Fitness Myth: NO PAIN – NO GAIN

FITNESS MYTHS AFFIRMED OR DEBUNKED

NO PAIN, NO GAIN

This saying came to prominence in the early 1980s when Jane Fonda was producing of aerobic workout videos where she would use the catch-phrases “No Pain, No Gain,” and “Feel the Burn,” indicating and urging on those folks who were following along to workout past the point of aches/”the burn.”

It definitely rhymes and is so easy to remember which has aided to its staying power. As far as it being a mantra that you should use, or if it is sound workout advice, you can forget it.

DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN PAIN AND EXERCISE INDUCED FATIGUE

If an exercise has caused you real pain, you’re either doing it wrong or you’ve already managed to hurt yourself. You must be able to differentiate between exercise induced fatigue/failure and physical pain due to injury. It is vitally important that no matter what type of exercise you are engaged in, whether it is resistance training, or using any type of resistance of aerobic machine, you must use caution and proper form in order to avoid any type of serious injury.

As an example, exercise induced fatigue can be genuinely felt after using a moderately heavy weight and performing slow, proper repetitions in the 8-12 range, where the last 2-3 repetitions become exceedingly difficult to perform. Once you complete the last two repetitions with good form, attempt to perform one or two more repetitions. This is the “burn” and fatigue that is being alluded to by “Feel the Burn/No Pain No Gain.”

REMEMBER

Actual pain can mean that you’ve exhausted a muscle or torn a ligament/tendon. If what you’re doing really hurts, before, during or after a specific exercise, then you should stop. If pain begins prior to, during, or after and persists, then you should absolutely go to a doctor or orthopedic specialist and get yourself checked out. No or few fitness professionals (some are MDs or DOs, etc., but most are barely certified to be trainers or fitness instructors) are capable or allowed to diagnose or treat any illness, injury, etc., so be mindful that you should not go to a trainer, or gym owner or manager, and expect them to diagnose your injury, recovery time, etc.

Go Here if you need tips or advice on how to begin a fitness program or regimen

A little burn following a proper set of clean, slow and crisp exercises is fine and is to be expected, however anything to the point of pain, where you actually hurt and cannot complete a movement should be a warning to you to cease and get medical attention.

To you success,

- JT

Fitness Myth: Focusing on crunches will get you six pack abs

FITNESS MYTHS AFFIRMED OR DEBUNKED

From time to time, I will focus on a particular fitness myth, and either debunk or affirm it. Today, I’d like to focus on whether focusing on abdominal crunches will get you six pack abs, which is a very popular “myth.”

WILL DOING CRUNCHES GET ME SIX PACK ABS?

The short answer to this question is “NOT BY THEMSELVES.” In order for your “six pack” to show, you need to get rid of any belly fat that obscures your abdominal region, which is a tendonous area lined with muscle. A reduction in the actual overall percentage of your body’s body fat is paramount before you can start to see your abs.

While it is true that crunches strengthen the muscles of the abdominal region, by themselves they will not burn off enough overall calories to affect the visible fat on your belly.

IMPORTANT STEPS TO A FLAT STOMACH

In order for you to be able to show off your abs you have got to trim your body fat via nutrition, cardiovascular exercise, and resistance training. Incorporating the three steps above is usually enough to get your six pack visible. Once you achieve a lowered body fat percentage, to the point where your six pack starts to appear, then you can focus more on both strengthening your abdominal region, and the opposing muscles in your middle and lower back, for balance and proportionate strength.

For more information about how to begin a new workout or exercise regimen click here.

Big Meals vs. Small Meals – What’s the deal?

MINI MEALS vs. LARGER MEALS

A debate has been raging for quite some time regarding which eating strategy is more effective at helping to keep weight off and keeping us full – is it 6 mini meals or the traditional 3 square meals?

I get asked this question quite a lot, especially from clients who are trying to slim down.  It’s a question which is especially on the minds of weight conscious individuals. If you are on a nutrition plan and are looking to shed some unwanted weight, read on for information that could help you on your path.

 

THE ARGUMENT FOR SMALLER MEALS aka GRAZING

Some experts recommend eating smaller meals more consistently – every few hours. The idea behind this strategy is that eating more frequently may help curb appetite and stabilize blood sugar in effect preventing the “drop” that leaves you feeling hungry. This strategy in theory makes slimming down more manageable.

 

IS GRAZING REALLY BETTER?

Recent research published by the journal Obesity suggests that employing this strategy of grazing on multiple mini meals will not necessarily promote weight loss any more than the old standard of three squares per day.

 

THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE

When overweight or obese dieters spread a very-low-calorie diet over six meals, their appetite and hunger were no different than when they consumed the same quantity of nutrition in three meals. These specific findings support older, comparable research.

TYING IT ALL TOGETHER

So how do we take this information and make it work for us? The amount that you eat is more important than how often you eat.

 

DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU

If eating smaller more consistent meals makes you overeat and those multiple meals turn into all-day grazing frenzy, then you should try eating fewer meals. HOWEVER, if you’re someone who subscribes to the Three-Squares-Per-Day method, but you stuff yourself each time you sit down because you’re so hungry, opting for a health snack in between your meals can only help you.

Whichever strategy you choose to employ, make sure you incorporate fiber rich fruits, vegetables and whole grains as well as lean protein into each meal and snacks. This is essential when you’re changing up your nutrition intake. These nutrients ensure that you will have no lasting, quality energy to keep you full and satisfied until it’s time for you to eat again.

 

For Further Reading, Go Here:

DIET & NUTRITION INFO & TIPS

Start Early – Live Longer

I am a believer in a multi-disciplinary approach to fitness – one that incorporates different methods and modes and training techniques to achieve total health and wellness.

Pilates
Why it helps

Joseph Pilates is the inventor of this system of fitness which incorporates various aspects of different methods to train its adherents control over postural muscles and a deep connection with one’s body

Read more about Pilates here – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Pilates

Weight Training aka Resistance Training
Why it helps

Stretching
Why it helps

Yoga
Why it helps …

There is a mind body connection. Yoga helps to regulate your heart rate while at the same time increasing your flexibility and overall well being. There are meditative properties associated with yoga as well. You will gain a good degree of control over muscles that you thought you could not control, your breathing will improve as will your posture.

Meditation
Why it helps

There is something to be said for shutting off the lights and sitting in a solitary, quiet and comfortable place for some meditative thinking or clearing of the mind. Stress, it has been said, is the number one cause

Now, let me be clear – you don’t necessarily have to incorporate ALL OF THE ABOVE every time you work out. However, incorporating all of the above and sprinkling them in from week to week will take advantage of all of their benefits and will endow you with more endurance, flexibility, strength and muscle tone.

Click here for some example workout outlines that incorporate the above.
Here is another article that drives home the point even further. It is about a woman who is currently 100 years old – she attributes a multi-disciplinary approach to fitness as a major part of her success – check out her story:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/03/ruth-kobin-100-years-old-_n_1073029.html

“Link” Between Sausage and Cancer

Sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun. Here’s the story:

“Eating two slices of bacon — or one sausage — a day can increase a person’s risk of developing pancreatic cancer by 19 percent, a study out of Sweden has found.

Pancreatic cancer kills 80 percent of people in under a year of being diagnosed; only 5 percent of patients are still alive after five years, according to The Guardian.

Eating 1.8 ounces of processed meat every day — the equivalent to one sausage or two rashers of bacon — increases the risk by 19 percent, and the risk goes up if a person eats more, the paper cites experts from the “respected” Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, as saying.

The findings after examining data from 11 studies, including 6,643 cases of pancreatic cancer, were published in the British Journal of Cancer.

“Pancreatic cancer has poor survival rates,” the Daily Mail quoted Susanna Larsson from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm as saying. “So it’s important to understand what can increase the risk of this disease.”

Fox News cited experts as saying the overall risk of pancreatic cancer was relatively low. Most people have only a 1.4 percent chance of getting pancreatic cancer, reported Dr. Richard Besser, ABC News’s senior health and medical editor.  “If you have a serving of processed meat per day, your risk would go up to 1.7 percent; still very small.”

It is dubbed “the silent killer,” as it often does not produce symptoms — such as back pain, loss of appetite and weight loss — in the early stages, according to ANI, which adds that:

The risk posed by eating meat was substantially lower than for smoking, found to increase the likelihood of pancreatic cancer by 74 percent, according to the reportsMeanwhile, ordinary red meat, like steak, reportedly increases a man’s chance of getting the cancer, but not a woman’s.”

Ok, so – instead of sausage or bacon, eat chicken, turkey, cottage cheese, peanuts, walnuts, cashews, Greek yogurt, egg whites, and low fat, low salt cheeses.

Warmest Regards,

- JT

Weight Loss Basics – the C,F,Ps of fitness

Counting calories: Get back to weight-loss basics

Calories play a humongous role in the balancing act known as weight loss. They are the ultimate determining factor as to what your weight is.

Despite the innumerate diets, weight loss strategies, and supplements, weight management basically boils to the calories – that is the number of calories you take in (eat) versus those you burn off.

So, forget those fad diets and miracle pills and get ready to dig into the leanest morsels of weight loss information you can sink your teeth into!

Calories – your body’s main fuel source

Despite their reputation, calories are not bad – they are simply the energy in food. I know what you’re thinking, if it wasn’t for those pesky calories, you would have never thrown out that pair of jeans which is now two sizes too small … well, it turns out that your body has a constant demand for energy and uses the calories from food to keep functioning.. Energy from calories fuels every action in your body, including brain function, involuntary and voluntary muscular movements, etc.

C, F, Ps explained

Carbohydrates, fats and proteins are the types of nutrients (macronutrients) that contain calories and are the main energy sources for your body. Most everything that you eat has a certain amount of calories from the three categories above. The amount of energy in each varies. Proteins and carbohydrates have about 4 calories per gram, and fats have about 9 calories per gram. Alcohol also is a source of calories, providing about 7 calories per gram.

Now that you know where the calories come from, it is important to understand what happens to them once you eat them. Regardless of where they come from, the calories you eat are either converted to physical energy or stored within your body as adipose tissue (the fat everyone hates). These stored calories will remain in your body as adipose tissue (fat) unless you use them up, either by reducing calorie intake so that your body must draw on reserves for energy, or by increasing physical activity so that you burn more calories. Remember, this fatty tissue is not the same as dietary fat, so please try to not confuse the two.

Tipping the weight loss scale in your favor: Cutting calories

Simple equation for balancing the weight loss scales:

• If you eat more calories than you burn, you gain weight.
• If you burn more calories than you eat, you lose weight

I told you this would be simple!

On to some real math … don’t be scared, this is painless, I promise.

One pound of bodyweight equals 3,500 calories … this is true for all body tissue – to burn off that 1 pound (0.45 kilogram) of adipose tissue, you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you take.

Simple Strategy

So if you cut 500 calories from your typical intake each day, you’d lose about 1 pound a week (500 calories x 7 days = 3,500 calories).

Cutting calories doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, it can be as simple as:

• Opting for less calorie dense drinks
• Skipping one extra high-calorie indulgence a day
• Swapping high-calorie foods for lower calorie options
• Reducing portion sizes

Saving calories by cutting a high-calorie item

• A good place to start if your goal is to cut those 500 calories per day is to delete one or two high-calorie items from your daily intake. For example, you could remove your morning latte at breakfast or that bowl of ice cream you always have after dinner.
• Itemize what you eat daily – think about what you eat and drink each day and identify items you could cut out. If you think that skipping your indulgences will leave you with a craving, try a low-calorie substitution.

 

INSTEAD OF THIS	HAVE THIS
Slice of pizza Glazed Donut Bag of Ranch Chips Latte	Greek Yogurt Handful of peanuts Air popped popcorn Instant Version with Water
High Fat, thick, dense salad dressings	Mix in some fruit slices into your salad (apple slices)
Snack bars	Nuts
Sodas	Water

 

Where to begin? Part Two

So far you have determined what your long term goal is, how many times per day you will be eating, how many calories per day for workout days, and for non workout days should be ingested. With this, you know how many calories you need to burn per workout to reach your daily and weekly calorie deficit goals.

Now you need to figure out what you should do while you are either at the gym or at home in order to properly burn those calories and get into the shape you want to get into.

Ok, let’s begin by focusing on some of the basics.

Consideration should be given to the following categories when contemplating a fitness and workout regiment.

You should consider flexibility, balance, strength, and endurance. Every workout should consist of elements of the categories we just mentioned.

What approach should you take?

I advise most of my clients to start with a total body approach to fitness – one that incorporates all of the above elements in the design and implementation of a workout regiment.

Anatomy of a proper workout

Start with a light warmup and stretch – this could be a brisk walk on a treadmill or if the weather is nice enough, outside. If you have broken a sweat, perform some moderate stretches, holding each pose for at least 20-30 seconds. Start with your legs and work your way up – since you will be engaging in total body workouts, you should be mindful to stretch as much of your body as possible in preparation for your workout.

Three total body circuits

Each total body circuit should consist of one exercise per body part of 12-15 slow repetitions starting with your legs and working up to your biceps and triceps. Either use a weight that you can perform the last few repetitions with some difficulty. Rest for about 15 seconds between body parts, if at all.

In between circuits, you should rest for at least a minute and a half. Then repeat the process. You are allowed to perform different exercise for each body part per circuit OR you can simply repeat the 1st circuit twice, if you are comfortable with it.

Following your total body routine, you can engage in 15 minutes of consistent, steady but moderate aerobic activity, be it brisk walking on a treadmill, bike riding, or use of an elliptical machine.

Once you have completed your workout, stretch deep and slow, holding each stretch for at least 30 seconds.

Go home, eat and rehydrate.

Perform your routine every other day (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) until you have the endurance and strength to perform a fourth alternating day.

 

 

Working out – Where to begin? Part One

Many people tend to get confused when they attempt to enact and participate in a new exercise regiment.

Their main difficulties lay in what to do. They are eager to start but have no clue where to begin, how to begin, or what to do in order to most positively affect their fitness goals.

Many folks are in this exact situation as we head closer to the New Year with preparations for New Year’s resolutions fast approaching.

So where does one begin?

Well, the 1st, most basic, and most important step is to take stock of where you are and where you are headed. Sounds simple, but you must gain your bearings before you set out on any long trip, right? No difference here.

[Get the Beginner's Resource Guide here for more help]

Get a proper medical physical with blood work done to assess your overall health. I don’t care if you just gave birth, ran a marathon a year ago, or if you got a physical last year and “passed” with flying colors. Get one done.

After your physical has been completed and you have been cleared for physical activity, find out what your current weight is, what your overall body fat percentage is, and get tape measurements of your upper body, waist, lower body, and if you are so inclined your arms (biceps/triceps). The reason why for all of the above, you want to be able to track body-morphic changes above and beyond just your weight.

At this point, you should have a fair idea of what your goals should look like. If in 6 months, for example, you want to lose 30 lbs for an upcoming wedding, then you know you want to lose 5lbs per month for the next 6 months. This is a highly attainable goal in that you have given yourself a safe enough time frame by which to lose this weight and enough time to properly gauge, analyze, and properly augment your approach to attaining this goal.

A safe estimate of weight loss per week should be no more than 1 lb per week on the conservative end, and no more than 2lbs per week on the aggressive side. Establish your goals far enough in advance of a specific event or date of importance to allow for proper analysis and change in approach. Once you have established a time specific and safe goal, it is time to outline how you are going to attain said goal.

It is vitally important that you eat and hydrate yourself, especially post workout, as your recovery time and the efficiency of your recovery is affected by what and when you eat NOT IF YOU EAT. If you do not eat, thinking that you will save yourself some calories, you are in fact sabotaging your efforts and slowing your metabolism.

Track what you eat for at least three entire days. In addition, keep track of what time you go to sleep and wake up. You want to determine how many hours you sleep vs how many hours you are awake. This will help determine how many times per day you should be eating and how far apart your meals should be spread.

Next, determine if you are working, how often you will be allowed to eat while at work. What time is your lunch? Are you allowed a 10 minute period to take a break in which you will have a snack?

When all of the above is determined, you will then begin working on your meal intake/nutrition plan for Workout Days, and for Non Workout Days. Yes, you will have two somewhat distinct approaches to nutrition based on Workout Days and Non Workout Days. Simply put, in terms of quantity, you will be eating less on Non Workout Days. This does not mean you don’t eat at all – you just will not be eating as much as you would on days that you Workout.

The old nutrition foundation of three square meals has been challenged recently in favor of a modified three squares which includes a snack or two in between. In reality, there is not standard template regarding nutrition that any person should follow. The foundation should instead be a focus on the types of foods that you are able to eat. What I mean is, there are many folks that are allergic or intolerant to certain foods, thus a pre-set formulaic food template would be of no benefit to folks who would not be able to eat 50% of the items on a nutrition menu.

Yes, you should opt to eat fresh foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and proteins and fats which have been derived from fresh means.

We all have a specific number of calories that our body is able to burn while we are at rest. This is known as Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR). This figured is calculated using a number of factors including Height, Weight, Age, and Activity level. Essentially, in order to lose weight, you need to have a certain number of calories that you burn versus what you take in via nutrition. If you burn more calories, say at the end of the week than you take in from the foods you eat, that is known as a calorie deficit.

In order to lose a pound of weight, you would need a calorie deficit of 3,500 calories, preferably over the course of a week or two – over the course of a week this would amount to about 700 or so calories per day for 5 days.

In our above example of losing 30lbs in 6 months, that would amount to a net deficit of 105,000 calories over about 180 days. Stated otherwise, this would require a deficit of about 580 calories per day to get to that eventual goal. For a woman weighing 170lbs  who takes in about 2,000 calories per day, this would require a metabolic rate of about 2,600. Usually, the body’s weight and activity takes care of a good amount of the metabolic requirements in order to reach our goal. The rest is taken care of through exercise. So if the intake and the RMR evens out, all you have to do is workout and expend between 450-600 calories per workout to meet your deficit quota. The subsequent recovery period will effectively spike your metabolic rate. Based on how consistently you workout and how well you recover, your metabolic rate will far exceed your intake and you should be able to hit your goal within the parameters you have set for yourself.

 

The importance of sleep for fitness

Keeping track of how consistent your sleep is, in terms of how many hours of sleep you get per night, is important in more ways than you might think.

Of course sleep helps to reset the body as the night turns to day, and it definitely is a major factor in post-workout recovery.

Quantifying and keeping track of your sleep cycle can help play another very beneficial role as well.

If you take stock of your actual sleeping hours, say 6, you can subtract these hours from the total hours in a day (24) and thus come up with a figure which represents the number of hours you are awake – in this hypothetical example 18 hours of wakefulness.

Aside from the number crunching we just performed, (difficult, I know) this figure is important in figuring out the quantity and consistency of our meals.

For example, if you take the 18 hours, and divide them by 4 (this represents the number of hours in between feedings) you are left with 4.5 which represents the number of meals you should consume or number of feedings. If you were to swap the numbers and make the number 4 represent the number of feedings, then the 4.5 would represent amount of hours in between meals.

So if you are awake for 18 hours, you should either:

A) Eat 4 meals daily, one meal every 4.5 hours   -OR-

B) Eat 4.5 meals every 4 hours – this is a little more difficult to quantify, but we can rationalize it by looking at a fairly intense workout day. You would eat a hearty breakfast early in the day, a snack right before lunch, your lunch which would represent your pre-workout meal/snack and then a post workout meal

Obviously, the easiest way to calculate meals vs time between meals is to divide your number of hours that you are awake by the number of feedings you aim to take in.

I typically sleep between 7-8 hours every evening (thanks to my wife who wakes up much earlier than me, and sleeps earlier than I do). Eight hours of sleep leaves me with 16 hours of awake-time – if I aim to eat 4 times, that leaves me with 4 hours between feedings.

If i choose to eat 5 times, that leaves me with about 3 hours and 15 minutes worth of gap-time between feedings.

My breakfast would be at 7am, snack 1 at 10am, lunch at 115pm, pre-workout snack (2) at about 5pm (workout around 615pm) and then a post workout feeding at approximately 8pm – it should be noted that I typically consume 6oz-8oz of a recovery drink immediately following my very intense workouts and slightly less following a moderate workout.

I hope the above guidelines have been helpful to you.

Should you have any questions or concerns feel free to contact me via email.

Warmest regards,

- John Tzor

The Negative effects of prolonged sitting while at work

You are probably at work while you are reading this – so why don’t you have a seat … wait you probably already are seated.

Medical experts have discovered that diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity are all linked to prolonged periods of sitting – this includes while at work. Research shows that most people spend only ONE hour of their day NOT SEATED!!!

THE SIMPLE THINGS CAN IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH
Simple things like standing up to turn off the television, can improve your health.

The cumulative time that a person spends between watching television, working, and commuting can add up to between 14 and 16 hours a day. Most people are ONLY AWAKE for 15 HOURS.

HOW YOU SIT IS IMPORTANT
When we alter the way we sit and if we exercise at least 30 minutes a day, we can reduce the risks of developing lifestyle diseases.

STUDIES OUT OF AUSTRALIA
Queensland University’s Cancer Prevention Research Center spokesman Mr. Paul Gardiner stated that older people “lounged around” the most.

Mr. Gardiner added, “It’s not always how long you sit but also the way you sit. Studies have shown by having regular breaks it could alter blood glucose levels which are linked to diabetes,” “We are trying to get people to avoid prolonged sitting.”

CHILDREN AND THE SEDENTARY CONDITION
Research has determined that children are seated for up to 44 percent of day – this DOES NOT INCLUDE when they are sleeping. Amazingly, this figure increases to 56 per cent by ADULTHOOD. As it pertains to senior citizens – 65 percent of their day is spent seated.

SOME SUGGESTIONS
Mr Gardiner suggests people find ways to stand up while doing everyday activities. Some examples include standing and light pacing while on the phone. Mr. Gardiner offered the following advice, “If you are watching TV, put the remote on top and stand up to change channels,” “In the office, get up and go for a walk after you are on the telephone. Move bins and printers to a central location so workers have to stand up and walk.”

PRACTICAL ADVICE
If you are able to, try lifting reams of papers in each hand and curling them. You can also perform some safety-squats or dead-lifts with the box of printer paper (that is if you are strong enough and do not have any significant back limitations). Standing and stretching can improve your circulation. Furthermore, if you find yourself in the break-room by yourself, perform a very slow set of pushups to get the blood pumping followed by some slow, standing wall squats (Roman Chairs).

You can increase circulation and burn off some extra calories by walking up escalators and taking longer routes to and from your car. WALK as often and as much as you can – avoid taking the elevator in favor of taking the stairs.

For more information and advice, feel free to email me at JTzor@Spartanfitness.com

Carbs | Carbohydrates demystified

ABOUT CARBS

There are two kinds of carbohydrates: simple and complex.

SIMPLE CARBOHYDRATES require little digestion and thus are a quick energy source. Fruits, fruit juices and milk contain simple sugars (carbohydrates) that provide valuable nutrients in addition to an energy boost. Candies, table sugar, alcoholic beverages and sweetened soft drinks are simple sugar sources that provide calories, but usually no nutrients.

COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES are found in grains, some vegetables and legumes. They are starches and require more digestion than simple carbohydrates. Rich in B-vitamins, fiber and iron, complex carbohydrates from grains are the body’s best source of energy because they are burned in a constant, time released manner. They provide sustained energy for athletic events and can help manage blood sugar irregularities. The fiber found in complex carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables can help lower blood cholesterol in some people when eaten as part of a low-fat diet.

DAILY CONSUMPTION
Although there is no Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for carbohydrates, most nutrition authorities recommend that carbohydrates comprise at least 45 percent—and up to 65 percent—of a person’s daily calories. In contrast, most Americans average only 50 percent of their daily calories from carbohydrates. This is mostly thanks to the low carb crazes of the last two decades. In fact, the more active a person is, especially athletes, the more important carbohydrates become due to their role in optimum performance and recovery.

SPORTS PERFORMANCE
Athletes should eat 60 to 70 percent of their total calories in the form of carbohydrates, which are stored as glycogen in the muscles and then used as a source of energy. High glycogen stores are essential for endurance sports. Regular inclusion of complex carbohydrate foods such as bread, cereals, pasta, corn and potatoes will supply sustained energy for most athletic events.

List of Nutrient Categories

CARBOHYDRATES
Foods high in carbohydrate include fruits, sweets, soft drinks, breads, pastas, beans, potatoes, bran, rice, and cereals. Carbohydrates are a common source of energy in living organisms; however, no carbohydrate is an essential nutrient in humans. Organisms typically cannot metabolize all types of carbohydrate to yield energy. Glucose is a nearly universal and accessible source of calories.

FRUITS
Fruits are packed with carbohydrates – not all fruits however are super sugary and loaded only with simple carbohydrates – fruits packed with complex carbohydrates include apricots, oranges, plums, pears, grapefruits and prunes.

VEGETABLES
Vegetables are high in water, low in fat, have multiple vitamins and minerals, and most varieties are complex carbs. Broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, turnip greens, eggplant, potatoes, yams, corn, carrots, onions, all types of lettuce, celery, cucumbers, cabbage, artichokes and asparagus are all examples of these.

WHOLE GRAINS
Whole grains are high in fiber, have moderate protein levels, are low in fat and are also a good source of complex carbs. Specific examples include millet, oats, wheat germ, barley, wild rice, brown rice, buckwheat, oat bran, cornmeal and amaranth. Any product that is made from these grains is also complex as well. Whole grain bread, bagels, buns and rolls are examples of these. Also pasta, macaroni and breakfast cereals that are made from whole grains are complex carbohydrates.

GLYCEMIC INDEX
The glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load concepts have been developed to characterize food behavior during human digestion. They rank carbohydrate-rich foods based on the rapidity and magnitude of their effect on blood glucose levels. Glycemic index is a measure of how quickly food glucose is absorbed, while glycemic load is a measure of the total absorbable glucose in foods. The insulin index is a similar, more recent classification method that ranks foods based on their effects on blood insulin levels, which are caused by glucose (or starch) and some amino acids in food.

FATS
Examples of edible animal fats are lard, fish oil, butter/ghee and whale blubber. They are obtained from fats in the milk and meat, as well as from under the skin, of an animal. Examples of edible plant fats include peanut, soya bean, sunflower, sesame, coconut and olive oils, and cocoa butter. Vegetable shortening, used mainly for baking, and margarine, used in baking and as a spread, can be derived from the above oils by hydrogenation.

SATURATED FATS
Saturated fats are mainly in animal foods, such as beef, pork, lamb, butter, cheese, cream, ice cream and other full-fat and low-fat dairy products. It’s also found in tropical palm and coconut oils.

POLY-UNSATURATED FATS
Polyunsaturated oils are the source of essential fatty acids. They used to be ranked highest on the food fat list. But now that food fat is better understood, polyunsaturated fats are known to be a mixed bag.

The reason is clear. Most people get way too much non-nutritious polyunsaturated omega 6 fat in the form of highly refined vegetable oils. This throws off their optimum balance of omega 3 to omega 6 oils.

MONO-UNSATURATED FAT
Monounsaturated fat helps protect against heart disease by lowering LDL (bad cholesterol) and raising HDL (good cholesterol). The  best source is extra virgin olive oil. Other good sources include olives, almonds, peanuts, pecans, hazelnuts, avocados and pumpkin and sesame seeds.

It’s best to use mono-unsaturated olive oil for salads and cooking and get your essential fatty acids from whole food sources. These include 100% whole wheat, brown rice and other whole grains, nuts, seeds and beans, especially soybeans, sunflower seeds and walnuts.

Omega 3 with EPA and DHA is considered to be in a class by itself – even though it’s technically polyunsaturated. This is because of the exceptional omega 3 EPA and DHA health benefits, which include reducing your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, some kinds of cancers, arthritis, depression and protection against many other painful and serious diseases.

The best sources of omega 3 with EPA and DHA are salmon, mackerel, herring, tuna, trout, anchovies and good quality omega 3 fish oil capsules. (Note: plant sources of omega 3 do NOT have EPA and DHA.)

Remember that all fats, bad or good, have 9 calories per gram. So even though omega 3 fish oil and olive oil are great for your heart and bacon fat is terrible, each fat gram adds the same amount of calories.

PROTEIN
Humans must obtain some of the 20 foundational amino acids from their diet. The amino acids that an organism cannot synthesize on its own are referred to as essential amino acids. Key enzymes that synthesize certain amino acids are not present in animals — such as aspartokinase, which catalyzes the first step in the synthesis of lysine, methionine, and threonine from aspartate.

Humans obtain amino acids through the consumption of foods containing protein. Ingested proteins are then broken down into amino acids through digestion.Some ingested amino acids are used for protein biosynthesis, while others are converted to glucose. This use of protein as a fuel is particularly important under starvation conditions as it allows the body’s own proteins to be used to support life, particularly those found in muscle tissue. Amino acids are also an important dietary source of nitrogen.

PROTEIN RICH FOODS

• SEAFOOD

• POULTRY

• BEANS

• NUTS

• BEEF

• DAIRY

Welcome to Spartan Fitness Info

We endeavor to make Spartan Fitness your home for all things fitness and health related.

We will cover topics such as safe and effective techniques for Body Building and Mass Gain, Weight|Fat Loss and Toning, etc.

We will shed light on the biggest and most controversial topics of the day, including fad diets, demystifying how to incorporate carbohydrates, fat, and protein properly into your nutrition approach, how to customize a workout routine to fit your daily life and goals, and a list of other pressing and necessary topics.

Check back often and let us know what you think of our site and our service.

PS – If you haven’t already, make sure you grab your free copy of our special report, “WEIGHT LOSS SECRETS REVEALED.”

You can grab it here –> WEIGHT LOSS SECRETS REVEALED – FREE REPORT

Warmest Regards,

- John Tzor (JT)

Which is the right nutrition approach for me?

Your nutrition approach, just like most anything else in your life, Must fit your goals, your circumstances, and your time-frame.

It must be specific, it must be actionable, and it must be flexible.

You should be able to adapt your nutrition approach to changing circumstances and goals.

The Essentials
First and foremost, take stock of what each day tends to look like – do you typically wake up at the same time each day? Do you normally stay up for the same number of hours from day to day?

What do you do at work? Are you on your feet often? Do you have a typical office job? Do you work in a factory? Are you sitting down? Do you drive a truck for a living?

All of these are factors that you must take into account when you are formulating your Nutrition Action Plan and Approach.

Here are some guidelines that can help you:
1) There are 24 hours in day (i know, earth shattering news, right?) – Subtract the hours that you spend sleeping from the 24 hours = if you are like most people that leaves between 16-18 hours. We will take 17 for arguments sake. Divide 17 by 3 which is the number of meals we want to consume during the day – this leaves us with about 5 – the number 5 is what we will use for the amount of hours that should be allowed to pass in between meals. Simple – you will eat three (3) meals during the course of the day – one meal every five (5) hours. That accounts for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

2) Make sure you eat your three meals consistently throughout the course of each day – example – if you wake up at 530am, eat at around 545am every single day. Do, or at least try to do the same thing for lunch and dinner.

3) Make sure that each meal you take in has a mix of color and category of food in eat. As an example, if you have scrambled eggs in the morning, have a slice of wheat toast with half an apple.
Example Breakfast:
Protein Scrambled Eggs
Complex carbs: Slice of wheat bread
Simple carbs: Apple

Example Lunch:
Protein Grilled Chicken salad
Complex carbs: Oatmeal
Simple carbs: Red grapes

Your nutrition approach should be founded on a core of three main meals.

Your most active days and/or your workout days should incorporate at least one more feeding – usually a post workout meal.

Some folks who seek optimal recovery gains choose to intake a small and immediate post-workout snack – this would usually be in the form of a protein drink, or a small version of a meal. As an example, a cup of cottage cheese, with a cup of grapes. This would be followed up about an hour later with an actual meal.

Keep in mind, your intake should always be based on what your activity level for the day is. The more active you are, and the more intense the activity, the more quality and consistent the intake should be, especially for recovery, as recovery equals increased progress.

Should you have any questions or concerns, feel free to email me.

Warmest Regards,

- JT