How to navigate the Christmas holiday without wrecking your fitness progress.

Once the calendar turns to November, we often find ourselves facing the big three of Western/American holidays: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Eve. While for most of us these holidays can mean joy, celebration, and the company of loved ones, it often has a catastrophic impact on any progress we’ve made toward a particular weight loss or exercise goal, leaving us in despair and looking forward to January 1 as the day where we can be “born again” in the image of zombie Jesus himself, albeit as a well-behaved and honest gym goer who eats all of their vegetables.

To know how to defeat the holidays (provided Thanksgiving hasn’t broken our spirits already) before they defeat us, we first need to know how the culinary temptations of the season approach us. Imagine for me, if you will, a typical family Christmas gathering, replete with all sorts of indulgent side dishes and desserts:

”Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house

The family was gathered to feast and to grouse

Mom in her apron and I in my bib, she did the serving while I ate some ribs

The main dish was turkey but I wanted pork, so this was my appetizer with no need for a fork

The dishes were laid cross the table with care and no doubt that the platters would soon all be bare

Each place setting held a mountain of food with beer and wine at the ready to liven the mood

After hours of chewing, swallowing and guffawing, the family was splayed in their chairs close to yawning

Mom left pies as she took the stairs out of sight: “I did the cooking, so you clean! Now good night!”

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Thanks for getting through that, it was fun for me! So what are the strategies we can employ in order to tackle the holiday eating without going overboard? It’s pretty simple, really. Here are a few tips to ensure your holiday gathering doesn’t get the best of you:

• Prioritize lean meats and veggies (and not veggie casseroles) over cheesy, starchy dishes.
  • It’s very easy to overload your plate with all kinds of delicious foods (including five kinds of potatoes, casseroles, and others). My advice is to prioritize the ham or the turkey that are high in lean protein in addition to basic vegetables that are full of healthy vitamins and minerals and give yourself smaller portions of mashed potatoes and casseroles that are highly caloric and can send you crashing and make you bloated.

• Pick your poison: Is the holiday about guzzling wine or having an enjoyable meal with the family or your friends?
  • It’s easy to fall in the trap of a family wine or beer binge when the beverages are flowing and there’s cause for celebration. Simply put, alcohol is the quickest way to ingest a ton of calories that do nothing but make you fatter. If your goal happens to not get fatter, limit yourself to a drink or two. You can still enjoy friends and family and the celebrations of the holiday season, especially if you can remember it.

• There’s always the one indulgent dish you wait all year for, so in keeping your goals in mind, go for a single, smaller slice of Nani’s pumpkin pie instead of half of it!
  • This is where I fall prey to the holidays. Though I don’t really have much of a sweet tooth, there are always some delicious casseroles and pies this time of year that aren’t really available any other time. Instead of loading plate after plate with these items until they’re coming out of your ears, allow yourself to indulge in a small portion of one or two of the items and take your time enjoying them.

With that, you can count on not dashing (or dancing, prancing, or vixening) any of your fitness goals and put yourself ahead of the game come New Years Day.

As always, thanks for reading and head over to http://www.tanktoptraining.net for workout and nutrition programs, online coaching, nutrition consultation and more!

You Are Not Gluten-intolerant

Today’s post is about getting back to basics. In the modern fitness world, there are so many opinions on how we should eat that it is enough to make your head spin. Gluten-free, Paleo, Vegan, Vegetarian, Atkins/Ketogenic, Zone, GMO-free, Organic, etc. all have de facto spokespeople (some even among us) telling the average American that in order to be healthy, you have to adopt their manner of eating. I’m here to tell you that they are all DEAD WRONG.

I will tell you upfront that I have tried practically all of these methods of eating, and I have a bit to say about each of them, with not much being good. However, I will begin by saying the best thing about all of them: They force you to think about the food that you are putting into your body. Nearly all of them make you consume more fruits and vegetables as well as other foods loaded with health boosting vitamins and minerals. In addition, with the exception of Atkins and Zone, they all force you to get away from eating with convenience as your primary goal. Unfortunately, that is about where the positives end.

The problem with all of these approaches to eating is that many of the people who abide these eating “styles” (as I will call them) will all tell you that their way is the ONLY way. Any other plan will lead you on the path to fire and brimstone and eternal damna… whoops, wrong subject! Joking aside, you can see the similarities here between religion and the conviction some folks have with their diet. Everyone thinks their diet is the one and only way to perfect health when that simply is not the case. I can tell you for certain that for 95% of you out there, you are completely okay on a diet of lean meat, fruits, vegetables, nuts (and other healthy fats – olive/coconut oils, avocado, etc) and a small amount of dairy. Eating in this fashion you can lose weight, you can gain weight, you can train hard, you can run far, you can have healthy blood parameters, you can do it all. No tricks or gadgetry needed. Just show up and do the work (that means close the GrubHub and get in the kitchen or order meat and veggies when you go out).

What’s that you say? Paleolithic man ate all the bacon? And nary a grain?

To take a step back for a moment, the title of today’s post refers to the massive public repulsion to anything containing gluten, especially when it comes to the Whole Foods crowd. You see, there exists among us this belief that when we don’t see results immediately as we eat healthier, that we absolutely must be doing something wrong. The psychology of fitness and nutrition can do a lot of damage to individuals with a goal, especially if that goal is weight loss. The fact is that a majority of us do not have an intolerance to gluten. Gluten is in all likelihood not the reason you are or perhaps remain fat. Celiac has a large presence in my family, and that is just about the only reason that you or anyone has to be gluten-free… Because you have a genetic predisposition that causes your large intestine to practically eviscerate itself from inflammation when you have bread.

I hate to break it to you, but you do not need to eat in any special way to be healthy. One is not better than the rest unless your body literally revolts at the presence of a certain food inside of it. GMOs won’t kill you. Paleolithic man did not eat only olives, meat, and plants… not all over the world, anyway. Organic foods have a negligible difference compared to non-organic foods when it comes to our health (now wrap your noggin around the idea of how much produce is wasted on either side due to grocery stores catering to varying tastes). Eating a vegan or vegetarian diet does not necessarily make you more healthy, nor is it better for the environment. Any dietitian will tell you that a balanced diet and an exercise routine are all you need. Hopefully they’ll then tell you the food guide and MyPyramid are bullshit, presuming they’re worth their salt.

That does it for me today, folks. Hope you have a happy and healthy week.

-Tank Top

In Defense of “Fad” Diets

Anyone who has worked with me has probably heard the story of my last cut. I basically got lean with intermittent fasting, a quasi paleo diet (still love me some craft beers), heavy lifting, stair climbing, and calorie restriction. I figure I got down to somewhere around 10% body fat and for the first time in my adult life was able to see my abs for the first time. There’s a very small percentage of the population that will get there and know how to maintain it. I didn’t. Mainly because I was still subscribing to the old bodybuilder philosophy of bulking and cutting cycles to get most muscular, but I’ll save that story for another post.

I don’t tell this story to promote intermittent fasting, paleo or other fad diets, or to get myself a few pats on the back. I tell it because it’s a bit personal and helps explain that I am aware of the struggle that persists among those who seek to reach their fitness potential. I personally think that the hardest part of reaching a goal – and this goes for things outside of fitness as well – is maintaining the discipline. Calorie counting is easy. Going to the gym a few times is no sweat (ha!). Even cooking for oneself, avoiding delivery food, etc can be maintained for a little while. However, the day will always come when temptation will show it’s face or that voice will enter your head that says, “C’mon, you’ve been good all week… it’s ok to let yourself go for one night.” That voice isn’t wrong, per se. The problem comes with getting back to the diet right after that. And that’s where most of us falter. Or we let our friends or family discourage us and break our streak of good habits. However, we’re not entirely alone and there are certain things we can do to turn the tables a bit more in our favor when “clean eating” can be harder to maintain.

This is where “fad” diets prove their worth. Because most are able to be maintained. On Paleo you can have the bacon and the butter. Ketogenic and Atkins style diets allow you to go crazy with meat, cheese, and the like as long as you keep your carbs low. Even juice diets and the like taste pretty good. I personally don’t back juice diets since they tend to completely eliminate multiple macronutrients and this results in severe calorie restriction. This leads to weight loss on a high level but not of the ideal type. Juice diets or fasts tend to result in a bit more muscle loss, and if I said it once, I’ve said it a million times: more muscle on your body means more fat loss. You lose it and you’ll have that much harder of a time dropping those love handles.

Look at all that delicious grub up there! How can anyone say no to that?

Now, if you’re having trouble staying consistent and developing real, tangible results, I suggest giving a keto or paleo focused diet a chance. Same thing if you’re rocking a bit of the “skinny-fat” look. These diets are high in protein as a rule, allow you to occasionally “cheat” (pizza is all good with keto, just skip the dough!), and are easily maintained. This last step is crucial because of the psychological aspects we discussed earlier. My personal favorite is the Paleo movement, not because I think it is how we as humans should biologically eat. I like it best because if followed diligently it forces a person to include more fruits and vegetables in their diet. In a country that is battling the obesity epidemic, I think more home grown fruits and veggies are sorely needed. That said, the higher protein will allow for muscle retention while the low-to-no starch content will make water retention more difficult. For anyone struggling to drop weight via traditional methods, I suggest doing some research on the Paleo diet (among others) and seeing if it can’t yield some results for you. Robb Wolf runs a blog that is a great place to start, the film “Fat Head” reviewed in my last post is a nice layman resource as well.

In summation, I won’t say that these diets are the way all people should be eating nor am I saying they are guaranteed to make you fit, skinny, healthy, whatever the hell you want to be… but they shouldn’t be discounted outright. In this day where temptation sits on every corner and even neighborhood grocery stores that have a reputation as healthy are chock full of junk food, we shouldn’t turn our nose up at proven results. Eating pretty much lean meat and vegetables got me into kickass shape. Maybe it can do the same for you.

Takeaways:

• Weight loss is hard. Even consistent effort can be dashed with a single binge. “Fad” diets like keto and paleo may provide the tools necessary to survive the necessary calorie restriction.
• Tank Top Training backs these two diets in particular. However, I cannot in good conscience support any diet that is trying to sell a product. Atkins, South Beach, etc. come to mind.
• Try as I might, I can’t argue with results. Dieting and the psychology associated with saying no when everyone and everything around you is telling you to cheat makes it hard enough. “Fad” diets can be a shortcut; a tool in your arsenal!

Tank Top at the Movies: Fat Head

 

In an effort to stray from the norm, I thought it might be a good idea to bring you the first official movie review on the Tank Top Training blog. In the spirit of my typical content, I thought a movie focusing on weight loss and the obesity epidemic as well as the glut of nutrition misinformation out there might be a good place to start. In the movie “Fat Head” (follow the link for a full version on YouTube), former comedian Tom Naughton decides to focus on debunking a lot of the questionable information present in the film “Super Size Me” by documentarian Morgan Spurlock.

If you are unfamiliar with the premise of “Super Size Me”, Spurlock decides that he is going to consume nothing but McDonald’s for 30 days presumedly in an effort to detail how responsible fast food companies are for the obesity epidemic currently plaguing Americans. Naughton takes issue with this premise, feeling that it places the blame strictly on fast food companies and leaves little culpability to be had for the consumer. I am inclined to agree with Naughton here, but I figure most people with common sense would do the same.

Further in the movie, Naughton covers such topics as governmental and scientific interventions that helped dictate the current American diet (6 servings of grain a day, anybody?), basic human metabolism, and more to help outline why it is that we as Americans remain so overweight. I won’t spoil the ending, but this film is definitely worth a watch. Shoddy production value aside, I’m a huge fan of “Fat Head” and have watched it multiple times.Two Tank Tops Up!

– Tank Top Tony

ps. Naughton runs a great website for the film, as well. For more information, head on over to http://www.fathead-movie.com/

Supplementation, pt. 3: Supp Free and Work Hard

I’ve made it a point to use this blog as a forum for my beliefs regarding many subjects in the worlds of both exercise and nutrition. In two previous posts, I outline protein supplementation and make suggestions and deliver critiques on some of the more popular brands available both on store shelves and online. This would lead many readers to believe that I support protein supplementation and perhaps even make the jump and believe that I support nutritional and sports focused supplementation as a whole. However, those beliefs would be incorrect.

Yes, I, Tank Top Tony am coming out against supplementation as a whole. This grand statement does come with a caveat, however. The caveat is this: if time constraints, convenience or other matters dictate that you cannot consume MY recommended amount of protein for fat loss OR muscle gain, then I recommend supplementation. Much in the same way that an individual without access to affordable vegetation might supplement with a multivitamin to fill in the gaps for what they might be missing, so should and so must an individual supplement when they cannot reach their protein goals. In those individuals with healthy kidneys, the benefits of higher than 25% protein intake have already been outlined here on the blog. For those who lack the time or ability to go back and read, here’s what you need to know.

• Protein has a higher Thermic Effect of Food (TEF) than both carbohydrate and fat, meaning it COSTS more calories to metabolize than the other two macro-nutrients. This leads to greater calorie burn and thus greater weight loss.
• Protein is the prime macro-nutrient when it comes to muscle gain. More muscle on your body not only means an inherently lower body fat percentage, but also means a higher resting metabolic rate (RMR) and in turn, you BURN MORE FAT!

That said, including more protein in your diet is a no-brainer. If you don’t have the time or energy to consume the amount required (I recommend about .8g/lb. body weight), then a supplement is your next best option. Consult my earlier blogs for further information.

Now, onto the subject at hand. There are three reasons why I began Tank Top Training nearly one year ago: First, I got tired of the snake oil salesmen of the fitness industry constantly sticking up my friends, family and clients for their hard earned dollars with promises of magic pills, cleanses, supplement packages, and other bullshit products. Second, I know that if a client is willing to meet me halfway and put in the effort on their end, I can provide program design, fun, and results oriented training that is second-to-none. Finally, with the expertise I have accrued and the incredibly wonderful clients I’ve partnered with, I knew I didn’t want to answer to anybody but them ever again. If you ask me, the fitness industry in it’s current state is broken. The focus in private remains on how much revenue you bring in and anything else be damned. But I digress…

Pills, powders, and drinks? You don’t need ’em. Quit looking for the easy way out!

When I talk about no supplementation, I mean all supplements. No 24 day challenges, no cleanses, no pre workouts, no magic pills. Will these items get you results? If you’re following the instructions and working hard on your end, yeah more than likely the results will come. The question you need to be asking yourself is this: “Can I get these results on my own, without spending tens or hundreds of dollars?” My answer to that question is a resounding, “You’re damned right.” I could wax poetic on how our culture has developed an obsession with the quick fix, but both you and I have better things to do. The point is, if you are eating right, exercising (and for those of you who are talking about your limitations, guess what? Spring has sprung and you can most certainly take your ass for a walk. Walk til you jog. Jog til you run. Body weight squats and push-ups til you can grab a bar and lift some real weight) and putting in the effort, you can and will get those results. Keep your chin up and when you fall off your horse, get back on. That’s all it takes. One day at a time.

Cheers,

Tank Top

 

Protein: Should You and Which Brand?

Of all the questions I receive from clients, friends and family, many of them tend to revolve around the subject of supplements. I’ll begin by saying that my honest-to-goodness stance is this: the only necessary supplement is protein. One could argue the benefits of other legal supplements — and I’ll talk a bit about pre-workouts, thermogenics, post-workouts and more in a future article — but today the focus will be on a few of the top protein supplements on the market. I think higher protein intake (with a concurrent decrease in carbohydrate and fat intake) is the single best cure for the Western diet, as outlined in a previous TTT post.

Today, I’ll be focusing on brands I’m familiar with as well as my thoughts on protein supplements in general. To help, I’ve decided to create a out-of-five rating system of sorts across four categories:

• Cost: Simply put, what is the cost per pound?
• Taste: Does it taste like concrete or the next best thing to an ice cream shake?
• Ease of Mixing: Does it mix easily in water or milk or does it remain clumpy?
• Grams per serving/Value: What’s the nutrient profile? Is the supplement full of carb fillers (maltodextrins, to name one)? Or are you getting what you pay for, namely protein?

1. 100% Whey Gold Standard (Optimum Nutrition) – This stuff is called Gold Standard for a reason. It is a tried and true mainstay in the weight training and bodybuilding communities, has garnered heaps of positive reviews and is without a doubt the product I’ve gone back and purchased the most through the years. While average across all four categories, I feel this is one of those things where it’s good to be pretty solid in four ways instead of being stellar in two but piss poor in the other two. It averages $11.60/lb, the taste is good in a variety of flavors and there are little to know fillers. You’re paying for and getting pretty much nothing but protein, the stuff that your six pack and tricep related dreams are made of.

• Flavor  

• Cost  

• Mix  

• Grams  

• Muscle Milk (Cytosport) – Muscle Milk is a delicious product that costs only $8.60/lb but unfortunately provides just 16g of protein per serving. To put it in perspective, at 64 servings per 5lb bottle, you’re getting 32g over just 2.5lbs while you’re getting 24g in every serving of an Optimum Nutrition 5lb bottle. This is in part due to the infusion of fat (specifically Medium Chain Triglycerides, believed to not be as easily stored as fat) into Muscle Milk that accompanied it’s rise to popularity. One could argue that this is filler since you’re looking for protein, and I couldn’t really provide a solid argument against that hypothetical. That said, Muscle Milk tastes great, is relatively cheap but leaves something to be desired in the Grams and Mix department.

• Flavor  

• Cost  

• Mix  

• Grams  

• Isopure (Nature’s Best) –  To get down to the facts right away, if protein is what you’re looking for and don’t mind paying for that and only that, Isopure is the way to go. It fits wonderfully in shakes with other foods (think adding berries, chocolate, etc) because by itself it tastes like dusty cardboard. Unless you were gutting down pre-MuscleTech shakes with the rest of us in the late 90s, this stuff will be unequivocal in it’s blandness. However, each serving averages around 50-60g of solid protein and mixes well even in water. Don’t hesitate to go for this option if you’ve got the coin as well as a box of strawberries or juice to sweeten it up a bit.

• Flavor  

• Cost  

• Mix  

• Grams  

• Syntha-6 (BSN) – Finally, we have Syntha-6. This stuff tastes like liquefied candy, even when mixed with water. The cost is on par with the other popular brands (and significantly less than Isopure) and mixes just as well as any of the others. Due to this, you are getting quite a bit of sweetness (sugar and other carbs) to go with your protein. If that’s no problem for you and you have the calories to spare, I say this is the way to go. If you’re cutting or trying to get a bit stricter in your intake, I’d say it’s best to lean a bit closer to Isopure or Optimum.

  • Flavor   

  • Cost  

  • Mix  

  • Grams 

This is by no means a conclusive list, but rather a quick window into the world of protein supplements. I should state that I pay for my protein just like everybody else and I’m not sponsored by any of these brands. Simply speaking from the heart on what I prefer as well as the merits and negatives of each brand. I hope this has been helpful. Stay tuned over the next week or two as I talk about other (non whey) brands of protein for our dairy free, vegetarian and vegan friends as well as another great recipe and more talk about supplements in general.

Have a great day,

– Tank Top

Liquid Calories: Just Say No!

By now, it’s no secret that when we consume calories in amounts greater than what our body can use, we gain weight. Today, I want to talk about some of the quickest and easiest ways that Americans get into a surplus of calories: liquids. Whether they be from alcoholic drinks, energy drinks, juices, pop, or dairy drinks, calorie containing liquids remain the easiest way outside of a fast food meal to boost you into caloric surplus and send you hurtling down the road to weight gain. Following a breakdown of these liquids, I’d thought I’d give some recommendations for when these drinks seem unavoidable or when you just feel like tying one on for the hell of it, yknow?

Anyway, the juices, soda (it’s pop… seriously… don’t call it soda. what’s wrong with you?) and sugary energy drinks are an incredibly huge part of any level of overweight and obesity. Keeping the alcoholic drinks out of it for a second, if you have weight to lose on your person – whether a lot or a little – dropping anything you drink that has calories in it will take you a long way toward reaching your goals. It’s not only a simple matter of calories, but also the effects that large amounts of sugar being digested at once can have on hormones, blood sugar, satiety, etc. that leads to more fat gain. I can honestly say if you are obese and seeking to lose weight, you have absolutely zero business consuming any of the sugary drinks listed above. If you’re having a protein shake you grabbed on the go, or something to that effect, I say go for it. If it is anything resembling a Snapple, Red Bull, or Coca Cola – DROP IT!

Is there an alternative? Is Diet Coke an answer? The answer to these two questions is an unfortunate “maybe”. Artificial sweeteners carry a lot of controversy with them in terms of general health as well as other more profound topics. Do they cause cancer? Do they alter hormone response making it harder to lose weight? Well, one of those is in my wheelhouse and the other is not, so let’s talk mainly about hormone response as it pertains to weight loss. The main hormone that regulates appetite and satiety is called leptin while the main pleasure emitting hormone is called dopamine. With normal sugar, dopamine elicits a pleasurable response while leptin elicits a fullness response. However, according to an article in Scientific American, the brain is also being told “hey, you’re having something sweet and calorie containing, so you are getting full.” But in people who consume diet drinks on a regular basis, science has determined that these people may be incapable of distinguishing real sugar from fake sugar and in turn have a harder time avoiding the pleasure associated overconsumption of calories. So diet drinks in terms of appetite are best to avoid as well.

Finally, let’s spend a bit of time talking about alcoholic drinks. I would echo my earlier statement that if you are a person trying to lose weight, it is probably best to avoid alcohol altogether simply due to the fact that alcoholic drinks have calories. If you’re trying to lose weight, your caloric allowance is better used consuming nutrients that actually do something for you other than make you feel good for a few hours and subsequently make you feel bad if you over consume. That said, I know in this day and age you would have a better chance of asking someone for their first born than you would getting them to quit drinking for a couple months. However, if you are going to drink, here’s the rundown on how to do so without the waistline expanding calorie binge:

DO: Go for drinks that are pretty much just the alcohol itself. Whiskey and water, Vodka and soda, and others are great options that give you a little buzz that won’t do much damage in terms of calorie intake.

DON’T: Drink calorie containing mixers and high sugar mixed drinks. Sorry, the margs are going to have to wait if you’re looking for some visible muscle tone. Same goes for screwdrivers, fruity shots, and the like.

DO: Eat a sensible but filling dinner before you go out for drinks. The body is able to digest the food properly and use the calories most effectively without alcohol in your system. Think about it: alcohol is a toxin and the body is working as quickly as possible to eliminate it. It can’t burn calories via normal metabolism when it is working on metabolizing and removing alcohol from the body. Make sense?

DON’T: Go nuts at the taco shack or pizza parlor after the bar closes. Sure, you’re starving after a night full of boozing, but if we’re talking about the lesser of two evils, the ideal is a bunch of low calorie drinks and no high fat, high carb food at the end of the night. Period.

DO: Drink light beer. I hate myself for saying this. Let’s move on.

DON’T: Drink craft beer. I also hate myself for saying this. Here’s the deal: craft beer with all of it’s flavor is often chock full of calories (especially darker beers). So if you’re watching your calorie consumption, it’s probably best to just nix the craft beer altogether until you start making some progress towards your goals.

That wraps up today’s post, but feel free to post questions here on the blog, via Twitter (@tanktoptraining), and Facebook as well (/tanktoptraining).

Cheers!

Triple T

Training and Nutrition 2: Timing and Macronutrients

Alright, it’s science time, Tank Toppers. We left off last time discussing basics of nutrition such as the importance of tracking your intake as well as laying out some info on a few quality food sources. This time, I want to discuss two main topics: the effects (intended or accidental) of timing and the actual macro-nutrients themselves.

For the uninitiated, macro-nutrients are simply the three big categories that make up your caloric intake: carbohydrates, fats, and proteins (and alcohol, depending on who you ask… though if you’re getting a substantial amount of your dietary intake from alcohol, I think a fitness blog might be a little further down the road for you, wouldn’t you say?). USDA recommendations (and all my old dietetics professors…) suggest that your diet be comprised of 20-30% fat, 15-20% protein and 45-55% carbohydrates. Now, I have a theory… my theory is that this breakdown, if not making America fat, is certainly not helping Americans lose weight. The reason why has a lot to do with a high carbohydrate/high fat diet making it very easy to head down the road to gluttonous over-eating.

One nugget of information that has always stuck with me is a simple one: Consider pasta vs. broccoli. Generally speaking, one could consume as much as six servings of broccoli to get on par with the amount of calories present in a single serving of pasta. I’m sure you’re thinking about sauce and cheese and all the good stuff that comes with a nice pasta meal, but think about how easily that thought comes to most of us. The fact that something so calorically dense (but relatively micronutrient bereft, when compared to broccoli, for instance) requires extra meat, cheese and sauce to taste good to us says a lot about the typical Western diet and also why Americans are so overweight.

So what’s the alternative? Funny you should ask! I can’t believe I’m about to say what I’m about to say, but a recent episode of South Park nailed it. In the episode, titled Gluten Free Ebola it is suggested that we take the old Food Guide Pyramid and flip it upside down putting grains in small amounts at the bottom and healthy fats (avocado, nuts, nut butter, etc) up near the top with everything else falling into place. It does sound a bit oversimplified but it hits all the right notes. If trying to lose or maintain weight, higher protein (notice this is first, and not lower carbohydrate), medium fat and lower carbs are the way to go. I hate to provide anecdotal evidence here, but it’s the only thing I’ve ever seen work without extreme amounts of exercise.

So let’s talk about our needs in terms of specifics, with protein up first. I generally recommend (assuming normal and healthy kidney function) anywhere from 1g per pound of lean body mass (LBM) up to 1g per pound of total body mass. The way I see it, this not only ensures recovery but encourages growth. Furthermore, the thermic effect of protein (meaning the number of calories burned during digestion alone) is approximately 20-35% of calories ingested for protein. Thus, the more protein you ingest, the more calories you’re burning overall.

For carbohydrate, I think it’s important to focus on vitamin dense vegetables first, fruit second and grains or starchier items such as potatoes last. This ensures that you receive a rich micronutrient intake without consuming heaps of carbohydrate, keeping insulin low and increasing the likelihood that the body mobilizes fat for energy. Fat has the lowest thermic effect (5-15%) so should be consumed in similar caloric amounts as carbohydrate. As far as ratios go, I encourage 40% protein to 30% each for carbs and fat.

Moving on, I want to tackle a couple of issues in short order. Read on:

– Pre workout meals: When eating a meal or ingesting a calorie containing supplement prior to a workout, take stock of how you feel before the meal. Have you been famished all day? Are you already full and just supplementing with an amino acid supplement? I consider it a good rule of thumb that if you don’t usually work out on an empty stomach, it’s best to have a meal, let insulin and blood sugar stabilize and work out around 45 minutes to an hour after the meal. If you are used to training fasted, then go with what you know and listen to your body. Feeling faint or sick during a workout? Have a little juice or other simple carbs to boost blood sugar. I’ve had many a client come back from the dead during an high intensity session with just a little rest and sugar.

– The post workout metabolic window: Let’s think about this for a second… when did we let it enter into our collective consciousness that there is a limited window following a workout that we must ingest a certain amount of nutrients, lest all of our gainzzzz be lost? Exactly. Reading that sentence should illustrate just how ridiculous that is. Post workout is a great time for a big chunk of your days calories, but it’s okay if you don’t have that meal in the 30 minutes after you step out of the gym, yknow?

– Protein absorption: There is another firmly held belief that your body can only make use of or “absorb” a certain number of grams of protein (most often suggested to be 30-60g or some-such nonsense) when in actuality the whole train of thought is absurd. If the body were not making use of those nutrients, we would be talking major diarrhea. The gut cannot simply hold this food if it is not digesting. Though an interesting article from Dr. Layne Norton suggests that new muscle tissue synthesis is jump-started by 4-6 oz of protein rich sources, depending on the source.

Hopefully this has been helpful information folks. Feel free to share or comment!

Cheers,
Triple T