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It’s not just what you eat that’s important, it’s also when you eat certain things that can make a big difference in how effective your diet or nutrition plan is. So here are a few guidelines to help you have effective nutrient timing.

First of all, make sure that you’re eating consistently through the day. You’ve probably heard this before, but I feel it’s important enough to mention again here. Eating 3 times a day is not the optimal eating plan. It is much better to break up your eating into more frequent and smaller meals during the day. Also, make sure you’re eating enough for your goals.

So when we talk about nutrient timing, we’re mainly talking about when certain types of the main nutrients (protein, carbs, fat) are best absorbed by the body. Here are some general guidelines:

- Protein that digests rather quickly is best eaten during and after exercise as well
- Protein that digests rather slowly is best eaten outside the time that you exercise
- Meals with high carbs are best eaten during and after exercise
- Meals that are higher in fat are best eaten outside of the time you exercise

For more information about nutrient timing, check out some of these articles by John Berardi, owner of Precision Nutrition:

The Science of Nutrient Timing Part 1
The Science of Nutrient Timing Part 2

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The other day Tom Venuto left a really good article on his blog, BurnTheFatBlog.com, talking about the difference between people that only focus on short term fat loss and long term fat loss. (You can read his full post here: Listen To Maintainers, Not To Losers)

In this article Tom is making a comparison between what he calls “losers” and what he calls “maintainers”. Both lost weight (or more specifically fat), but the biggest difference was how long they kept it off. Basically, a maintainer is someone that can keep the weight off for a longer period of time - at least a year but hopefully more. Which would you rather be? Do you just want to lose weight and bounce back in a few months, or keep it off for a longer period of time?

So what was the big difference between the two groups? Well, according to Tom’s research the group of people that actually maintained the weight loss did a few key things differently than the “losers”:

- Developed a more active lifestyle
- Trained with weights
- Tracked things like calories eaten, body fat, meal planning, etc.
- Stopped making excuses for not exercising, eating right, etc.

Most of these shouldn’t surprise you at all. The one that I find the most interesting and important is number 4: they stopped making excuses. This just goes to show how important it is to have the right mindset for your exercise program. I would have to say that keeping the right mindset week in and week out for the long haul is one of the hardest things to do. That’s why its the most crucial! If you don’t have the motivation, nothing else will happen. Motivation and mindset is everything! So if you have to start somewhere, start with that.

Thanks to Tom Venuto for more great information! Make sure you check out the full article for a good read.

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This week’s nutrition tip is about getting enough fiber in your diet. Dr. John Berardi gives some very good advice for what to look for in your diet. Read below:

Fiber Facts
by Dr. John Berardi

Shoot for about 40-50g of mixed fiber per day, but no more. The absolute lower limit is 20g per day. Your main fiber sources should be (in order of importance): vegetables, beans, nuts, fruit, and grains (like oatmeal). If you eat 1 oz of mixed nuts, 1 apple, 2 cups of kidney beans, and 2 cups of mixed vegetables each day, you’ll be getting 41g of fiber. Also, a small amount of supplemental fiber is okay. You can get soluble fiber from psyllium, guar gum, and apple pectin, and insoluble fiber from flax seeds.

This tip is provided by Precision Nutrition

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The other day I was reading a post on LoseWeightGuru.com that talked about a concept called the “Pause Diet”. Apparently he had read about it somewhere else, but here’s the basic concept behind this idea as posted on LoseWeightGuru.com:

So this is basically the “pause diet”.

1. Pause before you buy / serve yourself something
2. Pause before your next spoonful or bite
3. Pause halfway through what you are eating

So let’s think about this a little bit. How often do you just act without thinking and it causes you to not reach your goals in the long run? As a personal example, on Friday at work they had some birthday cake in the breakroom. I figured “hey, its Friday. I’ve had a long week and I’m going to eat some cake!” So I had a piece. Granted, I probably shouldn’t have even done that. But about 30 minutes later I said to one of my co-workers “I think I’m going to go and get another piece.” I took a few steps towards the break room but then paused, thought about it a minute, and in the end decided that it wasn’t worth it. Yes, it might taste good, but when I paused and just thought about my goals the the temptation was easier to beat.

So while the “Pause Diet” is not really a full on diet program, it can really help you to avoid making the mistakes in your diet that you know you shouldn’t make. Let’s break it down a little bit more:

Rule 1: Pause before you buy / serve yourself something
This rule goes along with the general rule that you should never shop on an empty stomach. Before you grab that candy bar or just order the big order of cheese fries think about what you’re doing. Make sure you’re making the right decision for yourself and a decision that will help you reach your goals.

Rule 2: Pause before your next spoonful or bite
This rule will help you to not overeat during your meals. I especially run into this problem when eating out or eating at a relative’s house. What if you applied this rule to the holiday season? Don’t most people gain weight over the holidays just because there is so much food in front of you all the time? If you combine rules one and two, you should also be able to get through the holidays with little damage.

Rule 3: Pause halfway through what you are eating
This rule is similar to Rule 2. Not only that, but it could liven up the conversation at the table because you can’t really talk when you’re stuffing your face (at least you shouldn’t if you mother taught you appropriate manners ).

This is a very simple concept, but by applying these principles should really help you reach your goals.

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I was reading an article today from Real Solutions Magazine about the same topic that we covered on Wednesday and felt that it deserved some mention here as well. The article goes over 5 of the deadly mistakes that a lot of people make when trying to lose weight. Several of the points that the author makes are along the same lines of the ones mentioned previously, but he also includes a few that are also very important to consider.

One that we didn’t mention the other day is getting enough sleep. In order for your body to really be functioning properly, you need to make sure that you’re getting adequate rest. Have you noticed that when you’re sleep deprived you really don’t function very well? Your body is trying to tell you something!

Anyway, here’s a link to article. Check it out and good luck in your weight loss efforts!

The 5 Most Common Fat-Loss Mistakes

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Everyone is looking for the new miracle method to lose weight. The thing that they’re overlooking is the basic fundamental things you need to be doing to lose weight. Sometimes I wonder if we’ve forgotten that people used to lose weight before weight loss pills ever existed. So why wouldn’t you be able to lose weight without them?

Some may argue with me on this one and say “well, things have changed these days. Our food is more processed and it’s harder to get the nutrients that one needs to be healthy and maintain a good weight.” There is some truth to this statement, but it also sounds a lot like an excuse to me for why you don’t look and feel better. Is it going to be easy to build a better body? Probably not! But the work is worth it.

So here are some basic tips to consider for optimal and natural weight loss:

1. Eat More Often
We’ve all been hearing this from every fitness book and program for years. Three square meals a day just isn’t the best way to eat. Instead, break your eating up into 5-6 small meals a day, trying to get a good mix of carbs and protein in each meal.

2. Eat Real Food
Don’t eat a lot of processed food. Make sure you’re getting good portions of food that you cook yourself, not just throw in the microwave because its convenient. You’ll get a lot more out of food that you put together because the individual ingredients are usually better for you.

3. Get Some Exercise
Do both cardio and weight training. To effectively lose weight, you need to be doing cardio to help your overall health and you also need to be doing weight training to build more muscle for optimal fat burning.

4. Watch Your Calories
You don’t have to count your calories every single day. But you will need to do it often enough so that you know if you’re in the right range of what you should be eating. Remember, if you burn more calories than you eat, then you’ll be setting yourself up to be losing weight. If you’re eating too much or no exercising enough, then the equation won’t work out.

5. Visualize Your Goal
Don’t overlook this one. Keep yourself motivated by looking at realistic images of what you want to look like. Keep that goal in front of you and keep on working towards that.

I personally feel that tip 5 is the most important. If you can’t keep yourself motivated, it doesn’t matter what you do because you’re less likely to stick with it. So find your motivation and keep motivating yourself. Of course, there are other tips that we could put on this list. If you can at least get started with these basic principles you’ll be putting yourself in a good position to start losing weight.

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Sponsored Post

Off and on over the last few weeks we’ve been mentioning several ideas to get outside and get a workout rather than always being indoors. Today we’d like to approach that same topic again. This time we’d like to talk about going for a more leisurely bike ride on beach bikes.

Beach bikes are not meant for any type of a high intensity workout, but can be great for a day out with family and friends. This type of bike riding is probably best for long cardio workouts, not for short, HIIT type cardio workouts. These are simple bikes, usually only with one speed, but that also keeps the cost of them down as well. Even with one speed you can still get a good workout, and if you use them for what they were meant for (cruising on the beach) you can also get a really good view for your workout as well!

If this is something that you’re interested in getting involved in, check out XYZ Bikes. They have a nice selection of simple bikes that can help you get involved with beach cruising. These bikes are also fun for those of you that are into the more ‘retro’ style of bikes.

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This week’s nutrition is about the different types of fat:

To lose fat, sometimes you have to eat fat. Monounsaturated fats and certain polyunsaturates actually speed up the metabolic rate. Lipid researchers believe that the best of the fat burning bunch are the highly unsaturated omega 3s called EPA and DHA. A diet supplemented with omega 3-rich fish oil promotes losses of body fat with simultaneous gains in lean mass.

Brought to you by Precision Nutrition

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This may sound like a strange concept, but what if you could just head over to the playground and still get a really good workout? Most of us remember swinging from the monkey bars as kids, so why not use it for a good workout tool when you’re older!

This idea actually comes from John Berardi of Precision Nutrition. The story goes that one day he couldn’t get into his gym, but instead of just missing the workout he used some ingenuity and got a great workout over at the local playground. It worked out to be a good workout, so he actually recorded the same idea so that you can watch and learn the same techniques that he used for this workout.

Here’s the link to the videos (if you don’t have a membership to Precision Nutrition, you can either sign up for a full membership or a free subscription to see the videos): The Playground Workout

This idea goes along with our post a short while back about getting creative and getting some good out door workouts. Give it a try and get some variety!

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Vince DelMonte published a really good article on IronMagazine.com back in May that we thought deserved mention here, especially for those of you that are just getting started working out in the gym or trying to build muscle in general. The basic concept behind this article is that you have to build a good foundation before you can build the building. In this case, he’s referring to making sure that you can control your own body before you start to throw the weights around. To quote him directly, here’s the way he put it in the article:

Most guys want to build the 10th floor of the building before they have built the first floor. Regardless of your goals, this is your first step.

You have no freaking business using weights if you can’t stabilize, control and move your own body weight.

Yet so many people ignore this. Probably because it looks better to Lat Pull-down 150 pounds with a violent pull than struggle with 3 or 4 chin ups…

Unless your bodyweight is overly obese, then get use to bodyweight exercises. Don’t worry, the heavy weights will come soon!

Vince makes a really good point here. If you really want to get started in the gym, do it properly! Learn how to control your body first, then start to build your body. Here are some of the goals that he recommends you shoot for with body weight exercises (This doesn’t mean you have to be able to do these numbers before you start going to the gym, but you should at least be well on your way to hitting these numbers to see some good control and progress in the gym):

60+ Pushups
20+ Wide Grip Pullups
40+ Dips
20+ Chinups

Focusing on doing these reps in one set of bodyweight exercises will really help you to build a good foundation for your muscle building goals.

Here’s a link to the full article: The Basics of Muscle Building

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