Category: Nutrition

Not the P90X nutrition guide, but information relating to Paleo, bad grains, obesity studies etc. Believe me, Paleo is the way to go.

Past The Tipping Point – How To Weigh Less

cat broken scaleThere comes a time for most people in their fitness journey that they hit a wall of some kind, whether it is a bodyweight plateau, a lifting barrier or a time that they just can’t beat. This plateau has been hotly debated over the years and everyone knows that variety is the spice of life but also the harbinger of change. The problem is that most people don’t understand that there are subtle changes that are just as effective as making major changes to the way you are doing things. The fact is that simple changes like the amount of water you drink (which was my problem), the amount and quality of sleep you get and that one late night snack are enough to make major effects long term. Also, for those like me who like to follow a low carb high fat diet need to realise that with the extra water consumption we need extra sodium, it’s a very small change but having sodium out of balance can have some negative effects.

Recently I have started working with an 800 calorie deficit, and I never really realized until I started with this level of detail just how easy it is to predict what will happen if you know what you are eating. I had been stuck at around 250 since I started my cut a couple of months ago. Nothing seemed to be working and I was kind of half-heartedly documenting what I was doing. It wasn’t until I finally took a strict adherence to the plan and micro managed my intake that I started to see results. I am currently down to 242 and with my short term goal to get back to 232 which is what I am in the picture on the top right of the page. I am hoping to get there by July 1 but even if I am a little late it will be good enough for me. I know it’s super tough to keep this level of attention for very long, but at least I know that if I need to do this that it really, and I mean REALLY works.

If you want to see the same results you will need a tracking app like myfitnesspal and a bucketload of honesty. So no leaving out the handful of nuts or couple of chips here and there… With the help of a high fat diet to kill your appetite you can do it but you have to pay attention to every single thing you do, This usually results in you doing less which means easier tracking. 3 meals, basic ingredients, easy peasy lemon squeezy.

If you can do this for 4 weeks you can basically kick start yourself to whatever weight loss you want to achieve, I am at an 800 calorie deficit which would mean with my exercise surplus burn of 300-400 calories a day I am using between 1100 and 1200 calories a day of stored energy. That translates to around 1lb every 3 days or 10 lbs in a month. The more I do, the more I lose and because I am feeding my body. The way to get an accurate picture of how to do this is by knowing what your body needs just to survive every day (BMR) and what you need according to your activity level (TDEE)

I used an online TDEE calculator - http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/ to get my BMR and TDEE (2184 and 3290) and from that knew I would still be eating almost 2500 calories a day on active days which is more than enough to spare my muscle mass from being catabolized.

I didn’t really mean this to be a weight loss post but I am excited about finally getting back to that 232 and seeing if I look the same as I did back then. At my age, this kind of thing is not easy, I guess I am a little proud of myself right now! 🙂

Protein Bars (with protein powder)

protein bar totalsMakes 21 tiny bars in the epicure silicone tray I have so each one will have approximately:

 

 

130 calories
3g Carbs
12g Fat
7g Protein
2g Sodium
.6g Sugars

There may have been about a tablespoon of honey too, at the start I was afraid the mixture would be too dry, and it may still prove that they are dry to eat, in which case next time I will add heavy cream to the mix.

Don’t forget the fats are all healthy fats and the protein mostly comes from the protein powder which in this case was Diesel Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

**I was lazy and didn’t print out the recipe for those on a mobile so here you go…

1 Cup ground almonds
8 tbsp ground flax meal
Diesel Cookies and Creme protein powder (120g)
8 tbsp coconut oil
100g unsweetened shredded coconut

Coconut Oil Is The Shizzle

coconutoilI know, there are articles everywhere about how wonderful coconut oil is and I for one am a firm believer in everything you read about the benefits but I thought along with a couple of my favourite links I would tell you my top reasons for loving Coconut Oil.

First, I would like to say that I have rediscovered that it’s the only way I can really suppress my appetite. Recently I have started cooking my eggs with coconut oil in the morning, I was previously making sausages and waiting to get to work to buy my scrambled eggs but not wanting to waste more money that I need to I started making breakfast again. You can’t be shy with it, I use a full tablespoon and my eggs are swimming, but that’s OK, it all gets absorbed and no my eggs don’t taste like coconut. I buy the organic stuff from Costco and although they have recently changed brands, it’s pretty good stuff. June 2016 they have started selling a Kirkland version to compete with the Nutiva stuff, personally I think they are pretty much identical but the own brand sells for 20% less.

Last weekend I started the eggs for breakfast thing again. Saturday I made eggs and forgot to eat again until dinner time. For the last few days I have done the same. My indifference to food is once again unnerving and a breath of fresh air.

Now, I have stated before  that for a VERY long time (read: my whole life) I had thought about food 24/7. In my rush to put my workouts first I had forgotten the underpinning of what got me down to the best shape of my life in 2011. It wasn’t the bootcamps, although they did help, it was my use of coconut oil.

My workouts can be brutal, still, even at my age. My diet can be unreasonably restrictive in some people’s estimation but coconut oil is one thing we can all do for ourselves.

So what are my personal top reasons for using it?

1. Top of the list is hunger. It turns it off completely.

2. Use it to make protein bars, in the fridge it goes hard as rock. (Recipe here)

3. Skin softener. For me with my barbells and my gym girls with their bar hands it’s a great way to keep the calluses soft enough so they don’t rip.

Of course there are hundreds of other uses for coconut oil and flour . Here are some interesting reads if you like… Not forgetting the newest fad Bulletproof coffee…(Here’s a well written warning about that idea… )

Update June 2016 – A comprehensive take on the benefits… This time with Science! http://www.well-beingsecrets.com/health-benefits-of-coconut-oil/

Another very comprehensive article, also with scientific evidence. : https://www.jenreviews.com/coconut-oil/

Other resources to check out:

http://wellnessmama.com/5734/101-uses-for-coconut-oil/

http://www.swansonvitamins.com/blog/natural-health-tips/using-coconut-oil

http://whole9life.com/tag/coconut-oil/

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/coconut-oil-health-benefits/

http://healthygeeks.net/uses-of-coconut-oil/

 

The Diet Pop (Soda) Issue

MHP-Dangers-of-Diet-SodaIt should be self evident that diet pop is bad. Read the label, and  you should be able to recognize about as many ingredients as you could in antifreeze.

Drink water, half water half juice, milk if you can tolerate it but stay away from chemicals. Even though there is no DEFINITIVE PROOF, look at the people drinking diet pop and ask yourself if they should be your role model. Keep it simple, keep it natural and if it has more than one ingredient, leave it alone.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/diet-soda-healthy/#axzz3DP0ip1xw

http://healthyliving.msn.com/health-wellness/7-side-effects-of-drinking-diet-soda

 

At Last Carrot Cake V2.0

 

carrotcakehomemade no flour or sugar

Big thanks to Primal Palate (dot com) for the recipe and instructions.

Pinterest that pic, it’s awesome!!

Ingredients

 

Process

  1. In a food processor, using the grating blade, shred carrots.
  2. Place carrots in a large ziplock bag.
  3. Pour maple syrup over carrots and let marinate in the fridge for an hour.
  4. Preheat oven to 325°F.
  5. In a small mixing bowl, add sifted coconut flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda.
  6. Make date mixture with 10 medjool dates and 1 tablespoon maple syrup.
  7. In a large mixing bowl or kitchen mixer, blend eggs, vanilla, melted coconut oil, and date mixture.
  8. Add dry ingredients to wet and blend.
  9. Remove carrots from the fridge, and drain the excess maple syrup from the carrots using a colander.
  10. Stir grated carrots into cake batter.
  11. Grease two 9-inch cake pans with coconut oil.
  12. Pour batter into pans.
  13. (For easy removal, line pans with parchment paper)Bake for 35 minutes.
  14. Test center with a tooth pick—if the tooth pick comes out clean, then the cakes are done.
  15. Remove cakes from oven and cool.
  16. Frost cake with cream cheese frosting, garnish with walnuts, and serve.

 

R11D29-30 – One Third Done!

pizzathirdsToday was not a great workout but over the last few weeks I have been reticent to do workout with the kids at gym because frankly I am not sure I could keep up. Then again, there is no motivation better than leading any kind of fitness routine. So Monday we grabbed the dumbbells and did a 25 minute full body workout including some isometrics, some eccentrics and even a little abs. It was OK, and it reminded me that I really should be pushing them by pushing myself. It was far from the bootcamps of old but I think for the sake of everyone we should be getting back to the grind of full 30 minute workouts to get them used to what level of work is expected from them.

Tuesday was another “in the wild” workout as I spent another 25 minutes shovelling and breaking ice from the driveway in preparation for the snow that is supposed to be coming tomorrow.

This is a milestone because in the world of at home workouts usually 90 days is the length and again usually they are divided into 3 sections. T25 and P90X3 are no exception, T25 having Alpha Beta and Gamma and P90X3 being divided predictably into 3 months that contain different workouts. This time P90X3 only contains one workout for the third month that has not already been performed but since I have never divided up the workouts like that before, maybe the other DVD sets are the same. Anyway, here I am at the end of 30 days and although I am not actually following a program I am still committed to doing 90 days of the workouts. This 1/3 mark is usually where things start to get harder, the assumption is that after 30 days of their workouts you should already be getting into shape. So how am I doing? 30 days ago when I started I was in pretty rough shape, I had just come off a bout of pneumonia and a trip to England, I had been sick for quite some time and to be honest I was a mess. My weight at work was over 250 but that only means that I was right around the 250lb mark at home. I know my weight went up by 8lbs as I started to work out again which I expected but now, a few days into February I am right around 254 which means I am down about 4lbs or so. I know it’s not much but I really had not been keeping my diet as strict as I would like, and now I have Fitday on my side I estimate a loss of at least 3lbs a week. It is pretty frightening that I am 20lbs away from my ideal weight of around 230lbs but then again, having back surgery will do that to you, the important thing is that I am back on track and heading back to the top. The funny thing is that the only rule I was breaking for my diet was the 100g of carbs, and once I have that under control I am sure good things will follow. It’s easy to get away from that without really noticing or eating anything “bad” but starch after a workout and too much fruit will tip your balance easily. If you don’t think that veg and fruit are able to put weight on you, take a peek at the latest instalment of the “5000 calories a day” guy. He is on a vegan diet and gaining weight all the way.

I had earmarked Feb 1st as a goal for having my Olympic lifts back up to 135lbs which I have achieved, I also wanted to be able to run 1500m in a reasonable time without stopping but I have been staying away from the treadmill in favour of T25 workouts. I wonder how I would fare at a 1500m run right now.

Below is my Fitday from Monday and Tuesday for your enjoyment.

Monday

fitday feb 3 2014

Tuesday

fitday feb 4 2014

R11D24/5 – Ebb And Flow

juggernautI have been careful where I can to make sure I am doing weight, cardio and recuperation workouts with some balance and with that in mind on Wednesday I did the P90X3 Eccentric Upper and it was, in fact, exactly what I had envisioned apart from there are pullups in there. That was a surprise. Besides that, it’s basically some presses, curls and so on, basic moves, but all with the accent on the 4 count lowering of the weight and one count explosion. It’s typical eccentric exercises and despite the lack of real warmup I was not too sore the following 2 days. However, since my sleep has not been ideal I opted on Thursday to do P90X3 Yoga X. I was especially interested in this since I believe in the power of yoga once you can keep up with it and I loved Tony’s One on One Fountain of Youth Yoga. This, I have to say, was a rival for that if only because you are not subjected to endless rounds of the same vinyasa all over again. This was quick, variable and had the yoga, balance and flexibility sections I was looking for. All in all it is a great little short Yoga workout, one that is bound to get lots of use.

I stumbled up on another interesting diet log blog, and although not as entertaining as Fat Head or Morgan Spurlock’s lies it’s an amazing story of one man’s journey to prove that high fat low carb diets are really the way we were made to eat. You can find it but the navigation around the site leaves much to be desired. It’s called Smash The Fat and it can be found at http://live.smashthefat.com/why-i-didnt-get-fat/ where he explains how he managed to eat 5000 calories a day and actually improve his physique. He is doing a Vegan version now, and after 11 days has apparently already gained 8lbs. Interesting stuff.

Coconut Macaroons – From November 2012

coconut macaroonI posted this on friendface but forgot to mention it here. I am making them again for the pot luck tomorrow at gym (I hope they turn out OK).

Recipe: http://www.elanaspantry.com/paleo-coconut-macaroons/

Paleo Coconut Macaroons – Low Sugar Dessert Cookie Recipe

Paleo Coconut Macaroons are the perfect healthy dessert for your Passover and Easter.

However I did add about 1/4 cup of whipping cream too.