We are getting a bit ahead of ourselves. I feel I would be cheating everyone if we went straight into the war without a bit of training.
One of my clients asked me this morning after 80 or so lunges, "How long am I going to have to keep working out?" to which I replied, "Well, if you keep working out...a whole lot longer than if you didn't".
Right then and there I flashed back to the first time I opened my textbook and read the first page. It defined Total Fitness as an optimal quality of life including mind body and spirit (I paraphrased). These 3 things can be seen as a synergy of sorts as a change in one of these aspects affects the other two. For instance, how you feel emotionally can often affect your physical performance and even physical health. Conversely, physical illness can adversely affect the other aspects in much the same way. This is what we are going to build on.
Mind: Attitude is everything. It is a direct reflection and expression through words and body language of how we feel about our present environment. Behaviors and attitudes are very closely linked, as in "I feel bummed so I will eat cereal all day" (yes, that is from personal experience). Think of this kind of like cause and effect. Boredom also plays a HUGE role in attitudes and behaviors but...later.
Body: The physical part of you. The outside, as it were. This is what we are working to keep going. We start from the inside out. Think of your heart (cardiac muscle, not the metaphoric) as the first part of the physical you. For intents and purposes, without your heart you achieve room temperature. We should focus first on your heart and steadily work our way out.
Spirit: This is the abstract part of you. The "I think therefore I am" part. I, personally, try to be a spiritual person but this goes beyond religion. Our sentience cries out for a reason to be so we should work to believe in something but we should also work to believe in OURSELVES. Seriously, sit back and imagine a soul. Give more to your consciousness than a series of rapidly firing synapses and mathematical formulae for continuing to breathe in and out. Imagine that what really holds your molecules together is the belief that you are part of something far greater and unimaginably more worthwhile than going to work and buying a large television. ::sigh::
So, based on these things, this is square one. This is where we begin.
Terrifying Facts
1. 40% of the entire U.S. population leads a sedentary lifestyle. This means that 120,000,000 people do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING all day long.
2. Billions of dollars are spent treating a vast array of illnesses and afflictions stemming from inactivity that could have been completely prevented in the first place by simply walking for 30 minutes a day. These range from Type I and II Diabetes to Stroke to Coronary Heart Disease.
3. Coronary Heart Disease is THE NUMBER 1 KILLER of human beings in America well above drunk driving and cancer.
4. Stroke is the number 3 killer, one of the leading causes of disability and is preventable.
5. One in four adults has hypertension (high blood pressure) that could eventually lead to stroke, heart attack/failure and kidney failure.
6. In 2001, 3.8 million children ages 6-11 and 5 million adolescents ages 12-19 were overweight or obese.
Now, for the good news
1. Fitness and physical activity are on the rise in schools and communities all over the place and are listed as priorities by the government.
2. The CDC is issuing guidelines for healthy physical activity and diet for adolescents in schools.
3. Diets rich in soluble fiber (oatmeal, beans, citrus fruit, apples, et al) have been shown to do a lot cheaper what that Lipitor nonsense does expensively.
4. I am here to make this process easier and far more pleasant.
More later...
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Low-glycemic vs. High-glycemic...I'm glad you asked
Stephanie brings up my next valid point.
What is the connection of low-glycemic carbs and high glycemic carbs to a healthy and productive diet?
The Glycemic Index is a measure of a carbohydrates rate of breakdown and affect on blood-sugar levels and insulin response.
When you consume a carb it immediately goes into absorption. When this happens, depending on the speed of absorption, your body responds by creating insulin in an effort to facilitate storage of glucose in muscles and liver.
Now, high-glycemic foods absorb rapidly and this leads to a few variables.
1. Rapid absorption creates a surge of blood-sugar (glucose) thereby creating an insulin surge response. When this happens, insulin brings fat burn to an outright halt thereby causing preferential absorption. Think of drinking a soda. You end up burning nothing but sugar.
2. Rapid absorption also leads to being hungry sooner. This is the reason you feel full longer when you eat lots of meat. Protein takes longer to absorb than anything else so you don't have those hunger pangs.
3. Rapid glucose surges will possibly lead to insulin resistance whereby the body's normal insulin response is not enough to carry out normal metabolic functions thereby leading eventually to elevated blood glucose levels which could lead to Type 2 Diabetes. That is no good.
Next post, Low-Glycemic...
What is the connection of low-glycemic carbs and high glycemic carbs to a healthy and productive diet?
The Glycemic Index is a measure of a carbohydrates rate of breakdown and affect on blood-sugar levels and insulin response.
When you consume a carb it immediately goes into absorption. When this happens, depending on the speed of absorption, your body responds by creating insulin in an effort to facilitate storage of glucose in muscles and liver.
Now, high-glycemic foods absorb rapidly and this leads to a few variables.
1. Rapid absorption creates a surge of blood-sugar (glucose) thereby creating an insulin surge response. When this happens, insulin brings fat burn to an outright halt thereby causing preferential absorption. Think of drinking a soda. You end up burning nothing but sugar.
2. Rapid absorption also leads to being hungry sooner. This is the reason you feel full longer when you eat lots of meat. Protein takes longer to absorb than anything else so you don't have those hunger pangs.
3. Rapid glucose surges will possibly lead to insulin resistance whereby the body's normal insulin response is not enough to carry out normal metabolic functions thereby leading eventually to elevated blood glucose levels which could lead to Type 2 Diabetes. That is no good.
Next post, Low-Glycemic...
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Low-fat vs. Low carb...::sigh::
Yes, those low carb/no carb diets are very popular these days.
4. What are the principle drawbacks to low-carb and Atkins?
Where to begin? This is a heavily and hotly debated topic that even most trainers get into knock-down drag-out fights about. Seriously.
As I mentioned earlier, a regular garden variety "low-fat" diet consists of 15% protein, <25% fat--no more than 10% of which are saturated fats (there's a whole other post in and of itself), 60% carbohydrate. Here is some background.
Protein: We use this to build muscle. It is digested and broken into its amino acid parts that we use in metabolic function.
Carbohydrates: We use these as a form of quick burning energy. We consume it, digest it, store it in our muscles as glycogen at a rate of 1 gram of glycogen per 4 grams of water. There are principally 2 types of carbs: simple and complex (bad and good, respectively(these break down even farther into low glycemic/high glycemic as well but...later)). At a higher heart rate, resistance training for instance, this is what we burn.
Fat: This is your readily available energy. Life functions utilize fat. Consider your resting metabolism.
The keys to winning this particular battle are: Portion control, regulation of caloric intake and moderation. The problem is that these keys are quite difficult to turn. They require a lot of self-discipline and personal accountability.
Let's look deeper...
The Over-sized Human Brain
Kurt Vonnegut said our brains are too large for our own good. I vehemently agree. Our brain gives us all the information we require to maintain absolute comfort. It tells us that if we turn over we will feel more relaxed. If we swim up for air we will continue to live. If we finish every last bit of food on our plate we will be completely stuffed, satisfied and our parental neuroses of cleaning our plates will be further enabled and those darn children in whatever country won't starve in vain. Sure, we will be gasping for breath, loosening our belts and buying larger pants before we know it but, gosh darnet ta heck, we will feel better. Or so our brains lead us to believe. Certainly, in all fairness, it is not our brains as such but behaviors we have developed and stored in our brains that we measure with something called perception. Our perception of satisfaction and contentment is an enormous chunk of the problem. It never occurs to us to eat half of the meal now, take home the rest, reheat and eat it a few hours later thereby re-stoking that old metabolism again. You will have cleaned your plate then. No feeling bad about starvation. An extended feeling of contentment and the establishment of a healthier behavioral pattern. Now you can start thinking about what was on that plate that you should NOT have eaten and apply the rules of calorie counting. Thanks a lot big brain.
Now, this brings us around to the concept of the low-fat diet. How does this work? Well, if you regulate your intake and stay moderate and apply the numbers, this works like a charm and is an exceptionally healthy way to lose weight. It goes like this: Your intake should consist of very low-fat meals. Simple. You will burn the fat you have as opposed to storing new fat. The low-fat intake will provide you with sufficient fuel for life functions but not be converted as readily to adipose tissue (visible fat). Likewise, this diet is linked to good heart health. Normal people don't typically die of complex-carbohydrate related illness as high fiber intake slows digestion of starch and promotes insulin tolerance thereby thwarting diabetes in its tracks. High-fiber diets also bring down cholesterol. It's all about regulation and moderation.
KNOW what you are putting in your body. UNDERSTAND metabolic function and the risks of drastic changes. CHANGE your perceptions of contentment. DON'T use food for comfort and as reward. This is a HUGE step toward improving your quality of life.
Low Carb/No Carb
This is where it gets hairy. Here's the thing. There is little long-term scientific data available to shed enough light on the long-term effects of these diets. Here is how it works...
Carbs, in and of themselves, are starches. They are broken down by the liver after digestion into something called glucose or "blood sugar". We require this stuff for long-term energy and brain function and various other good and plenty. Here's the problem. It is primarily, at a rudiment level, a sugar which is preferentially absorptive at a metabolic level. Long story short (too late), we end up burning it instead of burning fat like normal.
IMPORTANT Carbohydrates do NOT turn into fat. Ever. This is nonsense. This was an easy explanation to a difficult question but is otherwise false. Sorry, that bugs me.
Moving on...
So, the plan at this point is to eliminate carbs altogether and up the intake of protein and fat. This makes amazing sense as proteins and fats are slower to digest and will leave you feeling full for longer periods. Because your body will NEVER use more than 15 to 17 percent of protein in a 24 hour period you will simply discard the unused portions and without those carbs getting in the way you will burn nothing but fat. That makes perfect sense. I have seen people lose 15 or 20 pounds in a month. It totally works. HOWEVER...
The problem is that you're not really losing all fat. First of all, imagine a 15 or 20 pound block of butter. Now imagine passing it in a month (remember, you lose NO fat in your sweat outside of regular skin oil...fat leaves us in other ways). Second, scroll up and go back to the part where I explained how we store carbs (glycogen) in our muscles: "at a rate of 1 gram of glycogen per 4 grams of water". So, if we get rid of all that glycogen what else are we getting rid of? Anyone? Water. 14.5 or 19.5 pounds of it. Oh, we'll burn fat...but at what cost? Funny you should ask.
Remember what I said about drastic metabolic changes?
Hypoglycemia
A sharp drop in blood sugar that brings about dizziness, nausea, confusion, anger, anxiety, sweating, tremor, palpitations, and weakness. For real. I used to suffer from it. Throw in a panic attack and you will be sharply rethinking things. Remember, when we perform resistance training we burn glycogen. If it's not there we will experience a low blood-sugar episode.
High cholesterol
Here's a REALLY bad one. Your body produces cholesterol on its own for a couple of digestive functions and then reels it all in when it is done. However, these low-carb diets up the intake of proteins and fats so you will be eating oodles of meat and eggs and meat and...eggs and cheese and...meat...see where I am going? Your cholesterol is going to go through the roof and without the fiber you get from a diet rich in complex carbs you will not be able to fix this naturally.
Just to name a couple. Honestly, I find it is simply easier to avoid these things and stick to low-fat. Just apply what you have learned and you can do it. Attitude will take you around the world and back. Stick to it. Stay positive. Work with a trainer.
More later.
4. What are the principle drawbacks to low-carb and Atkins?
Where to begin? This is a heavily and hotly debated topic that even most trainers get into knock-down drag-out fights about. Seriously.
As I mentioned earlier, a regular garden variety "low-fat" diet consists of 15% protein, <25% fat--no more than 10% of which are saturated fats (there's a whole other post in and of itself), 60% carbohydrate. Here is some background.
Protein: We use this to build muscle. It is digested and broken into its amino acid parts that we use in metabolic function.
Carbohydrates: We use these as a form of quick burning energy. We consume it, digest it, store it in our muscles as glycogen at a rate of 1 gram of glycogen per 4 grams of water. There are principally 2 types of carbs: simple and complex (bad and good, respectively(these break down even farther into low glycemic/high glycemic as well but...later)). At a higher heart rate, resistance training for instance, this is what we burn.
Fat: This is your readily available energy. Life functions utilize fat. Consider your resting metabolism.
The keys to winning this particular battle are: Portion control, regulation of caloric intake and moderation. The problem is that these keys are quite difficult to turn. They require a lot of self-discipline and personal accountability.
Let's look deeper...
The Over-sized Human Brain
Kurt Vonnegut said our brains are too large for our own good. I vehemently agree. Our brain gives us all the information we require to maintain absolute comfort. It tells us that if we turn over we will feel more relaxed. If we swim up for air we will continue to live. If we finish every last bit of food on our plate we will be completely stuffed, satisfied and our parental neuroses of cleaning our plates will be further enabled and those darn children in whatever country won't starve in vain. Sure, we will be gasping for breath, loosening our belts and buying larger pants before we know it but, gosh darnet ta heck, we will feel better. Or so our brains lead us to believe. Certainly, in all fairness, it is not our brains as such but behaviors we have developed and stored in our brains that we measure with something called perception. Our perception of satisfaction and contentment is an enormous chunk of the problem. It never occurs to us to eat half of the meal now, take home the rest, reheat and eat it a few hours later thereby re-stoking that old metabolism again. You will have cleaned your plate then. No feeling bad about starvation. An extended feeling of contentment and the establishment of a healthier behavioral pattern. Now you can start thinking about what was on that plate that you should NOT have eaten and apply the rules of calorie counting. Thanks a lot big brain.
Now, this brings us around to the concept of the low-fat diet. How does this work? Well, if you regulate your intake and stay moderate and apply the numbers, this works like a charm and is an exceptionally healthy way to lose weight. It goes like this: Your intake should consist of very low-fat meals. Simple. You will burn the fat you have as opposed to storing new fat. The low-fat intake will provide you with sufficient fuel for life functions but not be converted as readily to adipose tissue (visible fat). Likewise, this diet is linked to good heart health. Normal people don't typically die of complex-carbohydrate related illness as high fiber intake slows digestion of starch and promotes insulin tolerance thereby thwarting diabetes in its tracks. High-fiber diets also bring down cholesterol. It's all about regulation and moderation.
KNOW what you are putting in your body. UNDERSTAND metabolic function and the risks of drastic changes. CHANGE your perceptions of contentment. DON'T use food for comfort and as reward. This is a HUGE step toward improving your quality of life.
Low Carb/No Carb
This is where it gets hairy. Here's the thing. There is little long-term scientific data available to shed enough light on the long-term effects of these diets. Here is how it works...
Carbs, in and of themselves, are starches. They are broken down by the liver after digestion into something called glucose or "blood sugar". We require this stuff for long-term energy and brain function and various other good and plenty. Here's the problem. It is primarily, at a rudiment level, a sugar which is preferentially absorptive at a metabolic level. Long story short (too late), we end up burning it instead of burning fat like normal.
IMPORTANT Carbohydrates do NOT turn into fat. Ever. This is nonsense. This was an easy explanation to a difficult question but is otherwise false. Sorry, that bugs me.
Moving on...
So, the plan at this point is to eliminate carbs altogether and up the intake of protein and fat. This makes amazing sense as proteins and fats are slower to digest and will leave you feeling full for longer periods. Because your body will NEVER use more than 15 to 17 percent of protein in a 24 hour period you will simply discard the unused portions and without those carbs getting in the way you will burn nothing but fat. That makes perfect sense. I have seen people lose 15 or 20 pounds in a month. It totally works. HOWEVER...
The problem is that you're not really losing all fat. First of all, imagine a 15 or 20 pound block of butter. Now imagine passing it in a month (remember, you lose NO fat in your sweat outside of regular skin oil...fat leaves us in other ways). Second, scroll up and go back to the part where I explained how we store carbs (glycogen) in our muscles: "at a rate of 1 gram of glycogen per 4 grams of water". So, if we get rid of all that glycogen what else are we getting rid of? Anyone? Water. 14.5 or 19.5 pounds of it. Oh, we'll burn fat...but at what cost? Funny you should ask.
Remember what I said about drastic metabolic changes?
Hypoglycemia
A sharp drop in blood sugar that brings about dizziness, nausea, confusion, anger, anxiety, sweating, tremor, palpitations, and weakness. For real. I used to suffer from it. Throw in a panic attack and you will be sharply rethinking things. Remember, when we perform resistance training we burn glycogen. If it's not there we will experience a low blood-sugar episode.
High cholesterol
Here's a REALLY bad one. Your body produces cholesterol on its own for a couple of digestive functions and then reels it all in when it is done. However, these low-carb diets up the intake of proteins and fats so you will be eating oodles of meat and eggs and meat and...eggs and cheese and...meat...see where I am going? Your cholesterol is going to go through the roof and without the fiber you get from a diet rich in complex carbs you will not be able to fix this naturally.
Just to name a couple. Honestly, I find it is simply easier to avoid these things and stick to low-fat. Just apply what you have learned and you can do it. Attitude will take you around the world and back. Stick to it. Stay positive. Work with a trainer.
More later.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Yes, I DID start with 1 and 3
Let's continue.
Now, based on the information from my last post you should have a pretty good idea of how to hit those nutrition goals. SO, let's say that I am 165 pounds, 5'3", male, age 42, and I maintain a lightly strenuous level of activity (completely fictional person I just made up), my BMR will be 1380 and my DCN will be 1898. Obviously, if we are burning 1380 but consuming 1898 we are creating positive caloric intake (more in than out). That's not good. So...
We use the info we just came up with to calculate this number while keeping a couple of other variables in mind:
6. What should I know about caloric intake?
Variable number 1: SUPER IMPORTANT 1200 calories is the absolute bottom daily intake for any adolescent to adult human being. I call this the DANGER ZONE because consistently consuming below this number will put you into what we refer to as DISORDERED. That's anorexic to you kids at home. Anorexia is a very serious behavioral disorder and can be life threatening. Furthermore, it will also interfere with metabolic function and hinder your weight loss as well as cause your body to consume muscle as energy thereby further hindering weight loss as muscle is used to burn fat. There are easier ways to weight loss than starvation.
Variable number 2: Calories are broken into 3 groups: Protein, Fat, Carbohydrate (we will go over these in greater detail later). Nature's prescription for these particular groups are as follows: 15% Protein, <25% Fat, 60% Carbohydrate. Your daily intake should reflect this.
Variable number 3: You MUST offset some of these calories with exercise. This will actually make your life a WHOLE lot easier as well as boost your energy levels, flexibility and will make the entire process a lot faster. Faster is good.
So, in our equation, we have to burn 518 calories a day just to get even although being even is not a whole lot better. What's the best answer here?
2. How many calories SHOULD I consume?
5. How can I calculate my caloric intake?
My recommendation would be at or around 1500 to 1600. Mind you, that's, at the very most, a difference of just over 300 calories. However, at 300 calories out plus 1380 BMR we're looking at 1680 out total. Now we have a difference of 218 positive calories. Everyone, let's go back to variable number 3. Let's do some cardio and get rid of 300 more calories which will get us a total of 82 for the day. This is square 1. Small though that number is, it is still negative and that's what we want (that just sounds weird and not at all right). If we can finish the day like this all the time we will be off to a stellar start. Then we can turn it up and REALLY see some results. If we go the extra mile and burn another hundred calories we can shoot for losing a pound a month (182 calories X 21 days = 3822 calories (over a pound)).
Sound easy? In theory, everything is easy. This, well, this is tough. But we have to make the start somewhere. This is straight up personal training 101 and this is what I live for.
More later...
I also threw in a super cute (only one available) calorie calculator so you don't have to google all the food you eat to get nutrition info. Enjoy.
Now, based on the information from my last post you should have a pretty good idea of how to hit those nutrition goals. SO, let's say that I am 165 pounds, 5'3", male, age 42, and I maintain a lightly strenuous level of activity (completely fictional person I just made up), my BMR will be 1380 and my DCN will be 1898. Obviously, if we are burning 1380 but consuming 1898 we are creating positive caloric intake (more in than out). That's not good. So...
We use the info we just came up with to calculate this number while keeping a couple of other variables in mind:
6. What should I know about caloric intake?
Variable number 1: SUPER IMPORTANT 1200 calories is the absolute bottom daily intake for any adolescent to adult human being. I call this the DANGER ZONE because consistently consuming below this number will put you into what we refer to as DISORDERED. That's anorexic to you kids at home. Anorexia is a very serious behavioral disorder and can be life threatening. Furthermore, it will also interfere with metabolic function and hinder your weight loss as well as cause your body to consume muscle as energy thereby further hindering weight loss as muscle is used to burn fat. There are easier ways to weight loss than starvation.
Variable number 2: Calories are broken into 3 groups: Protein, Fat, Carbohydrate (we will go over these in greater detail later). Nature's prescription for these particular groups are as follows: 15% Protein, <25% Fat, 60% Carbohydrate. Your daily intake should reflect this.
Variable number 3: You MUST offset some of these calories with exercise. This will actually make your life a WHOLE lot easier as well as boost your energy levels, flexibility and will make the entire process a lot faster. Faster is good.
So, in our equation, we have to burn 518 calories a day just to get even although being even is not a whole lot better. What's the best answer here?
2. How many calories SHOULD I consume?
5. How can I calculate my caloric intake?
My recommendation would be at or around 1500 to 1600. Mind you, that's, at the very most, a difference of just over 300 calories. However, at 300 calories out plus 1380 BMR we're looking at 1680 out total. Now we have a difference of 218 positive calories. Everyone, let's go back to variable number 3. Let's do some cardio and get rid of 300 more calories which will get us a total of 82 for the day. This is square 1. Small though that number is, it is still negative and that's what we want (that just sounds weird and not at all right). If we can finish the day like this all the time we will be off to a stellar start. Then we can turn it up and REALLY see some results. If we go the extra mile and burn another hundred calories we can shoot for losing a pound a month (182 calories X 21 days = 3822 calories (over a pound)).
Sound easy? In theory, everything is easy. This, well, this is tough. But we have to make the start somewhere. This is straight up personal training 101 and this is what I live for.
More later...
I also threw in a super cute (only one available) calorie calculator so you don't have to google all the food you eat to get nutrition info. Enjoy.
Nutrition...continued...again...
Ok, so we have asked our new questions and at this point you can clearly understand how complicated this whole "Fitness" thing is. Confusing? Yes. Daunting? Absolutely. But try not to get discouraged, it's not as difficult as you may think (even though we skipped a few questions but we will come back to them later).
Let's start at the beginning.
1. How many calories a day do I require to maintain what I currently have (Daily Caloric Need(DCN))?
3. What is my resting metabolism (Basal Metabolic Rate) and how do I calculate it?
If you look over to your right you will see a calculator that will figure out both of these things. This will make your life OH so much easier. Be as honest as possible on the questionnaire portion and the choose your level of activity from the drop down then hit the button.
This is what the formula for calculating all this stuff looks like.
Women: BMR = 655 + ( 9.6 x weight in kilos ) + ( 1.8 x height in cm ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )
Men: BMR = 66 + ( 13.7 x weight in kilos ) + ( 5 x height in cm ) - ( 6.8 x age in years )
I used to have this nonsense math garbage stored in my head until I discovered calculators for figuring this stuff out. Fun times.
This is going to give everyone an EXCELLENT start on figuring out nutrition. BMR stands for Basal Metabolic Rate. This is basic resting metabolism. Respiration, cardiac function, eye blinking, shoe tying, all of these things burn fat as an energy source. BMR is the measure of that fat burn.
Daily Caloric Need (DCN for short) is the measure of how many calories you need to maintain the exact shape, size, weight, etc you currently have right now.
Subtract DCN from BMR and you will most likely get a negative number. This number is what you have to get rid of. This is where diet and cardio happen.
More later.
Feel free to post comments or questions.
Calvin
Let's start at the beginning.
1. How many calories a day do I require to maintain what I currently have (Daily Caloric Need(DCN))?
3. What is my resting metabolism (Basal Metabolic Rate) and how do I calculate it?
If you look over to your right you will see a calculator that will figure out both of these things. This will make your life OH so much easier. Be as honest as possible on the questionnaire portion and the choose your level of activity from the drop down then hit the button.
This is what the formula for calculating all this stuff looks like.
Women: BMR = 655 + ( 9.6 x weight in kilos ) + ( 1.8 x height in cm ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )
Men: BMR = 66 + ( 13.7 x weight in kilos ) + ( 5 x height in cm ) - ( 6.8 x age in years )
I used to have this nonsense math garbage stored in my head until I discovered calculators for figuring this stuff out. Fun times.
This is going to give everyone an EXCELLENT start on figuring out nutrition. BMR stands for Basal Metabolic Rate. This is basic resting metabolism. Respiration, cardiac function, eye blinking, shoe tying, all of these things burn fat as an energy source. BMR is the measure of that fat burn.
Daily Caloric Need (DCN for short) is the measure of how many calories you need to maintain the exact shape, size, weight, etc you currently have right now.
Subtract DCN from BMR and you will most likely get a negative number. This number is what you have to get rid of. This is where diet and cardio happen.
More later.
Feel free to post comments or questions.
Calvin
More on nutrition...
So, we have covered a lot thus far but now we are getting to the finer points. We have asked the same question over and over..."how am I supposed to eat properly to lose weight"? This, however, is a very broad question with no single simple answer. It is actually easier to understand this by asking a series of more concise questions.
1. How many calories a day do I require to maintain what I currently have (Daily Caloric Need)?
2. How many calories SHOULD I consume (based on Resting Metabolism, see next question)?
3. What is my resting metabolism and how do I calculate it?
4. What are the principle drawbacks to low-carb and Atkins?
5. How can I calculate my caloric intake?
6. What should I know about caloric intake?
More later...
1. How many calories a day do I require to maintain what I currently have (Daily Caloric Need)?
2. How many calories SHOULD I consume (based on Resting Metabolism, see next question)?
3. What is my resting metabolism and how do I calculate it?
4. What are the principle drawbacks to low-carb and Atkins?
5. How can I calculate my caloric intake?
6. What should I know about caloric intake?
More later...
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Start here...
Our focus is on boot camp. Our whole concept is boot camp.
So, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6 am and 9 am, we are boot camping.
Why boot camp?
For the most part, 2 reasons:
1. It WORKS
2. It's CHEAP
Probably the 2 best reasons going these days. Working out is difficult and can be confusing and therefore daunting. Boot camp is a very dummied down version of strength and cardiovascular training. It uses brute force techniques, moves faster and is NOT boring. Results are pretty close to immediate.
However...
Like so many other things, it requires reinforcement. For instance, I have said for a very long time, "Exercise is nothing without diet and vice versa". This brings to our next point of confusion: Nutrition. How do we do it properly and what should I eat, how much should I eat, when should I eat, how often, what to eat on vacation, etc.
More later...
So, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6 am and 9 am, we are boot camping.
Why boot camp?
For the most part, 2 reasons:
1. It WORKS
2. It's CHEAP
Probably the 2 best reasons going these days. Working out is difficult and can be confusing and therefore daunting. Boot camp is a very dummied down version of strength and cardiovascular training. It uses brute force techniques, moves faster and is NOT boring. Results are pretty close to immediate.
However...
Like so many other things, it requires reinforcement. For instance, I have said for a very long time, "Exercise is nothing without diet and vice versa". This brings to our next point of confusion: Nutrition. How do we do it properly and what should I eat, how much should I eat, when should I eat, how often, what to eat on vacation, etc.
More later...
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