photo by anonymousmuse

Now I normally don’t get caught up in the likes of Hollywood, who they are dating, what they are wearing, etc…..as I really don’t care. But I came across an interesting show this weekend and it peaked my interest. It was called the “15 Best and Worst Hollywood Beach Bodies” or something like that. What interested me was seeing who kept themselves in great shape, how they did it….and on the reverse side who let themselves go and what happened. As for the “best beach bodies” ones the usual crowd was up there like Jessica Beil, Pamela Anderson, Hugh Jackman, Mario Lopez, Matthew McConaughey and others in great shape (interesting to note that these people are in great shape year after year). What was sad to see was people who “used” to be in great shape but let themselves go like John Travolta and Val Kilmer. Also you didn’t have to be overweight to not look so good as a few women were very very thin, too thin and looking almost malnutrioned. Anyways…..I wanted to focus on what the lessons we could learn from them….

• “I try to break a sweat everyday” - This what is what one actor in great shape said. He didn’t specify what it had to be but he did anything from jogging, riding a bike, dancing, beach sprints, pushups, lifting weights in a gym, etc. He stayed active and his motto was to just keep the active lifestyle going no matter what it was.
• They know what they ate - There was no guess work and the diets differed between people. But what they all had in common is they knew what they were eating, they had a healthy plan and stuck to lots of whole natural foods. Did they enjoy other treats from time to time? I’m sure they did….but when you are active and can eat healthy most of the time…you can get away with eating occasional treats very easily. (note the “occasional”)
• They lift weights/do resistance training - Whether it is using their own bodyweight, bands, dumbbells, or whatever….they challenged their muscles. If you want that toned look you have to build muscle plain and simple. Anyone can get skinny, but as show with the worst beach bodies….many of them were very skinny yet had no muscles so they looked flat and not very healthy. Your muscles are very important for your health and long term functionality. Remember the saying “Use it or Lose it”!
• They live healthy lifestyles (well as much as Hollywood royalty can) - What does that mean? Well the ones in shape still got plenty of sleep and enjoyed their life (less stress). I’m sure they do go out and party late night on the weekends, but the ones in better shape most likely do not do it that often…and they do not over consume alcohol either. They are happy with the way they live their life and enjoy it every day. Alot of what they did was being active outside (riding bikes, going to the beach, surfing, etc) and they always were surrounded by people of similar interests. A good support group (and not a negative one) can make a huge difference.

It didn’t really go into why people had let themselves go, but my guess it would have to come from a side of either over indulging in “rich” tasting foods, too much partying, no longer being active (maybe they burned out doing too much for roles in movies, as actors can go overboard on training for a role…and then their body is pretty much done and needs time off. Lesson learned, slow and steady leads to more consistent, long term and lasting results), perhaps an increase in ability to gain fat (you will see this in people who’s weight fluctutate…so if someone gained 50lbs for a role…in the long term it’s going to be easier for them to gain that back again if they are not careful).

In the end, the lessons are simple….it’s doesn’t have to be the perfect workout (as many did a wide variety of activities) and it doesn’t have to be some perfect diet….what you need to do is just:

• Have an active lifestyle (vow to “break a sweat everyday”)
• Find and do activities you enjoy (find new ones to keep you excited, try new things!)
• Get a good support group around you (take a look around you….and see what your “friends” are doing to your lifestyle…are they helping or hurting it?)
• Eat real foods (which can taste great) for health and not for pleasure
• Be happy (stress free, worry free, living in the moment right now)
• Don’t try and overdo it all at once (as that will just burn you out and set you back longterm)
• Challenge your muscles once in a while (resistance training)
• Let your body recover (SLEEP!!)
• and just enjoy the journey of living healthy (don’t worry about getting somewhere quick….as the results will come soon enough).

Photo: Real Testimonail with IF from LeanGains.com

Note from Mike: Today is a guest post from another Intermittent Fasting blogger by the name of Martin Berkhan. Martin has been getting great results with some of his clients using IF (especially those wanting to put on quality muscle while doing it). It’s my hope to bring together IF bloggers in the common goal of getting the truth and message out there to people about what can be done. This is just one example of a way that can get people results. Remember that IF is a lifestyle choice with such great potential for health and fitness benefits, and you can control how it works for your activity level, your goals and your healthy and happy lifestyle! Hope you enjoy.

Sure Fire Fat Loss

My name is Martin Berkhan and I work as a nutritional consultant, magazine writer and personal trainer. I also happen to be a proponent of intermittent fasting for health, fitness and fat loss. I have my own blog about fasting (www.leangains.com), but when Mike asked me if I’d like to make a guest post on his blog, I thought that’d be a great way to present my method in greater detail.

The Leangains protocol consists of two phases; 16 hours of fasting, followed by 8 hours of feeding. During this period, three meals are usually eaten. Depending on the day, the composition of those meals varies; on workout days, carbs are prioritized before fat, while on rest days fat intake is higher. Protein remains fairly high on all days. That’s a very basic and general description of the protocol I employ; of course, variables change depending on goals, gender, age, body fat and activity levels, but it would be hard to describe it in greater detail without drifting off too far.

Most of my clients are fitness enthusiasts, athletes and weight trainers, but the great majority of them have one thing in common – to look good naked. The ‘gain’ in Leangains can therefore be a bit misleading, as most of my clients wants to lose fat, while retaining as much muscle as possible in the process. While their diets might vary, it rests on some nutritional principles that I thought I’d present to the crowd reading this post. These principles will work for everyone, regardless of fitness level.

Here are a few guidelines that I consider success factors for performance, fat loss and excellent diet compliance.

• On workout days, break the fast with meat, veggies and a fruit. If you’re planning to train shortly after this meal, add a few carbs in the form of a starch source – potatoes or whole grain bread, for example. Make it a medium sized meal and don’t stuff yourself. Train within 3 hrs of having eaten this meal and have a much larger meal after your workout; in this meal, add more complex carbs – and you may even have one of your favourite treats as dessert, if it’s not too high in fat and if eaten in moderation. Good examples of what I refer to as ‘treats’: low fat ice cream, sorbet or JC’s cheesecake. Bad example: Chinese buffet or your son’s birthday cake. You get the point, keep it within moderation and don’t pig out.

• On rest days, eat less calories than on workout days - do this by cutting down on carb intake, and make meat, fibrous veggies and fruit the foundation of your diet for this day. The first meal of the day should be the largest, in contrast to workout days where the post-workout meal is the largest. Largest doesn’t necessarily mean largest in terms of volume; I suggest getting at least 40% of your calorie intake in this meal, and the dominant macronutrient should be protein. I’ll have some clients eating upwards to 100 g protein in this meal, so don’t be afraid to pile on the meat (or whichever protein source you prefer). Fattier meat and fish like ground beef and salmon are examples of some excellent protein sources that may be consumed on rest days.

• In the last meal of the day, include a slow digesting protein source; preferably egg protein, cottage cheese (or any other source of casein based protein). Meat or fish is also ok if you add veggies or supplement with fiber. This meal will keep you full during the fast and exert an anti-catabolic effect on muscle protein stores by ensuring that your body has an ample supply of amino acids until the next meal.

• Whole and unprocessed foods should always take priority over processed or liquid foods, unless circumstance demands a compromise. For example, you might find yourself in situations when there is little time to eat or prepare foods – in such a situation, having a protein shake or meal replacement bar is ok, where as solid, more satiating foods should be consumed whenever there is ample time to cook.

These are a few of the principles I’ve employed with great success; there’s a bit more to it, but this should get you started in the right direction.

The following is a guest post from Parth Shah of ShahTraining.com

Bodybuilders will tell you to eat a bunch of carbs and protein after working out. I tried this and I got fat.

Two questions have always haunted me:

1. What is the most important meal of the day?

2. What do I eat at this meal?

When you ask yourself the first question, another question comes to mind: What makes a meal important?

In my opinion, an important meal is one that feeds your immediate need and your long-term need. You only have one immediate need: replenish used nutrients.

What causes nutrients/calories to be used/burned?

· An intense workout

· A bunch of errands that wear you out

· A physically demanding job

· A super fast metabolic rate

A long-term need refers to your long-term goal. This can be burning fat, putting on muscle, gaining strength, or improving as an athlete. But this long-term goal isn’t really important when determining the most important meal, but it is important in determining the contents of that meal.

What have we learned from the above information? Your most important meal should reflect the time where you are most in need of food. This is very obvious, but unfortunately this is a forgotten element in diet design. I don’t think I need to go into the benefits of eating when you need food.

The second question is what do you eat at this meal?

If, for example, your goal is to burn fat, you may be following a low-carbohydrate diet. This is the perfect time to eat carbs. The reason carbs are avoided while fat burning is because this is the first source of energy. And if energy is not needed, then carbs are stored as fat. Protein may not be as important here as carbs are. You can take in gradual amounts of protein throughout the day to maintain your muscle. But the key here is getting the bulk of your carbohydrates (and calories) right after you workout.

If your goal is to put on muscle, you should be eating a lot of food in general. This should come as a no-brainer and hence your largest meal should be a combination of both protein and carbs. In terms of protein, I think this is an element of how hard you’ve trained. Protein is one of those nutrients which I believe we really don’t need a lot of. I was able to build muscle with 80 grams of protein a day, and when I upped it by 20 grams, my bodyweight shot up. If people aren’t gaining muscle mass, it has more to do with overall caloric intake and their training program. Not necessarily their protein intake.

What if your goal is athletic in nature? When you’re an athlete you wear out your joints more then the average guy at the gym. You’re doing a whole bunch of lateral agility movements if you play basketball or soccor. Your jumping around, ducking and weaving if you’re a martial arts guy. Focus on your healthy fats. My healthy fats are at least 40% of my total diet. Healthy fats are also very important if you’re cutting weight.

This was just a brief primer on post-workout nutrition, and few lessons we forget. There is no magic formula, as most bodybuilders claim. Not everyone needs 40 grams of carbs and 40 grams of protein after working out. Your biggest meal of the day should reflect your most calorie-intensive activity of the day (working out), and everything else should be specific to your long-term goal.

This article is based off of experience and observation. I don’t have any lab room science to back of my claims. But I believe my “claims” are common sense. Don’t you?

About the Author

Parth Shah is a Strength Consultant based in New Hyde Park, New York and can be found at his website, ShahTraining.com

Well here it is, a simple and very easy guide on how to troubleshoot and make sure you making continual progress in your fat loss efforts. No matter if you eat all day or follow an Intermittent Fasting schedule, no matter what kind of shape you are in, and no matter how much weight you have to lose….this guide will keep you on track. Remember that you can burn fat all day…..if you do the important things right on a consistent basis. Forget all the little things that provide little to no results, focus on the bigger important things that you have to do daily and then anything is possible. (click on the picture to see the whole guide)

Photo by Grufnik

Since the popularity of the original Trainer Tells All post, it’s inspired me to think some more and go into more detail about some things….the more I think….the more you have to read about it.

• Working out with cardio type workout in the AM and more weights in the PM might more replicate our ancestral patterns. Such as waking up on an empty stomach, going on the hunt, walking, running after prey here and there. The longer the hunt, the more light snacking on whatever can be foraged such as nuts and berries (no meats available). Then the final battle, the hardest fought one to overtake dinner. The strength part to carry it back and then the feast of meat, fat and organ parts. (This has always been my natural pattern to do more activity/cardio based in the AM, and then more lifting at night)
• People usually want to be told exactly what to do and eat….but what everyone really needs is to realize how food effects them…and then they will be able to get any results they want. My daily carb tolerance is not going to be your daily carb tolerance….and activity levels will even vary day to day via person. It’s more important to learn how to listen to the body and understand what one needs to eat depending on what they feel, their past activity and what they need to get ready to do tomorrow.
• Supplements can help those who are already seeing results. So don’t take a fat burner if you are not already losing fat. They can assist in results already going on but they can not do much more than that.
• Want a $10 (or less) gym? Buy a used backpack. Now do sets of 10 reps for 3 sets of pushups, pullups, lunges (up a hill), 1 legged squats and put weights/sand/water/books in the backpack. No excuse not to workout, adjust weights as needed….and if you really want some fun, hold the weighted backpack over your head while you lunge up a hill (disclaimer - my version of fun may be different from yours).
• Insulin Resistance is the #1 health factor everyone should be concerned about…and may be the cause of all obesity. High insulin levels are just a result of insulin resistance. The 3 ways you can combat and reverse insulin resistance is exercise (esp resistance), low carb eating, and periods of fasting.
• The Abs were designed evolutionary for 2 reasons, to support and transfer power between the lower and upper body. Support/Static Bracing: Holding something heavy over your head and not dropping it on your foot. Transfer/Explosiveness: Planting your foot to throw a rock or a spear.
• Most mainstream people need to spend less time in a gym and more time pursuing their passions in life. The greatest problem with many gym goers could be obsessiveness to body image, which is a never ending pursuit because nothing is ever good enough…there is always more muscle to build or more fat to lose. Some of the fittest people could also have the lowest self esteem. Train for journey of life and everyday will be exciting.
• Most people (esp athletes) have a huge Quad/Hamstring imbalance (as mentioned before with needing to squat all the way past parallel). That imbalance could be the greatest factor in most professional athletes’ knee injuries.
• Stretching before an event/sport is a bad idea (think of trying to stretch a rubber band after it has been in the freezer….crack). One should warmup with dynamic movements increasing ROM and also ramping up their speed and agility moves to wake up their CNS to be ready for action.
• Cold watermelon could possibly be the best tasting thing after a hot day of being outside and active…probably because it is like 85% water.
• The lymphatic system which is key to helping the body to cleanse it’s cells and remove waste (detox) is most active between 4am and noon. Hence why you always have the worst breath when you wake up (your tongue is a detox organ) and you probably smell too. Probably also a good reason why morning fasting could be the best option to keep your detox going until noon. Therefore eating light such as fruit/veg would be more ideal in the AM. Also another reason why you should do your cardio in the AM, to sweat out the toxins and mobilize those fatty acids to burn.
• When you first start to diet, you feel flabby….because you lose glycogen from muscle and get the flat look. Once you can look good with low glycogen levels, your muscles will look huge once your fill them back up. True bodybuilders know this and always deplete, burn the last of their fat and carb up before the show to get the best possible look (as temporary as it may be). Use that trick before going to the beach and you will look your best.
• Intermittent Fasting has the same rules of eating all day long, you still have the same amount of variables and have to eat the right foods. If something isn’t working, you need to know what variable needs to be changed (most often level of daily carbs or total calories) and tweak it till you start seeing results.
• Not stressing out about the little things will probably bring more longevity and health to most people more than any other one thing. Most people have a hard time letting things go that don’t matter…when in fact that could be the biggest key to long term health. When in doubt, ask yourself “Will this really matter in a month….year….”.
• Eating bigger and longer dinners is more important in the social aspect in many cultures around the world (taking many courses and hours to complete….all while talking with family and friends and being in no rush to go anywhere). Make it important in your life as well.
• Your largest protein meal should probably be at night, as it will generate a huge PNS response (the rest and digest one), make you feel tired and sleepy and allow a good amount of amino acids to be present during a large anabolic environment of high GH levels while you sleep.
• When in doubt, don’t think any expert knows exactly what is right for you….just take their advice, apply to your life as you can and see what results can happen. If there are no results then you can always adjust something to make it happen. If you want to lose weight either be more active or eat less….if you want to gain muscle eat more protein and lift heavy and brief.
• Health starts in your gut….after all that is where all the food goes, needs to be broken down, minerals/vitamins absorbed, and fat/proteins/sugars are digested…..or it could be going horribly wrong and there could be malnutrition because of a messed up gut environment. Most autoimmune disorders could be a direct result of leaky gut, and allowing undigested proteins into the blood stream,…to settle in some area and then the immune system attack them as foreign invaders….and keep attacking.
• If you are afraid to fail….you will never succeed. The only real failure is a direct result of lack of action. Any action is a positive step towards feedback you can use to make your next series of actions. Nothing is impossible, unless you make it so in your own mind….as that is your only real obstacle in life.