to do about this? Some diets, like Atkins,
promote an extremely low carbohydrate diet, to the point of excluding
even fruits and most veggies. Other diets ban all grains from the diet.
Some approaches use a rotating scheme of carb consumption. But like I
said earlier in this post, for now we’re going to keep it very simple.
3 Easy Carb Consumption Strategies
Eat as many fruits and veggies as you can, and eat them with every meal or snack.
Show preference to leafy greens and include them in at least one of
your daily meals. Favour fruits with dark skins (meaning they are
bursting with antioxidants).
Use sweet potatoes, wild & brown rice and squash judiciously.
Ideally consume these foods in moderate portions close to your training
window. So for example, you might have a half cup of rice with your
lunch, train mid-afternoon, then have a small portion of sweet potato
with your supper. The above mentioned carb sources are released
relatively slowly into the blood. So they won’t spike your blood sugar
and insulin quickly. And since your training will temporarily increase
your sensitivity to insulin, you are more likely to use and / or store
these carbs in your muscles.
Avoid “white” carbs in all forms. These highly
processed carbs (like sugar, flour and pasta) cause a serious insulin
spike, are calorically dense and have little to no nutritional value.
They can also hinder the absorption of nutrients from other foods. Even
if you don’t cut them out completely, be aware of them and steer clear
whenever possible. And watch out for the hidden and insideous forms
found in soft drinks, smoothies and even deli meats and yogurt. Read
labels and look out for things like sugar, dextrose, maltodextrin,
fructose, etc.
There could be books written about this subject alone (oh wait,
there has been–tons of them in fact). But the main thing is to have a
basic plan to get started with and a strong enough “reason why” to spur
you on. For all you nutrition geeks out there, feel free to expand on
the subject in the comments. For those of you new to the carb
conundrum, don’t hesitate to ask any nagging questions.
Go to BodyweightCoach.com and find out more. I highly recommend their Bodyweight Exercise Revolution ebook which is spreading across the US and Canada like wildfire.
In
a wide-ranging look at eating habits, David Kessler, the former head of
the Food and Drug Administration, addresses America's ever-increasing
waistlines in his new book, "The End of Overeating: Taking Control of
the Insatiable American Appetite."
Former FDA Commissioner David Kessler speaks to WSJ's Jeffrey Trachtenberg about eating habits to avoid.
He
interviews the overweight, who say that just the sight of a favorite
snack food is enough to make them feel hungry, as well anonymous food
executives who admit that fat, salt and sugar are often the building
blocks of successful food products. The book was prompted by a question
that had long nagged Dr. Kessler: Why is it that Americans continue to
crave such foods as potato chips and candy bars long after they feel
full? "No one has ever explained what's happening to them and how they
can control their eating," he writes. "That's my goal in this book."
Dr. Kessler, a 57-year-old pediatrician, was commissioner of the FDA
from 1990 to 1997. He is probably best known for his opposition to
tobacco interests and efforts to better label food products. He is
currently a professor of pediatrics at the University of California,
San Francisco.
The Wall Street Journal:What most surprised you while researching this book?
David Kessler:
I wanted to understand why it was so hard to control what we eat. I
thought I was going to end up in the world of nutrition and
endocrinology. I ended up inside the brain and inside the food
industry. The metaphor for the book was: Why did the chocolate chip
cookie have such power over me? I saw a woman on Oprah who said she ate
when she was happy, when she was sad, before her husband left for work
and then after he left. I wanted to understand what was driving her
behavior. It was not just that she was eating too much -- she was
eating when she didn't want to eat. And nobody could explain why. I
wanted to know, how could we help her? What was driving her? The
greatest surprise was understanding how highly palatable foods had
hijacked her brain.
WSJ:Early on in the book, you suggest that that major food companies know what motivates shoppers.
Dr. Kessler: They know what
drives demand, and they were able to design foods to be hot stimuli.
The food industry says they only give consumers what they want. But
what they want excessively activates the rewards circuits of the brain.
They aren't selling just any commodity. They've designed highly
stimulating products, and consumers come back for more. Nothing sells
as much as something that stimulates the rewards-circuitry of the
brain. It's all about selling product.
WSJ:What about restaurant eating?
Dr. Kessler: Much of what we eat
in restaurants is fat on fat on sugar on fat with salt. Pick any dish
in any mid-American restaurant. What is spinach dip? Fat on salt with
green stuff. Look at the average salad we're eating. If you look at the
bacon, the croutons, the cheese…it's fats, salts and a little lettuce.
Listen to Dr. Kessler read from his book, "The End of Overeating."
WSJ:At times I couldn't decide whether you felt that the overweight were victims or undisciplined. Which is it?
Dr. Kessler: The answer is
probably neither. Nobody has explained to people what is going on with
them, or given them the tools to cool stimuli. Yes, you are bombarded
throughout the day. You respond. And that creates torment for people.
But just because we are activated and stimulated doesn't mean that that
there aren't things we can do. Yes, their brains are being hijacked.
But once we understand what is going on, we can change.
WSJ:What are the most important signs that people can recognize before they eat something they actually may not want?
Dr. Kessler: The fundamental
question, when you look at food, is this: Is it real food, or is it
food that is layered and loaded? It's easy to look at food and see what
else is being layered on top of protein. I don't have a problem with a
plain hamburger -- it's adding cheese and bacon. Also, you want a
reasonable amount of food that you can control. Today if you put large
amounts of food in front of me, I don't want it. But I used to go
through big portions in an instant. We each have to decide what we find
rewarding, and then decide how we control it.
WSJ:Regarding
visual food cues, are you suggesting that the sight of a bowl of
innocent M&Ms is enough to make us want to eat them?
Dr. Kessler: It depends on your
past experience and what stimulates you. Everybody is different. For me
it may be chocolate-covered pretzels. The one thing I can assure you:
At the core, it's fat, sugar and salt. Not everything activates each of
us the same. Here's the fundamental point: We are wired to focus on the
most salient stimuli in our environment. If your kid is sick today,
that's what you think about. For some people it's sex, gambling,
alcohol. For many of us it's food. And within that category, different
types of food are salient. You have to condition yourself to take the
power out of the stimulus.
Dr. David Kessler
WSJ:Are we then all victims of subtle cravings whose genesis we're doomed never to understand?
Dr. Kessler: This syndrome of
conditioned hyper-eating, which is what this is -- the loss of control
in the face of highly palatable foods, lack of feeling full -- is
reward-based eating. Not all are equally susceptible. Those obese and
overweight have a greater incidence. But even 20% of the healthy report
occasional loss of control. You will find people for whom food doesn't
capture their interest, but it's probably a small percentage of the
population. For the rest of us, it's a continuum. It's not only
conditioned behavior. It's the learning and motivational circuits of
the brain being captured. Is it nurture or nature? You expose children
who are eating fat, sugar and salt all day. They've never been hungry a
day in their lives. Once you lay down that neuro-circuitry, it's there
for life. The actual act of consumption isn't as strong as
anticipation. It's the conditioning associated with a cue. Once you are
cued and you're activated, it amplifies the reward value. It torments
you. You want it more.
WSJ:There
is a lot of concern about obesity and children. What is the biggest
cause? It is portions that are too large, or the wrong types of food?
Dr. Kessler: They are getting
huge portions of very stimulating foods, hyper-palatable foods. You
have huge portions of sugar, fat and salt. Every time they eat those
foods it strengthens their neuro-circuitry to eat that food again. It
activates them. Once these cues are laid down, and the information is
in your brain, it stays there and drives behavior. This isn't a
disease. But we've been captured by these stimuli. In the past, it
allowed us to survive. Now we have health consequences because it's
available 24/7 and we've added the emotional gloss of advertising.
WSJ:Is nutrition too difficult a concept to regulate?
Dr. Kessler: In the end it's not
about regulation. Government can play a role. It's about how we as a
country view the product. What was the real success of tobacco? We
changed how we viewed the product. It was a critical perceptual shift.
That's the key.
Most of us learn
in childhood the basics of good nutrition. Eating fruits and vegetable,
limiting sweets, taking three solid meals a day with minimal snacks in between
are some important lessons for us even as adults. With just a little time and
effort we can deepen our knowledge and further refine our understanding of a
healthy diet. The information is there and is easy to understand yet many of us
fail time and time again. Why? Because we do not heed one of the primary
commandments of good eating:
THINK BEFORE YOU EAT
Don’t be a
slave to your habits or your emotions. Step back and take a moment to breath
and to think. Ask yourself some critical questions:
- Is this wholesome
and fresh or highly processed?
- Is one of the
primary ingredients sugar or refined flour?
- Which
macronutrient is predominant: protein, carbohydrate, or fat?
Considering
these questions and using your intuitive evaluation of the food you are
considering eating will go a long way to helping you consciously decide what is
right for you. But you have to take the time to think about it first.
A key component
of successful eating is prior planning. You can do this no matter how pressed
for time you think you are. Even if you are forced into fast food as an only
option don’t just go for “combo meal #1” but instead find some of the better
options on the menu. Most major chains now have at least some alternatives from
the standard high fat/high starch fare. Make the most intelligent choice
possible in your given circumstances.
The biggest
saboteurs of a healthy diet are complacency and despair. The complacent eater fails
to be aware of the nutritional choices he or she is making with every mouthful.
The next level on the downward spiral are those who have fallen into despair that
even by improving their diet that it will make much difference to their fitness
or health.
But the truth is that all the small decisions
you make about eating throughout each day add up to have a huge impact on not
only your weight but also the very quality of your life. So starting with your
next meal ensure you are making the best possible choice before you eat, then
continue to do the same before every
meal.
There is a growing body of evidence to support the idea that restricting the consumption of calories can not only lead to weight loss but may also contribute to general health and longevity.
This is a concept that should should be carefully considered in our day and age. As a society we are clearly seeing the negative effects of our over consumption. The generally high availability of food, especially processed junk food, plus the overall sedentary nature of our modern lives has contributed to the increasing levels of obesity and associated health problems today.
While we certainly don't want to take the idea of calorie restriction too far, there are ways we can all adopt this strategy in our personal nutrition plans.
Want to slow the signs of aging and live longer? New Saint Louis University research suggests calorie restriction could be a promising health strategy.
Calorie restriction has long been shown to slow the aging process in
rats and mice. While scientists do not know how calorie restriction
affects the aging process in rodents, one popular hypothesis is that it
slows aging by decreasing a thyroid hormone, triiodothyronine (T3),
which then slows metabolism and tissue aging.
A new study in the June 2008 issue of Rejuvenation Research
, found that calorie restriction – cutting approximately 300 to 500
calories per day – had a similar biological effect in humans and,
therefore, may slow the aging process.
“Over recent years, there has been a huge amount of debate about
whether calorie restriction slows the aging process in humans,” said
Edward Weiss, Ph.D., associate professor of nutrition and dietetics at
Saint Louis University’s Doisy College of Health Sciences and lead
author of the study.
“Our research provides evidence that calorie restriction does work
in humans like it has been shown to work in animals. The next step is
to determine if this in fact slows age-related tissue deterioration.
The only way to be certain, though, is to do a long-term study.”
In the current study, Weiss wanted to know if calorie reduction
would lower T3 levels in humans. To determine if the lowered levels of
T3 were a result of calorie restriction and not decreases in fat mass
in general, Weiss also recruited volunteers to lose weight through
exercise.
Study volunteers included sedentary, non-smoking, 50- to 60-
year-old men and post-menopausal women with average or slightly above
average body man index values. They were in otherwise good health and
did not have cardiovascular disease, diabetes, lung disease,
uncontrolled hypertension and evidence of malignancy.
Volunteers were randomly assigned to one of three groups – a
calorie-restriction group, an exercise group or a control group – and
followed for one year. Volunteers in the calorie restriction group lost
weight by reducing their daily calorie intake by 300 to 500 calories
per day. Volunteers in the exercise group maintained their regular diet
and exercised regularly.
Volunteers in both the calorie-restriction and exercise groups
experienced similar changes of body fat mass. However, only volunteers
in the calorie restriction group also experienced lower levels of the
thyroid hormone.
Although a long-term study is still needed to determine if reducing
T3 levels through calorie restriction does indeed slow the aging
process, Weiss says cutting back on calories is a good idea.
“There is plenty of evidence the calorie restriction can reduce your
risks for many common diseases including cancer, diabetes and heart
disease,” Weiss said. “And you may live to be substantially older.”
When cutting calories, Weiss warns that it is imperative to maintain a
healthy diet by eating nutrient-rich foods. Cutting 300 to 500 calories
per day is equivalent to skipping dessert or substituting a turkey
sandwich instead of a Big Mac and fries.
“Anorexia nervosa is a condition that is associated with calorie
restriction that is far too severe and is accompanied by inadequate
intakes of many nutrients. Consequently, it results in premature
disease and even death, rather than improvements in health and a
slowing of aging.”
Because it also slows metabolism, Weiss warns that
calorie-restricted weight loss could make people more prone to weight
gain over time. On the other hand, people who lose weight through
exercise are not as likely to gain weight back if they quit exercising.
The key to maintaining a healthy weight, Weiss says, is keeping a
consistent diet and exercising regularly (Newswise).
Editorial note - While this finding about the effects of calorie
restriction in people is not surprising, it is interesting to see an
indication of a health benefit from a rather modest reduction in
calories. Other authors suspect that the benefits of calorie
restriction come from an induction of genes providing resilience to
stress, which was seen in an animal study of every other day fasting.
It remains to be seen whether some variation of intermittent fasting
and/or zig-zag dieting (NOT yo-yo dieting) will cause healthy gene
induction (or suppression) without causing a slower metabolism that
makes it easier to (re-)gain weight upon resumption of a normal diet -
Dr. Z.
![[end of overeating]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-DO540_kessle_CV_20090428120723.jpg)
![[david kessler]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-DO541_kessle_CV_20090428120946.jpg)
