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It always surprises me that a lot of people don’t know that all fats are not created equal. The other belief that a lot of people have is that all fats are bad, hence the whole “No-Fat” or “Fat-Free” fad. The truth is that you need to have some fat in your diet. Below, you’ll get a more specific recommendation from John Berardi:

Good Fats
by Dr. John Berardi

On average, most people should ensure that 25-35% of their energy intake comes from fat, with your fat intake split equally between saturates (animal fat), monounsaturates (olive oil, avocados, etc), and polyunsaturates (flax oil, salmon oil, etc.). Your total fat in the diet may vary but make sure you’re getting about 1/3 of each type for the best fat balance.

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

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Here’s a great tip from Dr. John Berardi about using protein for fat burning. Check it out!

Protein for Fat Burning
by Dr. John Berardi

Protein is by far the most thermogenic of the macronutrients (protein, carbohydrate, and fat). Due to the high metabolic costs of processing it, protein provides fewer storable kcal. The thermic effect of a mixed meal is about 10% of intake, while the thermic effect of protein per se is more like 25-30%. That could mean reving up your metabolism by 200 kcal just from your 200-gram (800 kcal) protein intake.

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

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Just today I came across another site where you can get coupons for various products and services. I would assume that most of the people reading this blog are taking some type of vitamin or other supplements. If you aren’t you may want to reconsider :-).

So if you’re already buying stuff, why not get it for a discount? One site where you can get some free coupons is NCNatural.com. Some of the coupons that you’ll find useful for your fitness goals are Vitamin Shoppe and VitaCost. So check them out if you want to save some money online.

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In this week’s health tip, let’s talk about the sometimes mis-labeled health foods that aren’t really so healthy afterall.

Unhealthy ‘Health Foods’
by Dr. John Berardi

Products that claim to be ‘Cholesterol Free’ and ‘Low in Saturated Fat’ often have the most trans-fatty acids. Unfortunately these are the products that most of the public thinks are ‘healthy.’ Remember, trans fats have absolutely no place in the diet! They’re the only type of fat highly associated with very negative health outcomes.

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

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Let’s face it: life will happen. We all try to come up with what we think is the perfect plan or program that we will be able to stick to no matter what. The problem is that things will always come up because life is going to continue to happen regardless of what we plan for it.

So, I think its a good idea to have a “fitness recovery plan.” This would be a plan of what to do when things get off track; a plan that would help you to get back on the original plan that you had. Here are some general points for a good fitness recovery plan:

Give Yourself a Break

One of the most important parts of this fitness recovery plan is not feeling guilty for having slacked off. If all you do is mope around thinking about how bad you are for getting off track, you’re not going to get anywhere. Just realize that life happened, then start to take control again and move on. This is the quickest way to fitness recovery.

Modify Your Original Plan

It is also a good idea to develop a new version of your original plan as well. It could be that the plan you were on before needs some revisions before your mind will allow you to get back on the plan again.

Ease Back In

Also, you may have to ease your way into it. Consider it as a way of starting over. This also depends on how long you’ve been off, but don’t plan on just hitting everything full force again the first week. This is the same advice that you would probably give to someone just starting to exercise for the first time.

Don’t Look Back!

We will all have setbacks from time to time. But remember that there is always another chance to get back on track and reach your lifetime fitness goals. Don’t let the mistakes of the past hold you back from what you can still accomplish!

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Most diets these days have a planned “cheat meal” as part of the diet plan. Is this really a good idea? In this week’s nutrition tip we’ll see what John Berardi has to say about it:

Skip the Cheat Meal, Fatty
by Dr. John Berardi

Cheat meal frequency should be minimized when you’re over 15-20% body fat. Basically, the fatter you are, the more likely that any excess food will be shuttled toward body-fat storage rather than muscle mass. So skip the cheat meal unless you’re lean. And even then, think of it as an alternative food meal - not a cheat. Cheat meals are usually glorified forms of dietary debauchery. Alternative food meals allow for something a little different from the norm without the trough.

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

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This week’s tip is about using oats to help get some extra calories at breakfast. This tip is especially geared towards those of you that are in a bulking phase.

Why Choose Oats
by Dr. John Berardi

If you’re looking to gain mass and have a good carbohydrate tolerance, place a bowl of fiber-rich, low-GI rolled oats along with ½ scoop of vanilla protein powder, frozen mixed berries, pineapple and a small quantity of mixed nuts right next to your omelet. This is a muscle building breakfast that’s hard to beat.

However, if you tend to hold a lot of body fat, just stick with protein, good fats, and veggies for breakfast. Save the non-fruit and veggie carbs till after exercise only - yes, even oatmeal.

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

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Simply put, if you’re going to put on weight you need to be eating a ton of calories. How many you may ask? Well, most likely it needs to be somewhere around 3000-4000 calories a day, depending on if it’s a workout day or a rest day. Now when you really start to think about it, that’s a LOT of calories! Most of us would have a hard time even imagining to eat that much.

So why do you need to eat that much if you’re really trying to gain weight? Well, for those of us that are naturally ectomorphic (sometimes called the “hard-gainers”) our bodies have a tendency to burn calories easily. And in order for you to really gain some weight you need to consume more calories that your body will naturally just burn off.

Does this mean that you should eat a whole bunch of extra empty calories from junk food to fill in the deficit? I wouldn’t recommend it! Remember the old slogan that you are what you eat? Well, if you eat junk food for most of your calories that’s what you’re becoming! So instead, focus on eating more of the good stuff: more good proteins, carbs and fats to get up to that number of calories.

There are plenty of sites out there that will give you some good ideas for recipes that you can use. Will Brinks Body Building Revealed (formerly Muscle Building Nutrition) is a good resource.

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This week’s nutrition tip is about ZMA, a popular supplement that can help you sleep better and also increase testosterone production!

ZMA for Deep Sleep
by Dr. John Berardi

ZMA is useful for improving the quality of your sleep. For me, ZMA tends not to induce sleep as much as deepen it. Expect your dreams to be extremely vivid! My athletes, when traveling, or when under heavy training loads, usually included 2-3 ZMA capsules before bed.

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

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Planning your meals in advance is a very good thing to do. First of all, it keeps you on track and gets rid of a lot of spontaneous eating. For myself I’ve found that when I haven’t planned out what I’m going to each each day I’m a lot more likely to eat things that I really shouldn’t. Planning is a very important thing to do.

This is another reason why it’s a great idea to cook your meals in advance as well. Think about it: if all of your meals are planned out and you even have them prepared ahead of time how much would that help you to keep on track? You have the food ready (just have to heat it up) so you’d have to come up with a really really good excuse to go grab a whopper from Burger King!

Does this take some extra time and thought? Yes! It’s a good idea to set aside 1-2 days that you do most of your meal prep. Make big batches of some of your favorite meals. Another tactic that a lot of people have used is they intentionally ‘over make’ every meal, that way they always have lunch for the next day.

These are some good lifestyle habits to get used to. Planning and preparing your meals this way can be very beneficial to keeping on track in the nutrition side of your weight loss or muscle gaining program.

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