Archive for March, 2007

My Diet Program Begins

Tuesday, March 27th, 2007

Spring is in the air and that can only mean one thing — it’s time to go on my annual low carb diet. A long winter of eating pretty much anything I wanted without regard to nutritional value and its impact on my waistline has sadly take its toll. My jeans a fitting way too snugly and quite frankly, I’m disgusted with what I see in the mirror.

 In years past I had put on a few extra pounds, but my waistline didn’t get too out of control. However, maybe now that I’ve hit the big five-oh, things are looking pretty grim. Anyway, maybe it’s a wake up call and a reminder that I should give more thought to what I eat year round so it doesn’t get to this point again. At the moment I’m blaming my wife for the condition I presently find myself in. She had a voracious sweet tooth and brings home all assortment of cakes, candy, and ice cream from her weekly trips to the grocery store. Amazingly, she manages to keep a fairly slim figure. I’m a different case.

I know I should just ignore the French vanilla ice cream in the freezer or the Dove chocolates she leaves by the computer, but it somehow has a way of finding it’s way into my mouth. Well, enough already - below are the vital stats I’m dealing with currently:

Age: 50
Height: 5′11″
Weight: 184 lb.
Chest: 43″
Waist: 38″
Body Fat: 23%*

I’ve weighed more in recent years, but this is by far the largest my waist has ever been. Chalk it up to age maybe, but my body fat has really crept up (*BF was measured using several different methods with calipers as well as a couple of tape measure methods. They ranged from 15.5% up to 25% - I’m estimating it to be between 20-24% and I’m going with 23%). I’m now constantly aware of my bulging gut and I can’t stand it any longer. So time to take action!

I’ve written in the past about my fondness for low carb diets and how effective I’ve found them for rapidly taking off fat. My only complaint with them is that I can’t stay on them for more than 3 months at a time. This has worked well in the past because of the way I time the diet - start in the spring, stop in mid-summer and keep the fat off until fall. I then “let myself go” just in time for the holiday seasons and winter only to start the cycle again the following spring. I’m going to use pretty much the same diet and exercise plan as in the past, but make a few modifications to make it more palatable. This way, maybe I can stay on it longer.

I’ll try to post more regularly as the diet progresses and provide updates on both weight and fat loss. After all, it’s about losing fat and not too much muscle.

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Vindication For The Atkins Diet?

Friday, March 9th, 2007

The recent announcement about the study performed at Stanford U. on the effects of 4 different diets has apparently annoyed more than a few long time detractors of low-carb diets. The results of the study showed that overweight women who used the Atkins diet plan lost almost twice as much weight (10 lbs vs. 6 lbs) as women on the other 3 diets: Zone, Ornish, and the LEARN diets.

I think the total amount of weight lost is not really what is important here though. The study showed that the women on the Atkins diet did not develop the adverse health conditions such as increased LDL and triglycerides. Quite the contrary, the Atkins dieters had a significant drop in triglycerides and no appreciable increase in LDL levels. It has long be thought that a low carb diet high in cholesterol and saturated fat would mean sky high triglyceride and LDL levels. This just isn’t the case. I’ve proven this to myself on several occasions while on low carb diets. In fact, my overall health seemed to improve while on the diet.

The other notable health improvement in the group on the Atkins diet is they lowered their blood pressure. This is something I have experienced as well. Nevertheless, the debate will only get heated again as a result of the Standford study.

Perhaps the most useful takeaway from all this is that low carb diets are at least as effective or even more so than the other most popular diet plans. In addition, a diet lower in carbs and higher in protein and fat doesn’t appear to subject the dieter to health risks and may even improve their overall health.

What needs to be investigated now is how to make low carb diets even better. It’s become apparent that not all low carb diets are created equal. I’ve had my best results when concentrating my diet on lean sources of protein and low-glycemic index carbs such as green leafy vegetables. I try to avoid high-glycemic index carbs such as grains and sugar. The challenge is to maintain a healthy level of fiber in such a diet.

I think these results are very exciting and I will continue to work towards refining my own personal spin on the low carb diet. As always, I will be sure to share my findings here.

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Too Much Cardio?

Thursday, March 8th, 2007

I’ve received some questions about mixing elliptical training and weight training in the same workout session. This is a technique I recommend in my eBook “Getting Started With Elliptical Training”. The idea is to get the best of both worlds — muscle-building along with cardio-conditioning/fat-burning. I really believe that just about everyone should partake in both forms of training.

Of course, having said that, there are times and situations when the cardio training can actually sabotage your goals. Particularly when that goal is to maximize muscular development. This is especially true for those of us who are categorized as “hard-gainers” when it comes to building muscle. You actually can make it very difficult on yourself if you’re trying to lift heavier and with more intensity and you’re still trying to fit in marathon cardio sessions. In this situation, you are better off cutting back on your cardio sessions while maximizing your weight training efforts.

I certainly don’t advise cutting out your cardio workouts altogether during these periods — just cut back a bit. I’m also a firm believer in cycling your training throughout the year. It’s really difficult to go out on any type of training without some kind of break, be it weight lifting or cardio. As you become more advanced in your training you may want to add in 6-week cycles. Go all out with the emphasis on heavy weight lifting and scaling your cardio back to 3 shorter sessions per week. Preferably not during the same workout session as your weight training. Doing cardio right before jumping into a heavy weight lifting session will deplete your stored energy (glycogen) and will leave your energy store depeleted for your weight lfiting. It’s better to do your cardio on your off-days from lifting or during a different time during the day from your weight training. Keep your cardio sessions around 15-20 minutes.

Your diet will also need to vary during these cycles. You’ll want to consume additional calories and also up your protein intake to provide the necessary amino acids for protein synthesis to repair damaged muscle fibers. Your carbohydrate intake will also need to be higher to replenish the glycogen stored in your muscle cells in order to fuel more demanding workouts.

Eight weeks is a general guideline for cycling your workouts. You need to listen to both your mind and your body to really let you know when the time is right to switch to the next phase of your training. It’s always a good idea to take a week off from the gym after a cycle to get the cob webs out and let your body rejuvenate itself. That way, you will be excited to return to the gym with a renewed sense of commitment and energy.

On the flip side, your cardio cycle will put the emphasis on refining the additional musclar bulk your added during the “bulking” cycle. Increase your cardio sessions to 4-5 times a week for between 30-60 minutes per session. Continue to lift, but drop the poundages substantially and increase the reps. This is also a good time to add in some isolation movements to bring out the definition in your muscles.

Like the seasons, your training will also go through the ebb and flow of changing rythms. Embrace the variety and you’ll keep yourself fresh and continually improving.

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