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Help Stop Food Waste

May 4, 2015 by admin Leave a Comment

Did you know that globally 1-2 billion tons of food produced from farmers goes to waste every year? It’s a scary figure when you think of the 850 million people around the world that are becoming ill or even dying from starvation. So you might be asking yourself, how is this even possible? Why is food being wasted and yet, millions are starving across the world? I’m glad you asked. It goes back to consumer demands and the all mighty dollar. The agriculture business, more specifically the industrialized farming industry is in it to make money at any cost. In order to produce the most food possible for the least amount of money they create: pollution of the air, surface water, and groundwater; over-consumption of fossil fuel and water resources; degradation of soil quality, erosion, and accelerate the loss of biodiversity through mono-cropping.

Mono-cropping is where a region will specialize in producing one to a half dozen of varieties of one species like bananas, or tomatoes, etc. Even though there are thousands of varieties of tomatoes from white to yellow to purple to pink, Heinz the monopolist of the tomato industry only grows 2 varieties, because they grow a large red round shape, resist disease and ship well. In the US alone, 96% of the tomatoes grown come from California, even though all 50 states can grow tomatoes and did 50 years ago.

So why does this matter? This becomes an issue for consumers because insects and disease also like to eat the crops. So in order to keep the crops from being eaten, farmers must use pesticides, which work most of the time. However, sometimes a disease can wipe out acres of a species. This can destroy the livelihood of the local farmers. Centuries ago, this common farmer problem was combated by planting various acres of all types of crops (diversifying), so that if there was an insect or disease, it would only wipe out a small portion of the farmers crops for the year. This also allowed for consumers to get a variety of produce in their same community, often times growing food themselves or trading with their neighbors.

What this did was create a variety of foods with very little expectations on size and taste. As the agriculture industry shifted to producing predominately wheat, soy, and corn products, consumers were forced to start shopping at the local grocery store for all their produce and at some point became conditioned to expect a certain color or shape from our produce in the grocery store. As such, farmers are now required to have their produce look a certain way in order to be accepted by the large grocery store chains. So the produce that doesn’t make the cut is left to rout. In addition, the grocery store will typically overstock food items, and are forced to dispose of food that spoils after several days on the shelf. This is one way in which we waste tons of food every year.

So what small change can we do as consumers to change the way our farmers supply our fruits and vegetables? By making a choice to purchase our produce from local farmers we are sending a message that we support the companies that are doing their best to diversify, protect the environment, and support the local economy (tax revenue). In doing so, we not only support the farmers that are using a variety of crop species (some you may never see in your local grocery store) we are also reducing the gas emissions from transporting the foods across the world.

I compiled a list of the top five benefits of buying from our local farmers:

1) Tastes Better. Produce is picked at its peak only days before you bring it home. However, store bought produce is picked 4-7 days before it arrives in the supermarket. The produce is intentionally picked before it becomes ripe to preserve its shelf life making it taste less sweet and less flavorful.

2) Is Better For You. Fresh produce loses their nutrients fairly quickly the longer they are on the shelf. By buying directly from the farmer you are going to retain more nutrients. Also most local farmers practice crop rotation to help preserve the soil and its nutrients. Many local farmers do not use GMOs or pesticides in growing their crops.

3) Preserves Genetic Diversity. In our current agricultural system, plant varieties are chosen for their ability to ripen uniformly, withstand harvesting, survive packing and last a long time on the shelf. There is limited genetic diversity in large-scale production. Smaller local farms, in contrast, often grow many different varieties of crops to provide a long harvest season, an array of colors, and the best flavors.

4) Reduce Emissions. Most produce in The US is transported an average of 1500 miles before being sold. Think about how much oil is used to get the bananas from Brazil. We can all do our part to reduce oil used every year, and this is just one way.

5) Investing in the Future. If our agriculture continues to go down the road it has over the past 50 years, the future of our food quality is at risk. We have lost so many different plant species from mono-cropping, important minerals from our soil from over producing, our limited petroleum sources from over reliance on it for mass production and distribution; it is only a matter of time before this system fails. We can help prevent this from happening by buying our food locally.

How to buy locally:

1) Go to your local farmers market. The local farmers will typically have a stand every week, so you can talk directly with the person that grows the food.

2) Join a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. Local farms or a middle man will deliver local boxes of a variety of fruits and vegetables to your home or office. Here you often do not get to decide what you receive but it is much more convenient than going to a designated farmers’ market location.

3) Other direct to consumer programs like farms stands, and pick-your-own harvests.

As consumers we have the power to change the way we get food on our plates. We have the power to make our voices heard by putting our money towards programs that are invested in making the future for the people and our planet better. Think of it this way, only 18 cents of every dollar, when buying at a large supermarket, goes to the grower. 82 cents go to various unnecessary middlemen. Cut them out of the picture and buy your food directly from your local farmer.

Stand Up For Your Health

April 21, 2015 by admin Leave a Comment

The average American spends 55% (7.7) hours of their wake time sitting. This is in addition to the 8 hours on average of sleep per night. Some even log up to 12 hours between their office job (7 hours) commute (2 hours) eating meals (1 hour) and watching TV (2 hours) before bed at night. This habit alone is one of the many causes for the obesity epidemic. A Spanish study in 2009, found those individuals who sat for four hours or more per day were 1.7 times per likely to be obese than their counterparts who sat for less than 4 hours. This was the case for even active individuals. Risk for chronic diseases such as heart disease, several types of cancer and diabetes increases exponentially the more time spent sitting. This is now being coined the “sitting disease” by the scientific community when referring to the ill-effects of a sedentary lifestyle.
While Americans know about the importance of exercise, only 31% go to the gym, and 56% devote less than $10 per month to staying active. On the bright side, 96% said they would be willing to stand more to improve their health or life expectancy. Just last year, the American Medical Association adopted a policy recognizing potential risks of prolonged sitting and encouraging employers, employees and others to make available alternatives to sitting.
So what can you do to combat your risks?

If you work in an office environment where you are confined to a desk work space, ask if your employer will set you up with a standing desk. Most employers will opt for a standing desk if you bring them a doctor’s note. Ergotron has a variety of standing desks to choose from.
If your employer is unable to provide a standing option for your work station, set a reminder to get up once an hour for 10-15 minutes to walk around, stretch, grab more water, etc. As an example, instead of IM’ing a co-worker walk over to their office.
At lunch, squeeze in a brief workout in your company’s gym or nearby, or go for a brisk walk.
If commuting time is a nightmare, explore other time’s you may be able to go to work, or better yet go to the gym before or after work to avoid the traffic.
When you get home at night, after dinner, instead of vegging out in front of the computer or TV, do some light stretching or yoga, or go for a late night stroll.
On the weekends, opt to walk more places, and spend more time with the family doing physical activities outside.

Even though, these all seem like small actions, they can all help reduce your sitting time, and improve your health over the long-term. We can all take small actions to reverse the culture, and inevitably the health of our society by making a small effort to change how we treat our bodies. As the obesity epidemic continues to rise, we can create change, and reverse disease, even just by standing a few more hours a day.

Giving Up is Not an Option

March 5, 2015 by admin 1 Comment

As we enter into the month of March, many of us who created New Year’s resolutions to eat healthier, and exercise more regularly, are finding it more difficult to stick with these habits 100% of the time. Maybe by now you have fallen off the wagon once, or twice. It is perfectly okay to fall off the wagon, it will happen often, probably more than you would like, but don’t burn the wagon down. Just get back on and keep moving slow and steady towards your goal you have created for yourself.

In a world full of quick, and easy, we often forget that not everything worth working for happens overnight. It is the perseverance and strong will to keep pushing forward that will ultimately get us to our goal. Think about when you first learned to do anything, let’s use riding a bike as an example. Did you get it the first time you tried? Hell no, of course not. You crashed into a fence, a tree, the neighbor’s dog, but you got back up and tried again. You didn’t say screw this after falling once, I guess I wasn’t meant to ride this bike. So why do we do that now as adults? Eating healthy and training hard isn’t easy. If it were, we wouldn’t have the obesity epidemic we are dealing with currently. It’s gonna be tough, you are learning a new habit, just like riding a bike. Over time, the more you practice, the better you will get at it, until you do not really have to think about it (as much) and you are cruising down the street riding without holding onto the handles.

Maybe perhaps you are feeling discouraged because you are not seeing the results that you expected to. All the hard work and sacrifices you have made since the first of the year, and you barely see a noticeable difference. Often times, we expect drastic changes from our efforts, and often times we overlook the small changes that are happening inside us. You may not be 10 lbs. lighter like you had expected by now, but maybe you are sleeping better at night, have more energy throughout the day, have less back pain, or feel lighter on your feet. I want you to reevaluate where you started and where your journey has taken you thus far. I am sure you are a different person then you were when you started on your mission towards a healthier lifestyle.

I believe in the idea of do-overs, and clean slates. We are humans after all. We are going to screw up at some point, and that’s okay. What separates the strong from the weak, are the ones who get back up, forgive themselves and try again. This month I want you to practice the idea of clean slates. Whenever you do anything that deviates you from your ultimate fitness goals, acknowledge you screwed up and move on. The problem lies in not forgiving yourself, beating yourself up about it and quitting permanently. The longer you stay off the wagon, the harder it is to get motivated again.

Maybe you are someone who gets on the wagon, and falls off almost as quickly as when you got up, then you may need more accountability in your life. That’s when a coach is necessary. A coach will give you tasks that you can manage, hold you accountable, forgive you when you screw up, BUT the key is they make you get back on, and help keep you there for longer than you would do on your own. That is what delivers results. That is what will help you create a lifestyle change that you can stick to, just like riding a bike.

“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

Investing in Your Health

February 6, 2015 by admin Leave a Comment

Last month I touched on the importance of putting aside time for healthy eating and exercise. As time is one of the biggest excuses I hear for not exercising or eating healthy, finances come in second. When it comes to spending money on services and products that will help us become healthier individuals, a lot of us find that we cannot afford this “luxury.” However, when you sit down and begin to analyze how you spend your earnings, are the items you are prioritizing going to help you live a longer more fulfilling life?

Health care has become far and away one of, if not the most expensive part of this country’s expenses, upwards of over 3 trillion annually. This will continue to rise and is expected to reach 4.8 trillion in 2021 (just 6 years from now) this will account for 1/5 the gross domestic product. In fact, the growing burden of chronic diseases adds significantly to escalating health care costs. Researchers predict a 42% increase in chronic disease cases by 2023, adding $4.2 trillion in treatment costs and lost economic output. Much of this cost is preventable, since many chronic conditions are linked to unhealthy lifestyles. For example, obesity accounts for an estimated 12% of the health spending growth in recent years.

With the condition of our country’s health, it is unfortunate that we live in a society where one is judged by the size of their house, what type of car they drive, and the clothes they wear. Let me ask you this, when you get sick, is your Porsche going to make you well again? Is that Louis Vuitton purse going to help your high blood pressure, or diabetes?

Over the cost of a person’s lifetime it’s estimated that they’ll spend $316,600 on health insurance, doctor visits, prescription drugs and other health care related expenses. Although not all of these expenses can be prevented, it is important to note that the majority of healthcare related expenses come from preventable diseases that can often times be corrected or avoided all together with healthy eating and exercise. By making preventative investments in one’s long term health such as gym memberships, personal training or group training classes, massage, acupuncture, many of these “inevitable” health care costs can be brought down substantially.

I find it troublesome when I meet someone that says they cannot afford to invest in their own health through these types of services because it’s too expensive. Yet, they have the money to afford a brand new Mercedes, designer clothes, a beautiful McMansion, and regular dinners out. When you really think about it, most of us can afford to pay for these services; it just takes sacrificing other things less important to make it happen. When it comes to budgeting, the necessities like food, shelter, and health should top the list. Everything else should fall secondary. Because at the end of the day your body is going to be around a lot longer than your expensive handbag, so invest in yourself.

Prioritizing Self

December 18, 2014 by admin Leave a Comment

It is a well-known fact amongst San Diego fitness trainers that the period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, becomes a slow period of time for us. The gym seems empty, your clients have other “obligations” to attend to, and their fitness goals take a back seat to social events, travel, shopping, etc. Then after New Year’s Day, just like clockwork everyone becomes more dedicated to themselves once again for two months, before other “obligations” reappear. What if, perhaps, we prioritize ourselves and our wellness goals instead of everything else? How different would our lives become?

I challenge you to reflect on how you allow other things in life to take priority over your mental, emotional, or physical self. In reflecting on this, how can you learn to prioritize yourself year round? I am not purely promoting selfishness; I am promoting our ability to allow our health to take priority over other aspects of life. Since I am a nutrition and fitness coach I can directly speak to the importance of taking care of your body through regular safe exercise and healthy eating. It always saddens me to see individuals allow their health to slip away because they simply did not make it a priority to exercise and eat well. We all share the same amount of time we get in any given day; it is how we choose to prioritize that time. I cannot tell you how many people I have met who use the excuse they do not have time to exercise, or prepare healthy meals. In talking with them, I am always able to help them brain storm ways to fit in that time. You know how I do it? I make it a priority.

I would like to walk you through an exercise. I want us to map out your week together:

1) Put down the hours you are required to be at your job. If you do not work, lucky for you, you can skip this step.

2) Put in the hours you plan to sleep. The ideal time for sleep is 10pm-6am. Given your work obligations you can discern from there, just make sure you are allowing for 8 hours total of sleep.

3) Travel time. Traveling for professional or personal.

4) Put in when you need to be around to spend time with family (ie. Watching important events, picking them up from school, helping them with homework, etc.)

5) Schedule your workouts. Yep, that’s right this is fourth on the list. This can be anywhere from 3-6 times per week for anywhere from 30-90 minutes (depending on your goal)

6) Schedule food prep. Either schedule an hour every day to cook dinner and prepare lunch for the next day, or give yourself a day when you have a couple hours for food prep, most people this will be Sunday. On the food prep day: cook your animal proteins, cut up veggies, prepare soups or stews to bring for lunches, etc.

7) Social events. Yes, that’s right; it’s sixth on the list. If the social events conflict too much with everything above, you may have to reconsider some of them. Again this depends on your goals. If you have more aggressive goals, social events will need to sacrifice, that’s just the way it goes. Now remember, if you don’t take care of number 1, how can you be there 100% for everyone else in your life?

8) Everything else. This is when you can watch TV, read Facebook, play Scrabble, read your book, go shopping, etc.

How much time were you able to map out for exercise and food prep? Did you find that you may have been spending time on areas of your life that might not be as important?

For 2015, I challenge you to think about what’s important. What’s REALLY important? The Voice? Checking Facebook? At the end of the day, we find the time to do what means the most to us. For most people, your health doesn’t become a priority, a real priority anyway, until you hear it from a doctor, and by then it’s usually too late. Yes, your family obligations and your livelihood come first and always should. But, the fact is, your family and livelihood are directly dependent on your health and well-being, so if not for you, do it for them. Let’s make 2015 the year that you start to prioritize your time as such.

Cheers!

What it Takes to Get Six Pack Lean

November 25, 2014 by admin Leave a Comment

Since January first is only weeks away, I know many of you are already making New Year’s resolutions to better yourself either professionally, physically, mentally, or spiritually. The top New Year’s resolution among Americans every year is to lose weight and get fit, with quitting smoking coming in a close second and eating healthier coming in third. Unfortunately, most do not stick with it for longer than 2 months.

As a personal trainer in San Diego I have discovered that most people quit because they do not see great enough results from what they are doing. Most people assume that if they just exercise 2-3 times a week, cut back on some fast food, and alcohol that they are going to see the weight just fall off. Now do not get me wrong small changes are a good thing, and they will help you get somewhere, however, they are only going to make small changes with your body. If you really want to see some remarkable changes in a quicker time frame you are going to have to be willing to make bigger sacrifices. The harder you are willing to work the greater the rewards. Think about it, if losing weight and keeping it off were easy, everyone would be fit. And with over 70% of the population being overweight, we know that it’s just not that easy.

What I thought would be helpful is to list what you would need to do in order to look like the cover models of fitness magazines, and then work our way backwards. From there you can determine what you are willing and not willing to do to be lean.

In order to have lean muscle mass, look toned and have a noticeable sick pack (men: 6-9% body fat and women: 16-19% body fat) you would have to:

Include 1-2 palms of protein dense foods in each meal.
Include 1-2 fists of fibrous vegetables in each meal.
Include 1-2 thumbs of healthy fats in each meal.
Exercise 60-75 minutes daily, with 2-4 strength training sessions and 2-4 cardio exercise sessions breaking a sweat.
Sleep at least 8 hours per night. Ideally 10pm – 6am
Limit carbs to post-workout or designated higher carb days.
Eat desserts / processed foods once every 1-2 weeks, within reason.
Drink a caloric beverage once every 1-2 weeks.
Limit dining out to once every 1-2 weeks
Avoiding caloric beverages including artificial sweeteners

The last time you tried to lose weight, can you say you did all of this? If you are like most Americans it’s most likely not the case. So you have to ask yourself, everything that you are doing now, what are you willing to change or sacrifice in order to get fit? Understand that the closer you are to this the more likely you will lose weight and the further you are from this, the slower the process will be. It is important to have realistic expectations about what it really takes to look and feel fit.

When I begin working with a San Diego personal training client I look for their top 3 worst habits and help them fix those first. From there we slowly go through and make changes every few weeks until we come to a place where we can find a balance of food intake, exercise, and lifestyle habits that they can stick to. For everyone that is different, and that will determine how lean they become. It is up to them to decide what they are willing to do.

I will use myself as an example. During the winter I typically walk around at about 18% body fat. Since I am not going to be hanging out at a beach, I can get away with being a little heavier, and because of that, I allow myself to be a little more flexible with my food intake and exercise regimen. However, when it comes spring time and I want to get down to let’s say 16% body fat; I know I need to be a little more strict.

I’ll make the following adjustments for 2-3 months:

Instead of eating out 1-2 times a week, I’ll cut back to just once.
Instead of drinking 1-3 alcoholic drinks a week, I will drink one every other week
Instead of having one dessert every 1-2 weeks, I’ll go every 3-4 weeks.
Instead of lifting weights 4 times a week and doing sprints once, I will add another sprint day, and another day of 30 minutes of aerobic activity.
If necessary, I will do carb cycling.

I hope this helps you develop better expectations for the results you can get through your efforts. I challenge you to ask yourself before you make your weight loss resolutions, what are you willing to sacrifice? And understand that the results you attain are a direct result of the work you put in. Good luck!

This One Ingredient Prevents Weight Loss

November 5, 2014 by admin Leave a Comment

With the holidays just around the corner we are coming up on that dreaded time of year filled with all sorts of delectable goodies. I am not going to bombard you with tips to avoid holiday weight gain, I’m sure you will be receiving many of those tips from various resources in the next couple weeks. What I would like to do is enlighten you on the one ingredient that many people overlook as a big obstacle on the road to fat loss success. In the nutrition world we call it the white devil, that’s right, you guessed it, sugar. I am not just talking white sugar, but this includes brown sugar, raw sugar, molasses, agave nectar, honey, corn syrup, and artificial sweeteners. All these types of sweeteners are the devil as far as we are concerned, not only for preventing fat loss but they also play a huge role in causing cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis.

So exactly what is sugar’s role in the body once it’s digested, and how does that impact fat loss?

Sugar is broken down into glucose during the digestion process and transported to the liver. The liver is responsible for processing glucose and determining whether it will be used for energy immediately, stored in the muscles, liver, or adipose tissue for future use. The liver can process a small amount of glucose efficiently, such as the amount found in a serving of blueberries or raspberries. But more than a few grams gets converted quickly by the liver into fat. The liver either stores the remaining fat into muscle, the abdominal cavity, or the liver itself. All the extra fat stored in the abdominal cavity is called visceral fat. This is the worst kind for you, because it sends out inflammatory factors that promote insulin resistance, and over time develops into diabetes and heart disease.

When an individual continues to over-eat sugar the pancreas will start overproducing the hormone insulin in an attempt to keep your blood sugars at a safe level. Over time all that extra insulin will keep your hunger triggered and block your body’s natural ability to release fatty acids to be burned. Insulin tells your body to turn sugar into fat, to store that fat, and to hang onto it for dear life. That extra weight is hard to get rid of.

Humans can’t be blamed for loving sugar so much. Sugar causes the brain to persistently crave more sugar (similar to an addictive drug), a craving that the vast majority of humans are not able to overcome. And many people eat some if not a ton of processed foods, nearly all of which contain some added sugar. This causes their intake to be that much higher and intensifying their cravings for sugary foods. Therefore, if you or your children eat foods with added sugar on a regular basis, chances are very high that you are putting yourself and your children at risk of insulin resistance, diabetes, obesity, and disease.

If you don’t eat processed foods EVER, good for you! You have a shot at completely avoiding sugar, and keeping it to low levels. If you are trying to lose fat, minimizing sugar is by far THE best solution.

When people think of avoiding sugar they stop eating sweets all together, but often this isn’t enough. As sugar hides in many food products that people generally overlook. Below is a list of foods that hide high amounts of sugar. A general rule of thumb is to avoid anything that has more than 10g of sugar per serving.

BBQ Sauce
Flavored Yogurts
Flavored Creamers
Coffee House Drinks
Dried Fruit
Fruit Juice
Alcoholic Drinks
Energy Drinks
Regular and Diet Sodas
Pasta Sauces
Meal Replacement Bars or Granola Bars
Condiments

I encourage you to start reading labels more closely, and monitor how many grams of sugar you are averaging a day. For someone trying to lose weight they should keep their total sugar intake anywhere from 25 – 40g (depending on your weight 100-200 lbs.) These sugars include fructose from fruit. Fruit should be kept to a maximum of 2 servings, and preferably lower glycemic fruits.

How Meal Timing Can Affect Weight Loss

September 30, 2014 by admin Leave a Comment

Does the phrase eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper ring a bell? A recent study by Lombardo M., et al. aimed to shed light on whether there is some validity to this statement for optimal health and wellness.

They had two groups of 21 subjects follow a Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes vegetables, whole grains, fruits, olive oil, beans, nuts, legumes and seafood. Poultry, eggs and dairy were used in moderation, while red meat and sweets were reserved only for special occasions.

Both groups followed the same dietary regimen made of 55% carbohydrates, 30% fat and 15% protein. The difference between these two groups was the caloric distribution of these foods throughout the day. Group 1 ate 70% of their calories at breakfast, morning snack and lunch, and 30% for their afternoon snack and dinner. Group 2 ate 55 % of their calories for breakfast, morning snack and lunch, and the remaining 45 % for afternoon snack and dinner.

Subjects were tested with a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at the start of the study, and three months later when the study ended to assess body composition.

The results indicated significantly improved body composition, metabolic parameters, blood pressure and cholesterol in both groups. However, Group 1 subjects lost more weight, more fat, had smaller waist circumferences and insulin sensitivity improvement over the 3-month evaluation than group 2 subjects.

The research group concluded that “A low-calorie Mediterranean diet with a higher amount of calories in the first part of the day could establish greater reduction in fat mass and improved insulin sensitivity than a typical daily diet.”

In addition they stated “The satiating power of morning meals can be explained by evolutionary theory, hormone theory, and metabolic theory. Earlier in human evolutionary history, the loss of light in the evening significantly limited activity. In modern times, however, the extensive use of artificial lighting has allowed people to remain active as well as eat late into the night. Thus, obesity in recent evolutionary years could be explained due to eating in the evening when satiation is weak.”

I will be honest in stating that as a San Diego fitness trainer my breakfasts are fairly similar in size to my lunches and sometimes my dinners. That being said, I do not subscribe to any late night snacking, high fat or carbohydrate consumption at dinner. My dinners are made up of only protein and vegetables and are consumed before 8pm at night. My breakfasts and lunches are comprised of carbohydrates, protein and fat. In my experience, when a person subscribes to this type of eating it becomes much easier to attain and maintain a lean physique. Due to the body’s natural circadian rhythm there is very little need for calories later in the day, as our body is starting to wind down from the day and prepare for rest. At the other end of the spectrum, breakfast is the prime time to eat and fuel the body for the rest of the day. Research has found time and time again, those that eat breakfast obtain a much leaner physique than those who skip or eat very little. When a person eats a well-balanced breakfast they will often eat more of their calories in the first part of the day and their appetite will naturally decrease as the evening rolls around. That is why I will always recommend to my weight loss personal training San Diego clients to eat their calories as a pyramid.

In conclusion, a 15% difference in earlier caloric distribution could help you reach your fat loss and health goals earlier.

The #1 Fat Loss Myth

September 2, 2014 by admin Leave a Comment

I hope you had an enjoyable holiday Labor Day weekend and summer vacation! As the kids are going back to school and summer vacations come to an end, many individuals begin to refocus their efforts towards their own personal health and fitness goals. Often times those fitness goals involve shedding excess pounds gained by indulging on vacation, and maybe not exercising as routinely over the past couple months. The majority of individuals will take to the streets and start jogging again, got to the gym and log miles on the elliptical or go on long bike rides in an effort to burn calories and lose weight. This unfortunately, is a very misleading perception on the most effective path to fat loss. Time and time again, I see individuals, especially women; spend hours each week subscribing to cardio workouts in the hopes of getting that lean and toned look of the celebrities. What they fail to realize is that all that time spent jogging, or being on the elliptical is fighting against them.

Here is where the long duration cardio exercise idea came from:

When individuals perform aerobic cardiovascular exercise between 50-65% of their maximum heart rate (MHR), the body’s primary source of fuel for this type of activity is stored body fat. When working at 50% of your MHR, approximately 60% of your energy will come from fat, and the remaining 40% will come from glycogen stores. When the exercise intensity increases to 75% of MHR only 35% of energy comes from stored fat, and 65% from glycogen, and as the intensity increases even more, the ratio of fat to glycogen use decreases even further.

It was the higher ratio of energy from stored fat at lower exercise intensities that led many to believe the best way to reduce overall body fat resulted from completing long periods of steady state cardiovascular exercise. This was deemed the ‘fat burning zone’. What many scientists have discovered since is that high intensity interval training (HIIT), where a series of high intensity efforts are interspersed with periods of rest or active recovery has been shown to be a far more effective method of reducing body fat. A recent Australian study by Trapp et al (2008) found that females who followed a 20 minute HIIT program consisting of 8 second sprints followed by 12 second rest lost an incredible 6 times more body fat than a group that followed a 40 minute steady state workout at 60% MHR.

HIIT not only burns more calories in a session than using lower intensity cardiovascular exercise, but the largest benefit of HIIT when training for fat loss is the effect it has on your metabolism afterward. As HIIT is harder for the body to recover from than lower intensity steady state cardiovascular exercise, more energy is required in the period after the workout for the body to repair. A recent study by Meuret et al (2007) found that participants who performed HIIT burned nearly 10% more calories in the 24 hour period after exercise than the group who performed steady state exercise.

That is why I only prescribe HIIT and strength training workouts to my personal training San Diego clients. HIIT workouts also help to develop muscle tone particularly in the legs and abdomen. If you look at the picture below you can see that marathon runners have far less muscle tone than sprinters. Now ask yourself, who do you want to look like?

That’s because sprinting has been shown to:

• Increase the growth hormone (GH) and blood lactate, because this protocol is metabolically more taxing, which will leads to more fat loss over time.

• Induce a testosterone response, suggesting that sprinting is effective for muscle building and creating an anabolic environment.

These two crucial facts play a large role in fat loss. When muscle mass is increased, resting metabolism is also increased. So now you have two avenues for burning even more fat when you are sitting on your butt. Think about it, active muscle tissue requires far more energy to maintain it than fat, and there is elevated metabolism post workout for the rest of the day! This is a no-brainer. HIIT will get you to your fat loss goals a lot faster than those 5 mile runs you have been doing!

Since HIIT is fairly taxing on the body as a San Diego personal trainer, I would suggest not to train with HIIT more than 2-3 times per week. In addition to HIIT cardio exercise you should also include lifting weights on separate days 3-4 times per week to see the most substantial fat loss.

The Skinny on Dietary Fat Consumption

August 6, 2014 by admin 1 Comment

Years ago I attended a seminar that really changed the way I view exercise, nutrition, and healthy living. For the early part of my career as a San Diego fitness trainer, I would accept information that was given to me without really questioning it. What I realized is this. There is so much garbage out there being fed to the general public in regards to exercise and nutrition, and what it means to be truly healthy. It is with that mind-set that I created True Balance Fitness. To help shed light on what it means to truly live a healthy life in balance.

Today, I want to discuss the biggest farce ever created in regards to healthy eating. I still meet people that follow these recommendations, and are suffering from diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and obesity because of it. I am hoping that I will be able to impact some people the way this seminar impacted me. I want people to question the why behind what they are told.

What am I talking about you ask? I’m talking about the popular low-fat, complex carbohydrate craze that has turned out to be a highly profitable lie for sectors of our medical and pharmaceutical establishment at the expense of the health of the American population. Let me give you a short background on how this idea came to fruition. Then we will discuss what types of fat there are, where to find it and how much you should be consuming to be eating the healthy way.

In the 1950’s a biochemist by the name of Ancel Keys submitted a paper for publication titled, “The Seven Countries Study.” In this paper there appeared to be a statistical relationship between the amount of fat consumed in a given country and the incidence of heart attacks. However, what he neglected to share in his paper are the stats from the other 15 countries in which some countries had low fat consumption and high cardiovascular disease (CVD) and high fat consumption and low CVD. If the study was analyzed in its entirety the conclusion would have been there is no relationship between fat intake and CVD. Unfortunately, this isn’t what happened. Keys recommended people to follow a diet rich in vegetable oils (corn and soy) and grains to theoretically mimic a Mediterranean diet. These three crops also are the easiest to mass produce and harvest in the US. Coincidence, I think not. Italy and Greece had better overall health than North America; however, those of you who may have visited these countries know this isn’t really representative of how these cultures eat.

This “idea” drew interest from the population, and seemed to make sense to most people. Fat creates fat right? You look at the calories in a gram of fat (9 calories/gram) compared to carbohydrates and protein (4 calories/gram), and according to the rule of thermodynamics, if one consumes more calories than they burn, than they gain weight. So if you eat fewer calories per gram of food then you can lose weight. Not exactly. It’s more important the type of food you eat more than the overall calories. Carbohydrates for example, release insulin in the body which can drive hunger and fat storage. Fat and protein consumption reduce the total calorie intake over the course of the day due to the increase in satiety.

In every clinical trial performed, low carbohydrate diets provide more weight loss and better CVD prevention than high-carb, low fat alternatives. Now, I could write on and on about this, but I am going to let you read the following books that will give even further background on this topic, Protein Power or Good Calories, Bad Calories.

What’s what with fats?

I will briefly touch on the three main types of fat found in a common diet: saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. The main difference between these three is the amount of saturation of hydrogen around carbon atoms. This has a large impact on how the fat affects your health after ingested.

Saturated Fats

Saturated fats have long been blamed for being the cause of CVD. The reality is that saturated fats are relatively benign and actually pretty helpful. There are three types of saturated fatty acids: lauric, almitic, and stearic.

Lauric acid is found in palm, coconut, and breast milk. It has properties that help heal gut irritation, and help with reversing autoimmune diseases. It can impact overall LDL cholesterol levels but have been found to be harmless, unless paired with a high carb diet.

Palmitic acid is found in palm oil, animal products such as eggs, beef, poultry, and seafood. Palmitic acid is vital for cognitive function especially when it comes to forming new memories and accessing old memories.

Stearic acid found in eggs, meat, and chocolate has been shown to increase HDL levels.

A high intake of these saturated fats becomes an issue when it is in conjunction with a high intake of carbohydrates. In short, a high intake of carbohydrates elevates insulin levels which when combined with LDL particles it creates small, dense, and easily oxidized particles that lead to atherosclerosis over time, which can lead to a heart attack or stroke. However, by not eating an overabundance of carbohydrates, this has not been a problem for other cultures, like the Kitavins.

Monounsaturated Fats

Monounsaturated fats have one variety that is found more predominately which is oleic acid. It can be found in olive oil, avocados, nuts, and even grain-fed meat. They have been shown to improve insulin sensitivity, prevent oxidative damage from aging and decrease cholesterol levels.

Polyunsaturated Fats

Polyunsaturated fats are essential fats that if you do not get enough or in the right ratios you will have big problems. These can be broken down into omega 3s and 6s.

Omega-3s

You have Alpha-Linolenic Acid (ALA), Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) and Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA). ALA found in flax, hemp, and other plant sources is sub-par to EPA and DHA when it comes to performance, health, and longevity. EPA and DHA are only found in animal sources like wild fish, game, and grass-fed meat. ALA can be converted to EPA and DHA but it is a painfully inefficient process. It will keep you alive, but not help you thrive (sorry vegans of the world). EPA is a potent anti-inflammatory and an aid in prevention of cancer. DHA also has anti-inflammatory properties in addition to aiding in normal cognitive functions.

Omega-6s

There are four types of omega 6 fatty acids. For simplicity sake let’s focus on the two most commonly found: Linoleic acid (LA) and Arachidonic acid (AA). LA is found in vegetable oils like corn, sunflower, and soy and has been shown to have pro-inflammatory properties. It can also block the anti-inflammatory effects of EPA and DHA. AA is found predominately in animal products and plays a large role in metabolic pathways controlling inflammation.

Trans-fats

This is the Frankenstein of fats that was created only fifty years ago by chemists looking to make polyunsaturated fats like corn and soybean resemble saturated fats at room temperature. They were created by exposing the oil to heat, hydrogen gas and a catalyst. These fats ruin liver function, and destroy insulin sensitivity. If you want to board an express train to diabetes and heart disease, this is your ticket.

Putting 2 and 2 Together

Are you still awake? I didn’t mean to bore you with the details, but I feel that it is important that you have a clear understanding of all the types of fats out there and what they can do to your body. At this point I am sure you are wondering how you lose weight and at the same time improve health, reverse chronic disease, and prolong your life.

I have compiled a list of the five main takeaways from this article:

Minimize your carbohydrate consumption. The average person’s body does not need more than 2 servings of carbohydrates a day. The exception to this would be endurance athletes.
Eat saturated fats. There are some populations that 40% of their food intake is saturated fat and do not show any incidence of CVD. The key is to keep carbohydrate consumption low.
Have a healthy balance of omega3s to 6s in your diet. Consume wild caught fish, grass-fed meat, vegetarian chickens and their eggs. Avoid processed foods that are laced heavily with Omega 6s. Supplement with a daily fish oil supplement.
Avoid trans-fats like the plague.
Research for yourself what is indeed healthy. Do not think for a second that food manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, and the government have your best interest in mind. Always research and question what you are told about what is healthy for you. I encourage you to read more on this if you are skeptical.

Sorry again for the long winded article. I hope that this helps change the way some people view fats in their diet, and hopefully will prevent weight gain, CVD, and diabetes in their future. Feel free to reach out to me if you are interested in learning more about my San Diego nutrition coaching programs.

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