It’s been about a week now on the meat and nuts breakfast.  And It feels pretty good.  The best thing is feeling satisfied through the whole morning just about.  No hunger pains or cravings for anything.  Fully satisfied, I have breakfast around 5:15 am and don’t need anything other nutrition until about 10:30am – 11:00am.  This is good!  Usually I am hungry during work hours and it is annoying to know you have to wait an hour or two hours to get through work commitments and get some calories in your body.  Makes for unproductive work hours, not to mention unenjoyable.

Workout performance – This has been good so far.  I feel stronger on my lifts, not sure it is dietary related or the fact that I am doing less cardiovascular training due to an injury.  Or both.  Nonetheless my benc press weight has increased pretty quickly, which could also be due to the protocols I am using.  I’ve been cycling outdoors due to ankle injury keeping me from running or and impact, and the ride I did on Monday felt alot stronger than the previous rides.  I could’ve doubled what I had so much energy and felt so good.

Todays stats:

Mental clarity = 10.

Energy = 10.

Cravings for processed foods = 0.

If I do opt to have something I shouldn’t, I feel more under control.  Meaning I don’t feel I can’t live without the dark chocolate covered almonds, or the one chocolate chip cookie at night.  And the portions are much smaller when I do opt for it, much less ravenous feeling, not endlessly consuming multiple cookies or whatever.

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I came across a meal plan/article on Charles Poliquin’s website simply titled the meat and nuts breakfast.  And it is comprised of just that, meat and nuts.  Today was day one for me.  I am going to try it for one month and track the following markers on a scale of 1-10, 1 being the least amount, 10 being the highest level:

1.  Mental clairty.

2.  Energy.

3.  Cravings for bad foods/satiety.

I will also track body weight, how I perform in my workouts and if I can find someone to do my body composition, body comp as well.  The reasons I am trying this meal plan is to improve body composition, mental clarity and energy.  I currently consume non traditional breakfasts anyway.  I will prepare and consume chicken, quinoa, vegetables, lean meats. cold-water fish, eggs and berries as it is.  Pretty healthy, but there are times I don’t feel I have energy, I can’t focus on things etc.  I will check in on a daily basis, or a least multiple times per week with the aforementioned reports.  Happy meal planning folks.

Here is my report from today so far:

Mental clarity = 10.

Energy = 10.

Satiety = 10

Cravings for sweets, foods I shouldn’t consume = 0.

Most posts are about sets, reps, distance and calories, protein and fats.  I would like to step away from all the numbers and the science of exercise and nutrition and discuss a very big component of a healthy lifestyle that doesn’t get discussed as much.  Will.  Determination.  Passion.  Human inspiration.  If you do not posses or are unable to understand what these words mean achieving any goal, fitness or otherwise, will be impossible.  This brings me to a guy named Dick Hoyt.  If you live in Massachusetts then there is a good chance you know who he is.  He is a father of a handicapped child who has never been able to, and never will be able to walk or play or do anything that we all take for granted.  He is an adult now and has been pushed, carried and swam with by his father Dick for 30 years now.  Through races, triathlons, marathons and an iron-man.  Dick Hoyt was a self proclaimed ‘ porker ‘ who led a very sedentary lifestyle until his son asked one day said ” I want to run a road race.”  So, being the loving, caring, passionate determined father Dick was he started to run with his son Rick in a chair in front of him.  It was difficult for him to start I’m sure, and there must have been many an obstacle in their way over the last 30 years.  But they overcame them to achieve the goals they set out to.  Dick Hoyt isn’t driven by the dream of looking good in a swimsuit some day, or to lose a few pounds.  He is driven by passion, determination, love and the willingness to try and give his son anything and everything he asks for.  I’ve personally never met the man before in my life, but would love the opportunity to just tell him how much I admire him.  In many ways Dick has resurrected his son Rick’s life, and in so many other ways Rick has changed his father’s life.  Good luck on Monday guys.  And best wishes for many more marathon Mondays to come.

1.  If body transformation is a goal, then nutrition has to be number one on this list.

A.  Drink half your body weight in oz of water.

B.  Starchy carbs ONLY after workouts.

C.  Protein and vegetables at each meal/snack.

2.  Foam roll – Keep muscle tissue as soft and supple as possible to avoid muscle aches that can lead to overuse injury.  This can be done the day before, the day of and the day after.  Take 3-5 minutes per day to make sure this is happening.  Don’t have time?  Roll whatever body parts you use that day to save time.

3.  Sleeping – making sure you have ample sleep.  Muscle growth and the training effect happen at night when we are sleeping.  Yes the process starts during the day, 3,4,5 hours or so after but the majority occurs when we are unconscious lying horizontal.  On the flip side, a tired un-rested body will not perform to it’s maximum capacity during a workout, get to bed early the night before; there are other nights you can stay up late to watch The Bachelor or Bachelorette.

4.  Recovery aerobics – Our program trains the fast twitch muscle fibers and anaerobic energy systems.  The phosphagen system = short bursts of intense exercise that last 1-10 seconds and the anaerobic glycolysis system = bouts of exercise that last 30 seconds – 2 minutes.  Aerobic exercise can be very effective at flushing out metabolic bi-products as a result from performing this type of exercise, reducing muscle soreness and keeping muscles limber for the next workout.

5.  Relaxing -  make sure you take time to do things you enjoy.  Enjoying a massage or spa day with friends,  playing tennis, racquetball or any other recreational activity.

The most recent article in the New York Times discuss eggs regaining their healthy reputation that was tarnished by another article not so long ago;  comparing the health risk off egg consumption to that of smoking cigarettes.  The average person not having as much knowledge about nutrition should be very confused at this point.  How many times have we seen an article coming out villifying something in the health and fitness world, only to have another article completely contradict it’s claims?  It happens all too often.  Here are things to consider with this particular case and others moving forward.

1.  Neither of these studies or articles mention how the eggs were prepared?  Fried?  Scarmbled with cheese or sour cream?  Poached with hollaindaise sauce?  Are we to assume they were just hard boiled eggs being consumed?  And what accompanied the eggs?  Toast with butter?  Bacon?  Are we to assume nothing else in the meal with eggs, or no other meal consumed by subjects that day had any effect on their risk for heart disease?

2.  How active are the subjects?  Are they very active?  Moderately active?  Sedentary?  Wouldn’t this have a big impact on what they consume and how it is metabolized and how much of it is stored?  How much gets plastered on the inside of arterial walls?  If the subject is active then these calories or being mobilized more freely and used as an energy source.

The list goes on, the point here is to stop and read the whole article or study and keep exterior factors that aren’t mentioned in mind.  Eggs are a great source of protein, and if they are enriched with omega 3′s then they are a great source of those as well.

In conclusion ask yourself just one more question;  how can something with so many good nutritional properties be compared to the risk of smoking cigarettes?

Which can of tuna has the most omega 3′s?  Are they all the same?  You may be surprised to hear that white tuna packed in water has the highest omega 3 content by far over tuna packed in olive oil.  This is important for many reasons.  If you are under the impression the tuna in oil has a higher healthy fat count due to it being packed in oil this appears to be incorrect.  Unless of course, you are not draining the tuna packed in olive oil.  This makes a big difference.  Little things can make a big difference in exercise, in nutrition in everything really.  Wild Planet seems to have a very good system and quality tuna product.  Be proactive when it comes to researching products you and your family are consuming.  Form your own opinions on what is important to you.

For good health and weight loss.  Some foods appear to be healthy, and to a certain extent they probably are, but usually there is a healthier option available.  For example:  a turkey wrap with lettuce, tomatoe, dressing or condiment of some sort, avocado vs a grilled chicken salad with avocado, olive oil, walnuts and multiple green leafy vegetables.  The salad is the way to go for sure.  Deli turkey is a modified food, so is the wrap and condiment that might come on it.  Asking for no condiments is a step in the right direction, but ultimately to make the very best chocie for your health the salad is the better option.

Let’s compare two very popularly acclaimed health foods on the market, olive oil and canola oil.  Both claim to be heart healthy and contain healthy omega 3 fatty acids.  But, canola oil comes from a plant called rape seed.  Canola oil is a marketing name derived from Canadian oil.  It comes from the rapeseed plant whose other famous plant family members are broccoli and turnips.  To our current day knowledge canola oil is a result of the hybridization and genetic modification of the rapeseed plant to breed out it’s undesirable taste and hazards to health.  Oil from the rapeseed plant has been used for thousands of years in China and India and is known as the poor man’s cooking oil.  The oil contained long chain fatty acids (which are to be avoided) called erucic acid which was irritating to mucous membranes.  Consumption of the original rapeseed oil was associated with fibrotic heart lesions, known as Keshan’s Disease, as well disorders of the central nervous system, lung and prostate cancer, anemia and constipation.  It is said during the oil engineering process that both hexane (gasoline constituent) and heat are used to get rape seed plants to what is known as canola oil.  Hexane in the past has been linked to causing adverse health effects.

Olive oil is pressed from, olives.  They first are squeezed into a paste where the droplets of oil will be collected and bottled for distribution.  Extra virgin olive oil follows this path of production.  Olive oil is pressed at low temperatures and they do go through multiple pressing phases.  The oils that go through the first pressing phase are considered to be the most nutrient dense.

At the end of the day, consuming foods in their most natural forms that contain the health components that these oils have is the best route to take.  It is up to us as consumers to make the best decision with the information we have at hand.  Conflicting reports will be found on this topic, do research and see where the information is coming from before you decide.  Happy eating folks.

One is only so successful without the other, put them together and they are nearly unstoppable!  Our CORE Boot Camp program in Newton, Ma. combines these two powerful components of health in life-changing manner like no other program in the area.  It can be as simple as switching the time of day some calories are consumed, or as complicated as a complete meal plan overhaul.  Either way our nutritional guidance will have a big impact on the exercise results you see.  Take a gander at the calendar for the year 2013 and schedule your free week trial, don’t wait to make your life better.

Here is a quick client encounter I had just yesterday.  Well, the first installment was about 6 months ago.  Here is how it went 6 months ago:

Client:  Hey Gregg, is there anything extra I could be doing outside of boot camp?  I’m just not seeing the results I want to see.

Me:  How is your meal plan?  Are you consuming the right hings at the rights times?

Client:  My diet is fine I think, I don’t need to make any real changes.

Me;  Are you sure?

Client:  Yes.

Me:  Are you positive?

Client:  Yes.

Me:  I would love to see a sample 3 or 5 day food log if you have the time to write it down and hand it in.  There could be just some minor tweaks that could make a big difference.

Client:  Other than not having breakfast or lunch really, and just having dinner and I think my dinners are reasonably healthy.

Me;  That isn’t good, at all.

So, the client didn’t ever give me the food log.  I believe a business trip had popped up shortly after this conversation and this client didn’t resurface for another week or so.  So I didn’t get the chance to corner her.  Fast forward to yesterday, this client has been looking slimmer as of late.  This client comes in and I ask:

Me;  Have you lost weight?

Client:  Yes, about 15lbs.

Me;  How?

Client:  I changed my diet a little.

Me:  Really?  What made you do that?  We had discussed this awhile back and you were reisistant to change at the time.

Client:  Diabetes runs in my family, and I tested postive for pre-diabetes recently.  I cut out white bread, sugar and all that stuff.

Me:  So, when I asked you 6 months ago about your diet, and you said you didn’t think you needed to make changes, you were consuming things like white breads and sugars and you didn’t think you needed to make changes? Also, only having one meal per day.

Client:  I guess so.

I learned two very valuable lessons with this client.  Other than this being one of the things that really frustrates me, a majority of the population has very little idea on what is a healthy meal plan.  The second, a majority of the people aren’t going to make a serious, dramatic lifestyle change until something bad happens.  Plain and simple.  I need to much more aggressive in making people do things that I need them to do in order to be successful.  If this client made the changes I suggested 6 months ago there is a chance they avoid testing positive for pre-diabetes.  Which isn’t a death sentence, but certainly not the road you want to be traveling on.

Moral of the story.  Don’t wait to make yourself healthier.  Take a step back and realize that the clock is always ticking.  Careers and family can consume one’s life, make sure you take time to take of yourself as much as you take care of others.

1.  Increase your activity level - If you are an avid exerciser make this month either a higher volume or higher intensity month in regards to conditioning, strength training increase volume or introduce suppersets or double sets to increase metabolic boosing capabilities.

2.  Log everything you consume - this is more effective than most people give credit.  Use the my fitness pal application for your iphone to track accordingly.  When you see how many fat calories are in some foods, you will hesistate consume more and more of them. 

3.  Stay away from parties – That’s right, if you know you are going to consume half of all the unhealthy food options layed out on the table, don’t go.  Send a Christmas card.  If you have gotten yourself to the point of some self control make sure you opt for the vegetable crudite early and often to fill stomach and satisfy hunger, in turn curbing any cravings you may get for pigs in a blanket.

4. Reduce alcohol consumption - How often do we reach for pigs in blankets or bacon wrapped meatballs when we have a drink in our hand?  Very!  You’re less likely to want unhealthy foods if you don’t start drinking.  Grab the Poland Springs and chill out.  Save it up for New Year’s.

5.  Gear your strength training workouts to involve more multi joint movements – If you are accustomed to doing back and bi’s on Tuesday and Thursday and chest and tri’s on Monday and Friday you need a change.  The more muscles used in an exercise the bigger the metabolic cost.  The higher the fat burn.  Try squat presses, squat to rows or squat curl and presses.

6.  Decrease rest intervals between sets -  Another great way to increase the fat burning capability is to perfom the same workout you are doing, but keep a close eye on your recovery time between sets.  Instead of gazing at the flat screen TV’s on the wall situate yourself so you are near the clock.  Decrease rest intervlas by 15 seconds each week for a month, start at 60-90 seconds depending on how heavy weight is you are lifitng.  If you are doing between 6 – 10 reps start with 90 seconds ( 90 for 6 reps, 75 for 8 etc)  If the weight is lighter and in the 12-15 rep range start with a 60 second rest interval and work your way down.

7.  Add an additional workout during the week - If you are accustomed to sitting all day Sunday and not exercising, change that for the month of December.  As long as you have one day off during the week.  It can be as little as a 4 – minute tabata protocol or even just 20 minutes of interval training aerobics.  Any addition for a 4-6 week span will add a spark.

8.  Increase intensity on aerobic training – for most people walking will not get it done when it comes to weight loss.  It’s just the way it is.  At least turn it into an interval style walk, very brisk walking for 1 minute, then moderate for the next and alternate.  But try a cardio machine you haven’t tried before, or a body weight circuit.

9.  Schedule big, more intense workouts before big meal events - If you aren’t going to avoid holiday parties and are less likely to avoid consuming bacon wrapped appetizers than plan your most challenging or highest volume workout before one of these big eating events.  It certainly won’t make the bacon wrapped pigs in blankets any healthier, but at least metabolic rate will be elevated leading to SOME of calories being utilized toward muscle repair and energy system replenishment.  Certainly not all. 

10.  Be very strict on off days -  Be pristine with your calorie intake on days you aren’t exercising, and on days after you fell into the holiday party tr   

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