Posts Tagged ‘calories’

Mixed relationships: For better or for worse


21 Dec

Where we last left off we were discussing the selection process of dating. Let’s assume now that you have chosen your mate. Be it marriage or a serious long term relationship, the person you are with now is settled into your life. What now?

Makeover that never was

Studies show that 74% of all relationships are entered into based on the hope of making large changes in the person that they are with. Meaning that from the get go the majority of people had a desire for an improvement for the person that they were with. Funny that the very thing that you wanted to improve on your partner (or them to you) isn’t what you think. 89% of the time the improvement that you want to make on your partner (or them to you) is the #1 thing that THEY complain about. If I asked you “If you could change one thing about your partner, what would it be?” how likely are you to give an answer of something that you know that want to change themselves? While people are judgmental, the truth always has been that the finger that points the hardest is towards ourselves.

Family feud results are in

What is the number one personal complaint about ourselves? Do I really need to tell you? You guessed it. In both men and women the number one complaint about ourselves is personal body composition. Men who gained weight were more likely to report marital problems than men who lost weight and they have a harder time dealing with it than women. However, men are twice as likely to have a problem with their partner being overweight. Goes to show you that the thing we are most insecure about with ourselves are what we are most critical of when it comes to others.

Honey, what did you get from the store today?

Women lead by a large margin in the department of food control. Women do the shopping, the cooking, and the food selection in the majority of households. Many studies have shown that women are triggered by more emotional behavioral eating and pulled more towards carbohydrates to stimulate a positive endorphin signaling in the brain. The problem is that the constant back and forth that occurs through the comfort eating process causing control issues and feeling of guilt. This leads to suppressing anger  towards their mate. Women more than men try to make up for their “failing” appearance and will power. In doing so it can lead towards allowing their counterpart to respect them less which can lead to a cascade of problems. On the flip side women are more verbal than men about their unhappiness with their weight thinking that men don’t care or are even proud of their loss of lean body. They try to please them with the food they buy, but guilt them for it later due to jealousy and personal doubt at the moment of change. Oh that tangle web we weave.

Change is Scary

At some point something clicks for one in the couple. Ideally it would be both, but it is usually rare that this occurs. The majority of you reading this now are here because you have a desire or a need to change your body composition. Getting the education is only half the battle. Let’s assume that now you know what it is that you have to do in order to achieve fat loss (because you bought the book right?) but applying that in real life is easier said than done. There are 3 main obstacles that the majority of you are going to have to deal with when you start dieting down. Hopefully these tips will help you get through them.

#1-They don’t like your food-

It is hard enough to re-teach your tastebuds when motivated but changing the tastebuds of those who aren’t. Your family may not like your food. They may hate your food. They want different food. They want you to make them pie, order a pizza, or keep those snacks around that you nibble on yourself. Yeah, try sticking to your calories when you have a large cheese pizza in from of you.

Solution?

They need to suck it up and help you. If you really care enough to change then it shouldn’t take a lifetime and they can deal with making it easier on you for a short time. If you don’t think you deserve it, it won’t go over well. If you don’t really want it, it won’t go over well. You need to be as dedicated to it as you hope they are. That is the first step. Now that you have that understood, I want to leave you with one more thing. If you really can’t go to your family and ask them for this help, then you may have found one of the reasons you went to food in the first place.

#2-Sabotage brought on by fear-

Is the wife complaining about you losing your softness? Is your boyfriend all the sudden bringing home fast food or making stuff he didn’t used to? Are you starting to get complaints about how you are changing or that you are cheating? This is nothing but a sad attempt of not allowing you to change because of what that change might mean.  A lot of people have a hard time understanding that you could be unhappy with an aspect of you life, but that doesn’t mean you want a completely different one.

Solution?

While they are being big babies it doesn’t matter, they are still scared. Your job, is to do the best you can to remind them, all the time, how much you love them. They need to know that you are doing this for yourself and so that you can be happier be with them. You need to assure them about your fears, really talk to them and let you know who you are. Remember people fear what they don’t understand.

#3-You do feel different, and you don’t know what that means

Sometimes when we finally gain a certain level of respect we realize that we made some bad decisions along the way. Sometimes that is in our job, sometimes it is in our friends, and sometimes it is in our partner. You aren’t going to find me on the camp of staying with someone because it is the right thing to do.  I have seen so much in my life and if it is one thing I know, it is that life is too beautiful to waste it just because it is the right thing to do.

Solution?

Try, try with all your might to grow with the person you are with. However, if they can’t grow with you, if they are bringing you down, then fly like a bird, fly far far away.

Don’t be boring or get fat this Turkey Day


21 Nov

Thanksgiving has arrived and so has the decision you have to make every year.

You are trying to either A) lose fat over the holidays or B) at least not gain it.

It’s funny because Thanksgiving and Christmas are just two days. Their destruction of eats however haunts and temps us for weeks! What do we do? How do we best navigate through this sea of gravy temptation? I am going to cover all these things and more for you right now but broken down into two categories.

The visitors and the home team!

The Visitors Team

Every year you will find yourself either being the visitor or the host. This is what to do if you visit.

Bring your food with you.

My mama always said “bring a gift.” No, I am not talking about being preachy and handing over the low carb/low fat/ dry organic free range stuffing. I said bring a gift! There are some foods that on their own are healthy and taste quite good. Bring safe items with you that you can fill up own so that you won’t have as much room for the bad and that also goes nicely with the spread. If you can’t cook or don’t care too then these ideas work for that as well.

• Veggie or Fruit Plates-Fill up on fruit and veg, lower calories.
• Hummus for dipping-Most is only 30-50 calories a serving. Goes great with those veggies too.
Tea Biscuits and Coffee (you can find these in most grocery store in the kosher/specialty section. 2 yummy biscuits for 32 calories!)

Don’t be a boring lump.

The majority of thanksgiving visitors sit like a lump waiting for instructions on how to best stuff their face. CHANGE IT UP! Since you don’t have to prepare the food do a favor by helping entertain. Spend time with your family, it is why you are there.

Have another plate.

I know right, I am nuts! Here are the rules though, the first plate I want to be all the good stuff, (lean meat, veggies, fruit,) basically low calories. Next grab another plate, but this time load up on the items you have been salivating over since you have arrived. The catch is because you already filled up on the good stuff you will be more moderate with the bad. This will limit the actual amount of the bad you can take in and save you some calories right there alone, PLUS you don’t look the “dieter.” Dieters don’t have another plate.

Help clean up.

Not only does it help out the stressed out mom/dad, you burn a few extra calories. Remember the majority of your daily calories are burned in small activities, not large training.

The Home Team

Cook!

Look you have the home field advantage; you get to do the cooking!! That doesn’t mean to serve tasteless guck either, just make smart choices. Get a bigger turkey and serve the white meat only. Where you find the space try and substitute some items with lower calories. For example, you can use skim milk and light butter in your potatoes. This makes very little difference in taste but saves loads on calories.

Pick Your Battles.

Look you can’t make a low calorie pecan pie, it is what it is. You can however make a healthy and low calorie pumpkin pie or better yet, a pumpkin cheesecake that is to die for.

If you have to go to town on the calories then at least make them more nutritious calories. For example, instead of a “canned cranberry sauce” you could whip up cranberry nut bread.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chopped cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon orange zest

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
2. Combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the cranberries and walnuts, and stir to coat with flour. Mix together the egg, oil, orange juice, and orange zest. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture, and stir until just blended. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack, and cool completely.

Nutrition Facts  Calories 163  Fat 3g   Carbohydrate 31g  Protein 3g

Want deviled eggs? Great but stuff them with something different like some roasted garlic hummus and turkey meat. Have all the flavor you want, just choose good things to make your flavor form. Remember healthy items are apart of some of the best tasting foods.

Have activities.

Don’t just make the visit to your house all about the food, be a good example. Have sack races for the kids, or spoon races. Play sports, or even have a Turkey Bootcamp (see below). I assure you the less awkward the visit, the more fun that is being had just hanging out, the less food becomes the star! Don’t let the TV rule the house anymore of Turkey Day.

Cook for only those you need to.

Don’t get carried away. This isn’t the last meal and this isn’t the send off to fight the British War. You don’t need 2 turkeys, 1 chicken, 3 pies, and 10 sides. Less is more. Pick solid dishes and let their flavors be the star. This will also lower the stress and you will be less likely to eat more because of being upset.

Now that you have those few tips down it is time to take your holiday to the next level with…

Turkey BootCamp!

Want a fun fitness game to play with the young ones? Welcome to the Ultimate Turkey BootCamp.

Objective: Complete all challenges in teams of two. Whoever wins gets the ultimate prize of “Turkey Bootcamp Champion” and prize of your choice (trophy, jersey, make it fun, even for friends).

Items Need: Good Attitude, stuff to use as course markers, lemons, bean bag/ball (something small you can toss) and stopwatch or clock.

Rules: Best of 5-No cheating-Keep it fun, and keep it clean.

Challenge 1- Wheel Barrow Race

Challenge 2-Plank Wars

The two of you try to hold a plank for as long as you can. Whichever team has the longest time wins!

Challenge 3-Wall Sits

The two of you try to hold wall sits for as long as you can. Whichever team has the longest time wins!

Challenge 4-Lemon Roll Relay

Each team has to relay from one marker to the other pushing the lemon only using their nose. First team done wins!

Challenge 5-Bulls Eye

Setup a target with points, stand 2-3 yards away depending on the challenge you want and toss into the target area. Best team points win!

Last but not least let me leave you with one of my favorite Thanksgiving leftover recipes.

INGREDIENTS

1 Pound turkey breast, cut into 1/4-inch strips
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1/4 Teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 Tablespoon olive oil, divided
1 Medium red bell pepper, seeded & cut into 1/4-inch strips
1 Medium yellow bell pepper, seeded & cut into 1/4-inch strips
1 Pound Swiss chard, stalks removed & coarsely chopped
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 Tablespoons sugar

DIRECTIONS
1. In a medium bowl, toss turkey strips with salt and pepper.
2. Heat 2-teaspoons oil over medium-high heat. Sauté turkey in hot oil for 4 to 5 minutes or until turkey is no longer pink in the center. Do not over cook. Remove turkey from the pan and set aside.
3. Add remaining 1-teaspoon oil to pan and sauté peppers for 2 minutes. Gently fold in Swiss chard.
4. In a small bowl, combine vinegar and sugar; stir into vegetable mixture. Reduce heat to medium and stir-fry mixture 2 to 3 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
5. Return turkey to pan and heat well. Serve immediately.

Nutrition Facts  Calories 220  Fat 4g  Total Carbohydrate 15g  Protein 31g

Good luck this holiday! No matter what the goal is remember that this is a time to celebrate love and give thanks no matter who and how many you are with.

Dieting and Training: Did you Yes or Do you No?


18 Nov

It is so frustrating for you as a trainee to not even realize if you are screwing things up. Truth is that you can give your heart to a training program but still fail if you didn’t involve your mind. The key to staying ahead of the game is through a system of tracking your diet and training compliance.

With a lot of my clients I do the Yes/No program.

The truth is with any dieting down program you should be as compliant as possible, period. Follow the program, and do what you are supposed to do best possible. In my opinion, the more of a “cheat” policy that is allowed in the program, the less you are going to be happy with the results.

That being said, who does that right?

So, the next best thing is to be realistic about what you have and have not done, don’t “sugar” coat your failures or try and rationalize, that just means living in denial. Best method to do this is to list out the following:

Nutrition
Training
Rest/Sleep
Recovery/Flex

Everyday you should have a goal or plan set for what it is you are going to do. For example:

Nutrition-1400 calories and 120g of Protein
Training-Upper Day
Rest/Sleep-8 hours
Recovery/Flex-2×10 mins program

Now, list out if you did what you were supposed to do and keep it to a simple yes or no. Not an almost yes, maybe no, almost perfect, 80%, etc. That is bull, don’t do that. Write a “Yes” or “No.”

Did you eat roughly 1300 calories and hit your protein amount? Did you? If you did, then nutrition gets a “Yes.”

Did you eat 1500 calories and only 90 grams of protein? Did you? Then your nutrition section gets a “No.” This way when 2 months roll around and progress isn’t what you want it to be, you can turn to YOURSELF and say one of the following:

“Everything was yes, I really did what I need to do so that lets me know that X amount of calories isn’t right for me and I need to change something.”

or

“There are a lot of “No’s” so obviously I need to be more compliant to the dieting program”

It can also help you highlight what might be causing a nutritional “No.” Was sleep bad? Was training too aggressive? Are you focusing on recovery? At the end of the day your lists should look like this:

Day 1-
Nutrition-Yes
Training-Yes
Rest/Sleep-No
Recovery/Flex
-Yes

Day 2-
Nutrition-No
Training-Yes

Rest/Sleep-No

Recovery/Flex-No

Day 3-
Nutrition-Yes
Training-Yes
Rest/Sleep-Yes
Recovery/Flex
-Yes

No graphs, no overly complicated system of measuring, and no 90% rule. Just a one simple question:

Did you do what you need to do, Yes or No?

What do Broccoli, Jamie Hale, and Teleseminars have in common?


22 Oct

They are all going to be apart of this blog post, sheesh.

Jamie Hale-For all my science geeks I am going to have a big treat for you coming up with a review on Coach Hales “The Carbohydrate Files” and maybe we can even get Jamie in here for a little Q & A. I have to say this is one heck of a read for those who want to go way beyond, pun intended, simple carbs.

My god I am funny.

Teleseminars-This is super quick that I have sprung this on you but we just go so excited about it we thought why not tomorrow! Me and Scott Tousignant are going to do a quick Q & A talk. It will literally be a few mins where we are going to try to as quickly and directly answer your fat loss questions. Hence the title…

Fat Loss Rapidfire Requests!

It is going to be live tomorrow, you can post your questions at the address below. Don’t worry if you can’t make it this time around because there might just be some more.

DATE & TIME: Wednesday, October 22nd at 2:00pm Eastern
FORMAT: Simulcast! (Attend via Phone or Webcast — it’s your choice)
TO ATTEND THIS EVENT, CLICK THIS LINK NOW…
http://instantTeleseminar.com/?eventid=4757916

Last, and certainly not least, I have two new recipes for my big meal folks and hopefully some more to come in the next few days. The beauty of these recipes is that you can easily make them higher calorie if need. Just a lil bit of everything as need to move up the calories. Gram it up!

Chicken and Sausage Bean Soup

Ingredients:

• Unbleached All Purpose Flour – 16 grams
• Walnut Oil – 14 grams
• Chopped Onion – 160 grams
• Chopped Red/Green Peppers – 175 grams
• Minced Garlic – 5 grams
• Chopped Celery – 150 grams
• ½ tsp Basil
• ½ tsp Thyme
• ¼ tsp Ground Red Pepper
• Chopped Tomato – 400 grams
• Chick Peas – 300 grams
• Turkey Sausage cut into 1-inch pieces – 112 grams (I used Jenni O)
• Lean Chicken – 14 ounces
• Fat Free Low Sodium Chicken Broth – 14 ½ ounces
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

• Combine flour and oil in a Dutch oven; saute over medium-high heat 3 minutes.

• Add onion and next 6 ingredients (onion through red pepper); cook 3 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently.

• Stir in chicken, sausage, tomatoes, and peas, and broth; cook 6 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Stats for total meal:

Calories: 1311.92
Protein: 137.84 grams
Fat: 32.9 grams
Carbs: 127.48 grams
Fiber: 25.66 grams


Baked Broccoli and Cheese Beef Quesadillias

Ingredients:

•    Low Carb Tortillas – 4 or 156 grams (I used the Multi Grain Low in Carbs Tumaro’s Goumet Tortillas)
Here are the stats of the tortillas so you can find something similar if needed:
Stats: 39 g   Calories: 100  Fat: 2.5g  Protein: 7g  Carbs: 13g   Fiber: 8g
•    4% Lean Ground Beef – 16 Ounces
•    Broccoli – 300 grams
•    Onion – 200 grams
•    2% Mexican Cheese Blend – 50 grams
•    2 tsp Ground Cumin Powder
•    1 tsp Light Salt
•    ½ tsp Black Pepper
•    1 pinch of Ground Turmeric

Directions:

•    Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees
•    Steam the Broccoli and Blanch the Onions (cook them in water)
•    Once the veggies are done cook the meat make sure it is broken up into bite size or smaller pieces.
•    Chop up the Broccoli and Onion together into half inch or smaller pieces. Not quite a mince but a chop, smaller than a dice.
•    Mix Broccoli, Onion, Meat, and seasonings together
•    Fill the tortillas with the mixture and place in glass dish (at least 9 X 12) put any excess mixture around the sides and on top
•    Add Cheese to the top
•    Cook in oven for 12 minutes or until cheese starts to slightly brown

Stats for total meal:

Calories:   1271.02
Protein:     140.69 grams
Fat:           37.18 grams
Carbs:       92.02 grams
Fiber:        42.59 grams
So how are you guys surving? 5 days are down already for my crew. 25 days left to go now, isn’t that crazy!?

Breaking the Dogma of Meal Timing: The Quiz


21 Oct

In yesterdays post “Breaking the Dogma of Meal Timing” I touched on the brief history behind meal timing.  Before I jump into helping you determine what might be a better fit for you, it should be clear that there isn’t evidence to support for everyone eating in a specific way. If you were to ask me what I support, I would say it depends. I happen to lean a little bit more towards multiple meals when dealing with dieting down. That being said, there are so many cases I can make against it for certain groups of people that I seldom feel comfortable providing that as a guideline. Alternative fasting methods or the good ole fashion “3 squares a day” have their place. When it is all said and done, as far as science and the field is concerned there still isn’t a clear winner for everyone. I will say though that stuffing yourself silly seems to fit with yours truly but enough about me, on with the quiz.

1. When younger you ate (    ) meals a day?

a) 1 big meal/maybe a snack
b) 2 meals/maybe a snack
c) 3 meals/maybe a snack
d) 4 or more meals/snacks

2. When younger your parents ate (    ) meals a day?

a) 1 big meal/maybe a snack
b) 2 meals/maybe a snack
c) 3 meals/maybe a snack
d) 4 or more meals/snacks

3. In the morning time you are hungry…

a)never
b)rarely
c)often
d)always

4. You naturally/intuitively will or would start eating…

a) many hours after awake, maybe 7-8.
b) a while after I am awake, maybe 4-5
c) a litte time after awake, maybe 2-3
d) as soon as possible when I wake up

5. You seem to train best…

a) at night
b) in the late afternoon
c) few hours after I am awake
d) first thing in the morning

6. You feel hunger the most at…

a) at night
b) in the late afternoon
c) few hours after I am awake
d) first thing in the morning

7. When you exercise you could eat…

a) a house filled with oatmeal pies
b) just the house
c) hungry, but not starving
d) not hungry at all, even sometime loss of appetite

8. When stressed out you could eat…

a) a house filled with oatmeal pies
b) just the house
c) hungry, but not starving
d) not hungry at all, even sometime loss of appetite

9. You sleep best on a…

a) Thanksgiving full stomach
b) full but not stuffed
c) maybe light hunger or fullness
d) hungry

10. You are currently eating…

a) 1 big meal/snack
b) 2 meals/snack
c) 3 meals/2snacks
4) 5 or more meals/snack

Yout Score:

Mostly A’s-MT1-Meal Type 1

You are the “feels so good but it is so wrong” type of eater. You are easily worked up or stressed. This can be both a good thing and a bad thing. If you are a hardcore trainee then you likely have one of the best bodies of everyone you know because you naturally load your body at its highest point of stress, recovery with sleep, and start the day all over again. However, if you aren’t an aggressive trainee, then you likely have the hardest time out of everyone you know because you load up on a bunch of food, didn’t do anything with it, and just let the sleep store it away. Sure, eating before bed isn’t going to get you fat, but eating everything for your whole day before bed isn’t exactly good for your nutrient partitioning. If not doing anything with that energy internally then also look out for insomnia and general restless sleep. This will cause worse sleep, more stress, and the cycle repeats. You also are likely to have sensitive blood sugar levels and respond to the highs and lows from the food loads.

What to do? If you are an aggressive trainee and your body is coming out the way you want then no need to worry about it right now. If you don’t need to drop a lot of body fat and/or have good discipline with the little you need to then enjoy your stuff.

If you are try to lose fat, and usually it is a good amount of it, then you need to a) train to help with partitioning and b) eat 2 meals a day instead of one huge one and a solid Post WO shake. Too small of meals for you might not be enough to keep you on track due to the signals of “full” you are use to receiving. While you are a prime physical candidate for small multiple meals, your mental will likely never survive. Split the difference at 2 meals and a huge PWO shake.

Mostly B’s-MT2-Meal Type 2

By nature you are likely a eat for pleasure and have in the past, or present, enjoyed restaurant eating and getting a nice big meal in at night with perhaps a small lunch and snacking during the day.  You don’t over do it on a massive scale, but you still over do it. You likely creep and crawled your way up to being overweight (or muscled if you train) rather than just “woke” up in a bad state 50 pounds heavier (or stacked). You are the average overweight or obese in the country in which that slowly bad caloric intake over time built the fat up. If you train you likely have a great muscle base but still have a harder time with lower body fat. You  might have some general stress and blood sugar problems but nothing that finding that right motivation tape can’t fix, the bookstores just seem to be out.

What to do? You are the perfect candidate for 2 meals/2 shakes.  What this means is you have two larger meals in your day, perhaps around lunch and dinner time. However the catch is to make sure that you place a proper Pre and Post workout shake around your training to aid in recovery and love the stress on the body and the feeling of blood sugar crashed that could lead to more eating at night time.  At the same time you will still have the room and enjoy have a few more calories to have a larger meal that you are primarily used to and your body enjoys.

Mostly C’s-MT3-Meal Type 3

Generally you always just fall in the middle. Not really that fat, not really that buff. Average is what you feel and to some degree you are right. You likely don’t get big hunger spikes. You aren’t that likely to crash, burn, and binge. You are not usually the one has to back up from the table to unbutton that top button. So what is the problem? Why can’t you hit your goals? Because you are likely a nibbler. Just as the deficit is about to take its hold you naturally kick into its defense and provide your body with what it needs to keep where it is at. Your set point is a bitch to fight because in truth you are likely pretty healthy and strong you just can’t shake that last bit of fat. The worry is that your stress and frustration about it will drive you to moving to a different category.

What to do? You need to back off on the snacking and stick to just meals. Let the hunger hit you a little, don’t fear it, just don’t make it be to aggressive. Try 3 meals a day and no snacks but on lifting days a Post WO shake. So for the boring and average answer.

Mostly D’s-MT4-Meal Type 4

You are likely the “skinny fat” and have a hard timing achieving fat loss because it isn’t fat loss you really need but Body Recomposition. You likely are pretty lean as it is, fear getting fat, and are more likely to not eat when depressed rather than let Ben and Jerry ease your pain. Catabolic is more the name of your game. While you have low hunger spikes this isn’t always a good thing and could be from undereating do to too much stress in the body that has shut down certain signals in the body. You will carry higher levels of body fat even at lower weights and are set up for just as many health issues as the A’s.

What to do? Eat! Since eating and hunger might be a problem for you though you would best be served by giving your body time to process everything. Try all day snacking but don’t avoid protein. Turkey and cheese can be a snack and you need the protein. Basically get in as many meals and snack as you can through out the say, keep caloric dense items with you, and make your training more strength based than aerobic.

Pass it around and Break the Dogma of Meal Timing and remember, your body is ruler and usually knows more than you think.

Are You a Fat Writer?


09 Oct

When I was writing my books one of the biggest problems I faced when trying to control my weight and maintain the body I wanted was dealing with the harsh change of my activity level. I went from training people in person all day long to spending a large chunk of time stuck at a computer. Sure I was producing a masterpiece, but I was also producing an ass.

In a day we burn X amount of calories. Everyday it changes. If you have a day you lay in bed and do nothing, you burn very few calories. If you have a day where you shovel snow so that you can go to the store and shop for two hours and then return home to make food for another hour and then you try to get in that HIIT workout before bed, then you burn a lot of calories.

To put it simply, you move more, you burn more.

The drag is that if you move less, you burn less.

During that period of time as I was finishing up my books I went from a daily caloric burn of 2500-2800 calories on average to 1600-1900 on average (the days I was really caught up in writing).

That is a decrease of roughly 1000 calories. That is a huge difference, HUGE.

What if I would have been trying to lose fat?

Some days, even eating 1200 calories, I wouldn’t even land in a 500 deficit. That is a harsh truth to face. Recently I have had a lot of arguments come my way about the fact that the calories you take in don’t matter. Just don’t eat “x” amount of “these kinds” of foods and you will be fine. However, the majority of my clients that come to me come because even with doing those “things” right, even with restricting carbs, even with avoiding those “bad” foods like a plague, they still couldn’t budge the fat. They still could not obtain the bodies they wanted.

You can blame carbs or fats all you want but at the end of the day, a fat free salad can still cause you to be stuck in your fat loss efforts.

Quick Fact: If you weigh roughly 130-160 pounds, are a generally healthy person, then every hour you sit and write you burn the amount of 1 egg or less.

Try and wrap your head around that. The average large egg is roughly 70 calories. At that weight, you hardly burn an egg. The average writer/blogger/forum poster can spend hours at a time writing, ranting, and working up one heck of a cortisol filled appetite.

Have you ever noticed how when in the middle of a back and forth conflict you turn to food? Have you ever noticed that while in the midst of what should be your Pulitzer Prize winning smack down, that all you want to do is grab a ciggy or glazed doughnut? That is writers stress at its peak! The intensity and passion of your emotions in that given situation need to be fueled! But guess what, on average you barely deserve a hard boiled egg. Is what your grabbing even close to what you are burning?

Why do you lunge for the carbs?

The only thing that suppress that stress and feeds the angry rage or blissful muse is insulin spiking, sugar bearing, sweet carbohydrates. Your body is smart, it will grave what it needs, and if it is around, you are going to go for it. You either fix or you feed the stress, which will it be?

How do you fix the stress?

Getting up and moving in interval sets of time is a big help towards…

  • Keep caloric burn up so that you can eat more
  • Lower stress levels by reducing cortisol
  • Upping serotonin levels so that you aren’t in such a bad mood and wont fight on the interwbz

Beyond that knowing that your nutrient intake is on point and that your calories are under control is the next. If you don’t know how to do those things then I suggest reading those books I gained an ass for.

>>Click Here<<

If you can’t do that I am not going to leave you hanging. Here is the best tips to up your calories while still writing your master pieces and being able to stuff your face with hot pockets.

Tip #1-Timer Training

I did a study on 3 people just this past month who sit all day. The difference in caloric burn in timing training was an average of 340 calories a day per person. That is huge and with little effort. Timer training is very simple, all you do is set out specific intervals of time where you can fit in as much aggressive movement as possible in the shortest amount of time. I recommend every hour doing 5 min rounds of the following…

1 Min Jumping Jacks
1 Min Speed Crunches
1 Min Burpees
1 Min Fast Body Weight  Squats (Advance to Pistols if need)
1 Min Planks

If you hit at that every hour for 8 hours that is a 30 mins workout that will lead you to getting ripped in no time.

EDIT: For the Skirt Ladies (or men cause you know, equal fat loss rights here). Kick off heels though okay ladies/gents.

1 min Jog in Place
1 min Push Ups (if bent knee throw a proposal under there;) )
2 Min Plank Variations (Standard, One Arm Switch, One Leg Switch, Side)
1 Static Lunges

Enjoy!

Tip #2- Pace Yourself

Every time you take a call you stand up and start pacing. Pacing during a phone call can increase your caloric burn 200% over sitting. Meaning in 20 mins instead of burning 20 calories you can burn 60.

Tip #3- The Unstable Air Chair

I did another study around 5-6 months ago know with 4 people and monitored their burn while sitting on a Swiss exercise ball while working. Posture and caloric burn improved on average of a little over 100 calories. Please note that some did experience hemorrhoid increase, so get the H if need.

Overall if you combine just these three things you can increase your daily burn, without going to the gym, and without losing writing time on large levels, by upwards to 500-600 calories a day. You can still write your award winning piece, and looking hot doing it.

How many hours a day do you normally sit? Should you just be eating eggs every hour on the hour?

The Fat Loss Troubleshooter – Leigh Peele

Common Sense Meets Advanced Knowledge