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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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We’ve all heard that you need to be either eating fish or taking fish oils for the omega-3 fatty acids. Tom Venuto recently wrote a blog on his Burn The Fat Blog that gave some really good tips on why and how to get your omega-3’s. Here’s the quote:

1) eat fatty fish at least twice per week and even daily if practical and economical for you. If not, you could supplement with fish oil (1.5-3 grams of combined DHA/EPA daily)

2) Omega 6 fatty acids are also essential, but most people have an unbalanced omega 3 to omega 6 ratio. This can be remedied by increasing the omega 3 consumption and or reducing the omega 6 consumption (by decreasing intake of processed foods, refined grains, and supermarket cooking oils, with the exception of extra virgin olive oil)

3) grind up flaxseeds and sprinkle them on salads or add them to oatmeal, protein shakes or morning cereals. Alternately, supplement with flaxseed oil; 1 tbsp is equivalent to 3 tbsp flaxseeds (use as a supplement; Not for cooking)

4) snack on walnuts, which contain modest amounts of omega 3 fats (other types of nuts and seeds can also contain significant amounts of omega 3 fats)

5) increase your consumption of leafy greens which contain small amounts of omega 3 fats.

6) if you eat red meat, try game meats or grass fed beef or bison. they dont have nearly the quantity of omega-3 as marine sources, but they are higher in omega-3 and have a better omega-3 to omega-6 ratio than conventionally raised and fed beef.

7) Try omega-3 fortified eggs instead of regular eggs.

See how easy it is to get more omega-3?

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Alwyn Cosgrove made a really good point on his blog about what he calls Training Schizophrenia. It’s a very interesting thing that I think a lot of us have been guilty of in the past (or you might even be guilty of it right now!)

Here’s the basic idea: you start a new training program. Then you read an article by another ‘guru’ and change your plan 2 weeks later. Then your friend gives you some advice and you change your plan again the next week. Do you see where I’m going with this?

So what is Alwyn’s advice if you suffer from Training Schizophrenia? Stick to any plan for 8-16 weeks before you even think of making a huge change. If you’re doing any less than that you are missing out on pretty much any of the benefits of whatever plan you are following.

Here is his blog post if you want to read more: Training Schizophrenia. Personally, I think this is great advice!

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This is a Sponsored Post

Most of us that have been lifting weight for any length of time have probably suffered from muscle aches and pains (if you haven’t you might be going too light ). I know that personally, I will get a dull ache in my shoulders if I’ve done a lot of chest or shoulder work. But there are some people that really do suffer from chronic joint pain. This could be either from lifting incorrectly, or maybe from some type of an injury that you have sustained in the past.

For example, in the case of my shoulder I think its a combination of the two. I think that when I first started lifting I was not using good form and probably damaged my shoulder a little. Now, every now and then my shoulder will just not feel right for a day or two at a time. I should probably get it checked out, but one way to reduce the pain on those days would be to use Freeze It Gel.

Freeze It can help with the following aches and pains:

• Sore Muscles & Muscle Sprains
• Back, Shoulder, and Neck Pain
• Muscular Strains

If I was somehow able to win a supply a Freeze It, it would really help me to push through those days where the ache is strongest. Luckily, my pains are not so strong that they keep me from going to work, but they may be enough that I decide not to exercise. I really should get this shoulder checked out, but why ache if you don’t have to?

Here is a commercial about Freeze It Gel in case you haven’t heard about it:

The way I look at it is if using a product like this can reduce the ache and make me feel my best, why not?

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Today’s tip is really common sense.  But as we all know, common sense isn’t necessarily all that common.  The trick of this tip is be careful that if you use “cheat meals” that you don’t let them take the place of what you should really be eating.  Here’s the tip from John Berardi:

Don’t Displace, Dummy!
by Dr. John Berardi

There’s a big difference between a healthy diet to which treats are occasionally added and an ‘all-treat diet.’ In the former, unhealthy foods are consumed rarely and in addition to healthy foods. In the latter, unhealthy foods are consumed often and instead of healthy foods. This is called ‘food displacement’ and must be avoided if optimal body composition and health are your goals. Don’t displace nutrient dense food with empty calories!

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

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