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Well, if you were waiting for the last minute to set your resolutions for 2008, this is it! I’m a big believer that if you’re going to set a New Year’s Resolution you need to do it before the New Year, that way you can start the year off with that goal in mind. I know that sounds like a simple idea, but I wonder sometimes how many people wait until the 5th to set their Resolutions.

My wife and I were talking about this last night and are going to break our fitness resolution up into different goals for the quarter, with the overall theme of being more active this year. My personal goal is to get in the best shape of my life, but that is also broken up into smaller, quarterly goals to achieve more specific, measurable things. “Getting in the best shape of my life” isn’t really a goal in itself, but its the theme that I’m setting for this year.

So for the first quarterly goal my wife and I are going off candy and desserts. We are allowing limited portions when its a family party or something like that, but we won’t be buying that stuff for ourselves. What are your plans for the New Year?

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There is a lot of discussion these days about the benefits of pre and post workout shakes. There are also a lot of products on the market these days that promise to be the absolute best thing you can consume to get the most out of your workouts. With all this hype, it can often be confusing to know what you should really be doing.

Leave it to Will Brink to try and cut through the hype and tell you the truth. I read a really good article by him today on this same subject. Rather than going into all of the details that he covers, I’ll just let him do it. The article is a little lengthy, but is a really good read.

So here you go! The Religion of Pre and Post Workout Nutrition.

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As we all know, nutrition is a key part of any fitness program. This especially applies to your workout nutrition. Here is a great tip from John Berardi on the topic:

Protein/Carbs Before Exercise To Burn Fat?
by Dr. John Berardi

While nearly everyone nowadays knows that pre, during, and post exercise nutritional intake is critical for improving protein status and glycogen synthesis, most people fear that the ingestion of protein and carbohydrates during these times will decrease fat oxidation (burning).

Well, put simply, they’re wrong (sticking out tongue).

Studies have demonstrated that even in the presence of a relatively high carbohydrate intake (and large insulin response), the addition of protein to a carbohydrate meal can increase fat burning during exercise.

So it looks like a well-designed pre, during, and post exercise intake will not only improve protein status and glycogen resynthesis but it may actually increase fat burning. Bigger and leaner? Say it ain’t so.

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I think we’ve all probably heard this idea before: if you don’t get enough sleep you’re going to gain a lot of weight. Well, as with most things that you hear out there, I think it’s a good idea to check it out before accepting is as a scientific fact!

Well, leave it to Tom Venuto to tackle this topic and clear up some of the confusion. What he mentions is that there does seem to be a correlation between poor sleep and weight gain. But the real question is why does it happen?

Here is one of the basic explanations from his blog post:

Almost all the research on this subject has been cross sectional and therefore does not prove causality. Research suggests that the likely explanation is a disruption in hormones which can affect appetite and food intake so you are more likely to eat more when you are sleep deprived.

So it’s not necessarily the sleep that makes you fat, it’s what your body does to compensate for the lack of sleep that can help you develop certain habits. It seems like there are so many things in life that can have similar effects, so what it really seems to come down to is setting yourself up in the best environment that you can for success.

Tom’s post is well worth reading. You can get it here: Sleep Deprivation and Fat Gain

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I read an interesting article in Newsweek the other day called Why Women Lose Weight—or Don’t. One thing that I found very interesting about this article was that when people normally hang out with overweight people, they tend to gain weight. When people hang out with healthy people, they tend to be more healthy as well. It’s amazing the effect that your circle of friends and acquaintances can have on you!

The article suggests that the reason this happens is because when you hang out with either group, you start to consider what you see to be normal. So if you consistently hang out with people that are overweight, you may start to see this as normal and accept it and become it.

So what does this mean to you? Well, it may explain some habits! We tend to have similar habits as those we spend the most time with. This is something to keep in mind if you’re trying to make changes. Part of you is going to be honestly sincere in the desire to change. But another part of you is going to be very resistant to this change. Does this mean you need to run out and change friends? Probably not. But you’ll have to be more aware of the habits that you have accepted and really be disciplined to make changes.

Recognize that habitual voice for what it is. Then make the conscious decision that you are making other choices now. This takes some work, but if you keep working at it you’ll get the hang of it.

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Are you like a ton of other people out there that is always wondering how much you should eat when it comes to fat, protein, and carbs? This seems to be a common question. So what is the best ratio to follow? A lot of it depends on your goals! Here is great tip on the subject from John Berardi:

The Ratio Diet
by Dr. John Berardi

Want to improve body composition, increase the ratio of fat lost to muscle lost during a diet, improve blood lipids (cholesterol and triglycerides), prevent wild fluctuations in blood glucose and insulin, and improve satiety when on a diet? Well, you’re not alone. In fact, Dr Layman and colleagues at the University of Illinois are also interested in helping you accomplish these goals.

In their recent studies, they have demonstrated a myriad of benefits associated with reducing the ratio of carbohydrate to protein in the diet from 3.5g of carbohydrate to every 1g of protein to 1.4g of carbohydrate to every 1g of protein. What does this mean in terms of food intake? Well, check out this handy little chart.

kcal/day Fat grams* Carbohydrate grams Protein grams

4500 kcal 150g 450g 338g
3500 kcal 117g 350g 263g
2500 kcal 83g 250g 188g
1500 kcal 50g 150g 113g

*These numbers assume a diet that contains 30% fat.

This tip is provided by Dr. John Berardi of Precision Nutrition.

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I’m not a big fan of going under the knife to fix problems. I’m a believer that a lot of what happens to us (and our bodies) has a huge psychological backing to it. So just going under the knife doesn’t fix the route problem. But I also recognize that if you are extremely obese it might be necessary just to help you get things under control.

One program that looks like it would be good to check out if you are in this situation is Journey Lite. I won’t go into all of the details about this program, but they use the LAP BAND system which could actually help you change your habits. It basically makes it so you can’t eat as much. You can check out this link for more information: lapband Houston.

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It’s that time of year again. Time to start thinking about what you want to achieve in 2008. Personally I’m a believer in setting goals year round, but it seems that New Years is always a good time to at least evaluate what you have accomplished in the last year. Its a great time for planning.

So fill in the blank: In 2008 I will _____. What is your goal going to be for the next year?

• Lose x number of pounds?
• Fit into a certain size of pants/dress?
• Gain x number of pounds?
• Increase your 1RM on the bench by x pounds?

It’s important to have a goal. Decide what a main goal might be for the year, then break it up into measurable chunks. This will give you a great jump start on 2008. Then get to work as soon as you can to meet that goal!

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