Sedentary life is one of the most important reasons of obesity. In the past, we have discussed about one simple addition you can make to your lifestyle, in order to cope with this problem.
If you applied it, then you will have already lost weight. If not, today I have one more suggestion for you.
Think about that: most people use their cars to go to work, and then they eat lunch in their work’s restaurant. This condemns them to at least 10 hours of inactivity per day.
So, my suggestion is the following: eat your lunch somewhere out of you workplace every day.
Even if you take your food with you from home, or if you eat at the restaurant, you can just package it and eat it out.
There is a nice little park very near to my work. So I take my food and go there. Usually, the meal consists of a protein source (meat, poultry, fish) along with carbs (potatoes, rice, pasta, bread), plus a salad and fruit. I only eat the meat, the salad and the fruit, and toss everything else on the ground. Other organisms living there need it more than me. After I have finished, I collect my own garbage, plus other nearby litter. This is extra movement and is good for the environment too. All in all, I am back to work after 30 minutes.
If you don’t have access to a park, there is no need to worry. The point is to walk 10 minutes before lunch and 10 minutes after it.
Do it every day, and watch your body change!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Great nutrition in 9 steps
1. Three meals
Eat 3 meals per day with protein, vegetables, and some fruit.
2. Don’t eat late
You will improve your sleep and you will be starving by morning, which is the best way to ensure you will have breakfast.
3. You are what you eat
Choose whole, live, raw, local and organic over mass-produced, foreign, packaged and processed. Invest in your food. The closer the food is to being alive, the greater the nutritive value.
4. No sugar
No white carbs of any kind. Replace them with natural nutrient-dense foods, like fruit and honey.
5. Eat after training
Or even better, sip some milk during training. It takes time to absorb the nutrients. How you feel right now is related to what you ate 12-48 hours ago.
6. Hunger
When is the last time you really felt that? Most people have conditioned themselves to eat at certain times, rather than when they actually are hungry. Experiment with intermittent fasting.
7. Wait 15 minutes after your meal to have any drink
Most of the bloated feeling comes from the drinking. Avoid meals that are too spicy.
8. Know when to stop
We have associated the feeling of fullness to be meal success. It’s not.
9. Take a short walk after your meal
You will help digestion and burn some calories, too!
Eat 3 meals per day with protein, vegetables, and some fruit.
2. Don’t eat late
You will improve your sleep and you will be starving by morning, which is the best way to ensure you will have breakfast.
3. You are what you eat
Choose whole, live, raw, local and organic over mass-produced, foreign, packaged and processed. Invest in your food. The closer the food is to being alive, the greater the nutritive value.
4. No sugar
No white carbs of any kind. Replace them with natural nutrient-dense foods, like fruit and honey.
5. Eat after training
Or even better, sip some milk during training. It takes time to absorb the nutrients. How you feel right now is related to what you ate 12-48 hours ago.
6. Hunger
When is the last time you really felt that? Most people have conditioned themselves to eat at certain times, rather than when they actually are hungry. Experiment with intermittent fasting.
7. Wait 15 minutes after your meal to have any drink
Most of the bloated feeling comes from the drinking. Avoid meals that are too spicy.
8. Know when to stop
We have associated the feeling of fullness to be meal success. It’s not.
9. Take a short walk after your meal
You will help digestion and burn some calories, too!
Friday, February 18, 2011
How to make your training more fun
I have been reading lately that our training should be fun, because that’s the only way to keep it in our schedule. Another usual advice is to combine training with recreation, for example going for a hike or playing a team sport.
I disagree.
Training should not be confused with fun. It should not be torture either, but there is a very specific reason to train, and this is to improve performance.
The general goal of our training is to build a better body. But, we must have specific goals as well, and these relate to the type of exercise we do.
If we train with weights, the goal is to regularly increase the poundage or the repetitions. If we do cardio (for example running), we must strive to improve our times or our endurance.
Even for the morning walk I have suggested in the past, we must try to increase the duration or the distance.
The advantage of all these activities is that progress can be clearly measured. And to quote Lord Kelvin, you can only improve what you can measure.
The best way to make training more rewarding is to make it more effective. Thus, separate training from fun and improve yourself!
I disagree.
Training should not be confused with fun. It should not be torture either, but there is a very specific reason to train, and this is to improve performance.
The general goal of our training is to build a better body. But, we must have specific goals as well, and these relate to the type of exercise we do.
If we train with weights, the goal is to regularly increase the poundage or the repetitions. If we do cardio (for example running), we must strive to improve our times or our endurance.
Even for the morning walk I have suggested in the past, we must try to increase the duration or the distance.
The advantage of all these activities is that progress can be clearly measured. And to quote Lord Kelvin, you can only improve what you can measure.
The best way to make training more rewarding is to make it more effective. Thus, separate training from fun and improve yourself!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
The three best exercises to build and preserve muscle
As we have seen, the best way to preserve your hard-earned muscle while losing fat is to lift weights. But which exercises should you do?
Fortunately, this question has been answered ages ago by powerlifters: you should do squats for your legs, deadlifts for your back, and bench presses for your chest.
Doing each one of those once per week (thus training three times weekly in total), you will be able to preserve - and even build - your muscle mass, even if you do nothing else. This goes for you too, ladies.
So what are you waiting for? Start building some strength on these movements.
Below there is a video of myself displaying correct form for these bread-and-butter exercises. I am not using a belt in the video, but you should.
Fortunately, this question has been answered ages ago by powerlifters: you should do squats for your legs, deadlifts for your back, and bench presses for your chest.
Doing each one of those once per week (thus training three times weekly in total), you will be able to preserve - and even build - your muscle mass, even if you do nothing else. This goes for you too, ladies.
So what are you waiting for? Start building some strength on these movements.
Below there is a video of myself displaying correct form for these bread-and-butter exercises. I am not using a belt in the video, but you should.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
The truth about Diet Coke (and sweeteners in general)
In the past, we have discussed about the negative effects of sugar and insulin (summary: avoid sugar as much as you can, both for health and fat loss). That’s why we advice our readers: if they must have a soft drink, they should prefer the diet ones.
However, recently various sources have been spreading the word that even sweeteners raise insulin, so there’s no point in them.
What is the truth then?
The truth is the following: neither aspartame, nor saccharin, nor sucralose affect insulin levels significantly.
Nobody of course can claim that diet drinks are healthy. But at least, get your facts straight.
However, recently various sources have been spreading the word that even sweeteners raise insulin, so there’s no point in them.
What is the truth then?
The truth is the following: neither aspartame, nor saccharin, nor sucralose affect insulin levels significantly.
Nobody of course can claim that diet drinks are healthy. But at least, get your facts straight.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Hunt your food
Many thousand years ago, prehistoric humans were forced to hunt (or gather) their food. It is also widely accepted that these humans were – for as long as they managed to survive – healthier and stronger than we are. These facts alone are enough to teach us some basic knowledge:
1. We must only eat natural foods (meat, vegetables, fruit)
2. We are designed to last for many days without food (because the hunt wasn’t always successful)
3. We must train on an empty stomach, and then reward ourselves and our bodies with healthy food (that’s exactly what a hungry hunter/gatherer would do)
Of course, I know full well that we are not living in caves anymore. So below you will find my suggestions for modern hunting:
1. Hunt for the QUALITY of your food
We are all used to taking food abundance for granted. However, quality is inversely proportional to quantity. If you want healthy food, then you will be forced to – almost literally – hunt for it. Good meat from healthy, naturally-fed animals. Organic dairy, not pasteurized and not homogenized. Organic fruit and vegetables, without pesticides and hormones. All of these are hard to find and expensive, and that’s why you have to hunt them.
2. Hunt literally
Hunting is a natural activity for all creatures – including man. I am obviously against hunting as a hobby or illegal hunting. However, I completely agree with someone who goes out to the nature and kills a healthy animal in order to eat it, and it’s something I plan on doing sometime. Guns, dogs etc make the process much easier, and the benefits of roaming in the outdoors are an added bonus.
3. Earn the right to eat
Before every meal, devote some time to physical activity. This can be in the gym, or you can just go for a short walk. What you are trying to do is give your body the illusion that it is hunting for its food. Psychologically, you can see it like this: only if you spend some energy you will earn the right to replenish it. After all, it’s quite logical. If you aren’t producing some kind of work, there is no reason to consume fuel (food).
Good luck!
1. We must only eat natural foods (meat, vegetables, fruit)
2. We are designed to last for many days without food (because the hunt wasn’t always successful)
3. We must train on an empty stomach, and then reward ourselves and our bodies with healthy food (that’s exactly what a hungry hunter/gatherer would do)
Of course, I know full well that we are not living in caves anymore. So below you will find my suggestions for modern hunting:
1. Hunt for the QUALITY of your food
We are all used to taking food abundance for granted. However, quality is inversely proportional to quantity. If you want healthy food, then you will be forced to – almost literally – hunt for it. Good meat from healthy, naturally-fed animals. Organic dairy, not pasteurized and not homogenized. Organic fruit and vegetables, without pesticides and hormones. All of these are hard to find and expensive, and that’s why you have to hunt them.
2. Hunt literally
Hunting is a natural activity for all creatures – including man. I am obviously against hunting as a hobby or illegal hunting. However, I completely agree with someone who goes out to the nature and kills a healthy animal in order to eat it, and it’s something I plan on doing sometime. Guns, dogs etc make the process much easier, and the benefits of roaming in the outdoors are an added bonus.
3. Earn the right to eat
Before every meal, devote some time to physical activity. This can be in the gym, or you can just go for a short walk. What you are trying to do is give your body the illusion that it is hunting for its food. Psychologically, you can see it like this: only if you spend some energy you will earn the right to replenish it. After all, it’s quite logical. If you aren’t producing some kind of work, there is no reason to consume fuel (food).
Good luck!
Friday, August 6, 2010
Finishing touches
Summer is the reason I abandoned the blog (and my diet). However, this past week I have been putting the initial plan in action: I have cut all carbs (even fruit/vegetables). In the past, we have discussed the reasons why a low-carb diet leads to fat loss. This extreme version I have been following magnifies the results.
Here are some guidelines for this type of diet:
1. Cut all carbs: breads, rice, potatoes, pasta, whole-wheat products, legumes, sugar, honey, soft drinks, fruit, vegetables, milk, and yoghurt.
2. The only foods that are allowed are: meat, poultry, fish, seafood, eggs, and cheese. The good thing is that you can eat as much as you like from these foods.
3. Take a multi-vitamin/multi-mineral supplement. Without fruit and vegetables, it is very hard to find these ingredients elsewhere.
4. For the same reason, take a fiber supplement, to avoid constipation.
5. Do not follow this diet for more than two weeks. At the end of this time, resume eating fruit and vegetables.
This diet is very powerful and the results adverse. You can follow it at once (to ready yourself for the beach), but it’s even better to ease into it, by following a low- (not zero) carb diet for 2-3 months before.
As for your training, do what you can. Obviously it’s hard to adhere to a schedule these days, but try to work out in the gym 2-3 times weekly. Apart from that, do your morning workout as frequently as possible.
One change that I have made these days is to add some exercises to the morning workout (besides running/walking). I usually look for an overhead bar in the park, and do 10 pull-ups, 10 dips (you have to find a spot for these), and 10 leg raises for the abs. With that kind of volume, these exercises will not build muscles, but they will help keeping on to what you already have, especially if you tend to miss gym workouts.
Another good idea is to walk at nights (the weather is ideal for that). This is very important if you overeat at dinner, or if you are forced to eat carbs.
If you do all that, bodyfat doesn’t stand a chance!
Here are some guidelines for this type of diet:
1. Cut all carbs: breads, rice, potatoes, pasta, whole-wheat products, legumes, sugar, honey, soft drinks, fruit, vegetables, milk, and yoghurt.
2. The only foods that are allowed are: meat, poultry, fish, seafood, eggs, and cheese. The good thing is that you can eat as much as you like from these foods.
3. Take a multi-vitamin/multi-mineral supplement. Without fruit and vegetables, it is very hard to find these ingredients elsewhere.
4. For the same reason, take a fiber supplement, to avoid constipation.
5. Do not follow this diet for more than two weeks. At the end of this time, resume eating fruit and vegetables.
This diet is very powerful and the results adverse. You can follow it at once (to ready yourself for the beach), but it’s even better to ease into it, by following a low- (not zero) carb diet for 2-3 months before.
As for your training, do what you can. Obviously it’s hard to adhere to a schedule these days, but try to work out in the gym 2-3 times weekly. Apart from that, do your morning workout as frequently as possible.
One change that I have made these days is to add some exercises to the morning workout (besides running/walking). I usually look for an overhead bar in the park, and do 10 pull-ups, 10 dips (you have to find a spot for these), and 10 leg raises for the abs. With that kind of volume, these exercises will not build muscles, but they will help keeping on to what you already have, especially if you tend to miss gym workouts.
Another good idea is to walk at nights (the weather is ideal for that). This is very important if you overeat at dinner, or if you are forced to eat carbs.
If you do all that, bodyfat doesn’t stand a chance!
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