Good behaviours for weight loss - Nutrition and Fitness - C-Health

What a good article!  Losing weight and keeping it off is about developing healthy habits.
Good behaviours for weight loss - Nutrition and Fitness - C-Health

The New Marcro Balanced Diet - Part 2, Protein

Protein is a necessary part of every living cell in your body. Next to water, protein comprises the greatest portion of your body weight. Protein substances make up your muscles, ligaments, tendons, organs, glands, nails, hair, and many vital body fluids. It is essential for growth, repair, and healing of your bones, tissues, and cells. So, you can see the proper amount of protein in your diet is vital for your health and well-being.

Protein is comprised of building-blocks called amino acids. There are approximately twenty-eight commonly know amino acids that your body uses to create all the various combinations of proteins needed for survival. These commonly known amino acids are further classified as essential and nonessential amino acids. Nonessential amino acids can be produced in your body, while essential amino acids cannot be produced in your body and must be obtained from the foods you eat.

The sources of protein in your diet are classified as complete or incomplete. Complete proteins contain all the essential amino acids and are mostly from animal sources such as meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and dairy products. Incomplete proteins lack one or more essential amino acids that your body cannot make itself. Incomplete protein usually come from plant based sources such as fruits, vegetables, grains, and nuts. you must eat incomplete sources of protein in a combination that contains all the essential amino acids in order for your body to use them.

Dr. Donald Layman's research of protein metabolism has revealed that the amino acid leucine triggers protein synthesis in your muscles and that you need at least 21 grams of protein in order for this trigger to happen. This is very important in your quest for weight control because if protein synthesis doesn't happen in the muscles they are not regenerated as efficiently as possible.

Muscle is the active component of your body that burn most of the calories that you consume.  Thus, it's very important to maintain healthy muscle mass in order to convert the food you eat into active energy instead of inactive fat storage.  Dr. Layman's research has also revealed that you need 30 grams of protein at each of your staple meals of breakfast, lunch, and dinner in order to build and maintain healthy muscle mass.

In my next post I will explain how to balance the proper amount of carbohydrates with protein in your meals in order for you body to burn fat more efficiently.

The New Macro Balanced Diet - Part 1

I'm a personal trainer with nearly 20 years of experience in the health and fitness industry.  The most challenging part of my profession is educating my clients about nutrition.  A healthy diet is one of the most important parts of any fitness program.  No amount of exercise can compensate for a poor diet.

I've been searching for years for a system that I could recommend to my clients that they can understand and easily incorporate into their lives.  I recently came across such a system a few months ago developed by Dr. Donald K Layman, a professor at the University of Illinois who is a pioneer in the study of human metabolic research.  Dr. Layman is a world renown expert in diet, obesity, diabetes, and sports nutrition.  He has published over 90 peer-review articles in his field of study during the last 30 years.  Thus, Dr. Layman seems very credible to me.

Dr. Layman has developed a weight management system that vitalizes and activates healthy muscle mass to burn body fat.  His system is based on the following easy to understand principles.

1. The correct macro balance of protein, fat, and carbohydrates in your diet will vitalize your muscle causing your body to burn body fat.
2. You should have 30 grams of protein at your staple meals, which are breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
3. You should keep your carbohydrate to protein ratio 1 to 1 at your meals in order to control your blood sugar level and minimize insulin spikes and consequently food cravings.
4. Your carbohydrate to fiber ratio in your diet should be less than 6.  These are called Smart carbohydrates and they take longer for your body to convert to blood sugar, thus also controlling insulin spikes.

In my next post I'll explain the significance of each of the above principles.  Learn more about this life changing and revolutionary weight management system at :Qivana

Dr Donald K. Layman Interview

I'm reposting an article published by LIVINAVIDALOWCARB.COM/Blog.  I would like to thank them for this very informative interview with one of the brightest minds in nutrition and human metabolism, Dr. Donald K Layman.

 

 

Layman: Low-Carb Diets Need Protein For Maximum Health Benefits

Dr. Layman's research focuses on the vital role of protein in the diet

Another one of America's best and brightest researchers in the field of low-carb research is nutrition professor Dr. Donald K. Layman. His work on the low-carbohydrate nutritional approach that you will hear about in my interview with him today is making a clear difference in the way people view diet and nutrition well into the future just as Dr. Eric Westman, Dr. Jeff Volek, and Dr. Richard Feinman already are as well, just to name a few.

Dr. Layman was kind enough to share a few moments with us today talking about his research on the low-carb approach as it relates to exercise and protein consumption. Prepare to be amazed by all the positive research that just keeps coming out about this miraculous way of eating.

1. Appearing at the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog today is yet another one of the behind-the-scenes people regarding the science behind low-carbohydrate diets. His name is Dr. Donald Layman from The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Layman, we are privileged and honored to have you with us today. Your studies into this incredible dietary approach that has helped so many people lose weight and get healthy is indeed fascinating. How and why did you become so interested in nutritional science?

My interest in nutrition has always focused on muscle development and physical activity. I have studied growth, sports nutrition and muscle wasting during starvation and malnutrition. It has been this work with skeletal muscle that got me interested in the optimum ratios of dietary protein and carbohydrates for life long health. Skeletal muscle needs protein to stay healthy.

2. It's probably not very glamorous doing studies about low-carb. Share with my readers just a little of what your daily work specifically entails.

I guess you’re correct that it’s not very glamorous, but I really enjoy the process of research. I enjoy the search for new ideas and I enjoy training students. My job description says that I spend 50% of my time on research and 50% on teaching.

I think what would surprise your readers is how long it takes to do good research. Even a relatively small study can take 3-4 years from initial concept and planning, through writing proposals for research funding, training research staff, conducting the experiments, frequently repeating experiments to prove reliability, evaluating data, preparing research papers and finally publishing the results. Good research takes a lot of time and often appears to move very slowly.

3. The primary focus of your research is on how changes in diet and exercise can help prevent the onset of health problems such as obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome, aka Syndrome X. Preventable disease is a growing problem not only in the United States but around the world now. Why do think people are so unwilling to make the necessary changes with what they eat and how much physical activity they get to keep themselves healthy? Who and/or what is to blame for these problems getting worse and worse?

I think there are lots of reasons people don’t (or can’t) change including time, knowledge, environment and motivation. The question about blame sounds too much like media hype. Why does someone have to be blamed?

As a society we now live longer healthier lives than any time in history. We have modern conveniences that save us time and effort and we have a wonderful food supply that provides us virtually any type of food at any time or during any season. Frankly, we are still learning how to handle our success.

We really do not know what diet is best for life spans that routinely reach into the 80’s and 90’s. But with that said, there is simply no question that we eat too much and exercise too little.

4. Your field of research has been focused on the role of exercise in preserving lean body mass, energy expenditure and maintaining weight. We often hear critics of the low-carb lifestyle talk about how you can't exercise on a low-carb program without "carb-loading." Is this true? If not, then please explain for us how the body functions and fuels itself during a workout for someone on a low-carb diet.

Carb-loading is definitely not required for exercise. Our muscles use two primary fuels, fats (or fatty acids) and carbs, specificially glucose. Think about exercise as a continuum from very low-intensity activity such as walking up to extreme- intensity exercise such as a world class 100-meter sprinter.

With very low-intensity walking the muscles should be using almost 100% fatty acids as the fuel, while the elite sprinter will be almost 100% glucose. Without carbs the sprinter will finish last, but without glucose the walker will simply burn more fats.

So for world class sprinters or marathon runners, carbs are an important fuel, but for the rest of us trying to maintain a healthy adult life, carbs do little more than prevent us from burning fats.

5. In fact, your research study published in the August 2005 issue of The Journal of Nutrition found that eating a low-carb/high-protein diet lead to increased fat-burning in the body as well as the creation of more muscle mass than those you observed on a low-protein, low-fat, high-carb diet. Although weight loss can still happen following a low-carb/high-protein nutritional approach, what are the health advantages of adding exercise to that routine?

I think the J. Nutrition paper was important because it demonstrated the interaction of dietary protein with exercise. The paper showed that the combination of a higher protein diet and exercise increased weight loss and targeted the weight loss to body fat while protecting lean tissues like muscles.

You’re right both diet groups lost weight and exercise helped both groups but there were differences in the amount of fat the was burned by each group.

For example, we had two groups that were diet-only treatment and two groups that were diet-plus-daily exercise. After 16 weeks of dieting, the group receiving the high-carb diet lost about 11 pounds of body fat, while the group consuming the low-carb, high-protein diet lost 13 pounds of body fat. The group that had the high-carb-diet-plus exercise lost 12 pound of body fat while the low-carb, high-protein diet plus exercise lost an amazing 19.5 pounds of fat!

So, the individuals eating a high-carb diet did 16 weeks of daily exercise and lost 1 pound of body fat more than just the diet effect, while the low-carb, high-protein subjects lost an additional 6.5 pounds of body fat doing the same exercise program. The higher protein diet maximizes the benefits of doing exercise.

6. A popular myth that floats around out there about livin' la vida low-carb is that your body hits a certain point during exercise when it stops burning fat for fuel and starts using lean muscle mass instead. Why do people believe they will lose muscle while on a low-carb diet and what really happens to muscle when people eat low-carb?

The answer to this question is a bit complex. This statement is derived from studies of long-term starvation. The body always needs some carbohydrates (glucose). The exact amount varies depending on specific conditions. During total starvation with no food being eaten, the body must rely on its own tissues to provide the essential mixture of fuels to sustain life.

The primary fuel is stored fat and fortunately (or unfortunately as the case may be) most of us could live at least 6 weeks without another meal. However, we also need a continuous supply of glucose. The body has a very small store of glycogen that can provide glucose for about 36 hours, then the body must make its glucose.

The body has three sources of glucose, one is the diet (but our person is starving), a second is glycogen (but this is all gone) and the third is a process called gluconeogenesis where the body makes glucose from amino acids. During starvation, the body must rely on body proteins for the amino acids. But under normal conditions, the body makes glucose from amino acids coming in from the diet.

This is one of the reasons that a low-carb diet must also be high-protein. The high-protein diet allows the body to make the necessary glucose from dietary amino acids and not rely on breaking down body proteins.

7. New research on protein and the effect it has on hunger has become the latest craze that food companies have attempted to take advantage of in the marketing of their foods over the past year. Your research looks closely at protein not just for satiety purposes, but also on the amino acids (especially leucine) it provides for other health benefits. What are some of theadditional reasons for eating more protein, how much should people be eating daily, and what are the best sources for protein that people can purchase?

Our research has shown that people lose more weight, they lose more body fat and less lean tissue, and they have more energy and feel less hungry when they consume protein. Specific mechanisms to explain each of these are not clear.

We think that the increase in the amino acid leucine along with the decrease in the levels of insulin produce the important changes in body composition. Mechanisms to explain the feelings of greater energy and reduced hunger are much more speculative.

The amount of protein that we use is approximately 110 to 130 grams each day with not less than 30 grams at each meal. We recommend use of dairy, meats and eggs as our primary sources of protein because they the right balance of amino acids and a high content of leucine.

8. Another one of those popular myths about people on a low-carb diet is that all of that meat they are eating will cause their kidneys to stop functioning and shut down. Why is this argument invalid and how can a low-protein diet be even more detrimental to someone's health?

That is simply not true. While special-interest groups continue to perpetuate this myth, the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academies of Science reviewed this issue and they concluded that there was no evidence that diets high in protein harmed the kidney.

However, they did find that LOW protein diets resulted in reduced kidney function. So not only is the statement not true, the truth is exactly the opposite--low-protein diets are bad for your kidneys.

The origins of the myth is that individuals with advanced kidney failure need to reduce the work load on the kidneys which is done be reducing dietary intake of salts and protein. It is a totally different question to ask “what is the best way to treat a damaged kidney” versus “what is the best way to keep a healthy kidney healthy?”

9. Gout is a condition that low-carb diets seem to get blamed for as well. In your experience working with people following this way of eating, is this a problem that runs rampant?

We have now studied over 150 adults using high-protein, low-carb diets and we have never seen a single case of gout. Gout is not a problem with protein or amino acids, it is a metabolic problem associated with handling nucleotides which are the building blocks for DNA and RNA.

10. THANK YOU Dr. Layman for sharing your vast knowledge about the low-carb diet with me and my readers today. We are thankful to have someone like you bringing the real science behind low-carb to the forefront of our culture. Do you have any parting words you would like to share?

Never lose your passion for learning the truth.

We won't, Dr. Layman, we DEFINITELY won't! You can e-mail Dr. Donald K. Layman at dlayman@uiuc.edu.

10-27-06 UPDATE: One of my readers had a question about Dr. Layman's research.

What percentage of carbs, protein and fat did they eat? There are lots of studies coming out on low-carb diets but they never tell you how low the carbs are. This would be helpful information. Can you find out?

Well, I went back to Dr. Layman himself and here's what he said:

The carbs in our study diet were reduced but not super low. We required subjects to maintain diets with less than 170 total grams of carbs per day. Most of our subjects averaged about 140 total grams daily (including fiber). The type of carbs and the distribution throughout the day is as important as the absolute amount.

We use a ratio of carbs to protein in our teaching approach. At any meal or snack, the ratio of carbs to protein should be around 1 to 1. Since protein has such high satiety, this creates a self-limiting approach to carb intake.

THANK YOU for the question and hopefully Dr. Layman answered it for you to your satisfaction. Any other questions?

The Power of Positive Thinking On You Health

Cover via AmazonIn my opinion a positive state of mind is the first and most important step in your journey for a more fit and firmer you. You have to clear your mind of all the negative images you have of aging. Your body conforms itself to the mental image you hold of yourself. Imagine yourself becoming weak and frail as you age and this is what you will become. Image yourself strong and full of life and this is what you become.

For example I know certain man I see regularly at the gym working out and every time I speak with him he’s always complaining of the aches and pains of getting old. He is my age but he looks and moves like a typical man 15 years older. He workouts out regularly but his body is conforming to the negative image he has of the aging process.

Your body completely rebuilds itself every 11 months. This means every cell in your body is replaced each year. Whether your body rebuilds itself with strong healthy cells or weak unhealthy cells starts in the way you think about yourself. Thinks of yourself as strong and healthy and your body will replace old weak cells with strong and healthy cells.

Think about this, medications do not heal your body they only aid your body in healing itself. Positive and healthy thoughts are more powerful in the healing process than any medication you can ever take. Thus, a fitness program built around a belief in your continued strength and fitness level as you age is core to you reaching your health and fitness goals.

Positive thinking not only works in your health and fitness it also works in all other areas of your life. You tend to draw those things into your life that you think the most about. Ever notice how people who complain a lot always have more to complain about and on the contrary people who are thankful always have more to be thankful for. It’s called the Law of Attraction.

The Law of Attraction works like this. You attract the things and conditions into your life that you believe to be true. If you believe that you catch a cold every year at a certain time you will catch a cold every year on that certain date unerringly until you change your belief about it. Try this experiment. Think of someone you do not like, that person that just rubs you the wrong way. Now, start wishing all the best for that person. Do this every day and watch how your attitude towards that person changes and how their attitude towards you changes also.

This is how I develop and keep a positive outlook in my life. I start each day with what I call my coffee time with God. I spend 15 minutes reading something inspirational while having my coffee and then I spend 15 minutes in silent prayer and meditation. In my prayer I thank God for my life, health, and strength and I ask for His guidance in all my ways. I meditate on all the blessings and the goodness God brings into my life. I release any animosity I have towards anyone and send them my blessings. I can’t put into words how wonderful I feel after this 30 minute ritual. I can only recommend that you try it and see the wonders it will work in your life.

What's Your Plan?

retirement (Photo credit: 401K)If you are an average person working towards living the American Dream here are some sobering facts.

Out of 100 people who start working at the age of 25, by the age 65:

* 1% are wealthy
* 4% have adequate capital stowed away for retirement
* 3% are still working
* 63% are dependent on Social Security, friends, relatives or charity.
* 29% are deceased.
* The average savings of a 50 year old in the U.S. is $2500.

Out of 100 people who start working at the age of 25, by the age 65:

* 62 retire with less than $25,000 in assets and depend on Social Security or family for their retirement.

* Another 35 retire with less than $100,000, have some form of pension in addition to Social Security and are just making it in their retirement. If either Social Security or their pension went away they would have a very difficult time surviving.

* 2 of the 3 remaining retirees have an adequate pension or retirement account. They have assets of between $100,000 and $750,000. They do appreciate having the additional money they receive from Social Security, but could survive without it.

* The last of these 100 retirees, is the only one who is financially independent. This retiree has assets approaching or exceeding $1,000,000. They do not need the income from Social Security at all.

*according to Social Security Administration 2010

As you can see the old plan of going to college and getting a nice job with good benefits does not work these days.  So I ask you, what's your plan?


I've been in the fitness industry for over 20 years now and I make a really good living doing what I love. However, if I'm not in front of a client, I'm not not making money.  I've recently investigated ways to leverage my income. What I found was that network marketing was the best avenue for me to pursue.

"Network marketing" you say! "You mean those pryamid things?"  No, I mean a business model that gives a person of average means an avenue to create wealth with little upfront investment.   The RICHEST man in the world is WARREN BUFFET. He owns 3 Direct Selling Companies and has said "They are the BEST INVESTMENTS I EVER MADE."

By the way,pryamids are illegal and network marketing is not a pyramid. Network marketing has been around for over 50 years. It's kind of like starting your own franchise at a fraction of the cost. You multiply your efforts and income through a network of people you help to build successful businesses.  You share in the profit that everyone on your team makes.  That's called leveraging your income.  Thus, you keep making an income even when you are not working, similar to getting paid a royality.

Since I'm a personal trainer, I chose a company that makes health and wellness products for my network marketing company.  The products I market compliment my personal training business.  Typically I would recommend nutritional products for clients and send them to a nutrition store to purchase them and now I just send them to my online website to buy them.  I now get paid a commission, where as before no one at the nutrition store ever paid me anything.  Not only that, I'm also teaching others in the health and fitness industry to build successful business and I'm getting paid a commission on their efforts and so can you.

But, you say "I'm not good at selling anything".  Think about this, you do network marketing every time you recommend a good restaurant, a good banker, or any other good service you have ever had to a family member or a friend.  Network marketing is just sharing a product or service you believe in with your family and friends, you do it all the time.

If you want to learn more about network marketing click here to visit my website.

NewsObserver Gallery: Flight of Honor | 04.18.2012

This was one of the best days of my life.  Honoring those who risked their lives for our freedom.
NewsObserver Gallery: Flight of Honor | 04.18.2012