There are two ways you can and need to recover.

• Immediate Recovery
• Ongoing Recovery

The methods that I will talk about today will be a variety of both, and we’ll discuss when to use each one effectively.

Why Do We Need To Recover?

A good recovery routine will get us back to our optimal working state. The faster you get back to where you should be, the harder and more effectively you can train, and the more gains you will likely achieve. Recovery will not only get you back to your original state, but it will also help the body to super-compensate, adapt to the training you are doing, and get the gains you were working for. No recovering properly also puts you at a greater risk of injury. There is no doubt that neuromuscular fatigue has a large affect on our movement patterns. When you have deficiencies you will be placing an increased demand on certain muscles and tissues within the body. Recruitment patterns get messed up, and you increase your risk of further fatigue and injury. Recovery can be immediate and ongoing, and it is important to take a good look at your specific needs, the regeneration process, much like the conditioning process, is definitely an individual one.

Fatigue Explained

You can put fatigue into four basic categories, all of which need addressing during the recovery process, and all of which will affect performance in certain individuals.

• Metabolic Factors: Insufficient energy.
• Neural Factors: Nervous system fatigue.
• Environmental Factors: Travel, weather.
• Psychological Factors: Emotional/ stress

Effective Recovery Methods

Here are some of the most effective methods of recovery. They are not all scientifically well backed, but all show positive results in a lot of athletes, and simply need further research. I certainly have used them all to some degree of success.

Cool Down

First and foremost, don’t neglect the cool down phase. Any exercise where there are hard intervals involved you really do need to include a full cool down. Weights sessions don’t need the whole gig, much less or no active recovery and a lot more mobility work to ensure you relax the muscles and decrease adrenaline, but the cool down certainly is an important part of any session.

This can involve two parts for intense exercise:

• Walking around, lightly jogging, and keeping on moving directly after a game or tough session will ensure that you prevent blood pooling (blood pooling in the legs), helps to slowly reduce adrenaline levels, and reduce muscle stiffness (not yet scientifically proven, but positive results). Keep moving for at least 5 minutes, longer if your session or game was very hard, and be sure to perform some active stretches and light mobility exercises along the way.
• Static stretching is massively opposed in a lot of circles, and there is not much evidence backing it as a recovery method, however what we do know is it feels good and it certainly releases a relaxing effect, which can only help to stimulate growth hormones, necessary for recovery and adaptation. Although scientifically it is not proven for performance enhancement, and should actually be avoided pre exercise, it has been shown to decrease the injury rate and aid recovery somewhat. However, the more active recovery that you participate in directly after exercise, the longer you take, and the more range of motion work you do, the less static stretching you will need. In fact, it should then be individualized, and concentrated in areas of decreased mobility or extra tight spots in certain people. I am all for static stretching POST tough session and weights session, combined with active stretching and some massage modalities and always do it. Especially for problem areas such as hip flexor and pectoral muscles.

static stretch?

photo credit: hisashi_0822

Contrast Methods

Alternating between hot and cold is becoming a very popular way to recover. Physiological methods are still being discussed, whether it is the constriction of the veins helping remove ‘crap’ from the muscles, simply a decrease in sensation allowing you to perform a more active recovery without pain, relaxes the muscle and decreases neural activity, or whether it is all three combined… what is sure is that contrast baths or showers to enhance and speed up recovery, at least as much as an active cool-down. The best evidence, try it yourself. You feel better, then its a goer.

Play around with the time, however here are some good guidelines to start with:

• Shower Contrast Therapy- 30 seconds cold as you can stand, 30 seconds hot. Repeat at least 3 times. Extra soreness in special area, localize the shower head there is possible.
• Spa/ Ice bath Contrast Therapy- 4 minutes in the spa, 1 minute in the ice bath or plunge pool.

If you need greater relaxation in the shower, just up the warm water time.

The exception here is with an inflammation injury you might want to stay away from the heat, just do an ice bath. Heat isn’t great for an injury in the early stages and may only inflame it some more.

Hydrotherapy

Hydrotherapy covers a really big blanket of recovery therapies, all of which really do help to reduce soreness, or simply leave you feeling much better. Again, as I seem to keep repeating myself, the scientific back up here is a bit sketchy. It is a little unsure as to why the benefits occur, may it be from water temperature, hydrostatic pressure (like a compression force on the body that causes fluid movement in your body), simply the ability to do low impact mobility work or who knows why…the fact is that it works, heaps of people get great results, myself included, so I am going to simply tell you what to do. Try it out yourself and see the benefits.

it's fun too!!

photo credit: drewzuckerman

In The Pool: You can do a pool session as a recovery session when you are feeling a bit down and in need of some energy. It is also a great active recovery method, that we will talk about later. Get in the pool, for 30-45 minutes you are basically moving around. Try to do a routine something like this, you only need half the length of a lane for most of it, repeat everything 3 times

• Walking
• Side steps
• Lunges
• Side lunges
• High kicks (obviously slow in the water!)
• High knees & Butt Flick
• Do a few laps of an easy stroke
• Some static stretching in the water

You can always make it tougher by adding in some water running, or some more actually swimming, but either way, this will leave you feeling refreshed.

In The Ocean: The sea is a great place to do some recovery. It’s cold and it’s salty. Perfect! Same deal, get in, walk around, swim out, come back in the shallows and do some active mobility work and you are done. An instant pick me up for anyone who has not tried it.

Salt Baths: Epsom salt baths are a very popular way to recover. The proposed mechanism is the uptake of magnesium by your skin. This is a rally important mineral that helps with muscle relaxation.

Nutrition

One of the most important aspect of recovery, if not the most. You gotta get your nutrition right after exercise or a game to ensure that you replenish what you lost, and get the gain that you need. When we are looking at nutritional recovery, we are looking at a few factors.

• Refueling the muscle and liver glycogen stores
• Replacing fluid loss and electrolyte loss
• Building new muscles proteins

Refuel

During high intensity exercise, muscle glycogen is what we use first, and it is what we need to replenish first. Immediately after exercise some carbohydrates should be taken in. Ensure that you get some protein in, as amino acids are essential to building muscle (protein powders are good, but there are a lot of natural sources of protein out there) Try to get at least 50 grams of carbohydrates in if the exercise was high intensity. After a high intensity day, or game, ensure that you keep replenishing your carbohydrate stores… for the majority of you, you won’t need to concentrate so much on this, immediate post workout nutrition is the key).

For just weights sessions, it is recommended that you take in protein plus carbohydrate (with a high GI) within 30 minutes of finishing your session. There is a window where your body will use it more effectively. If you aren’t a fan of protein powder, a milk plus a banana is a great option, can of tuna on some crackers… you get the picture. Eat something high in protein and with some carbohydrates (helps the uptake of the protein to the muscle) directly after the session.

Rehydrate

You pretty much always end up in a fluid deficit after any type of training, and it is regularly ignored. Bad idea. Fluid deficits can affect performance in later training’s and hinder recovery. try to get in well over 100% of your fluid loss in the hours after your training. Ensure, especially in the case of heavy aerobic exercise r intense exercise that you get some electrolyte replacement as well. Gatorade is good for this. Totally not necessary for the average gym goer doing 30 minutes on the treadmill, in fact will probably interfere with weight loss goals… too much energy.

drink up...

photo credit: Steve Snodgrass

Real Food or Supplements for Recovery?

You don’t necessarily need to have supplements to reach your goals, especially if you are not a highly trained athlete. Start by getting real food into your body, and ensure that you don’t double up. That will only lead to weight gain, and you probably don’t need it. Ideally if you can get real food in, do that… but protein powder provides an easy option to ensure that you get what you need directly after you training or game. It is simply too convenient to ignore.

Soft Tissue Methods

• Myofascial release: We have spoken a lot about this in tennis ball therapy and fascia pain. Check out those two articles for more information. I won’t go into more information right now, you have thorough guides there. It is essential to recovery and you will instantly get better mobility, so just do it. Foam rollers are super cheap, and massage balls even cheaper. Read the articles and find out more for yourself, you will feel a difference and this is one that any type of athlete or regular exerciser should do.

Best Foam Roller From Amazon

• Massage: Getting a massage can have two effects on the body. Mechanical or reflexive. Mechanical is the result of stretching the muscle tissues, stroked, kneading, pressing.. which leads to better circulation, stretching of soft tissue, breaking down scar tissue, and improving tissue permeability. Reflex occurs when the actions of the massage can result in a change in function. Massage is a really great way to speed up recovery, and simply does help. Whether you can get it done professional, do some self massage on your own, or get a partner to help, you will feel both psychological and physiological benefits that will enhance your recovery.

Muscle Stimulation

only $99!

The use of electromyostimulation, or EMS, which is the little machine that send electric pulses into the muscle is a form of recovery used widely. Not  as necessary as some, it does give you that extra bit of recovery. It can act like a massage in that it stimulates the blood flow and creates a pumping effect. Electronic muscle stimulators can help to induce a relaxation state and also breakdown adhesion’s that may exist between muscle fibers. You have to own a machine for it, and they are pretty expensive, but if you are interested, you can see a wide range of cheaper EMS machines here at amazon. The one in the pic is just $99.

Active Rest

Rest doesn’t always have to be total rest. Although there are going to be occasions where that is essential, you also need to keep in mind that sometimes moving is better than not. Active recovery can comprise of two different things. You can either do the same activity you were doing, at a much lower intensity. Take the body through the motions, either lower the weight, the speed or the duration. It ensures that you keep the body moving, your muscles active, the correct movement patterns activated, but you also get a bit of active rest. If you were going to do a leg workout, you still can, just do it lighter. Do some light bum exercises to ensure that you activate your glutes, and some push ups instead of a heavy exercise like bench press.

On the other hand, active rest can be something completely different, and this has the psychological benefit added in as well. As we mentioned above a pool session is a great form of active recovery. Walking is very underrated, and a long walk can enhance your recovery immensely. If you are in a team sport, maybe try playing another sport if your players are down, it helps to give the body a break from the usual movements, but also keeps the blood flowing at a lower intensity.

Sleep

whatever you can get?

photo credit: Gregorios Kythreotis

Extremely important that most of us mess up. This is the time when your growth hormones are released, and you get the best chance at recovering. You need to get into a good sleeping routine in order to recover properly, and if you don’t have one, make it a priority. Here are some tips to a better nights sleep.

• Avoid caffeine after 2pm, caffeine is thought to have a 9 hour life span, so just don’t drink it after 2pm, even if you are adapted to it and you don’t think if affects you much, try to abstain and see how you sleep.
• Try some relaxation techniques once you get into bed, clenching your major muscle groups and relaxing them is a great way to start to relax all your muscles.
• Sleep in total darkness, you will be amazed how much light can affect your sleep.
• Get rid of anything electronic prior to sleeping.
• Take a good book to bed, it helps you relax.
• Avoid alcohol prior to bedtime.
• Create a pattern and try to get up at the same time everyday.

Do You Need All These Sports Recovery Methods?

Nope, definitely not. Especially if you aren’t training everyday. However, the fact is that we will all get sore and tired from time to time. Having a regular recovery routine will ensure that we get back to our normal state and increase the gains we can achieve. This is really important for any type of athlete. Try out a few of the methods, do some consistently, and add a few more in when you feel especially in need of a pick me up.

Enjoy!

We will first take a look at the nutrition value of pasta. To keep it simple, I am going to look at simple white spaghetti, and simple whole grain spaghetti. There are simply too many variations to go through them all.

image: caloriecount.about.com

As you can see, per serving (1 cup, very small serving!!!), pasta is high in calories. Whole grain does have a much better profile in regards to dietary fiber, and is slightly lower in calories. It is also usually higher in magnesium than white pasta, another important vitamin.

Do You Really Need It?

You have to weigh up what you get out of it, opposed to the energy you are consuming. Pasta, as you can see above, is a food high in calories, especially for the nutrients you get out of it. This is good and bad, depending who you are. If you are part of a very small percentage of the population, who is a professional endurance athlete, trains twice a day or participates in a hugely ridiculous amount of exercise, then this is a great thing. Energy above and beyond is a must. You need energy to train, and not having enough can cause a wide variety of problems. In saying that, you can still get your calories from sources with more nutrients. For example, I train twice a day, but am involved in a power sport. I need more energy than the average person, but I still have to be careful. I don’t eat pasta, and get most of my carbs and energy from proteins, legumes and veggies… and a lot of them at that. On the other hand, a male long distance runner will burn an enormous amount of calories, and will simply need to top them up however he can get them, this is very important for sports recovery and will help to avoid overtraining in sport.

Now, back to a very large percentage of the population, who don’t exercise like a mad man and need to somewhat control out energy intake, then pasta is probably not the best choice. High in calorie, and low in nutrients, there are definitely other choices you can make. Be aware that you want to get bang for your buck, eat foods that will contribute to your body in a good way, most of the time. Veggies, legumes and fruits are all carbohydrate sources that provide a lot of vitamins and nutrients. I don’t necessarily advocate a low carbohydrate diet, if you read on I will explain more, however, to avoid weight gain, give your body what it needs, and help weight loss if necessary, then pasta is simply not a good choice 90% of the time. If you do eat it, ensure that it is directly after exercise, where your body will use it better. I will always argue it is better to stay away from processed grains most of the time, if not completely for the majority of the population, however, whole grain is so much better than white. If you are going to choose pasta, make sure it is whole grain.

Moderation Is The Key

Like anything else, moderation is a key. Pasta is OK at times for anyone. One cup is a standard serving of pasta, and if you think about it, when we eat pasta for dinner we are much more likely to have a huge bowl full. Anything in moderation is fine. If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you need to learn to eat a balanced diet. Ensure that the majority of your energy is providing you with nutrients and vitamins, and understand that most processed carbohydrates will not achieve that. As I mentioned before, I will always argue that you don’t really need processed grains at all. However, there are a lot of healthy people and athletes that eat a lot of them, and need them, without a doubt. I won’t ever go to one extreme, and there are always a few points of view. A healthy balanced diet is the key, and less processed grains is always going to contribute to you eating more vegetables… and you don’t have to be a nutritionist to know that is good. You don’t need to avoid pasta like the plague, but be smart about how much, the type of pasta and when you eat it.

Low Carb Diet The Way To Go?

After this you may think I am advocating a low carb diet. No. Traditionally when you look at a low carb diet, you are talking about zero carbs, all meat… basically a heap of protein and fat. I am telling you to have a safely balanced diet. There is no doubt that excess energy causes weight gain, and high GI and sugary foods speed that up. If you choose the right time to eat your carbohydrates (after exercise) and choose the right type (legumes, vegetables, fruits…basically no WHITE carbohydrates and preferably nothing processed) then you are making the right decisions. Carbohydrates provide energy, we need energy to live. A very low carb diet is not a good idea, and not one of the diets that work longterm but you need to get them from better sources. A dangerously low carb diet is only going to result in low energy and fatigue, definitely not what we want. For further information check out healthy fat loss.

Better Alternatives

If you need to eat pasta for whatever reason, go for the whole grain type. There is about 10 times more dietary fiber involved, and that is very important. It will also lower the GI (which is already quite low, a positive for pasta). For those that are trying to lose weight, avoid any type of processed carbohydrate, especially of the white variety, unless it is directly after exercise. Eat a whole lot of vegetables, fruits and legumes, and you will still get a LOT of carbs in, just ones that are also nutrient and vitamin dense, and give you something else for your energy.

So, in conclusion… of course pasta is not unhealthy, but I will argue that you have other, and better choices to make. Processed carbohydrates don’t give you a lot of nutrient value (in comparison with other foods), but are certainly necessary at time and for certain people. Just be smart, eat in moderation, concentrate on stocking up your plate with veggies and legumes, eat more lean proteins, and you really can’t go wrong…

Eat More Protein: The consensus surrounding extra protein intake is that it is for people that want to build huge amounts of muscle. The fact is that if you start to increase your protein intake, you will have tremendous weight loss benefits. Protein is the hardest of all macro nutrients to break down, which means you stay fuller for longer, and you even have a small thermogenic effect, an increase in metabolism. Try to have some protein in every meal that you eat, and if you need to snack, opt for a high protein one such as nuts or cottage cheese. You may just feel like you need to start eating a lot of meat, but it is simply not true. Check out this post on natural protein sources to see exactly what kind of options you have, you will be surprised.

Eat More Veggies & Legumes: Vegetables are really low calorie, contain a lot of nutrients and will fill you up. If you have a big plate of veggies or add them to every meal, you will fill yourself up with less calories. Legumes have more calories, but they contain a lot of protein and very slow release carbs. We can’t drop our calorie intake too much, or we will start to lose muscle. Legumes are a great way to bulk up the meal without the risk of weight gain. Instead of having rice or pasta with a meal, add more vegetables or legumes.

Avoid Processed/ White Carbohydrates: A no carbohydrate diet is never a good idea. The fact is that we need carbohydrates to survive. Even more so if we are undertaking any sort of exercise. It is just stupid and dangerous to cut them out of your diet completely. You will lose weight, but it will all be water weight, and this kind of diet is not sustainable. Carbs fuel your body, and you do need them, you just have to be smart about where you get them from. Any processed carbohydrates, ‘white’ carbohydrates and obvious sugar sources need to be cut out. White bread, pasta and rice is really not going to give you much nutritional value. As a general rule, cut this out of your diet. Regarding other processed carbs in whole grain form, brown rice, whole grain bread, can be consumed, but only after exercise. You do this, you will seriously drop fat quickly. Legumes, veggies and fruit should be your main form of carbs, so eat a lot of them. Consume whole grain carbs after your workout to regenerate your body, and you will have success.

Do Weight Lifting: It is common to see people smashing the cardio when they are trying to lose weight. If you are not doing strength training, then you are missing out on an easy method to healthy fat loss. Weight training raises your metabolism permanently, more muscles equals a higher burning rate. it’s really simple, and a key that a lot of people miss, you will see instant results after starting a weight training program.

Eat A Good Breakfast: Breakfast is really the most important meal of the day. Eating wrong at breakfast is setting yourself up for a bad day, ignoring it all together is just plain stupid. I’m not going to elaborate here, check out this post on what to eat for breakfast. You will find some great recipes and reasons why you simply need to make breakfast your priority.

Eat Healthy Fats: If we followed what we see in the media, we shouldn’t be eating carbs and we shouldn’t be eating any fats. In that case you better go and stock up on celery. The fact is that you need fats in your diet, but you need the right fats. Healthy fats, fish oil, olive oil (not too much saturated fat) actually helps you slow down digestion and keeps your fuller for longer.

Be Organized: One thing a lot of people miss out on is the organization side of things. If you are organized, you will succeed following these rules. Try to set a diet, and follow it fora few weeks. Eat the same meals and the same foods over and over, until it becomes a habit. You can get a lot of variation from a list of foods. This might be a little boring for some, but especially at the start, it is really critical. It means you will never be out of food, and you know what you need to eat, and when you need to eat it.

Eat Enough: This has been mentioned already a few times in this post, but it is still extremely important. You drop your calories drastically, you will end up dropping your metabolism equally as drastically, and losing muscle mass. Obviously cutting out white carbohydrates will decrease your calorie intake, so try to substitute them with vegetable and legumes. You will find that you actually end up eating more, and dropping the fat very quickly.

Do Cardio Work Effectively: Cardio can help you lose weight, but it is not the magic bullet. As mentioned above, combined with strength training, it can provide effective weight loss. Depending on your fitness goals there are a few ways to go about it. The fact is that low intensity cardio is pretty underrated. A long walk is a great way to burn calories, without the intensity. This is great for people that already to a lot of weights, and simply can’t add extra intensity to their training regime. Burning more calories means higher intensity cardio. Interval training is by far the most effective way to burn calories, and will get your good results. Work out what fits best with your current regime, and stick to it.

Eat Frequently: Getting a few more meals into your body during the day is a really effective way to lose fat. Traditionally we eat three meals a day, and the time in between meals is too much. You get hungry, blood sugar drops, and you want to eat a whole lot more at your next meal than necessary. Eat 4-6 times a day, to ensure that you keep your metabolism and blood sugar up. You will avoid cravings and overeating. Try to have protein at every meal or snack, and you will really start to achieve healthy fat loss.

Don’t Drink Calories: Fruit Juice, non-diet sodas, sugared coffee, slurpees, sweetened cordials are all a big no. Don’t drink sugar, it goes against all the rules.

Have A Rest Day: We can’t be good all the time. 90% of the time is enough. Eat well, train well, and 10% of the time take a break. not only will the break revitalize you and keep your motivated, getting some ‘bad’ food in might help you lose weight . You tend to down regulate your metabolism if your are dieting, and one day off a week of calorie spiking can help spike it again, leading to more effective weight loss.

Follow these 12 tips and you will achieve healthy fat loss.

• Eat enough
• Eat more frequently
• Eat Breakfast
• Eat more Protein
• Eat more Fiber
• Weight Train
• Build Muscles
• Work Your Legs
• Do more Higher Intensity Cardio
• Avoid Alcohol
• Increase Incidental Physical Activity

8 Week Program To Kick-start Your Metabolism & Change Your Lifestyle Habits: The Metabolism Advantage

Great Breakfast Options

We have repeatedly spoken about the benefits of eating enough protein in your diet. You probably need more, not just for the muscle builders, but for those wanting to lose weight as well. Protein will help speed up the weight loss process, and filling your plate with it will only lead to good things. I like to get a bit more of it in the morning as well, and along with some slow burning carbs, it really provides you with a kick-start to your day. You will ensure that you stay full for longer, and get through until lunch without the usual cravings. There are three things that I personally rotate for breakfast, I tend to stay away from bread, so my mornings will be an omelette, a smoothie or some porridge, or oats if you aren’t from down under! Here are a few ideas and why each option is so great. 

Omelette

Eggs are great. They have 7 grams of protein in each servings, and you can eat them however you want. An omelette is an even better option because you can get a whole lot of other nutrients in there and really pump up your breakfast. Some options to put in your omelette to get taste and nutrition are:

• Ham
• Chicken
• Mushrooms
• Tomatoes
• Onion
• Cottage Cheese (it’s like super cheese… seriously)
• Any Vegetable Your Stomach Desires

Seriously super easy, whisk two eggs, dice up your ingredients, put it all in a frying pan and even the most disastrous of cooks cannot go wrong.

Smoothies

Smootheis are fantastic because you can get a whole lot of good things in there, quickly and conveniently. If you use your imagination you can really work out some great smoothies. If you want to get extra protein in make sure you use some milk, and you can even put a scoop of protein powder in there. For interest sake I will put my morning smoothie up:

• Milk
• Water
• 1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
• 1 Tub low fat sugar free strawberry yoghurt
• Frozen berries/ strawberries (Lots!)
• Banana

It’s super simple but it tastes great. If I have it after workout I usually put two scoops of protein in.

Porridge/ Oats

Porridge is a great option, you can put whatever you want in it, and you get slow burning carbs and a hit of protein. You can make it with milk or water, and add whatever you like. I put a scoop of vanilla protein powder and a banana in. Berries go well, honey for some sweetness, cinnamon, yoghurt… the options are endless. Oats will fill you up and keep you going for much longer.

We have discussed the benefits of eating breakfast before, but it is something that is more than necessary to reiterate. Breakfast kick-starts your day and gets you going, if you can throw in some natural protein sources in there, you are doing even better. Like I have said before, eating something is better than eating nothing, but any of these three things are a prefect breakfast that you can really get your body and your metabolism going nicely. Try to add them to the start of your day and you will see the benefits immediately. 

First we are going to discuss a few diets that are around these days, what you need to look out for, and what to avoid like the plague. Then, we will discuss some very important nutrition rules, how you should be exercising, and as an added bonus…I will give you the holy grail of weight loss, just be aware that you may be a little disappointed.

Crash Diets And Fad Diets Are Bad News

Patience is a virtue. It applies to many parts of your life, and if you are looking to lose weight quickly, you are in for a nasty surprise. Weight loss can be reasonably rapid, but reasonably is the key word here. The fact is that there are no crash diets that work, and there are no fad diets that work.

Crash Diets

A crash diet is exactly as the name suggests. You basically drastically reduce your calorie intake and stop eating even close to enough food. Yep, you definitely will lose weight, in the short term, but you should be prepared for it to return with a vengeance. When you dramatically reduce your calorie intake, you are also dramatically reducing your metabolism, which is the rate that your body burns calories. This is the reason that people that tend to put all the weight back on and more. Once you have stopped your crash diet, you won’t be able to properly process the increase in calories, and you will quickly store them as fat.

Fad Diets

I don’t know about you but eating grapefruits all day and swallowing vinegar are not my idea of a healthy lunch. The fact is that there are a lot of fad diets out there, that basically are what we discussed above, crash diets. Making you drastically reduce your calories, achieving weight loss short term, but not changing your lifestyle, and more than likely resulting in excess fat gain later on. A few fad diets that you may have heard of, and you should definitely avoid: Grapefruit diet, Apple Cider Vinegar diet, Cabbage Soup diet, Acai Berry diet, Negative Calorie Diet…. Ah the list goes on. At the end of the day, you need to make healthy choices, basing your whole diet upon one thing, which is what most far diets are, will not result in healthy or long term weight loss. It takes a rounded approach, and sure, there is a small possibility that grapefruits possess some weight loss benefits, however, eating then in excess certainly won’t help you achieve your goals.

So, if you are looking for quick diets that work, then you need to rethink your approach a little. You can lose weight quickly, but you need to use your brain, and you will ensure that you keep it off forever.

The Holy Grail Of Weight Loss

So Lauren, what is it exactly that I need to do in order to lose fat fast? Well, firstly it depends on what exactly you define fast as, because it sure as hell is going to be different from my definition. The Holy Grail, the one thing you need to possess in order to achieve your goal of the ultimate physique, is…. common sense. Of course, throw in patience, discipline, and an ability to look towards a long-term goal and you have a sure fire solution.

Losing weight is as simple as it is complicated. Your nutrition is of utmost importance, but if you ignore the exercise part of it, then you will not get the results you want either. It takes a rounded approach, but it is very possible, and once you get the hang of a healthier lifestyle and start making better choices, you will find your body changing very quickly, and the weight will be falling off you.

Nutrition: Get It Right

Looking for diets that work isn’t going to help you long term. Taking a smart, rounded and sensible approach to weight loss will result in you reaching your goals, whatever they are. Nutrition is an essential part of the puzzle, probably the most important. Without good nutrition, any other work you are doing will be almost useless. Bad nutrition is without a doubt the biggest culprit of obesity, but thankfully, the easiest one to fix. Follow these nutrition rules and you are well on your way to a healthier and leaner you.

7 Nutrition Rules

1. Cut Out The Crap

To put it simply, cut out everything that you know is shit in your diet. You know you don’t need lollies, this kind of simple carbohydrate can be weight loss death. You know you don’t need fried fatty foods, loaded with saturated fats and with enough calories for the day. It’s the simple stuff you need to do first, and it does not get any simpler than this. Simple carbs, such as lollies, candy, sugar treats, soft drinks and fried fatty take away foods need to leave your diet in a hurry.

2. Eat Breakfast

Breakfast kick starts your day, gets your metabolism going, and gives you energy to do the activities you need. Yes, you need a deficit in calories in order to lose weight, no, you do not want to get that deficit by skipping breakfast. It will only make it worse. Check this post out to find out what to eat for breakfast, and why you so desperately need it.

3. Eat More Protein

Protein is a necessity, and unfortunately a lot of us are not getting enough. Check out this article on protein, it tells you how much you need and why you need it. If you are looking for protein diets that work, then you are on a slightly better track, however, it is better not to think of it as a diet, and just look at an increase in protein consumption. You will likely feel fuller for longer, and you won’t want to eat as much between meals, not to mention many other benefits such as muscle growth, recovery, and even a slight increase in metabolism.

4. Eat Vegetables With Each Meal

Vegetables are great because they fill up your stomach without adding too many calories in there. You also get a whole lot of great nutrients from them. Fill up your plate with veggies at most meals.

5. Drink More Water

Water constitutes around 60-70% of your body, you need it, and you probably need to drink more. Water is essential in the fat burning process, and in keeping your energy up during the day. Keep a water bottle with you at all times, not just during exercise.

6. Eat Carbs After Training And In The Morning

A lot of people out there are carb intolerant. Which means if you eat too many carbs, you probably will get fat. There is no need to be scared of carbs, and you certainly don’t need to avoid them completely. Just be smarter. Like I mentioned before, cut out the obviously bad carbs. Eat some carbs in the morning; whole grain bread or oats are great, as you are more tolerant then. Eat them after you workout. You need them to replace your energy and to help your protein uptake. Don’t cut carbs completely, just be a little smarter.  Check out this post to learn more about carbs.

7. Eat More Often

Try to eat 5-6 times a day. Smaller and more frequent meals will mean you keep your metabolism up, your blood sugar stable, and you won’t be starving and want to overindulge. It is an easy trick that is imperative to appetite control and weight loss.

There are a lot more things you can do to improve your nutrition, but if you start with these, you will ensure that you are on your way to long-term fat loss and achieving your goal.

Don’t Ignore Exercise

It is true that you can exercise all you want, and not get the gains you want because of bad nutrition, but the same goes the other way too. Exercise is essential to weight loss, and a healthy lifestyle.

Strength Training For Weight Loss

Weight training is a really important part of the weight loss process. If you are changing your lifestyle, eating better, following the essential nutrition rules and starting to exercise, then you need to be including some weight training into it as well. Strength training is not just for big guys who want even bigger muscle. The fact is that it is a very good way to burn calories, as it is high intensity work. Building extra muscle will also work to increase your metabolism, which will aid weight loss. Just doing cardio work will help you burn the fat, but not shape up your body the way you want. You only need to work 3 times per week for about 45 minutes to get good results. Don’t ignore this type of exercise in your plans, as it is high important. Doing compound exercises is much more effective as it burns more calories and works more muscles at once. A compound exercise is one that works more joints than one at once, such as bench press or the squat. If you are a body builder, you will have a different philosophy, however if weight loss is your goal, stick to compound exercises and you will see results.

Cardio For Weight Loss

I won’t talk too much about the kind of cardio you need to lose weight as it is discussed in depth in this post about cardiovascular training. Basically, If you are very out of shape, and new to exercise, start with low intensity work for a decent amount of time. At least 30-45 minutes. Walking, jogging slowly, or using something like the elliptical trainer in the gym is great for initial fat loss, and combined with strength training is very effective. If you are a bit more advanced and are looking for that extra hit, try some high intensity interval work. Which is basically working hard for a period of time, and resting a bit, over and over. Some examples would be tough intervals on a bike, work hard for 2 mins and rest for one. Another example is doing repeat sprints at the local park. These are harder, but you can do it in less time, you will likely burn a lot more calories from it, but you need to assess you goals and where you are.

As you can see, in your search of quick diets that work, you will only come to find that common sense, a little bit of discipline and a healthy lifestyle is what you actually need to achieve you goal. Be smart, and you will keep the weight off for life.

The Low-down on Protein Sources

Protein sources are classified into two groups.

• Complete proteins contain all the essential amino acids.
• Incomplete proteins are lacking one or more of the essential amino acids.

The 8 essential amino acids are:

• Isoleucine
• Leucine
• Lysine
• Methionine
• Phenylalanine
• Threonine
• Tryptophan
• Valine

Essential amino acids are crucial to muscle building. The body can synthesize all the non-essential amino acids. However the essential amino acids cannot, and must be provided by the diet. How many essential amino acids are in a protein source is important because to grow muscle you need to have them all available at the same time. If even one is lacking tissue growth will be much less efficient.

Animal Sources

Pic: Umpqua

Protein that comes from animals gives you all the essential amino acids in one go. The big problem most people face here is that animal proteins can often contain massive amounts of saturated fats. There is very little point getting all your essential amino acids from a dirty take away hamburger. You might get your amino acids, but you are going to get a lot of other crap as well. The good news is that there are many lean sources of good quality animal protein that you should be chowing down on daily. Here is a list of some high quality complete protein sources.

• Chicken & Turkey
• Eggs
• Fish
• Lean Red Meats
• Non-fat/ Low Fat Dairy

Plant Sources

If you are a vegetarian you can still get your necessary protein. It just becomes a little more complicated. Plant proteins are incomplete proteins; they do not contain all the essential amino acids. You need to mix and match. It isn’t necessary to actually get these in your body in the one meal, just over the course of the day. You can get protein from many plant sources such as, legumes, grains, vegetables, nuts and seeds, and soy. Keep in mind if you still eat dairy products such as milk and cheese, then you will be able to get all your essential amino acids without having to mix and match.

Here is a list from bodybuilding.com of complimentary sources of protein for vegetarians. I.e. you need to eat one from each list to get a full count of amino acids.

Grains contain a lot of methionine but not much lysine. Many legumes contain a lot of lysine, but not much methionine. Therefore, if you combine both of these foods you get a meal that is a complete source of protein.

The Truth About Soy…Well Not Really

This is a hot topic. Soy as a very high protein count, gives you the full score of essential amino acids, and seems a good substitute for vegetarians, however there is some debate on its effect on testosterone levels and thus, muscle building capacity.

Upside Of Soy

• A plant source that is a complete protein, it contains all the essential amino acids.
• Reported to lower bad cholesterol
• Cheap source of protein
• Contains isoflavones, which may reduce the risk of arteriosclerosis and increase bone retention
• Possible increase in thyroid hormone output, which is a hormone that can help break down fat and carbohydrate, but stimulate protein synthesis if enough calories are eaten.

Downside Of Soy

• Low Biological Value score of 74. That represents the percentage of protein absorbed that your body can use for muscle growth and repair.
• Contains factors that block the digestion and absorption of some nutrients.
• Soy is rich in estrogenic compounds. For someone trying to build muscle a change in the estrogen/ testosterone ratio can lead to increased body fat and may interfere with muscle development.

Leaves you with a tough decision right? Well firstly, most manufacturers take out the factors that block nutrients, so that isn’t a problem. Reading my above pro and cons, you will notice that most stuff is a maybe, or a possibly, or a reported. There are pros and cons to eating soy. The biggest two that are relevant to the body builder or someone wanting to gain muscle and shed fat are the increase in thyroid hormones, and the estrogen effect. One is a big plus, and one is a big negative. My take, everything is OK in moderation. You aren’t going to grow boobs if you eat some soy, but you aren’t going to be a lean machine if you overload on it either. I wouldn’t make soy your only source of protein, especially if you are male. But if you are vegetarian, soy could be a great substitution for you. Just be aware of the pros and cons.

Here is a small table I have put together of protein values of certain foods.

This table was made from various sources over the net

Final Words

Once again these aren’t my final words. There is an upcoming post on protein supplementation. Till then, eat some protein, natural is the best way!

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