The Horrible Truth About Your Christmas Party

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candy cane swirl christmas The Horrible Truth About Your Christmas PartyChristmas is just around the corner, a joyous time of year filled with family, friends, gifts and many social events. As a personal trainer I’ve always emphasized to my clients that this is a time of year to spend with family, to enjoy the holidays and even indulge in many of the fine tasting things that circulate offices and homes alike. This may seem a strange recommendation, however I don’t believe a little indulgence at this time is enough to derail our fitness goals if we’ve been maintaining good habits in the weeks prior.

 

For many people the over-indulgence of sweets and endless snacking during the holidays is not the likely the cause of the weight gain we generally fear. Rather the unlikely culprit is one most people don’t suspect—alcohol, and it has nothing to do with the calories of the alcohol consumed.

 

Few people realize the full effects of just a couple of ounces of alcohol on their bodies. Alcohol is a nervous toxin and seriously disrupts many functions of the metabolism, namely fat loss. One to two drinks can reduce the body’s ability to burn body fat by more than 70% according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition[1]. To make matters worse these effects may be sustained for a number of hours after consumption and the more you consume the greater and longer the effect is. As an added bonus alcohol consumption has also been linked to the stimulation of appetite which makes or holiday feeding frenzy even worse.

 

If you are looking to survive this holiday season without the unwanted extra weight I’m not saying you have to be a social stiff but keep in mind how these things may affect your body and your long term goals. Choose your occasions and activities accordingly and just remember that it’s about balance, everything in moderation. Be healthy and enjoy the upcoming holiday celebrations!

 

[1] Siler, S.Q., Neese, R.A., & Hellerstein, M.K. (1999). De novo lipogenesis, lipid kinetics, and whole-body lipid balances in humans after acute alcohol consumption. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 70, 928-936

The Freakiest Holiday of the Year

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funny Jack O Lantern The Freakiest Holiday of the YearThe freakiest holiday of the year is only but days away. In an effort to gather some interesting information about the holiday I came across a frightening fact. In 2004 a census study of our southern cousins produced a scary piece of information. The average American consumed 25 lbs of candy a year with the majority consumed around Halloween. Whether we like to admit it or not our habits are not greatly different then our south border counterparts. 25 lbs of sugar and fat would yield approximately 60,000 calories or enough to produce 17 lbs of new body fat. My, that sounds frightfully delicious. Now consider if this is repeated on an annual basis and begins at a young age, it’s not hard to see why obesity is such a growing problem in society and perhaps why diseases such as Type II diabetes are becoming increasingly prevalent.

To continue with this frightful math our poor individual now carrying 17lbs of unneeded mass decides to get ambitious upon reading this article and is determined to offset this consumption with exercise to ensure they don’t need to spend the winter months looking for larger pants. Each hour spent at a fast walk on our beloved treadmill burns approximately 500 calories. At 3500 calories a pound all those wondrously sweet morsels have now committed our hero to a mere 119 hours on the treadmill. So book the time off work now or slot your treadmill holiday into your child’s schedule in place of the next summer vacation now. 3 weeks on the treadmill in mid-July sounds like a fun family time for sure.  So all of my horrifying humor aside, Halloween is a tough holiday to provide healthy alternatives for. The very nature of the holiday centres around the immortal words “Trick or Treat” and these days tricks likely don’t earn the respect and admiration they maybe once did. As a “Treat” is pretty much the standard expectation for every goblin and ghoul that graces your steps it’s difficult to have their best interests at heart. The more desirable the treat, likely the worse it is for them and should you opt for a “healthier” treat you are still stuck providing something that is securely packaged which is synonymous with processed and full of preservatives. It really is a lose-lose situation at best.

Now hopefully I haven’t painted myself to be too big a target for all the rotten eggs but on Saturday when all the ghosts and ghouls are gone it’s important to remember that one of the scary truths about Halloween may stick with you a lot longer. As they say a moment on the lips…

Cumulative Effect

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belly 300x202 Cumulative EffectThe key to success at just about anything in life is consistency. You do just about anything often enough you are either going to get better at it or achieve the desired result. This is very much one of the core values of exercise and nutrition to reach any goal. For example let’s take weight loss. A common misconception amongst those trying to achieve substantial weight loss is the idea of burning calories. It’s fairly common knowledge that a pound of bodyfat is equivalent to about 3500 calories. Now our keen sense of logic kicks in and makes us rationalize that if we were to burn an additional 3500 calories through exercise than we should lose a pound of fat. Accordingly the same logic would apply to nutritional restriction; if we restrict our bodies from 3500 calories over the course of a week logic would suggest that we would lose an additional pound of fat. Unfortunately our body does not work on such simplistic mechanics.

Major increases in energy expenditure and nutritional restriction may at first produce good results when it comes to weight loss but it’s almost certain that these results will not be lasting. As fitness professionals we will attempt to teach you that it’s not about the immediate action you take but rather about the cumulative effect. Let’s take exercise for example. When we complete a cardiovascular exercise with a sustained elevated heart rate for a period of time after a while our body responds with a cascade of hormones that elevates our metabolic rate. Once this occurs continuing to exercise at the same intensity will burn more calories but not have significant further effect on metabolism. This elevated state of metabolism slowly begins to decrease back to the previous but over a span of hours. (This period of elevated metabolism can also be further lengthened with the addition of an effective weight training program completed on a regular basis. The effective use of weight training creates a further complimentary hormonal cascade that provides additional enhancement to your metabolism.)

So the key to weight loss is consistency. It’s common for us to have someone explain that they diligently complete long cardio sessions but only a couple times of week. We’re always busy so it makes sense that on certain days you would just make a bigger commitment and get it out of the way, unfortunately this is not nearly as effective. If you are someone routinely completing 60 minutes of exercise 3 days per week I can guarantee that your results will be dramatically increased by reducing to 20-30 minutes per day for 6 days per week. Mathematically you could burn the exact same number of calories but it’s not about the number but rather the cumulative effect.

4 Ways to Battle Cravings

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cravings 300x225 4 Ways to Battle CravingsIf there’s one thing that many people struggle with when they’re on their fat loss diet plan it’s cravings.  In most cases, sticking with a healthy diet really isn’t that difficult, that is, until hunger sets in.  As soon as the hunger daemon rears its ugly head however, maintaining your diet seems to fly right out the window.

Your cravings get stronger than ever and with your stomach is growling so loudly the person next to you has started to glare at you funny.  When this occurs, it’s hard to turn down whatever food crosses your path.  When this is the situation at hand, it’s important that you come up with a few quick strategies that will help you handle this and still maintain your diet.

Here are a few quick ways that you can beat your cravings head on.

Drink Some Water

The old saying is true, if you’re dehydrated, you may begin to mistake this for actual hunger.  It’s very important that you’re maintaining adequate hydration levels throughout the day so be sure that you’re not overlooking this factor.

Ideally you should be drinking 8-10 glasses of water or other clear fluids each day in order to keep yourself feeling your best and prevent cravings from setting in.

If you do find you’re experiencing a craving, first drink a glass of water and then wait ten minutes.  After doing so you’ll often find that that craving passes almost immediately.

Chew Some Gum

Second, another quick way to battle those cravings is to chew some gum.  Often what’s sparking the craving in the first place is that you just need something to chew on so gum is the perfect solution.  It’s calorie free and since it keeps your mouth busy, you definitely won’t be putting other food in there.

Some people do find that peppermint flavoured gum also helps to take the edge off their appetite (and boost concentration levels as well!) so you may just want to consider this
flavor first.

Ensure You Don’t Go Hours Without Food

Another smart move if you’re trying to take care of cravings is to make sure that you aren’t going hours without food.  Whenever you let yourself get too overly hungry, that’s when it’s going to be that much harder to handle the cravings that are being thrown at you.

Instead, keep yourself on an even keel by having one meal every three hours or so.  In addition to that, make sure that you also include protein within that meal as this is the most satisfying nutrient to consume.  You’ll easily keep blood sugar levels and hunger under control by doing so.

Find Something To Replace It With

Finally, the last strategy to beat your cravings is to find another food that you can have in its place.  While it may not be a direct replacement as far as taste is concerned, if you can find something that comes fairly close, this often can solve the problem.

For example, if it’s a pint of ice cream that’s calling your name, consider some low-fat, low-sugar vanilla yogurt drizzled with a small amount of chocolate syrup.  This should be enough to tame that craving and will also provide you with good nutrition as well.

So keep these quick points in mind. If you can implement them into your day, cravings should be a thing of the past for you.

 

Perimeter Shopping

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If you want to make improved health and weight loss simple and automatic it is as simple as shopping the outside perimeter of the grocery store. In most grocery stores the most perishable items are kept on the perimeter. Because they have the shortest shelf life and need to be replaced the most often this improves the efficiency of the store by keeping them in the most accessible locations.

If you have ever grown a garden of any kind consisting of any vegetables at all there are usually a couple of truths with the food you grow or produce. When it is first picked, cut, or harvested it usually has a much more vibrant smell than any similar food you buy in a grocery store. When we grow our own food it is also usually consumed within days or, at most, a couple weeks from its harvest date. In both cases this makes the food we’ve grown or produced far fresher than the grocery store counterpart. The fresher it is the more alive it is, the more alive it is the more nutritious it is. This is an oversimplified but very true simple analogy of maintaining high quality nutrition.

Back to the grocery store, as suggested in the paragraph above it would seem I have indicated that even the perimeter perishables are not as full of nutrition or good for you as they should be. The truth is, compared to home grown they are not, but they are far better than anything processed and located on the inner isles.untitled11 Perimeter Shopping

The more processed it is, the longer the shelf life and the more dead it is. The longer the shelf life the less nutritionally active it is, and the harder our body has to work to extract the little nutrients that remain. What’s more any food processing alters the chemical structure and integrity of the elements of any food we consume. As perfect as our body is, its delicate machinery was not designed to handle these new chemical variables. Like every good learning, living organism our body adapts the best it can, unfortunately this has lead to many ailments we now consider common: type II diabetes, crones disease, irritable bowel syndrome, to name a few.

If you are unaware your body is right now hard at work replacing every cell and tissue in your body. It does so with rapid efficiency on a very frequent basis. In a more graphic sense think of it this way, the very tissue and cells that make up your heart and lungs, working hard to keep you alive as you read this, have been recently replaced. Those tissues are now comprised of the food (raw materials) you’ve consumed in the recent months and weeks. You truly are what you eat, I don’t know about you but I think it’s pretty important to ensure the best raw materials are used when building my heart and lungs. Food for thought.

Another Notch on the Belt…

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The waist girth measure is a commonly used basic health assessment used to indicate risk factors for many health related issues. Some of the health related issues in which waist circumference may be an indicator for are: High blood pressure, High blood cholesterol level, Low HDL cholesterol, High blood fats (TG), and metabolic syndrome(defined by Wikipedia as a combination of medical disorders that increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes).

As these are some of the most prominent health issues facing the general population I think that understanding and being able to easily perform a self-assessment for risk factors could be a useful tool. Sometimes staying motivated or facing the challenges of changing lifestyle habits is more easily faced with a practical measuring stick.

A waist girth assessment can be performed easily with any soft tape measure. It’s preferred for the most accurate result to have someone perform the measure for you. Begin by placing the tape across the navel. Make sure the tape lies flat around the circumference of the waist and is level across the body. Preferably the tape should be placed over bare skin for the most accurate measurement. Avoid the temptation to pull the tape too tight but measuring at the point of the end of a slow exhale would be typical and produce a consistent result.

Be forewarned that this measure will most certainly be greater than your pant size. For some time now many clothing manufacturers have been slowly making their sizes bigger without actually adjusting the “size” to accommodate our growing population figuratively speaking.

So once you are through the initial shock of the measure it’s time to understand what it means. The American National Health Institute suggests that a measure of 35+ inches for women and 40+ inches for men would indicate high risk. It’s also suggested that a healthy waist girth(lower risk) would be less than 33 inches for women and 35 for men.

For every inch in excess of the above low risk suggestion related studies have shown that for every 1 inch increase in the waist circumference in men the risk for:

  • High blood pressure increases by 10%
  • High blood cholesterol level increases by 8%
  • Low HDL cholesterol increases by 15%
  • High blood fats (TG) increases by 18%
  • And metabolic syndrome increases by 18%

Gross Fat Loss Video You Have to See

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Today I went on a little field trip. This has everything to do with why you should exercise and the dangers of the obesity trend in North America.

Deciphering Antioxidant Juices

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It seems like everyone out there has another antioxidant or miracle juice that will solve all your problems- and all are willing to tell you why theirs is the best. It can be very confusing, trying to research all these different product and establish which ones are good for you, and which ones are overpriced and heavily marketed fruit juices. There are a few key things to look at when you are investigating a product.

Firstly, what is an antioxidant? An antioxidant is a molecule capable of inhibiting the oxidation of other molecules. What is oxidation? Oxidation is a chemical reaction that transfers electrons from a substance to an oxidizing agent. Oxidation reactions can produce free radicals- these radicals can start chain reactions that damage cells. Antioxidants terminate these chain reactions by removing free radical intermediates, and inhibit other oxidation reactions. Examples of antioxidants include vitamins C, E, and A, and other substances including beta-carotene, lycopene, glutathione, Lutein, Selenium, Resveratrol. Antioxidants have been linked to reduced risks of cancer, cardiovascular disease, gum disease, etc. In summary, antioxidants are good for our health.

How is an antioxidant measured? Dr Cao of the National Institute of Aging developed a test called The ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) Assay in 1992 to measure the level of antioxidant protection of a product as well as the duration of the protection. 
ORAC measures the degree, which a product inhibits the action of oxidative agents and the length of time this inhibitor occurs. The ORAC Assay integrates the strength and duration of antioxidant protection for a product into a single numerical value (called the ORAC score) and has been shown to highly correlate with the level and the time of protection in cells, body tissues and blood levels. In others words, there is a near perfect correlation between the ORAC value and the antioxidant and immune system protection in the body. This is important because oxidative stress has been demonstrated to accelerate the aging process in both cells and blood vessels. Oxidative stress also increases the risk of certain types of cancer, coronary heart disease and many other health maladies.

You get antioxidants in the food that you eat- primarily your fruits and vegetables, but given the busyness of modern life it is very hard to get enough antioxidants on a daily basis- not to mention degrading food quality. This is one of the reasons antioxidant juices have come about, as a convenient way to get the antioxidants your body needs. Some key things to look at in an antioxidant juice:

1)      Superfruit- Every juice WILL have a superfruit in it- and will be heavily marketed on that fact. The 3 main ones are: Acai Berry, Goji Berry (also known as the wolfberry), and the Mangosteen Fruit. Here is a list of some of the antioxidant values of the top scoring fruits.

Wolfberry, Ningxia, dried 30,300†    
Wolfberry, Chinese 20,200†  Importance of “Ningxia”   
Mangosteen 20,000?  No independent proof   
Acai 18,400†    
Raspberry, Black 16,400†    
Pomegranate 10,500†    
Prune 5,700†    
Blackberry 5,100†    
Boysenberry 3,500†    
Blueberry 3,200†    
Plum 2,800†    
Raspberry, Red 2,700†
 

 

  
  *ORAC SCORE*    

Although the fruit itself may score high- when it is processed into a product it may lose some of its antioxidant value. Also, the drink should include whole parts of the fruit- a puree – not just extracted fruit juices.

2)      Filler Juices – Every juice will have the superfruit- but what else is in the drink? Some warning signs of an inferior product are sugary, high glycemic index low antioxidant value filler ‘junk’ juices like apple, pear, and grape. These contain very little antioxidants themselves, and are cheaper to include in the beverage. Not only do they have a lower antioxidant value- they are high glycemic index- meaning they will have more of an effect on your blood sugar levels- and are probably not diabetic safe either. You should be looking for juices that are lower glycemic index, high antioxidant value that contribute to the synergy of the juice- taken from the list above, some good ones to look for are raspberry (black or red), blueberry, pomegranate, boysenberry, plum, etc.

3)      Sweetener- Look for low glycemic index sweeteners, such as Organic Blue Agave, stevia, etc- avoid all artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose, etc. And of course, avoid sucrose- sugar increases inflammation in the body amongst other things, and should not be a predominant sweetener.

Keep in mind all of the things above when looking at a product- you will be surprised at how many products you come across that do not meet all the criteria- put your antioxidant juice to the test and see if it meets the criteria! As per usual, contact me with any questions you may have, I’m happy to help you decipher antioxidants further.

Adam Green

Great Ideas To Utilize Protein Powder

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Bio X Isolate 5lb chocolate Great Ideas To Utilize Protein Powder

Bio-X is one of my favourite protein powders. I worked for them when this product was developed and got to provide my feedback in the development of the taste. The quality and taste is top notch, try it! -Cabel

If you’re someone who isn’t so crazy about the thought of downing another protein shake, you’re definitely going to want to consider some of the other things that you can do with protein powder.

You really must be making sure that you reach your daily protein requirements so by using creative ways to get more protein in through protein powder you can definitely accomplish this.

Remember that protein powder doesn’t always shave to be made into a shake or smoothie.  There are numerous other methods that you can take this in and help work towards your muscle building goals.

Let’s take a look to get you started.

Stir Protein Powder Into Oatmeal

Perhaps one of the fastest ways to boost your protein intake without having a shake is to stir a scoop of your favorite flavor into your morning bowl of oatmeal.  If you like, add a tablespoon of peanut butter once it’s all been stirred in and you’ll have a very complete meal in mere seconds.

Just make sure that the oatmeal has been fully cooked before stirring in the protein powder as this does tend to make it mix much easier.

Prepare Protein Powder Balls

Second, another quick and simple way to utilize protein powder is to make yourself some protein balls.  This is an incredibly easy snack that you can carry around with you wherever you go.  Simply mix together some honey, dry oats, peanut butter, and then your protein powder until a sticky mixture is formed.

Shape those into balls and then place on some wax paper in the fridge until hardened.  These are extremely calorie dense and will be perfect for those who are on a muscle building diet.

Add Protein Powder To Coffee

Another quick and easy way to get more protein powder into your day is to add some vanilla powder into your morning cup of coffee.  Rather than using plain creamer which is very high in fat, stir in the protein powder for added flavor and nutrients.

You may want to shake the protein powder up with some water first and then pour this into half a cup of coffee as some protein powders don’t mix as well with hot liquid as others do.

Prepare Protein Bars Finally, the last thing you can do to help boost your protein powder intake for the day is to cook up some protein bars.  There are numerous recipes that you can find for these all which include natural ingredients that will be incredibly healthy for you.

With such a wide variety of different protein powder flavors available as well you can get extremely creative with the type of protein bar you choose to make.

So keep these ideas in mind for using protein powders.  Obviously the fastest and easiest method is to just mix with water and drink but for those who would like to try something different, these tend to fit the bill perfectly.

In support of www.ClimbForHeartandStroke.com all proceeds from purchases made through our online store www.RedDeerHealthStore.com will be donated to the climb. Thank you for your support.

Red Deer Personal Trainer Josh Neufeld Talks Fiber

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fiber Red Deer Personal Trainer Josh Neufeld Talks Fiber

Fiber is critical for good health, are you getting enough?

We all know that we should be eating fiber! Not only is it part of a healthy eating regimen, but also reduces the risk for some chronic diseases such as constipation and haemorrhoids. Fiber has even been found to reduce the risk of cancers found in the colon, as well as it decrease the levels of LDL (low density lipoproteins – aka, bad cholesterol) found in our bodies, which can help to reduce the risk of many heart related  diseases. BUT! What does the average person really know about fiber? How much does the average person need? What are some good sources? Are there different kinds of fiber? All valid questions, and all vital to knowing if you are nurturing your body appropriately, or not.

Let’s start with the different types of fiber. First off, we have soluble fiber, whose function is to bind with the fatty acids we ingest, and prolong stomach emptying so that we feel fuller, longer! It also monitors and regulates the rate at which sugar is digested, which is crucial for the treatment and prevention of diabetes. As mentioned earlier, this is the type of fiber that has a direct correlation to the levels of bad cholesterol in your body. Good sources of soluble fiber are: rolled oats, nuts, barley, flax, fruits, vegetables, as well as pysllium husk. All of which should be included as part of a healthy diet.

Next up, we have insoluble fiber, and although similar to soluble fiber it plays a different role in digestion. Insoluble fiber works to move bulky foods through the intestines as well as control the pH balance in your intestinal tract (so is to reduce the risk of heart burn or other pains that could be associated with digesting foods). Insoluble fiber works to push food through our GI tract and has a direct correlation to the prevention of constipation. This is important, because over time if food has the opportunity to build up it can start to grow microbes in your colon and may eventually cause a disturbance in pH in the intestines. This is dangerous as such symptoms have led to cancers of the colon. Good sources of insoluble fiber are: seeds, nuts, fruit skins, and dark vegetables (such as green beans and asparagus).

The most important thing to take away from all this is that your body NEEDS direct fiber sources in order for it to function properly. Introducing more whole grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables into your everyday diet WILL have a dramatic effect on both weight loss as well as leading a healthy lifestyle! The average person needs about 25 grams of fiber per day, more specifically about 20 grams of insoluble and 5 grams of soluble. BUT, as long as you are getting your 5 servings of fruit and vegetables, as well as at least 3 whole grain servings a day (oats, pysllium husk), then you are likely meeting your daily fiber requirements.

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