New Years Resolutions

    This is a little late, or a little perfect timing as we are deep in the New Years Resolution part of the year.  It would seem that it takes about 2 weeks before people either give up entirely on their resolutions or decide they aren't worth it, or forget they made that resolution entirely and go back to their comfortable, already formed habits.  Many of these resolutions seem to be centered around getting in shape, working out more, "new year new me" kind of things.  Personally, mine was flossing more so they come in all shapes and sizes.

      That being said if you are a regular gym goer you'll notice that your gym is more crowded with more people who seemingly have no idea what they are doing.  Its annoying to see the 18 year old 130lb kid spend 20 minutes on the chest press 15 minutes of which he was on his phone and the other 5 minutes he was doing too much weight with terrible form and the smallest range of motion you didn't know was possible.  Rather than being a dick to that kid (unless of course the kid is an indignant little twit as sometimes happens), help him.  He has no idea what hew as doing and any person who's been weight training long enough knows that they wouldn't have learned half of what they know had it not been for the kindness of others.  Everyone starts somewhere, and if all people are met with when they enter the gym is indifference, callousness, and judgement they aren't going to get very far.  As seasoned vets it's your job to lift them up, not put them down.  The fact that they are there to begin with is awesome, don't discourage that.
 
  Now for the newbies, there are some rules that you HAVE to know.  Biggest one is rerack your damn weights.  People don't know if you are done or if you just had to pee.  Put your shit back.  Seriously.  It's no fun for a gym worker to have to rerack a couple of hundred pounds of weight at the end of the night. Plus it's disrespectful to the gym, the workers, the other patrons, and the equipment.  Don't do it.  In the same vein don't hog equipment.  Especially if the gym is busy.  If you walk in and it's packed maybe do something other than the circuit that requires you to use 8 pairs of dumbbells and 4 machines.  You can still do a circuit, but maybe adapt it a little bit or allow the people trying to train work in while you aren't using a particular piece of equipment.  Sharing is caring!

     Next is getting all judgey.  Just, no, please don't.  Not everyone works out for the same reasons.  You might not want a muscular physique, but the person next to you might.  You might just want to look good naked, while that seemingly chubby dude in the corner who's doing some unconvential training might be trying to qualify for a national strongman competition.  "Don't yuck my yum." I won't yuck yours.  It's always great to encourage people to try new things, but there is more than one way to do things and everyone has different expectations and goals when they enter a training facility. 

   To finish up it's easy to want to just leave your weights for the next person if you're at the end of a workout and tired, and it's equally easy to hold yourself higher than the person next to you because you're full of a new found confidence.  This is a community, a great one, in my opinion the best one, help keep it great.  If you keep an open mind you never know what you might find!

Just gonna leave that here.  Have a great 2016 guys!

Life, Learning, and My First Strongman

     November 1st I did my first strongman competition.  A fairly docile Halloween competition, made all the more less intimidating by the fact that everyone was in costume.  It's hard to be nervous for too long when the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man is wandering around bumping into people and nearly catching himself on fire.  I didn't really know what to expect.  I had watched strongman before, but never participated, had only vaguely considered it really.  Thus, I had an idea of what the events would be, but I did minimal prep for them.  I went in slightly less than completely unprepared.  That's ok though, and I will tell you why...

      The strongman community is fantastic.  They are warm, friendly people, who welcome anyone willing to try.  Always offering advice, encouragement, and food, you rarely hear them be anything but incredibly supportive of their fellow competitors regardless of how bad that person is performing.  Guys from the same weight class will cheer each other on, yell out coaching cues, or lift a participant up when they preformed badly on an event.  They know that one terrible event can wreck a persons confidence in the rest of the competition and regardless of who it is, encourage the crap out of them to ward off any negative thoughts.  They also welcome all comers.  Sure, they will pick on you a little bit if you are a Crossfit junkie, or a marathon runner, but at the end of the day they respect what you do and that you showed up to give their sport a try.  Plus they are picking on one another just as much, if not more.  It's a light hearted, good natured group of people who just want you to enjoy the experience.  At the end of the day it is you vs you.  Everyone is trying to do better than previous attempts and everyone else wants to watch the numbers go up.  It's a good time. Plus...food ('nuff said).

      A second thing I enjoyed was the learning.  I was told once that "when you stop learning you're dead".  It's been stuck in my head every since.  I'm always trying to learn, and learn I did that night.  Almost every single one of my events I could have improved upon by simply being more prepared and more aware.  This didn't shock me as I had done limited prep to begin with.  It also didn't shock me that some things went less than smoothly during the competition as I am more than a little accident prone.  I'll go through them event by event...LEARN FROM ME.  Or laugh at me. Or both, that's the route I took anyway.

Event 1: Deadlift.  Three bars were set up heaviest to lightest (275/185/155 in our case).  Heaviest pull trumped all other, lighter pulls, most reps won.  This went well for me, I like to deadlift.  I did go all out,  however, and it kind of toasted me for the other events.  This is more of a conditioning issue that prudent planning.  Lesson here is don't skimp on conditioning, even if it resembles cardio for a hot second.

Event 2: Sand bag load into a cart, then wheel the cart however many feet.  I didn't get to wheel the cart, I really wanted to, but I didn't.  I hadn't really practiced sandbags ever (prep), but also accidentally stood on one of the straps and got the bag yanked out of my hand when I went to load it onto my lap.  This caused me to lose most of my momentum and I ended up tapping out on that bag.  This bummed me out.  The lesson here is to mind your feet.  I also felt my wrist pop and it became weak for the next 5 minutes after and hurt most of the next day.  Work with bags, see if you need wrist wraps, and find out whether or not they will get in the way.  The mostly comes back to prep.

Event 3: Kettlebell hold for time.  I got second in this simply due to not being mentally as focused as the other woman.  She was awesome.  It was a pleasure to get to compete with her.  I'm not sure how to get past this one other than to practice pushing through things you hate.  Keep going when you want to stop simply because the job is not done yet.  Do this within reason, many an injury has been caused by being a total jackass.

Event 4: Chain Drag.  This killed me for some reason and I realized after that my shoes did not help me at all.  I had worn a boot instead of my Chuck's thinking that I would have more traction.  I did, but the boots were heeled and I couldn't drive my body back efficiently.  I don't think this would have helped me win the even per say, but I really wanted to finish it and it probably would have made that amount of difference.

Event 5: Atlas Stones.  These went pretty well, other than a smashed finger.  I don't know how to prevent that.  Don't smash your fingers.  It hurts. It's unpleasant.  I'm going to have a hell of a time explaining to people why that nail is gone (if it falls off...please don't fall off).

I came. I failed. I learned.  To some the failure might seem like a hit on your self esteem, a shining example of inadequacy.  I see failure as a place to start.  You cannot climb a mountain if you are already at the top, and why would you want to.  Everyone starts from somewhere, some higher than others, but usually everyone is at about the same place.  Let it aid in your goal setting, let it ignite (or reignite) the fire inside you to train hard, and let it lift you up rather than pull you down.  You got to compete in something ridiculously fun with a boatload of amazing people who wanted nothing more than for everyone to have a good time.  Let your failures give you something to work for in the future, something to laugh about in the past, but don't let them spoil your present.


And that is why I'll probably be doing more strongman.  Plus...food.  And of course all these awesome ladies.

P.S. I came in 2nd of 2 in Light Weight Women's Novice in case anyone wanted to know.  That's really neither here nor there, as I did it for the experience.

I like my food like my men...

Uncomplicated and easy to look at.

    Jokes aside I love to eat, and I love to fuel my body appropriately.  I see the body as a really incredible machine and want to put nothing less than high octane fuel in it.  I know, I know, eating healthy is "so hard" and "it doesn't taste as good" and "damnit I just love pizza!" There is a time and place for pizza, but it isn't every day unless you're making cauliflower pizza which is a whole 'nother topic.  After about 2 weeks of cutting out extra salt, sugar, etc. your pallet will start to change and you will start tasting things differently.  All this means is, yes, these new foods will taste funny for a little bit.  Stick it out and you'll find that there are tons of flavors waiting for you to savor!

Enough talk, let's get down to the good stuff. Mainly this meal:

Oh man...both delicious and visually pleasing. Woo!

Pictured on top is Baked and Mashed Sweet Potato and Roasted Eggplant and Onion with Thyme.  On the bottom is Zuchinni Noodles and Turkey Meatballs.  Ready for the recipes...I know you are!

Baked Sweet Potato

Ingredients: Organic Sweet Potato*

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 420 degrees F. Wash and allow to dry (mostly dry at least) each potato.

2.   Using a fork poke holes in your potato to vent.

3. Bake at 420 for 30 minutes.  Turn each potato and bake for another 30-40 minutes or until you can put a knife fairly easily through it.

4.  Remove from oven, allow to cool, and take the skin off (should come off pretty easily) and mush.  

I portion mine out to 133g per serving which ends up to 

Calories:114

Carbs: 27g

Fat: 0g

Protein: 2g

Roasted Eggplant and Onion

Ingredients: 

1Eggplant, diced

1 sweet onion, chopped

1-2 TBSP thyme (dried or fresh)

1-2 TBSP Olive Oil

 Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F

2. Toss eggplant and onion in olive oil

3. spread on a pan or glass bake dish and sprinkle with thyme

4. Bake for 12-15 minutes

WARNING: Baked thyme smells amazingly delicious.  

At about 6 servings per recipe it comes to:

Calories: 71

Carbs: 10g

Fat: 4g

Protein: 1g

Zucchini Pasta

 Ingredients:

4 Zuchinni

1/4c Grated Parmesean Cheese

1/2 Lemon

1/2 TBSP Minced Garlic

Melinda's Habeñero Pepper Sauce**

Directions:

1. Using the poorly named Veggetti  (or any spiral slicer) slice zucchini into "noodles"

2. In a large pan slightly cook the zucchini to get any excess water out of it, but mostly to heat it up. (you don't have to do this)

3. toss in remaining ingredients.

Makes about 5 servings

Calories: 179

Carbs: 13g

Fat: 14g

Protein: 4g

Turkey Meatballs

Ingredients: 

 1 lb 99% Lean ground turkey meat 

1-2 tbsp hot pepper relish

1 tbsp ground flax seed

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F

2. Grease the sides of a muffin tin

3. Mix ingredients in a large bowl (DO NOT OVERMIX)

4. LIGHTLY pack  meatballs into even balls and place them in muffin tin

5. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until done

This makes about 4 4-5oz servings (3 balls each)

Calories: 155

Carbs: 3g

Fat: 3g

Protein: 28g

NOTES: The more you pack your meatballs the more tough they become.  If you pack them lightly (just get them into a roughly round shape) they will be incredibly tender.  Same goes for burgers.

* I don't always buy organic, and if it's not available you don't have to, but I have noticed that organic sweet potatoes have better flavor and color.

**Melinda's is the best hot sauce ever. Fact.

Total calories and stuff for the whole meal are around 

Calories: 519

Carbs: 52g

Fat: 20g

Protein: 35g

Which is 40%, 34%, 26% if you are counting.  I am currently only eating 4 meals a day so this works for me.  Remember this calorie content is kind of a ballpark.  I use my fitness pal to put in these recipes and not software like ESHA (because it costs a TON), so they may be off by a little bit. Enjoy. 

 

I Are Spartan

     A few weeks ago I participated in my first Spartan Race.  It was a Super, an 8-10 mile 25+ obstacle trek that ended up taking my teammates and I almost 6 hours. I'm not going to lie at first I thought it would be a horrific experience.  In fact most of the way through I was not convinced that it was a particularly good idea on my part.  Let me break down why I thought it was such a horrible life decision.

1. 8-10 miles.  This should have been enough.  This is cardio. I don't cardio.

2. 25+ Obstacles.  Most of which I had no experience in. On top of that if you fail an obstacle you have to do 30 burpees...that's alot of burpees.  See previous cardio comment.

3. It was at a ski resort which means it is essentially straight up hill.  Ski resorts were meant to go DOWN not up! That's why they have lifts!

I was right for some of it.  It was cardio.  However, it wasn't awful cardio.  It being uphill most of the time played to my teammates and my strengths.  We were all, generally, more sprint trained than endurance trained and had a pretty decent ability to go hard for about 30 seconds and then recover very quickly for another hard bout.  The obstacles were more strength based than we had expected so we did much better on them than we expected.  It drove the point home for me that being strong is infinitely more important than being able to run a million miles.  I've never had a time in my life where I NEEDED to jog, but there are many instances where I've needed strength.  Important things I realized during this race:

1. Go with a team.  Seriously, it makes the trek more fun plus you can teamwork all of the things including the burpees.  This makes the burpee told much less overall.

2. Pack snacks.  Many people had a camel back for water and/or some way to carry gels, snacks, or other intra-workout supplement.  I DO NOT recommend putting packets of gummies in your sports bra as you will pop them when you do your burpees.  Though it was one of the funnier points of the race for us.

3.  ENJOY YOURSELF.  It's a fun time! Smile for the pictures.  Work hard. Enjoy the experience.  Cuss at the hills, at the obstacles, at the burpess, but try to remain jovial throughout.  Its a process. No sense in being miserable through it.

Below are some pictures from the race I found.  In truth I was waiting for them to come out before I made this post.  Enjoy.

And yes. I am totally doing another one, a sprint this time.  If that goes relatively well my teammate and I are probably going to finish the trifecta and do a beast (the longest). It will be fun to see how much we improve over this endeavor. :) Happy Training! Take care!

Conditioning, HIIT, and Moar Conditioning

     For those who hate cardio, you're not alone.  Not particularly good at jogging a mile? That's okay.  My attention span is so short that I can barely get in a lap on the track without losing focus.  If you love to jog and live for your Sunday runs, that's awesome, but then this post wasn't meant for you.  Every time someone thinks about getting in shape they think of slogging away on some track/treadmill/trail until they are sweaty and tired.  The problem is not everyone is good at jogging or enjoys it.  Some people don't enjoy cardio at all and others have found ways to get it over as quickly as possible and make it as effective as possible.  Enter conditioning and high intensity interval training (HIIT).  There are about a million ways these forms of exercise can be done so I decided to make this post a jump off point instead of a lengthy essay on the wonders of conditioning.    Below are several links to various articles on the matter.  It should get you started nicely.

Predator Conditioning

7 Rules of Conditioning

Conditioning When the Weather Stinks

ACSM HIIT Brochure

ACE HIIT Factsheet



A word on technique.  If you do not know how to do an exercise, or feel uncomfortable with your current form find a well-educated trainer to help you.  a $35-$50 train session to correct form is much better than the doctors bills spent trying to recover from an injury that poor form caused.

Here's an article about that too.

Finally, WHEN should you start doing this conditioning and HIIT stuff?  When you are STRONG enough.  A good strength base is the key to pretty much everything (a bias opinion I know), but being strong does play an important role.  Sprints or walk/jog intervals are generally not included in this statement though as you become stronger you will be more efficient in your movements overall. 

Conditioning is a Sham
      (Don't let the title fool you. It makes some very good points about building a strength base and when to use conditioning)



There you go.  It's not all the information you'd ever need, but it should give you enough information to decide whether you would rather run sprints for 15-20 minutes or or hop on an elliptical for 30-45. 

Resistance vs. Aerobic Training

     There are two main kinds of training that are studied resistance (weight or strength) training and aerobic training.  Aerobic training is usually called cardio and when people hear that work they usually think about steady state training on some form of machine.  Steady state simply refers to a form of exercise that one can do for an elongated period of time, jogging or brisk walking for instance.    So when most people say "cardio" they are usually thinking about getting on a treadmill/elliptical/stepmill or hitting a jogging trail for about 30 minutes using the same pace for the entire time.  There are variations you can do with every type of aerobic training, but for the sake of argument and this particular post when I say aerobic training I mean steady state aerobic exercise lasting approximately 30 minutes or more.  Now that that bit has been sorted lets get into the meat and potatoes.

     If you know me you know I love strength training, I dislike aerobic training and I can tell you exaclty why in a wordy diatribe.  Lately I have been reading some studies and looking at the pros and cons of both aerobic and resistance training.  I do believe that almost every kind of training has its place and its usefulness to you is determined by your particular goals.  Let's start with resistance, or strength, training.

Pros of Resistance Training:

• It preserves lean muscle mass while dieting down.  
• This can be seen in a study by Gelibter et al. where they looked at the effects of resistance training and aerobic training in obese subjects who were also on a very low calorie diet. It is an older study, but still fairly informative.
• It improves body composition.
• More muscle mass, less fat mass. 
• Improved cardiovascular and metabolic factors.
• In a study done by Roberts et al. that investigated how strength fitness and body weight status effected markers of cardiometabolic health they found that even in people  who were considered overweight or obese (by BMI) who strength trained regularly had improved risk profiles over those who were overweight or obese and did not regularly strength train.
• NOTE: BMI is not an accurate measurement of obesity when it comes to strength trained individuals.  One can be considered overweight on the BMI scale and still have relatively low body fat.
• There are also subjective pros
• It's fun (really it is!)
• It's awesome (again...truth)
• It's useful (running slowly away from a couch does not help you move it from your apartment any more efficiently)

Cons of Strength Training:

• There is more of a learning curve with strength training than for aerobic training.  Lifting weights properly takes some learning and you might eve *gasp!* have to ask for some help.  A well studied personal trainer is always a good investment if you are just beginning.
• You will need certain equipment.  
• Past bodyweight strength training and strongman training (where the equipment is different and occasionally non-traditional) you do need certain equipment.  A good gym can provide what you need or you can purchase your own if you have the space and the funds to do so.

NOT Cons of Strength Training:

• You will NOT get big and bulky and manly if you are a woman
• We simply do not have the right stuff (enough testosterone) and it takes YEARS of hard work and dedication to develop a physique like women who bodybuild. Plus one or two other things that have very little to do with exercise programming.
• You won't get too muscular.
• See above statement and add THERE IS NO TOO MUSCULAR. Go for the physique that makes YOU happy.  Those who don't support you you don't need anyway.  
•  I can't, I'm just too weak.
• Everyone starts somewhere.  You'll stay weak if you don't try.

 Let's move on to aerobic training.  It is studied much more than resistance training so there is much more information on it.  If you don't believe me go to Google Scholar and type in "aerobic training"

Pros of Aerobic Training:

• Improved cardiovascular function
• Every aerobic training study ever.
• Improved VO2
• Also every aerobic training study ever.
• Improved ability to lightly jog away from things.

I did say everything has it's place.  If it is your goal to run a marathon, compete in a bike race, or do a triathlon this kind of training can be useful.  Training type depends on your goals.  If your goals are to be the greatest strongman who ever lived, 10 mile jogs aren't going to help you get there. 

 Cons of Aerobic Training:

• As time goes by you need more training to get the same effect.  Your body adapts to aerobic training fairly quickly.  (What once was achieved physiologically in a 5 mile jog now takes 10 mile jog to achieve...etc)
• In more extreme cases it causes loss of lean muscle mass. 
• Sure you're slender, but at what cost?! The cost of gainz my friend.
• Jokes aside, those who do long distance running tend to care less muscle mass and more fat mass than those who do sprinting or strength and conditioning activities.  Compare a marathon runner and a sprinter.  These however are extremes, please keep that in mind.
• It can be VERY boring.
• Some people love it and that's great. Whatever floats your cookie.  If you don't however, don't beat yourself up about it.  There are other ways to improve your cardiovascular function while maintaining lean muscle mass and are more fun than slogging along a trail for what seems like an eternity (five minutes). 

What could do those things you might ask? What could be not so boring and not fun as steady state cardio, but still give me the benefits of traditional aerobic training? That's next week kids. 


 Citations:
Geliebter A, Maher MM, Gerace L, Gutin B, Heymsfield SB, Hashim SA. "Effects of strength or aerobic training on body comoposition, resting metabolic rate, and peak oxygen consumption in obese dieting subjects" Am J Clin Nutr 1997;66:557-563. 

Roberts et al. "Strength fitness and body weight status on markers of cardiometabolic health" 2015; 47(6):1211-1218.

Back to Fitness

     

     Lately I have been doing the majority of my posts on nutrition.  This is fine as I have a special certification and a Bachelor's Degree in nutrition, but this is a blog out fitness!  Recently I collaborated with a friend and Registered Dietitian of mine Devin.  She wanted me to write a piece about the importance of exercise and I was more than happy to oblige.  It reminded me that while I can give tons of great advice on diet and exercise I don't talk about WHY as much.  There are so many amazing reasons to exercise from improving physical and mental health to looking good nekked. Rather than retype what I sent to Devin I am going to post the link below.  This serves twofold. She is an amazing, hard working, and intelligent individual who is very passionate about what she does.  She takes the time to study and give solid facts.  Not only does she post more than I do (I really need to work on that), but she is hilarious.  I invite all of you to poke through her blog and eat up all the knowledge!

http://dietitiandevin.com/2015/04/07/tip-tuesday-go-play/

Eat with all the colors of the....uh...wind.

Is that not a beautiful meal? It's almost pretty.  Partially because of all the colors involved.  

 

 

 

 

     Let's face it. As delicious as fish sticks, corn, and mac n cheese sounds it's not a very visually enticing meal.  It's pretty much beige all around with a touch of orange.  Having a colorful plate is a pretty easy way to tell if you are getting a nutritious meal.  Brightly colored greens, deep reds, the occasional purple, all colors of fresh veggies that can provide you with wonderful nutrients to fuel you during your day. 

      This meal consists of baked salmon, two 1/4c balls of Jasmine rice, a cup of steamed broccoli and a 1/2c to a cup of strawberries.  The rice was made by the instructions on the package and then rolled into 1/4c balls and allowed to cool.  I like doing it this way because it makes it easy to portion and pack. (PRO TIP: make a mixture of rice vinegar and water to wet your hands with before making the balls, that way the rice won't stick to your hands and ruin your creation.) The salmon is sprinkled with dried dill and lemon juice and allowed to bake at 350ish degrees for about 20 mintues (or until flaky).

Not pictured is the amazing Habeñero Mango Pepper Sauce by Melinda's.  Melinda's is my absolute favorite hot sauce to use.  It is flavorful as well as spicy for those of you who like a kick.  It also has low sodium and doesn't put a dent in your calories.  I highly recommend it.

Sorry it has taken so long to make a new post. I have some topics I am currently researching to make sure I'm giving the best information possible.  Look for more soon!  In the mean time you can tag me in your colorful creations on Instagram (buric6) or twitter (@fishoilandsquat).


Take care!

Happy New Year!!!!!

    The new year is upon us and it is time for resolutions, crowded gyms, picked through produce, and countless people saying "New Year New Me".  This is very good, however many people go out and party on New Year's Ever, and wake up the next day hungover and tired.  Not the best way to start your new year eh? I'm not saying that drinking is bad and you should never do it, but be mindful of what you are consuming.  Alcohol has many hidden calories (yes even vodka) and most people aren't aware of it. 
     Alcohol can be good in small amounts, but bad in larger amounts.  There have been studies to suggest that a glass of red wine a day or one serving of alcohol a day can be beneficial.  If it is not beneficial it is, in the very least, not detrimental to wellness.  Too much alcohol however, can cause nutrient deficiencies, cirrhosis of the liver, and weight gain.  The weight gain comes from alcohol's calorie content.  Alcohol provides 7 calories per gram of alcohol consumed.  You will note that this is more than carbs and protein, but slightly less than fat.  Along with that many mixed drinks are full of simple sugars to make the drink tastey.  Take this into account when you are tippling this NYE.  Below is a little info-graphic on the amount of exercise you would have to do per drink.

See you next year!!!!!

Protein - The Building Blocks of Life

     To finish our explanation of the various macro nutrients it is time to cover protein.  Though needed in the smallest percentage overall, it is very important.  Proteins are the main structural component of many parts of the body includes skin, muscle, and hair.  They are also used to transport vitamins, minerals, fats, and oxygen within the body as well as to form enzymes that help speed the process of creating antibodies.  If the body is going through a period of starvation protein can even be used for energy, though it is not something to strive for.

    Proteins are built from various amino acids, 8 - 10 (depending on your age and state of wellness) are essential.  Essential simply means that your body cannot make them and you must get these amino acids through food.  The best way to ensure you are consuming all your amino acids is to eat complete proteins.  Complete proteins are foods that contain all the amino acids in usable amounts.  Lean meats like chicken breast, turkey breast, lean beef, or eggs are all examples complete proteins.  If you are vegetarian and are worried about acquiring all of the essential amino acids have no fear, foods like chia seeds and soy are complete proteins as well.  On top of that it is not necessary to eat all of the essential amino acids  in every meal.  Consuming incomplete proteins (or those foods that are low in one or more essential amino acids) at various points in the day can add up to all essential amino acids being accounted for.  These kinda of food pairings are called complementary foods.  Examples of these complementary foods are: a peanut butter sandwich on whole grain bread, rice-bean casserole, rice with sesame seeds, or cereal and milk.  Below is an image that should help explain complementary foods further.

   So how much protein should you consume? The general guidelines are .8g per kilogram of body weight. So if I weigh 130 lbs I would divide that by 2.2 to convert it to kilograms.  Then multiply by .8 to find out how many grams of protein I should be consuming.

130/2.2 = 59.1 x .8 = 47.3g of protein a day.

Another way to calculate how much protein to consume is to break it down by macro percentage.  If I plan on eating 1800 calories a day and want 15% of that to be protein it would look like this.

1800 x .15 = 270 calories of protein / 4 = 67.5 g of protein

As you can see there is a fairly wide variability in protein consumption.  Just make sure you are consuming enough water to flush out the bi-products of protein metabolism (nitrogen mainly).

If you have any questions as this was a long and somewhat confusing post, don't hesitate to ask!

Power for a Purpose

      Over the weekend I participated in my first powerlifting meet, Power for a Purpose.  It was a charity event where the lifters were to raise money to benefit Stepping Stones, a recreational facility for those with disabilities.  I thought I would share my experience.

     I could not have been more nervous leading up to it, in fact I could barely sleep the night before.  I woke up early and got there a little, entirely too early. Better too early than too late though.  The other competitors were very friendly and admitted that they too were either nervous or knew how I felt.  They all encouraged one another and cheered when someone completed a lift.  They also would remain silent and respectful if a person missed a lift.  Overall it was an absolutely wonderful
experience and I look forward to doing it again.

    As far as my own accomplishments during the meet I met all my goals and then some.  My first goal was to total 500lbs, which I successfully did totaling 501lbs.  A total is simply the sum of your best lift in squat, bench, and deadlift.  I squatted 187.75lbs, benched 99.5lbs, and deadlifted 214.75lbs.  On top of reaching that goal I won the award for most money raised.  The prize for that was a really sweet knife (I'll post a picture soon).  To top it off I achieved a state record in all of my lifts and my total in my age group and weight class.  To be fair though it is a relatively new category, so there wasn't much competition in hitting the record.  It is still pretty cool though. 

Fats...also your friends!

            That’s right people, healthy fats make healthy people. Don’t cut out fats from your diet because you think they make you gain weight.  Sure some types of fats are not good for your body, but if you choose the correct fats they will immensely improve your health.  Fats are the most energy dense of the macronutrients.  They also have the most calories per gram (9 kcal/gram).  Considering fats have the most calories per gram, they should be consumed in moderation but not avoided.  Fats provide many necessary functions such as insulation, nerve transmission, vitamin absorption, cell structure and hormone production. 

            To get to the nitty gritty of fats, there are two types of fats: unsaturated and saturated fats.  There are also two types of unsaturated fats: Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated.  Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated are the fats that are good for your body, and they are found in olive oil, salmon, cold water fish, avocado, flaxseed and walnuts and many other healthy foods.  These fats increase your HDL (high density lipoprotein) which is awesome!!  HDL is your good cholesterol as it helps clear plaque out of your arteries; that makes for one healthy body!  

            Now let’s talk about Essential Fatty Acids.  Essential fatty acids (EFA) are a type of polyunsaturated fat (Omega 3 and Omega 6) that must be acquired through your diet because your body does not make them.  They are important for eye and brain development and also reduce your cholesterol/triglycerides and may help to preserve brain function.  Commonly these fats are found in salmon, tuna, crab, trout, flax seeds, chia seeds, pecans, almonds, cashews and all types of oils.  

            Now that we have talked about all the good fats out there, let’s discuss the not so good fats.  Saturated fats are usually solid at room temperature and can have negative effects on your cholesterol levels by increasing your LDLs (low density lipoprotein-“bad” cholesterol).  Any trans fats are also no bueno!!  They are partially hydrogenated and are heart damaging!  AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS.  Animal fats (red meats) and fried foods are usually the main sources of these fats.  We are not saying you cannot enjoy these foods every once in a while but keep them in strict moderation.  An easy way to avoid trans fats is to look at the ingredients list of the food you are thinking of buying.  If it contains the words partially-or fully hydrogenated ANYTHING put it back. Label reading is very important in a good nutrition.

            We hope this helps with your journey to a healthy lifestyle!!!

As a side note. It has come to our attention recently that the comments are not as user friendly as we had originally thought.  We have made a change to (hopefully) attend to that.  Please feel free to leave a comment and if it doesn't work email one of us and let us know!

Carbs are your friends, and food!

After having gone through the basics of macros, Beth and I thought it would be nice to go a little more in depth with each one of the macros.  We wanted to start with the one that is often labeled a bad guy, carbohydrates.  While there is a time and a place for low or no carb diets (bodybuilders often use very low carb diets when in the final weeks of show prep) it isn't recommended for day-to-day.  Why?

1. Carbohydrates run your brain! The brain runs solely off of carbohydrate fuel.  It can, in a pinch run off of ketones but it really doesn't want to.  If you have ever been on a low carb diet you might have noticed that you couldn't think as well, and this would be why.

2. Carbohydrates are the main source of fuel for the body as a whole.  Especially for fast fuel.  Proteins are used mainly for building or repairing things, and fats are used more for storage or exercise that lasts a long time.  Carbohydrates can be broken down more quickly than fats and more efficiently than proteins to create energy for the body. 

Now that we have gone over the two main reasons why carbs are wonderful and you should eat them (in moderation of course!) let us discuss what kinds of carbs should be eaten.  There are two main types of carbs: Simple Carbohydrates and Complex Carbohydrates.  There is a time and a place for both, but complex carbs are the ones you want the majority of your carb calories to come from. 

Simple carbohydrates include things like white bread, sugar, candy, etc.  Things that if you put them in a glass of water they would break down very quickly.  I use that example because that is exactly what happens in your body.  The simple sugars get in, break down very quickly, you have a surge of sugar into your system and thus a surge of insulin which is then followed by a quick drop in blood sugar.  This surge and drop cycle, if repeated for long periods of time can cause problems along with giving you a rush of energy (good!) shortly followed by a feeling of incredible lethargy (bad).

Complex carbohydrates, on the other hand, include foods like sweet potatoes, brown rice, green vegetables, oatmeal, whole grains, pumpkin, and beans or lentils.  They are called complex carbohydrates because they are strung together in a complex coil.  Because it is strung together like that they take longer to break down which has the effect of giving you sustained energy for longer periods of time.  It also means that your sugar won't spike and drop quite so much, but remain relatively steady until your next meal. 

That is the basics of carbs! If you would like to know anything more please leave a message for us in the comments section.  And remember, they are your friends, and food!

Useful Resources

Resources are important.  They help you gain knowledge when a professional is unavailable.  As the holiday season is upon us (Happy Thanksgiving you guys!) it is a good idea for Beth and me to provide you with resources that are easily accessible to you when you are busy with holiday festivities and do not have time to shoot us an email or leave a comment.  Below are a few links to useful resources.

Choose My Plate - Brochure
    A very helpful brochure that you can print out and keep on you for quick nutritional reminders!

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
       The governing body of Registered Nutritionists everywhere.  This site has an area specifically for the public that has a wonderful amount of useful information.

health.gov


All of these sites kind of tie into one another to give the public consistent and complete knowledge.

If you have any questions or comments please let us know!!

What Are Macros?

Eating right is difficult.  Eating right during the holidays seems a nearly monumental task what with various aunts and grandmothers trying to feed you all of the cookies.  To take some of the guess work out of eating healthy Beth and I are going to do a series of posts about nutrition to give you some help!  To start with we will talk about the very basis of meal planning and nutrition in general.  Macronutrients.

The Important Stuff:

·         Macros or macronutrients are defined as nutrients that are needed in large quantities for normal growth and development. 

·         There are 3 basic types of macros: Carbohydrates (CHO), Fats, and Protein

o   CHO-  Carbohydrates are the body’s first fuel source and the only energy source for brain and red blood cells. 

o   Fats – Essential nutrient that provides energy, energy storage, insulation, and contour to the body.

o   Protein – The major structural component of all body tissue.

·         The macronutrient breakdown recommended by most sources is:

o   CHO: 45-65%

o   Fats: 20-35%

o   Protein: 10-35%

·         What this means in terms of calories per gram (as most labels tell you how many grams are in a product) is:

o   CHO: 4 calories/gram

o   Fat: 9 calories/gram

o   Protein: 4 calories/gram

o   BONUS! Alcohol: 7 calories/gram

The Math Stuff:

                All this information is really great, but how do you apply it? First you need to figure out how many calories per day you actually need.  There are lots of wonderful calculators you can find online to help you with this and we will put some links for you at the end to make it easy.  Let us just say that you need a 2000 calorie diet and are trying to figure out your macronutrient breakdown.  It would look something like this.

2000 x .55 = 1100 calories of carbs which would be (1100÷4) 275 grams

2000 x .25 = 500 calories of fats which would be (500÷9) 55.6 grams

2000 x .20 = 400 calories of protein which would be (400÷4) 100 grams

This is if you decide to do 55% CHOs, 25% fat, and 20% protein.  You are not limited to this breakdown and can use any breakdown that is within the suggested ranges.  

Links!

 http://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmr-calculator

http://www.calculator.net/bmr-calculator.html 

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bmr_calculator.htm