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Wednesday 1 January 2014

A New Year A New You



It's the first day of January, the day we feel most motivated to make changes to our health. I have just come back from Ireland where all I seemed to do was eat and drink, so I am looking forward to the next month to get back into a routine and most importantly to get back into shape.

This month I have decided to try a gluten and dairy free diet. After the hectic Christmas period my body needs a good detox, but not only that I want to see if these changes will make any improvements to my health. I often feel sluggish and bloated which I believe is probably down to some form of gluten or dairy intolerance, so my plan is to remove it from my diet and keep a diary of how I feel each day. I will include what I eat each day and how I exercise.

The Truth

Some truths that the fitness industry doesn't want you to know about!

One thing I really need you to understand is-Exercise can never make up for a poor diet. If you are willing to exercise everyday but not willing to change your diet, don't even bother going to the gym as you will never see real results. Until you face the truth, you will continue to be disappointed with your health and physique enhancement results. 

The truth is if your goal is to reach an ideal body weight, most people could do this with a solid nutrition plan and some daily walking. Take my mother for example, last May she changed her diet and has lost three stone just by eating a clean diet and combining it with walking and pilates.

However, if you have higher aspirations to get toned legs, arms and abs then you need to combine a clean eating diet with gut busting training sessions. If it was easy everyone would have a six pack.

So if exercise is not for you and you just want to reach a healthy ideal weight then just change your diet for the better. 

Calories In Vs Calories Out

Another thing you need to know is you can't just eat a cake one day and workout the next day to burn the exact calories to break even. The body doesn't work like that. 

Nate Miyaki explains perfectly this process:-

Lets say you are craving ice cream one night. The whole pint is the serving size as 90% of people are not going to just have two bites. One pint of ice cream is 980 calories. You say to yourself, not to worry I will work it off at the gym tomorrow. The next day you hit the gym and go on the treadmill for over an hour to burn off the calories. You reach 980 calories and stop as now you have broken even right? WRONG- it doesn't work that way.

Negative calorie is important but its only a factor. You have to look at the metabolic and hormonal factors to truly understand how the body works.

Ice cream is loaded with fat so loads of fatty acids are circulating in the blood stream. It is also loaded with sugar. This causes a rapid increase in INSULIN. Insulin is a clearing and storing hormone. It clears nutrients from blood and deposits them to be stored. High circulating fatty acids combined with insulin spikes guarantees fat stores. Because you ate the ice cream at night prevents our growth hormone working. Growth hormone is a very important hormone in the body for fat loss. We get our biggest surge of growth hormone within first 4 hours of sleep. High insulin levels and high levels of circulating fatty acids inhibits the growth hormone release.

Traditional cardio burns some calories and fat but traditional cardio causes an increase of the hormone CORTISOL. This hormone can cause the body to break down its own muscle tissue to provide fuel for the body. The longer you work out the more you are likley to burn muscle. Muscle provides your body with its shape and tone.

So no you are not back to square one even though you have burnt the same amount of calories in the gym. So think twice before you are tempted to eat something you know you shouldn't.


Rules of a Clean Diet:

  1. Cut out concentrated sources of fructose
      1. No sauces/dressings
      2. Sugar
      3. Honey
      4. Fruit Juices
      5. Fruit smoothies
      6. Dried Fruit
  2. Cut out Vegetable Oils
    1. Corn Oil
    2. Seasame Oil
    3. Grapeseed Oil
    4. Vegetable Oil
  3. Cut out Gluten
    1. No Wheat, rye and barley
    2. No sauces
  4. No Lectins
    1. No soybeans
    2. No beans
    3. No legumes
    4. No wheat
    5. No peanuts
  5. No Phytic Acid
    1. No cereals
    2. No seeds
    3. No whole grains
  6. No Dairy Food
    1. No milk
    2. No cheese
    3. No butter
    4. No cream
    5. No yoghurt
  7. No Alcohol