Start Here:
How to Have Success with ANY Diet and Fitness Program
By Tony Simoneli
Start Here; How to Have Success with ANY Diet and Fitness Program
Copyright 2009 Tony Simoneli All Rights Reserved
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This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Cover Design: Linda W. Rigbee
Smashwords Edition November 2009
Hardcover Edition available at all major books stores OR www.eloquentbooks.com/starthere
ISBN - 978-1-60860-421-0
Read What Other Readers Have to Say About the “Little Green Book”.
"I was about 40-pounds overweight and very embarrassed to go to the gym.
My girlfriend has a personal trainer and has started to look great, but I just couldn't afford one. Tony your information has helped me to not only lose the weight, but has taught me how to have a healthy lifestyle for myself that I'm forever grateful. And your not lying, it was very easy to understand and follow. I have new confidence and have now joined a gym, and more so, I don't feel embarrassed anymore! Thank you."
Patricia O.
"I'm a nurse and with my medical background I typically can spot the
B.S. and know right away if I wasted my money. I'm glad to say that it's just like you said; you cut through all the hype and gimmicks and you gave me the real information that you promised."
"I understand nutrition, but I become lost when it comes to exercise and I didn't really know if I was doing things right and I'm too chicken to go to the gym by myself. I can honestly say that this book is very easy to read and you get right to the point with out any "fluff" as you say that gets filled between the important parts. I will be happy to recommend this book to others."
Silvia B.
"Tony you are the real deal. I have used personal trainer's in the past, but your information taught me so much that they didn't. Your "Little green Book" definitely was easy to follow with real information. It always seemed my trainer would jump around some of my questions, and I always felt it's because they were afraid that if they told me, I wouldn't need them any more. Thanks for explaining what the other are afraid to"
Max M.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I can't even tell you how many books and video's I've bought over the years. I'm very new to all this and have a hard time understanding everything. Your book is perfectly written in a way that was easy for me to understand. You got me very excited to move forward in my new lifestyle and learn more."
Thank you - Shal S.
Aug 26, 2009
With over 10 years of experience as a nationally certified personal trainer, Tony Simoneli has filtered through all the hype and fads to reveal the most successful diets and fitness tips and secrets, the ones that really work.
Start Here: How to have Success With Any Diet and Fitness Program is written in a conversational way to break down the information into manageable chunks. This makes it easy to learn the fundamentals that will help you succeed with any diet or fitness program.
Simoneli’s book is appealing to beginners on the dieting and exercise scene, and to anyone looking to begin a weight loss program leading to successful results. For your healthy future, Start Here!
PRLog
Table of Contents
Content Disclaimer
About The Author
How Everyone Can Benefit
A Little History of Fitness
Better than a Personal Trainer
Dieting
Protein
Carbohydrates
Fats
Changing Your Body Composition
Water
Basic Exercise Terms to Know
Resistance Training
Oxygen
The Cardio-Respiratory Systems
Cardio Training
Flexibility Training
Your Posture
The Core
Breathing
Basic Movements You Should Know
Setting Goals
Personal Trainers
Resources
Content Disclaimer
This content is for informational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read in this book – Start Here: How to have Success with Any Diet or Fitness Program. Reliance on any information provided by the book or any Company Affiliate with the book is solely at your own risk.
About The Author
At 39 years young I’ve been involved with many types of sports and exercise during my life, following in the footsteps of my dad. Growing up with a young dad who was interested in his health, I was given the opportunity to try a large variety of sports like racing bikes, power lifting, American kenpo karate, football, soccer and playing rugby until I joined the Air Force and went to Desert Storm.
Along with sports, my dad seeded my interest in exercise by teaching me what he knew and bringing me to health clubs as a kid. I became fascinated with how the body works and marveled at what an incredible machine the human body is. To this day when I watch a TV show about engineers trying to produce robots and machines to replicate simple human movements I’m left with a sense of admiration in how nature has overcome these obstacles. I can’t help but reflect on how ingenious nature is. I’m also constantly a student. After all, we, the human race, are constantly learning more about ourselves as we press forward in life. I’m always interested in learning more and because of this I’ve adapted my knowledge, not only with my clients over the years but with myself as well. Now considered middle-aged, I’ve personally gone through the aches and pains of getting older as well as controlling my weight. I gained fifty pounds in a relatively short time after getting married. As a person who ‘practices what he preaches’, this was a challenge for me to prove it. I’ve now returned to what I weighed in my twenties, although maybe not quite as muscular as I was then, but I feel great and I’m now living proof to the methods that I’ve been teaching others for over ten years.
My Experience
I have been nationally certified as a Personal Trainer from the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) since 1998, including additional certifications in Optimal Performance Training with NASM as well as Nutrition from Apex Fitness. Although I’m able to instruct in a vast array of training methods, my specialties are balance and stability training, which includes focus on the smaller muscle groups that support the joints. In addition, I work on posture correction that focuses on correcting muscle imbalances, which pull the body out of correct alignment and change its center of gravity. This imbalance can cause many physical ailments, including chronic joint pain as well as the very prevalent chronic low back pain. In the years since obtaining my certification, I have taken many related classes and workshops as well as reading countless books and publications to continue my education. My work experience includes various management roles in health clubs, including Fitness Director. I’ve also been a sales person for fitness equipment, have taught multiple workshops and classes on fitness and designed and operated a children’s fitness program that I called C.O.R.E. 4Kids.
My Personal Philosophy
To continue my education and grow, physically, emotionally and spiritually while bettering the lives of others.
How You Can Benefit From This Book
In part the health club industry depends upon the yearly cycle of new members that allow them to stay in business. You know the story. In January mass amounts of well-meaning people flock to the health clubs to begin a New Year’s resolution of fitness and fat loss, only to find by March or April about eighty percent drop out, but continue to pay for the membership for the next year or two. The clubs need to maintain a steady stream of revenue; this is why most health clubs today lock you into a one or two year contract. One day I was discussing this phenomenon with my colleagues. We analyzed why people quit their resolutions instead of completing their goals and narrowed it down to what we felt were the two main reasons:
First Scenario - Many who have joined a health club are new and likely clueless to fitness and the health club itself. You flock to the clubs and begin exercise programs of varying sorts with every intention of fulfilling your dream of a healthy lifestyle. However, you may be timid and apprehensive because you’re not sure where to start. You are most likely self-conscious about how you look and about your lack of experience. You soon get overwhelmed with the mass amounts of information that you’ve picked up in regards to correct techniques or the quickest pathways to success. Most of this information is false or a fad, given freely by well-meaning “experts” or it’s something you saw on TV. You soon get frustrated, more self-conscious, sore, tired, and eventually give up, thinking ‘this is too difficult’. Am I getting warm?
Second Scenario - You are a person who used to be active and healthy, but have “let your self go” over the years and now you’re trying to return to your old routines. You’ve convinced yourself that you still “got it” (and you might not be far off) and you try to keep up with the seasoned club members or athletes only to over-do-it, getting very sore, tired, and never show up again. Perhaps you’re even embarrassed at making the attempt in the first place. Am I on the right track?
I find most everyone will agree that quality personal training would be very beneficial and it is the best way to achieve your goals, but it can get expensive, costing hundreds, even thousands of dollars for a trainer that really knows what they are doing. Good news though: this book will fill in the gaps by providing you with the quality education and training that you’re looking for at an extremely affordable price. Why do I bother you may ask? It’s because I’m a teacher and dedicated to educating others on how to develop a healthy lifestyle - not profits, fads, or gimmicks. I love what I do! I have filtered through all the fads and hype that you find with fitness so you can learn the true fundamentals that will help you to succeed with any diet or fitness program that you wish to begin (or should I say complete?). Over the years I’ve found that some of my clients didn’t even know what a repetition or a set was and this is really basic information. If you don’t know either, don’t worry; I’ll explain it to you soon. I’ve also made this book very easy to understand so you can begin enjoying the healthy lifestyle that you’ve envisioned for yourself right away. With this book I’ve purposely stuck to the basics for two reasons:
1) There are a lot of people out there that don’t know the basics and I want to enable you to make the correct foundation steps in order for you to quickly absorb and put to practice what you are reading.
2) As you get more adapted to creating your healthy lifestyle, you will get more excited and begin to gather additional information, on your own and at the speed that is right for you. It’s my belief that in this way, you will retain more information - faster. We all do when it’s something we enjoy!
A Little History of Fitness
Back in the 1950s and 1960s health clubs were called gyms and they catered mainly to men who were training for specific goals such as bodybuilding (which was in its infant stages), power lifting, or to enhance sports performance.
When the 1970s came around, going to the gym became an active outlet and a hip social environment for most everyone, no matter their fitness level or ability. Some didn’t even exercise; they were there just to be a part of the “happening scene”. A lot of gyms during this time even had a bar serving beer and wine! It was also a time when exercise was realized to be a way to alter your physical appearance - just in time for a generation that became conscious about how they looked. However, because “working out” was still a new concept, many people needed guidance.
The “expert” was usually the guy who was the strongest or who looked the biggest or the most fit. These people became the unofficial personal trainers at a time when there wasn’t such a thing as personal trainers, only athletic coaches. Because these “trainers” basically had no education in regards to either training or the human body, they mostly put others through the same routines they performed themselves. With steroids becoming more popular, some of these routines were very difficult for those not using them, especially if the person giving the guidance was.
During the 1980s our lives became more and more automated along with an increased demand for our attendance at work. We had less and less time for physical leisure activities like we did in the past. So it’s not surprising that as far back as 1985 the International Obesity Task Force announced obesity to be an oncoming epidemic.
The 1990’s ushered in a profound change in fitness. This decade brought us a more dynamic look at how the body functions, which led to further advancements with fitness equipment. These changes allowed equipment to move more like the body naturally does in everyday life, which ultimately made the equipment more comfortable to use. Precore is a great example with the invention of the elliptical trainer in 1995.
During this decade, personal training was now being recognized as a serious profession and an excellent revenue source for health clubs. With our increased awareness of a healthy lifestyle and its associated benefits we started to demand more knowledgeable training professionals. Companies, along with those who took their personal training job seriously, strived for better regulation on becoming a personal trainer. Today companies are currently working to get personal trainer’s licensed by the state like contractors.
Obesity in America…
Regardless of the proven benefits of physical activity, more than sixty percent of American adults do not get enough physical activity to provide health benefits. More than twenty-five percent are not active at all in their leisure time.
…Still on the rise
Here is a statement published by the National Center for Health Statistics:
Obesity continued to increase dramatically during the late 1990s for Americans of all ages, with nearly one-third of all adults now classified as obese, according to new data from the 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Data from the most recent NHANES survey shows that the percentage of adults aged twenty years and over who are overweight or obese has increased to 66.3 percent.
Wow! All of this regardless of the increased awareness of health and exercise and the benefits it provides.
The Problem May Be Worse For Children
A few years back I developed and operated a children’s fitness program I named Creative Obesity Recreation Exercises for kids or C.O.R.E. 4Kids. While doing research to gain more knowledge in developing the program I came across some scary statistics in regards to the health of children these days:
The latest available stats for children that are obese are from 2003-2004 and are as follows: age 2-5: 13.9 percent, age 6-11: 18.8 percent and age 12-19: 17.4 percent. This means that 16.3 percent of children ages 2 to 19 are considered obese, which is at or above the 95th percentile of the 2000 BMI-for-age growth charts, whereas from 1971 to 1974 the numbers were only 4 percent.
From 1979 to 2000, health care costs for obesity related conditions in 6-7 year olds alone increased from $35 million to $127 million.
Every week children watch an average of forty-two hours of television and play seven hours of video games. That’s a workweek with overtime!
Fewer than twenty percent of children get twenty minutes of vigorous activity every day. In fact, fewer than twenty-five percent report getting half an hour of any type of physical activity every day.
In 1991, forty-two percent of the nation’s school children participated in physical education programs. By 1999, that number had dropped to twenty-one percent!
I’ve learned from the National Center for Health Statistics that the U.S. economy is currently spending over $100,000,000,000 every year for conditions caused by being overweight and obese. Yes folks, that’s one hundred billion! Being overweight means you have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25 to 29.9 percent. Obese means you have a BMI of 30 to 34.9 percent.
You have the power to combat this with exercise and you don’t even have to exercise much. A little regular physical activity substantially reduces the risk of health related problems like coronary heart disease (the nation's leading cause of death), stroke, colon cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure - just to name a few. Regular exercise also helps to control weight; contributes to healthy bones, muscles and joints; reduces falls among older adults; helps to relieve the pain of arthritis; reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression, and is associated with fewer hospitalizations, physician visits, and medications. But you already knew this, right?
Even though there are approximately 26,830 health and fitness clubs in the U.S. (according to the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association – IHRSA - 2005) they still only enroll about twelve percent of the possible market. Physical activity doesn’t need be strenuous to be beneficial. People of all ages benefit from participating in regular moderate-intensity physical activity such as twenty minutes of brisk walking three or more times a week. Simple.
One thing to remember is that exercise should be fun and enjoyable! It’s a pet peeve of mine to hear clients or friends whine, “Uhhh I have to go work out”. It shouldn’t be something you HAVE to do – it should be something you WANT to do.
This is part of my philosophy with this book; enjoy the time you spend while exercising. Make it the time you get to sift through your day, or the break you may need from the hustle and bustle of the family and everyday life. Then, when you do go exercise, you can tell everyone; “I get to go exercise now!”
Better Than a Personal Trainer?
There is a lot to be said for working in-person with a quality fitness trainer. However, the majority of people who work with a trainer miss out on a very important element. While exercising with their trainer, clients are being corrected or asked to make adjustments here, turn a little more there, or tighten up a bit more and so on. Clients will listen to what the trainer is telling them and then continue through the motions, which are usually coupled with a conversation about their day or events.
What happens after they’ve completed their sessions and they are on their own is that they can’t remember most of what the trainer was teaching them! Clients subconsciously made the changes that the trainer would give and went on chatting, or thinking about work or kids and so forth. They now scratch their heads wondering what to do. They seem to have forgotten how to do the exercises they have been doing for weeks!
I estimate about seventy percent of clients forget sixty to eighty-five percent of everything they were taught. They were too busy concentrating on other things and didn’t focus on what they were paying a trainer for in the first place - training. However, in their defense, trainers do provide an enormous amount of information and it can take awhile to absorb everything. Good trainers spend years learning what they know.
Now, some clients don’t mind not remembering. They just want someone there to push them through a routine or listen to them talk about life (trainers can sometimes become psychologists for some clients). However, they are usually the people that have the means to pay for a trainer over and over again. Once clients realize they don’t remember how to carry out the exercises on their own, they begin asking the trainer a ton of questions every time they get the chance. Trainers who are running a successful business try to accommodate as much as possible but they are trying to run a business and they only get paid if they can sign up more sessions. If the trainer has some free time they will be more than happy to answer questions. At most of the larger health clubs they usually have trainers scheduled during the day specifically to go around the club and answer questions or lend a hand if a member needs it. This is called Floor Time.
By using a quality training book like this one, you’ll tend to retain the knowledge better. You will also make the most out of your money because don’t have to pay for a trainer but have important information at your fingertips. You will have to really think about what you are doing and concentrate on where your hand goes, or when to breathe, or how to position your feet. Likewise, you can always refer back to a chapter as needed. It’s during this time you develop your questions, as you are doing the exercise, instead of after the fact. The level of improvement seen in clients is tremendous! Are you getting excited yet?
Great, Let’s Get Started!
Dieting
There are a myriad of diet plans out there and this topic could warrant a whole book by itself. I’m not going to go into a lot of descriptions on the various diets because the fact of the matter is, a large percentage of these diets are fad-based and not really healthy for you. Most of them will only work for a short while because they put such a shock to the body. Most people gain the weight back. Some gain even more!
Instead, I will relate to you the fundamentals of proper nutrition. This way, if you go exploring diet plans, you will be better armed in knowing what these plans are talking about and have a foundation on which to base your decision.
Introduction To Nutrition
One thing to keep in mind is that the human body is a very remarkable machine that has been around for a long time. Your body knows what it’s doing. What throws most of us off is the human quest to make life easier. Because of automation we have more leisure time available and, because of automation, we spend the bulk of this time being physically inactive. Thus we tend to become lazy and, for some, when we reach that critical point, we look for the lazy solution.
No fad diet will make you healthy by itself and as I’ve said before I’m doubtful it would give you real long-term results. You have to include an exercise program to have lasting success and your exercise program doesn’t even have to be that strenuous. Our bodies are designed to have exercise. Remember, we’ve spent hundreds of thousands of years as hunters and gatherers. We have only lost our way in approximately the last hundred years when the Industrial Revolution really started to take off. We no longer have to work for our food as we did in the past. Nowadays it only takes a short drive to the store or fast food joint. Our bodies are going to adapt to this change but Mother Nature runs on a different timeline than what has become the norm for us. I’ll explain how to make the changes safely in a bit.
Most diet programs out there will claim theirs is the best way to achieve your goals and they will throw all kinds of scientific terms at you and maybe even have a Doctor endorse their product to sound more impressive. Do you want to know why they make all this effort?
They’re trying to make money!
The way to lose body fat is simple – very simple if you do what’s necessary. It’s called the Law of Thermal Dynamics – You lose weight if you burn more calories than you consume. That’s it. You can watch all the infomercials you want, explaining in very technical terms the details of how and why the body will do certain things with their pill, drink or style of eating that they recommend but most won’t work. Think back to all the different diets that you’ve seen come and go over the years or that you may have tried already. If they were that good in the first place, what happened to them? It’s my beliefs that if they were great to begin with, they would be taught in schools, not disappear.
Have you ever heard of the K.I.S.S principle?
Keep
It
Simple
Silly
Don’t try to make things more difficult than they are. The body works best this way. Don’t get confused with the hype from people trying to make money. When counting your calories here are some basics that can go a long way:
One gram of protein = four calories,
One gram of carbohydrate = four calories
One gram of fat = nine calories
One ounce of alcohol = seven calories.
You want to watch your calories but you’ll also want to watch what kind of calories you are putting into your body. I’ll discuss this more in a bit.
Note: Alcohol is an “empty calorie”. Meaning, it has no nutritional value at all but it will contribute to the ebb and flow of your body composition. If the alcoholic beverage also contains carbohydrates (sugars) then the calories for this beverage will be even higher. For example, according to Forbes.com in the health section a margarita can contain as much as seven hundred plus calories per drink! Drink only three of these and you almost used up your whole day’s worth of calories! This, of course, depends on the way it’s made and the size of the drink.
Protein
Protein, along with carbohydrates and fats, are part of a group called Macronutrients. These are the basic components of your nutrition. Protein is what your body uses to build and repair tissues and cell structures. It also synthesizes hormones and enzymes. Your body can use protein for energy, but will only do so when your body has insufficient carbohydrates in its diet. Think about that last line when considering a popular diet that is making the rounds.
Protein is made from amino acids linked together. Amino acids are classified into two categories:
Essential Amino Acids
Essential amino acids are small bits of protein that cannot be manufactured in the body (or they are manufactured in insufficient amounts). They must be obtained through food or supplementation. Protein can come from any variety of sources such as animal products, fermented soy, any variety of beans and some grains.
Non-Essential Amino Acids
These are amino’s that are manufactured within the body. They do not require you to consume them.
In order for your body to digest and utilize protein, it must be broken down into amino acids.
Satiety is the feeling of being full. Protein has been shown to increase satiety and thus decrease the desire for food intake (this is a big factor in popular protein diets).
Negative Side Effects Associated with a Chronic High-Protein Diet
A high-protein diet is one where protein constitutes more than thirty percent of your total caloric intake. This can lead to some negative side effects like:
Calcium depletion (osteoporosis)
Fluid imbalance
Slower metabolism (the opposite of your weight-loss goals)
Weight rebound
Loss of energy
Protein Intake Recommendations:
Endurance Athlete - 1.4 grams per 3.09 pounds of bodyweight per day.
Bodybuilder - 1.0 gram per 2.20 pounds bodyweight per day.
Recreational Athlete - 1.0 gram per 2.20 pounds bodyweight per day.
Note: If you are pregnant, you will have a need for extra protein in your diet. Consult with your Doctor for the recommended guidelines based on your particular needs.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates (also called carbs) are compounds commonly classified as:
Sugars (simple carbohydrates)
Starches (complex carbohydrates)
Fiber
All carbohydrates are made up of sugars. Although there are a number of different types of sugars, in the body all carbohydrates are converted from sugar to glucose, the body's preferred energy source.
Glucose is the main sugar present in many foods. Some foods contain different types of sugars, such as fructose in fruit, and lactose in milk. Most sugars are digested, absorbed and converted to glucose. Some cannot be digested and we call this fiber.
Simple Carbohydrates
Simple carbohydrates are smaller molecules of sugar. Individual sugar molecules themselves - glucose, fructose and galactose - are called monosaccharides. When you have two sugar molecules bonded together they are called disaccharides. They are digested quickly because the individual sugars are ready to be absorbed immediately. Plus the digestive enzymes that break food down for you have easy access to the bonds that hold the molecules together. With simple sugars you could say that most of the work has already been done for you!
However, their rapid absorption increases the chances of sugar being converted to fat, especially if there are large quantities consumed at one time. Processed foods like cake, pastries, biscuits, chocolate and table sugar, to name only a few, are easily converted to fat because they contain much more sugar than the body needs. This is why you should avoid processed foods altogether. I know they are quicker to prepare or grab off the shelf but they will lead to a quicker failure with your health goals.
Because our cells usually do not require such a large amount of energy at one time, the sugar must either be converted to glycogen (sugar storage within cells) or converted to fat. However cells can only store a limited amount of glycogen. Foods loaded with simple carbohydrates will contribute greatly to fat stores unless you have enough physical activity to burn it off. Remember the Law of Thermal Dynamics?
Natural foods, like fruit, contain naturally occurring simple sugars (fructose) but, because the amount of sugar is low, there's less chance for it to be converted to fat. Plus many fruits are high in fiber, which helps slow digestion, thus limiting the flood of sugar into the body when it’s not needed.
Complex Carbohydrates
Complex carbohydrates, or starches, are sugars bonded together to form a chain. Digestive enzymes have to work much harder to access the bonds and break the chain into individual sugars for absorption through the intestines. For this reason, digestion of complex carbohydrates takes longer. The slow absorption of these sugars provides us with a steady stream of energy and limits the amount of sugar converted into fat. Examples of these types of sugars are potatoes, rice, bread and pasta.
Fiber
Fiber is an elongated, thread-like structure in fruits, vegetables and grains that cannot be digested. They help grab the gunk in your intestines to keep them working properly. The benefits of fiber include:
Lowers incidences of heart disease and certain types of cancer, including colon cancer
Provides bulk to the diet
Increases satiety (the feeling of being full)
Prevents constipation and establishes bowel regularity
Aides in the prevention of bacterial infections
Helps retain the health of the digestive-tract muscles
Regulates the body’s absorption of glucose (sugar)
Note: High-fiber meals have been shown to exert regulatory effects on blood-glucose (sugar) levels for up to five hours after eating.
Pre-Exercise Intake
Remember, carbs are your body’s preferred source of energy. It’s recommended to eat a high-carb meal two to three hours before activities that will last one hour or longer. This will allow you to fully digest and empty your stomach. If this isn’t possible for you due to time constraints, then a liquid meal-replacement formula may be used, or better yet a smaller meal eaten closer to the time of your workout, such as oatmeal. Just remember to watch your serving size.
Carbs and Body Composition
Carbohydrates should make up the highest percentage of your macronutrient calories when you are attempting either to lose fat or gain muscle.
I know some of you are feeling defensive right now if you’re on a high-protein diet plan, but as I’ve said earlier, the body is just not set up to run on such high doses of protein.
For most moderately active adults, your diet should consist of about fifty to sixty percent carbohydrates. The satiating value with carbs, especially complex carbs, when trying to lose weight is very helpful. Protein should only make up about twenty-five to thirty percent of your diet. The last ten to fifteen percent is left for fats.
Fats
Fats are often the “bad word” when it comes to dieting. However, fats are needed as part of your healthy diet as there are many benefits associated with them. You just have to know the good, the bad and the ugly. The fats that we want to discuss are lipids, which are further classified as triglycerides.
The Bad (also ugly)
Saturated fat – This is the fat that becomes hard and whitish in color at room temperature and is found mostly in animal products. Think about a cooked steak you’ve left out for a while. It’s that yucky white stuff you scrape off when you go to reheat it later. Saturated fat is the stuff that is implicated in the increase of LDL or “bad” cholesterol.
When shopping look for the leanest cuts that you can find. Most meat departments will even trim the meat for you at no cost if you ask them. Grilling meat is the preferred way to cook it. The fat will drip off into the bottom of the grill allowing the steak to become healthier to eat.
The Good
Unsaturated fat - is implicated in HDL or “good” cholesterol. This can be found in products like olive oil, canola oil and almond oil. Mono-unsaturated fat is a double bond in its chain. Poly-unsaturated fat has more than one in its double-bonded chain. These are found in peanuts, macadamia nuts, safflower oil and corn oil. Don’t worry if this is starting to sound overwhelming just remember that unsaturated fat is good.
The benefits of these fats are:
Provides energy
Transports fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E and K
Provides regulation and excretion of nutrients in the cells
Provides organ protection
Initiates the release of the hormone cholecystokinin, which is a hormone that signals satiety (feeling full)
A recap of what your suggested macronutrient intake should be are as follows:
Carbohydrates should make up the bulk of your food intake at 50-60 percent
Protein should only be about 25-30 percent of your diet
10 to 15 percent is left for fats
And don’t forget the Law of Thermal Dynamics – You lose body fat when you burn more calories than you take in.
Changing Your Body Composition
Measure your Body Composition - Not your Weight
Your total weight is a combination of bone, ligaments, tendons, organs, fluids, muscle and of course fat. When you gain or lose weight due to either a fitness program or neglecting your health, then your overall weight will change, as well as the ratio of these elements to one another. The term body composition is defined as the relationship between all the lean tissue within the body and the fat.
One of the most difficult, yet important, concepts that will help you with your journey to a healthy lifestyle is it’s not what you weigh, but the relationship of your lean mass to your fat mass.
It’s not uncommon for a person to begin a fitness program and not see a decrease in weight while experiencing a decrease in inches at the waist – which is most likely your goal. Sometimes you might even gain a pound or two. The point I want to make is that you shouldn’t be so concerned with your weight as long as you are losing the inches. Men don’t usually have a problem with constantly checking the scale but women tend to focus only on their weight because society and the media have made such a mental impact.
Muscle weighs three times more than fat per volume, and as you gain lean muscle (not necessarily bulk) as you exercise, you can be smaller physically but weigh more. The distinction between being “over-weight” and “over-fat” is important to learn here. As an active person, when you exercise regularly, you will gain more muscle from your activities, and thus possibly gain weight, but you’ll lose inches and body fat which allows you to fit into your “skinny jeans” and that’s the real goal right?
Likewise, if you maintain your current daily calorie intake but don’t add any more physical activity, the result is probably the body composition you have now. I want to give you a link to The Department of Health and Human Services BMI (Body Mass Index) calculator to see where you are currently. Keep in mind however that you should visit your doctor or a personal trainer to get the most accurate reading: www.cdc.gov. This will give you a better idea as to what you really should lose.
Now that you have an understanding of your body composition, I want to explain some of the ways you can change it. The old motto of three square meals a day isn’t the best way to eat. It’s recommended that you eat smaller meals more frequently – about four to six times per day. It may sound like a lot, but I’m willing to bet that if you tracked your current eating habits, including junk food snacks, you will probably find that you are already are doing this.
An example would be; 7AM Breakfast, 9-10AM a healthy snack like a piece of fruit, 12-1PM lunch, 2-3PM another healthy snack followed by dinner around 5-6PM.
A benefit of eating this way is that your metabolism will stay revved up because you are constantly digesting throughout the day (which burns calories). This also means your body is getting a continuous supply of nourishment and you can stay more active because you’re not feeling weak or hungry. Likewise, you’re not trying to make up for the longer gaps between meals by eating too much and getting stuck on the couch with a bloated belly!
Your metabolism will stay stronger when you eat the good stuff, like; whole grains, fresh fruits and veggies, while limiting or, better yet, eliminating processed foods. The reason for this is that it takes more work for your body to digest the good foods. This makes you feel full longer and you will burn more calories while digesting. Avoid eating “empty calories” because they do nothing for you. Don’t forget your fluids too!
Spend a week counting your calories to get a better understanding of what you’re actually consuming. If you have a food item of which you’re not sure how many calories it has, go to this website: (www.calorieking.com). You can type in the food item along with the size and it will tell you how many calories it contains. Corporations have done too great of a job with advertising telling us that eating larger sizes is the cool, ‘manly’ or good ol’ American way to eat. You know why? Because as you get fatter, so do their bank accounts!
Remember, eat four to six times per day and spread your protein intake throughout the day to aid in tissue recovery. Consume your post workout meal within thirty to sixty minutes after your workout. Bare in mind this is only basic nutritional information. Seek the advice of an expert such as a Dietician or Certified Nutrition Consultant if you want to get more in depth and customize a plan for yourself.
Calculating Your Caloric Intake
Everything you consume can either positively or negatively affect your nutritional success. You now have learned that the types of food and the amount of food you consume each day are important. When working to change your body composition you need to know how many calories are enough or too much. Next you will find a chart by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to determine where you are calorie wise and how to adjust them to make the gains or losses you desire.
The tables calculate the daily calories necessary to support your metabolic rate. Margin of error is +/- ten percent. To calculate your height in inches, just multiply the number of feet by twelve and then add the remainder of inches. So, for five foot five inches, the formula would be 5 x 12 = 60; then add the five inches, and you get sixty-five inches.
Note: If your goal is to lose weight, put in your ideal weight instead of your current weight to get an idea of how many calories to aim for. However, make sure to step down gradually so you don’t shock your body into thinking something is wrong.
Men
1. Your Body Weight x 6.22 =__________
2. Your Height (in inches) x 12.70 =__________ Now add both lines +___66_____ Subtotal =__________.
3. Age (years) x 6.80 =__________ Then subtract the subtotal from this number to =__________Your caloric need to maintain your current weight.
4. Activity Factor (from below) __________ x Caloric need above.
5. Total Daily Calories =__________
Women
1. Your Body Weight x 4.36 =__________
2. Your Height (in inches) x 4.32 =__________ Now add both lines +___665____ Subtotal =__________.
3. Age (years) x4.70 =__________ Then subtract subtotal from this number =__________ Your caloric need to maintain your current weight.
4. Activity Factor (from below) __________ x Caloric need above.
5. Total Daily Calories =__________
Activity Factor
1.3 = Very light physical activity (sitting, driving, standing, lab work).
1.5 = Light physical activity (housecleaning, walking 3mph).
1.7 = Moderate physical activity (tennis, walking 4mph, weeding).
2.0 = Heavy physical activity (full court basketball, heavy digging, long distance running).
2.4 = Very heavy physical activity (competitive triathlete etc.)
If your goal is to lose weight, avoid lowering your caloric intake too much too soon. It’s very important to remember that a caloric deficit greater than five hundred to seven hundred calories on a daily basis will cause the body to actually slow down its metabolic rate and burn fewer calories.
If you cut out too much too fast your body will go into survival mode and actually hold on to more of what you consume because it thinks something is wrong, and rightly so. It’s not healthy for you to lose too much in a short period of time. Your body needs time to adjust and make changes. This is why fad diets that promise incredible weight losses don’t work after a short period of time. Your body needs to be able to adjust to remain healthy. Keep in mind that it most likely took you years to put on the weight, which is why you really didn’t notice it.
Remain safe with your goal by only lowering your calories by one hundred to two hundred per day. This will allow you to adjust properly and avoid “shocking” the body and causing a rebound. Not to mention it is much easier to do it this way. You won’t feel like you’re starving yourself as soon as you start – like with a lot of plans out there. For example, if you enjoy a large Caramel Frappuccino every day, all you would have to do is order a medium size instead. Simple right? By taking the baby-steps you’re still going to enjoy the foods that you like instead of settling for a plate of carrots and rice cakes for a meal.
Note: It takes an extra 3,500 calories to put on 1-pound of fat. What this means is if you have stayed within you caloric range of, say 2,500 calories for the day, but added two Mocha Espresso’s to your diet each day, that’s about an extra five hundred calories to your daily intake. At the end of the week you will have put on one-pound of fat (unless your burn it off).
Water
This is another topic that is always heated (no pun intended). How much water should you consume? Aside from staying hydrated, why exactly, is water so important? What if I drink a soda or coffee; does that count?
The Importance of Water
Water contributes to about sixty percent of the human body by weight. Although we can go a couple of weeks without food, we can only survive a few days without water. One important benefit of maintaining proper fluid balance is that fluid retention is alleviated. Yes, you read correctly. The human body has become so efficient that if it doesn’t get enough water it will retain more of what you do consume to aid in survival. This is because the body doesn’t know when the next supply will come. If you drink water regularly, it won’t have a need to store as much. The same goes for food too. If you are overweight, increasing your water intake will help you dramatically because when you are feeling hungry, oftentimes you are actually thirsty. The body uses the same signals for hungry and thirsty and unfortunately most people get confused and feed themselves instead of drinking more water.
Other benefits of regular water consumption are:
Liver function improves
Natural thirst regulation returns
Appetite decreases significantly
Nutrients can be distributed throughout the body more efficiently
Waste by-products are flushed from the body
How Water Affects Performance
Fluid loss of only two percent or more of your body weight will adversely affect circulatory function and decrease performance. Also, the body cannot adapt to dehydration. Just so you understand exactly what this means, here is the clinical definition of dehydration from WebMD:
Dehydration is often used in clinical practice to indicate the combined loss of both water and sodium. Many physiologists would have preferred the term to be used to indicate pure water loss. However, patients never lose only water.
Likewise, the term "re-hydration” is never used to mean giving patients pure water. Miscommunication between clinicians does not occur because detailed laboratory data such as serum electrolytes, creatine, blood urea nitrogen and glucose levels as well as the type of fluids used to "re-hydrate" are always included in their conversation.
As we all know dehydration is not good for the body. Here is a list of the effects of dehydration.
Decrease in blood pressure
Decrease in sweat rate
Water retention
Increase in heart rate
Sodium (salt) retention
Decrease in blood flow to the skin
Increase in perceived exertion (feeling tired sooner)
Increase in muscle glycogen
Can You Have Too Much Water?
This may shock you but the answer is yes! Consuming too much water is called “water intoxication” or the technical term Hyponatremia. And it’s not an unusual problem. Often seen in long-distance runners and cyclists, it can also be associated with obsessive-compulsive behaviors. Too much water in our system causes the dilution of essential electrolytes and sodium in our blood stream. What happens is that as the athlete consumes large amounts of water over the course of the event, blood plasma (the liquid part of blood) increases. As this takes place, the sodium content of the blood is diluted. At the same time, the athlete is losing sodium by sweating. Consequently, the amount of sodium available to body tissue will decrease over time to a point where the loss interferes with brain, heart, and muscle function.
How Much Should I Have?
We consume water in the form of liquids (juice, coffee etc.) and also in foods, primarily fruits and vegetables. The only foods that don’t contain water are commercially dehydrated foods. Ideally you should drink approximately ninety-six ounces (or three quarts) each day. If your aim is weight loss, pay close attention to that last sentence. Water can curb your appetite and improve organ functions to aid greatly in your efforts.
As you exercise it’s recommended that you consume sixteen ounces of fluids two hours before your workout. Drink twenty to forty ounces of fluids for every hour of exercise. If your workout is more than an hour at a time, drink a sports drink to replace electrolytes and muscle glycogen stores instead. If it is less than an hour, water will work best for you.
Basic Exercise Terms to Know
Knowing the basic terminology will, at the very least, give you more confidence in asking questions and advice from someone more experienced.
When I was in the Air Force, my training instructor would always say that the dumbest question you could ever ask is the one you don’t ask. Nevertheless, all of us like to keep our pride in check and if you don’t know what or how to ask the question you want, you’ll never ask it for fear of looking foolish. Knowledge is power so; to set you minds at ease, I’ll explain some basic terms to give you a nice boost.
I remember one time when I was teaching a workshop, a member asked the question “What is fitness? What exactly does it mean to be fit?” I thought this was a fantastic question. We hear about fitness all the time but very few of us take the time to ask ourselves “What would it take to consider myself fit?” If you’re involved in sports or you look lean or muscular it would seem an easy answer but does looking fit mean that you are fit? What about the everyday person looking to achieve fitness? After I pondered this question for a while, this is what I came up with as the definition of “being fit” for the average person:
*Being fit is the ability to handle everyday tasks and demands placed on the body with relative ease.
What this means is: are you able to climb a flight of stairs without being winded at the top? Can you pick up your kids or play with them without getting dizzy or “pooped” after only a few minutes? Can you carry bags of groceries from the car to the kitchen without having to stop to give your muscles a rest? If you can say yes to these questions, then I would venture it’s safe to say you’re in relatively good shape. Congratulations! With that said, here are some common terms that everyone needs to know when exercising:
Repetition or Rep – This is defined as one complete movement of a particular exercise involving the three muscle actions – concentric, isometric and eccentric (I’ll explain what these are very shortly). Reps are simply a means to count the number of movements performed or a means to count how many times a particular muscle has been under tension.
How many reps you perform will depend on what your goal is. Research demonstrates that training in a specific repetition range yields specific benefits. Here is a table for a repetition range as offered by the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM):
Training Goal / Repetition Range
Beginners Learning Proper Movement = 1-5 Reps
Building Strength = 6-8 Reps
Building Size (bodybuilding) = 8-12 Reps
Developing Muscle Endurance = 12-25 Reps
The reason there is a repetition range and not a set number is because you need to properly fatigue the muscle in order to gain the benefits of your effort. Using bodybuilding as an example, the weight should be set to a point that you can no longer perform a complete rep while maintaining correct form between eight and twelve reps. If you are able to get to twelve reps or more while maintaining correct form, then increase the weight to the point where you reach the failure point between eight to twelve reps. If by adjusting the weight you can only get to, say, seven reps, then stay with that weight until you can reach twelve reps, then increase the weight again. If you are not consistently challenging your muscles you’re not gong to achieve the results you are looking for. You’ll only be wasting your time going through the motions.
Set or Sets – A set is a group of consecutive repetitions. For example, you may do three sets of eight repetitions. Just like the repetitions, the numbers of sets you perform are tailored to your goal. Here’s a table outlining the suggested set range:
Training Goal / Set Range
Beginners Learning Proper Movement = 4-8 Sets
Building Strength = 3-4 Sets
Building Size = 3 Sets
Developing Muscle Endurance = 1-3 Sets
Resting Periods
This is very important because it can have a dramatic affect on the outcome of your training. The resting period is the time taken to recuperate between sets. The ability to replenish energy supplies between sets is crucial for optimal performance while training.
By adjusting the rest period, energy supplies can be regained according to your goal. This is especially important for athletes training for sports.
20-30 seconds rest = approximately 50 percent recovery
40 seconds rest = approximately 75 percent recovery
60 seconds rest = approximately 85-90 percent recovery
3 minutes rest = approximately 100 percent recovery
The more rest you have between sets equals more energy for the next set. If you are an endurance athlete then you will want to train yourself to perform on less energy.
Motions of the Repetition
When you perform a repetition correctly there are actually three separate motions you are executing: the concentric, isometric and the eccentric. You may not hear these terms very often, but it’s important to know what they are because there is quite a bit of reading material that will refer to these terminologies.
The concentric motion refers to when the muscle is contracted or flexed. Using a shoulder press as an example: the concentric motion is when you press your arms over your head. This is where you build most of your explosive power.
The isometric motion refers to the point when the muscle is fully contracted and you pause for a brief period stabilizing the joint. This can be anywhere from one to five seconds. This motion is an important part of the repetition because this is where you build joint stabilization by strengthening the smaller muscles that support the joint. Most people overlook this part of the rep and quickly press up and down only.