Cardio is NOT the Key to Fat Loss

Cardio is NOT the Key to Fat Loss

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Do you have questions about Turbulence Training? How it works? What's in the workouts? Or even what does it mean?

Recently one of the UK's top trainers, Paul Mort from
PrecisionFitness.co.uk, interrogated me on the Turbulence Training system. Here's our q'n'a...

Q: First, can you tell us the basics about Turbulence Training?

Answer:
Turbulence Training is the result of years of study in the gym and in the research labs and library. From personal experience, I've found there is only one way to get the most fat loss and workout results in the least amount of time - you must increase your training intensity.

With the right workout, you can get more fat loss results in less workout time. Period. That is the one and only goal of this training program. A better body in fewer workout sessions, and shorter exercise bouts.

That means:
a) Shorter interval workouts instead of long slow cardio workouts

b) More challenging strength training exercises, such as advanced bodyweight exercises and some traditional strength training free weight exercises

If you have two hours to spend in the gym everyday, you can feel free to stick to the same relatively ineffective and inefficient program of long cardio and light weights. But if you are like most
men and women and have 45 minutes (or less) on only three days of the week to workout, then Turbulence Training will work wonders for you.

Male or female, almost everyone I see in traditional fitness centers could benefit from increasing the challenge in their workout. And they can also benefit from getting in and out of the gym faster.

So that's what led me to Turbulence Training. It's simple, no B.S., no-fluff, just-the-basics, results-oriented training. You don't need fancy gym machines or even an expensive gym membership. If you have a bench, a ball and some dumbbells at home, you are set.

Q: Okay so we're clear it's a e-book training program package that will melt bodyfat fast, what makes it so effective?

Answer:
Most people are so darn hung-up on burning a specific number of calories on a cardio machine, that they don't care how long they spend in the gym.

But big deal. If you burn X calories over 30 minutes in the gym doing cardio, but don't boost your post-exercise metabolism, you're wasting the other 23.5 hours to burn a lot more calories.

And that's what happens with slow, steady workouts that never change. Sure you burn a few calories in the gym, but there is no "turbulence" on the body to increase your metabolism outside of the gym.

Instead, by using challenging strength training, and choosing intervals over monotonous cardio, research has shown that your post workout metabolism is significantly greater. And an increased metabolism for an entire 24 hour period is what gives people results.

It's like putting money in the bank. It makes you more money even while you sit at home or sleep! That's the power of a more challenging workout.

And Turbulence Training workouts, and other "challenging" workouts are always exponentially more enjoyable than staring at a TV (or worse a wall) when "doing your time" on a cardio machine. You can get this great "metabolic turbulence" in a boot camp, with bodyweight, at home with dumbbells, or even in a busy gym.

Nothing is more effective than Turbulence Training if you only have 45 minutes, three times per week to workout.


Q: In my opinion, resistance training, both with free weights and bodyweight is the key to losing bodyfat, for our readers that are still unsure about this could you give me your opinion on my this statement?

Answer:
Strength training is just one key for fat loss, it is essential to maximize your metabolism, and it is absolutely, positively paramount to building the best body of your dreams.

For those that doubt, start with bodyweight training. Not only is this method of strength training effective at helping you sculpt your body, but it is also empowering to your self-confidence and 100% applicable to your daily living.

Everything from carrying groceries to "seks" will be easier if you are stronger in the bodyweight exercises. Your mobility and stamina will increase, so that you will be able to carry your children to bed easier, you will be able to do yardwork with less fatigue, and you'll literally improve your "zest for life" simply from mastering your bodyweight strength.

All of these benefits without touching a single free weight...but if you do go with free weights, you'll take your fitness to an even greater level.

Research from the 2001 meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine showed that female subjects boosted their post-exercise metabolism to a greater level when they did 8 reps per exercise, rather than 12 reps.

So low rep, strength training is best for boosting metabolism. It will get you more results in less time because it will continue to work while you recover.

Q: I'm always telling people that aerobic exercise is useless for fat loss, does you agree with this? And why?

Answer:
Aerobic exercise is certainly inefficient for fat loss.

By that I mean, the benefits pale in comparison to the fat loss you can achieve in less time with interval training. Most people would be able to cut their workout time in half simply by using intervals rather than aerobic exercise.

Now I've witnessed a few people lose fat and maintain a beautiful body with aerobic exercise, but these have been limited to: young University-aged males that also did 4 days of heavy strength training, who had no "life" stress and plenty of time on their hands to train up to 10 hours per week (not counting recreational sports).

But does that sound like your average gym-goer's lifestyle?

I doubt it. If it does, where do you live? I want to move there!

So next time you go to the gym, do this admittedly un-scientific test...Take a visual survey of the "cardio" area and the strength training area. Where are the best bodies?

In the strength training area, no doubt.

And in fact, we can also find a lot of beautiful bodies in the Yoga and Pilates area. Why? There's certainly no "fat burning" cardio zone going on there. So what gives?

Nutrition.

Nutrition is the #1 factor in fat loss. It trumps any fat loss program, no matter how good it is. Yes, even my beloved Turbulence Training will not be 100% effective if someone continues to eat chips and pints as their meals.

That's why I spent almost 500 quid to have Dr. Christopher Mohr put together an easy-to-follow, healthy, fat loss nutritional guidebook to go along with the Turbulence Training workout package. It has diet plans for both men and women.

So Paul, getting back to the original question.

There are far more efficient ways to change your body.

Eat for fat loss, and do some form of strength training to sculpt your body. When you take care of your nutrition and eat according to Dr. Mohr's guidelines, your body will be like modeling clay in your hands...and the exercises you choose to do with sculpt it. If someone continues on with aerobic exercise, the improvements will be negligible.

So that's why you don't see cardio in my structured program. If someone wants to do a family bike ride or play a game of football on the weekend, by all means go ahead. But it is far too inefficient to get put in my main workouts.

Q: What about somebody that isn't a member of a gym? Can they still benefit from Turbulence Training?

Answer:
Absolutely. As mentioned earlier, all you need is a bench, a Stability Ball (aka - Physioball), and a set of dumbbells. A pullup bar would be a bonus, if you are strong enough to use the pullup and chinup exercises.

I've done many of the bodyweight exercises outside, as obviously you don't need any equipment to do many of the novel ab, leg, and pushing exercises. Heck, I bet you use many of the exercises in your boot camps and you know how little equipment is needed for a hard workout.

Think back to the days before the glitzy chrome-and-machine gyms.

People were still able to get fit with free weights andbodyweight.

And good nutrition certainly doesn't need a gym membership.

Q: And lastly, I meet a lot of people who seem to have tried every diet going, tried classes, gyms and DVDS, what makes Turbulence Training different from these?

Answer:
Most people train in their comfort zones. And while a lot of programs require a lot of effort (those classes are no joke), most programs lack an effective level of intensity.

By intensity, we are talking about working closer to your maximum level of effort.

Sure, a set of 15 repetitions to failure for triceps pressdowns is tough, but it's not truly intense. Compare that to doing a set of 8 pushups - which for many people is much more intense - and now you are using your entire body a lot harder. Thus, the turbulence on the body is much greater. And your body will have to work harder after training to recover - and that's what increases your metabolism - and allows you to burn fat all day, rather than just for 20-30 minutes.

And dont' worry, even if you can crank out dozens of pushups, there are a few variations in the Turbulence Training program that will give even the savviest gym veteran an intense workout.

The same goes with the cardio vs. intervals. If you switch to intervals, you'll notice changes in days. And that's not hyperbole. I've heard it time and time again from TT users...they feel and see changes within 48 hours once they switch their workouts and start using the TT Fat Loss Nutrition Guidelines.

Stay consistent with the plan, and you're gold!

Sincerely,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

P.S. Don't forget...


As one of your bonuses for ordering Turbulence Training, you'll
receive a 4-week bodyweight program with beginner, intermediate, and advanced versions. These are great workouts for holiday and business travel, so you don't have to stress over missed workouts. 


"Craig's Bodyweight Turbulence Training program lets you use your body as the most comprehensive home gym available. In turn the results are like nothing else out there. What really impressed me was his inclusion of a self assessment that lets you monitor your own progress so that you keep getting stronger and leaner without any wasted time. If going to the gym ever feels stale, I immediately switch to Craig's Bodyweight TT program to get and stay in shape."
Anthony Belza, Strength Coach, Toronto 


"Craig, I just wanted to let you know that I've been using your
Turbulence Training System to whip myself back into shape after a vacation and too much time in front of the computer getting a couple of projects completed and I've dropped 10.2 lbs. of bodyfat in the last 28 days. As a fellow fitness professional I can safely say that it's the best and most efficient approach to improving body composition that I've come across."
Pat Rigsby
President, The Fitness Consulting Group
Fitnessconsultinggroup.com

About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Find here further great information about the right workout for fat loss:

Quick Fat Burning Kettlebell Workout | Fat Loss Diet Tips
4 Reasons Why the Xtreme Fat Loss Diet Didn't Work for You | At ... 
Exercises to Lose Weight Quickly: Why Bodyweight Training is the ...


=====================================
Discover Free and Helpful Information
Subscribe to the monthly KieFit Journal NOW!
CLICK HERE: http://www.kiefit.com/
=====================================

Submit your Articles

Do you write articles about health, fitness, sports, nutrition etc?
Feel free to send it to us. If your article meets our needs we will be willing to publish it.
Email: articles[at]kiefit.com

Enjoy your healthy life!

Heidi

P.S. Tell your friends about http://www.kiefit.com
P.P.S.Please ad me to your twitter, facebook and linkedin.
http://twitter.com/KieFitDotCom
http://www.facebook.com/KieFitDotCom
http://www.linkedin.com/in/KieFitDotCom

Rating the Energy Drinks

Rating the Energy Drinks

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Energy. Everyone wants more of it. And it's as easy to get as heading down to the corner store...All we need to do is slam down a Red Bull. Or a Gatorade. Or a coffee. Or so the ads say.

But which of these is really the best energy drink? The answer, of course, is below...

Now when people talk about energy drinks, they are often simply referring to products that contain caffeine. After all, when someone is describing their energy levels, they are really talking about their level of mental alertness. So we'll limit our discussion today to that: what drink gives you the best and longest-lasting energy levels.

#5 - At the bottom of our list are those sugar and caffeine "energy drinks" such as Red Bull (and even cola).

The problem with many energy drinks is that they contain too much sugar and/or too much caffeine. So while the short-term effects are huge increases in energy (i.e. feeling wired or even jittery - even to the point of nausea), after an hour or two you'll crash and burn, and more than likely be ready for a nap - or as those marketing machines prefer, another "energy drink".

#4 - Sports Drinks: Give these guys credit, they've convinced the world that we need to refuel with what's essentially uncarbonated soda pop. Now unless you're performing an exercise of more than an hour, you don't need this liquid sugar.

#3 - Coffee: Having never had a coffee in my life, I'm not sure it's fair of me to pass judgement on this beverage. But I'll say this...a cup of coffee each day is not going to kill you.

But if you depend on the caffeine to give you your morning get-up-and-go, maybe you should do a little lifestyle review. Perhaps there are some things you can change to give yourself more energy without relying on a caffeine fix? And you're probably getting a lot more caffeine than you bargain for if you get your coffee from the well-known coffee shops.

#2 - Green Tea: True, this beverage does contain caffeine, but it does so in relatively smaller amounts than coffee.

In addition, you should be able to find naturally decaffeinated Green Teas (avoid Green Tea that has been decaffeinated via an "acetylation" process - this might also remove the healthy phytochemicals in the tea). And of course, go organic if you can.

NOTE: All teas are healthy. Green Tea may or may not be healthier than traditional teas.

Green Tea is a super close second place to our winner...and research suggests that several cups of the tea are necessary each day to receive the full health benefits.

#1 - Filtered Water: There's no way that water is going to lead to an energy crash. And it's important part of your nutrition plan. While I admit, it will never compare to a caffeine-based beverage for giving you that mental wake-up, in the big picture, water is the go-to drink.

Unfortunately, despite all the messages about H2O, I know a lot of the Turbulence Training clients still do not drink enough water.

I'm a big proponent of 12 glasses per day - I drink more than that and immediately notice sluggishness when I am unable to do so. I encourage you to monitor your water intake and determine your optimal level for alertness.

Use the Turbulence Training Lifestyle to increase your energy.

Sincerely,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training


P.S. There are other ways to increase your energy...

Beverages aren't the only way to boost your energy and improve your health.

The right workouts will boost your brain power...and your metabolism.

Exercise shouldn't dominate your life...instead, it should support your lifestyle. So let me show you how to spend less time in the gym while still having an increased energy level for your endless projects at work and at home...

About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com

=====================================
Discover Free and Helpful Information
 Subscribe to the monthly KieFit Journal NOW!
CLICK HERE: http://www.kiefit.com/
=====================================

Submit your Articles

Do you write articles about health, fitness, sports, nutrition etc?
Feel free to send it to us. If your article meets our needs we will be willing to publish it. Email: articles[at]kiefit.com

Enjoy your healthy life!

Heidi

P.S. Tell your friends about http://www.kiefit.com
P.P.S.Please ad me to your twitter, facebook and linkedin.
http://twitter.com/KieFitDotCom
http://www.facebook.com/KieFitDotCom
http://www.linkedin.com/in/KieFitDotCom

Does Cold Weather Make You Store Body Fat?

Does Cold Weather Make You Store Body Fat?
By Tom Venuto
www.BurnTheFat.com

Do you get fatter in the cold weather? It’s a good question right now, considering that this year’s farmer’s almanac is predicting a frigid winter and true to the prediction, the Huffington Post just ran a story, “Cold Temperatures Greet The New Year.” It’s FREEZING here in New Jersey and it’s not like this is the Yukon territory.

Some of my friends up in the great white yonder think that temps in the 20’s are balmy. Yeah right. With the wind chill, even my bones had goose bumps today. I can’t even fathom the sub zero stuff those guys live in. Adding insult, my friends in LA and South Florida have been more than happy to share their local January weather reports with me. 80 degrees and sunny. Thanks guys –you suck.

Back to the question. I just got an email from a burn the fat reader who asked, “Tom, is there any evidence that during cold winter weather it gets harder to lose body fat? For me, it seems easier to drop fat during the hot weather.”

Yes, there is.

First there’s the psychological explanation: in warm climates, people are wearing less clothes and enjoying the outdoors and people want to look good when they’re exposing more flesh! In the cold, you’re covered up, so there’s less self-consciousness and no public accountability. Therefore, most people tend to stay on a diet more diligently and train harder when summer rolls around.

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) has been studied at length by psychologists. Often more than just the “winter blues” but an actual type of depression, SAD occurs during the short days and long nights of winter and fall, when there’s less sunlight and colder temperatures. Symptoms include depression, cravings for specific foods, loss of energy, hopelessness and oversleeping. Obviously, these types of symptoms can contribute to weight gain.

Because of their tendency for fall and winter weight gain, many people have suspected that cold temperatures influence weight gain on a metabolic level, not just eating more. Exposure to cold temperatures can cause a shivering thermogenesis which means there’s an increase in metabolism to produce more heat (heat production = calories burned).

However, if you just got the bright idea of turning off the heat in your house, or going for a swim in the cold surf every day to “burn more fat”, I wouldn’t recommend it. Deliberate exposure to the cold, either cold air or cold water doesn’t pan out into real world fat loss results, even though there are actually “fat loss gurus” who recommend it.

Here’s why:

If your body uses some energy for shivering or heat production, it can compensate later for that energy loss by increasing your appetite. Not only that, research at the hyperbaric environmental adaptation program at the Naval Medical Research Institute in Bethesda Maryland reported that, “The combination of exercise and cold exposure does NOT act to enhance metabolism of fats… Cold-induced vasoconstriction of peripheral adipose tissue may account, in part, for the decrease in lipid mobilization.”

It’s just not practical to freeze your butt off in an attempt to speed up your metabolism a tiny little bit, so your fat loss scheme wouldn’t last long if you tried.

A great example of how cold temperatures affect energy balance is in the case of swimming. For years, people thought swimming actually made you fat. There were all kinds of theories, like, “it makes you retain a layer of fat for insulation, like seals.” Actually, the most recent research shows that swimming is a perfectly good fat burning exercise, except for one thing: Swimming, especially in cold water, increases appetite dramatically.

The seasons affect your activity levels too. Pedometer research published in the journal Medicine and Science and Sports And Exercise uncovered a huge difference in the number of steps taken between the summer and winter:

7616 steps per day in summer
6293 steps per day in fall
5304 steps per day in winter
5850 steps in spring

Most people blame winter weight gain on the food, but it’s not just the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s celebration feasts, it’s less winter activity that also contributes to the holiday pounds.
You have to keep up with your training and nutrition program in the winter, or else. (Need a program? Here’s a tip: visit www.BurnTheFat.com)

Although studies have found that seasonal weight gain is usually very small, it’s the type of slow weight creep that goes unnoticed. Over a period of 10, 15 or 20 years, it’s enough to accumulate into becoming overweight or obese.

Thus many men and women wake up one morning at age 40 or 45, look in the mirror and ask themselves, “How did I get so heavy?” Answer: just a pound or two a year, after each winter season, left unchecked.

To stay lean all year round, you have to remain alert about increases in your appetite and decreases in your activity. This is a YEAR-ROUND LIFESTYLE! Stay active, stay diligent about nutrition, stay accountable, and if you start to experience weight gain, nip it in the bud - fast!

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto, author of
Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle

Founder & CEO of
Burn The Fat Inner Circle

About the Author:

Tom Venuto is a fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, freelance writer, and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat-Burning Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models (e-book) which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.BurnTheFat.com or BurnTheFatInnerCircle.com

=====================================
Discover Free and Helpful Information
Subscribe to the monthly KieFit Journal NOW!
CLICK HERE: http://www.kiefit.com/
=====================================

Submit your Articles
Do you write articles about health, fitness, sports, nutrition etc? Feel free to send it to us.
If your article meets our needs we will be willing to publish it. Email: articles[at]kiefit.com

Enjoy your healthy life!

Heidi

P.S. Tell your friends about http://www.kiefit.com
P.P.S.Please ad me to your twitter, facebook and linkedin.
http://twitter.com/KieFitDotCom
http://www.facebook.com/KieFitDotCom
http://www.linkedin.com/in/KieFitDotCom

Fat Loss Power of Food

Fat Loss Power of Food
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

I know that most readers think that fat loss is all about exercise, but you must know that good nutrition is just as important for fat loss results. Making the correct food choices is your secret weapon in the rush to get the best body for summer. Eating right will help you lose fat and increase your energy dramatically, so that you'll have plenty of stamina for social life, in the gym, and at work.

When I start working with clients, I have everyone enter their food intake on a nutrition tracking website to allow both of us to evaluate their nutrition. Some of the common problems that I see are:

1. Too many treats per day. As one client said, ''I still have one treat per day such as chips, a chocolate bar, a donut, or a rib sub each day, and sometimes I skip breakfast. But other than that, I think it is pretty good.''

If that’s the case, and you are trying to lose fat, then you will have a difficult time. You just can't eat that many treats (read: garbage) and expect to get lean (unless you are 16 years old).

2. Skipping breakfast.

3. Not eating enough fiber.

4. Not eating enough lean protein and low-glycemic, low-fat carbohydrate sources.

5. Not eating much during the day and then eating a huge dinner.

Solutions:

1. Set the tone with the first meal of the day by consuming a lean protein source and high-fiber, low-glycemic carbohydrates. Fiber at this meal will help control blood sugar over the morning and can help modify appetite at subsequent meals.

2. Consume mini-meals to prevent starvation-induced meal binges and energy slumps.

3. Choose snacks that contain protein and fiber, such as almonds.

4. Keep your dinner moderate, and avoid high-calorie feasts.

5. Consume calorie-free beverages, preferably Green Tea or water.

6. Consume at least the recommended amount of fiber through vegetables, fruits, almonds, etc. But start adding fiber to your diet slowly and drink more water.

7. Try to improve your nutrition each day. This will help get you into healthy eating habits. Be consistent with your training and nutrition, and you'll get results.

So here is your challenge. Start with one day and eliminate all of the processed foods from your nutrition plan. I want you to go one full day without foods containing added sugar, hydrogenated oils, or high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

If you do this, you'll feel amazing and energized. You will probably have your best workout of the year and you'll probably get more done at work as well.

Replace the junk with lean protein sources, fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains (such as oat-based products), water, and green tea. Make sure to log your food intake on fitday.com and compare it to your regular eating. You'll notice that it is very hard to overeat when you eat only healthy foods. And then next week, try going two days without processed foods.

Keep focusing on one improvement each day and soon you'll have better nutrition habits and fast fat loss to go along with it...not to mention a new body!

Sincerely,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

About the Author
Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com

=====================================
Discover Free and Helpful Information
Subscribe to the monthly KieFit Journal NOW!
CLICK HERE: http://www.kiefit.com/
=====================================

Submit your Articles
Do you write articles about health, fitness, sports, nutrition etc? Feel free to send it to us. If your article meets our needs we will be willing to publish it. Email: articles[at]kiefit.com

Enjoy your healthy life!

Heidi

P.S. Tell your friends about http://www.kiefit.com

P.P.S.Please ad me to your twitter, facebook and linkedin.
http://twitter.com/KieFitDotCom
http://www.facebook.com/KieFitDotCom
http://www.linkedin.com/in/KieFitDotCom

Bodybuilding Hormone Secrets

Bodybuilding Hormone Secrets
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

More today on the secrets of supersets...

In the past, I've mentioned supersets being effective simply because they save you time - and that results didn't depend on your heart rate (even though it gets jacked with supersets).

But recent research suggests another reason for the effectiveness of supersets - and that's the increase in Growth Hormone in your body.

GH, for those that don't know, is one of the hormones in your body that increases fat burning.

It's also one of the most popular scam supplements that you hear about in spam email.

So why is GH so popular?

Because everyone calls GH "the Fountain of Youth". It's supposed to make you lose fat and apparently make you look and feel younger...(and it must work - I was 'accused' repeatedly in NZ and Australia of being only 25 years old - almost 7 years younger than I really am - must be the TT lifestyle).

And that's why it doesn't surprise me that both interval training and high-intensity resistance training have both been shown to increase GH.

But the so-called GH boosting supplements aren't backed by science. On the other hand, I've been able to show you the science behind Turbulence Training. And not only science, but results too!

But now for some bad news...a recent study (from JCEM, 91: 678-, 2006, for any science nerds) showed that obese men burn fewer calories and have less post-exercise GH than normal men. And the obese men also had higher cortisol levels. AND the obese men burned fewer calories in the post-exercise period. That's a triple-yikes!

Three strikes against obese men...and possibly why some guys have a heck of time losing fat in the first place. Their hormones are out of whack to begin with - so its harder for their bodies to burn fat.

If you turn to a low-fat diet and lots of cardio, you aren't going to get the GH response that you would if you eat according to Dr. Mohr's TT fat loss guidelines and if you use the TT workouts.

So let's review the TT workout set-up that will get you more results in less time...I'm talking 3 workouts of 45 minutes per week that will blast your post-exercise metabolism through the roof and help maximize your hormonal response to exercise.

A - The Warm-up

We use three bodyweight exercises done in a circuit. This is a much better way to prepare for training than by walking slowly on a treadmill.

B - The Strength Training Supersets

This can be as little as one brilliant superset (DB squats + DB presses) if you have only 10 minutes, or up to 4 supersets if you want to spend 30 minutes on your TT Strength Training.

C - Intervals

Bodyweight circuits, stationary bike intervals, or running on the treadmill or outside, these are just a few of the ways we can do intervals for 10-20 minutes.

We don't need 40 minutes of slow cardio, or even 40 minutes of intervals.

There is still a lot to learn about interval training, but most research is using only 20-minute interval workouts to get major, much-better-than-longer-cardio results.

As I learn more, you'll learn everything.

So that's that. Eat according to Dr. Mohr's TT Fat Loss Guidelines to avoid the Western Lifestyle, and exercise and live according to the TT lifestyle, and you'll look and feel fantastic - and YOUNGER!

3 sessions of 45 minutes per week for your fountain of youth,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com

=====================================
Discover Free and Helpful Information
Subscribe to the monthly KieFit Journal NOW!
CLICK HERE: http://www.kiefit.com/
=====================================

Submit your Articles
Do you write articles about health, fitness, sports, nutrition etc?
Feel free to send it to us. If your article meets our needs we will be willing to publish it.
Email: articles[at]kiefit.com

Enjoy your healthy life!

Heidi

P.S. Tell your friends about http://www.kiefit.com

P.P.S.Please ad me to your twitter, facebook and linkedin.
http://twitter.com/KieFitDotCom
http://www.facebook.com/KieFitDotCom
http://www.linkedin.com/in/KieFitDotCom

Part 2 - 5 Tips to Avoid Plateaus and Metabolic Slowdown

Part2 - 5 Tips to Avoid Plateaus and Metabolic Slowdown
By Tom Venuto
www.BurnTheFat.com




So what can be done to stop this metabolic slowdown caused by low calorie dieting and the dreaded fat loss plateau that follows? I recommend the following 5 tips:

1) Lose the pounds slowly.

Slow and steady wins in long term fat loss and maintenance every time. Rapid weight loss correlates strongly with weight relapse and loss of lean body mass. Aim for one to two pounds per week, or no more than 1% of total body weight (ie, 3 lbs per week if you weigh 300 lbs).

2) Use a higher energy flux program.

If you are physically capable of exercise, then use weight training AND cardio to increase your calorie expenditure, so you can still have a calorie deficit, but at a higher food intake (also known as a "high energy flux" program, or as we like to say in Burn The Fat, "eat more, burn more.")

3) Use a conservative calorie deficit.

You must have a calorie deficit to lose fat, but your best bet is to keep the deficit small. This helps you avoid triggering the starvation response, which includes the increased appetite and potential to binge that comes along with starvation diets. I recommend a 20% deficit below your maintenance calories (TDEE), a 30% deficit at most for those with high body fat.

4) Refeed.

Increase your calories (re-feed) for a full day periodically (once a week or so if you are heavy, twice a week if you are already lean), to restimulate metabolism. On the higher calorie day, take your calories to maintenance or even 10, 15, 20% above maintenance and add the extra calories in the form of carbs (carb cycling). The leaner you get, and the longer you've been on reduced calories, the more important the re-feeds will be. (You can learn more about this method in chapter 12 of Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle at www.BurnTheFat.com)

5) Take periodic diet breaks.

Take 1 week off your calorie restricted diet approximately every 12 weeks or so. During this period, take your calories back up to maintenance, but continue to eat healthy, "clean" foods. Alternately, go into a muscle building phase if increasing lean mass is one of your goals. This will bring metabolism and regulatory hormones back up to normal and keep lean body mass stable.

There is much confusion about how your metabolism, hormones and appetite mechanisms are affected when you're dieting, so this was really one of the most important questions anyone could have asked.

If this didn't REALLY click - then you may want to save this and read it again because misunderstanding this stuff leads more people to remain frustrated and stuck at plateaus than anything else I can think of.

If you'd like to learn exactly how you should be eating to lose 2 lbs of fat per week, then visit http://www.burnthefat.com.

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto,
Author of Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle
http://www.BurnTheFat.com


Part1 - 5 Tips to Avoid Plateaus and Metabolic Slowdown HERE!

About the Author:
Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilder, certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) and a certified personal trainer (CPT). Tom is the author of "Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using methods of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com


=====================================
Discover Free and Helpful Information
Subscribe to the monthly KieFit Journal NOW!
CLICK HERE: http://www.kiefit.com/
=====================================

Submit your Articles
Do you write articles about health, fitness, sports, nutrition etc? Feel free to send it to us. If your article meets our needs we will be willing to publish it. Email: articles[at]kiefit.com

Enjoy your healthy life!

Heidi

P.S. Tell your friends about http://www.kiefit.com

P.P.S.Please ad me to your twitter, facebook and linkedin.
http://twitter.com/KieFitDotCom
http://www.facebook.com/KieFitDotCom
http://www.linkedin.com/in/KieFitDotCom

Best Cardio Machines for Weight Loss

Best Cardio Machines for Weight Loss
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

You don't have to do cardio to lose fat, but cardio machines can be helpful for boosting your metabolism and burning more fat.

And if you use interval training, you can get more results than if
you did traditional aerobic cardio. But that's another story for
another time. Let's take a look at which machines burn the most
calories and which ones are worth your time.

An okay choice: Elliptical Machines.

The biggest reason to choose elliptical machines...
=> you've got a bum knee.

I have worked with clients with extreme osteoarthritis and we
were able to use these machines for a decent workout without pain - but the results didn't compare to clients that used a stationary bike or treadmill for their interval training.

So in general, I'm not overly impressed by the elliptical machine
for fat loss.

If you go into any gym, compare the bodies on the ellipticals to
the ones on other machines...most of the time, the people on the
ellipticals make no progress from month to month.

And having given the elliptical a "go" once or twice on my own, it
just didn't challenge me as a treadmill does.

But if you have bad knees, or if you are an exception to my
experience, feel free to keep rocking the elliptical!

Up next...The Stationary Bike

The bike can be easy on your knees as well, particularly if you are overweight and can't support your bodyweight on the treadmill.

Personally, I like the stationary bikes a lot. The set up allows
you to do a large amount of mechanical work during your interval training - and that is what puts Turbulence on the muscle and allows you to increase your post-exercise metabolism.

In fact, when I first started designing the interval workouts back in 2001, I used stationary bikes exclusively.

I also think that the bike allows you to work very hard with less
risk of injury. Running sprints outside or on a treadmill requires
a much more extensive warm-up due to the explosive nature of
sprinting.

If you don't know your body, running sprints or hills probably
isn't the best place to start. I've met too many people that have
jumped right into hill training and been hurt within 1 week.
sprints.

So I recommend starting with the bike unless you are an experienced runner that knows your body well.

In addition, here are three more key points about the bike.

a) Stick to the upright version if possible. When using a recumbent bike for intervals, your hips tend to rock too much and your body tries to get into awkward positions in order to push hard against the resistance. That's my experience. The upright bikes are set up better for intervals.

b) For intervals, increase the resistance against your pedalling,
and not the speed of your pedalling. I don't like high RPM
spinning. I think you'll get more results and do more work when you keep the RPM between 80-100 and work against a harder resistance.

Forget that high-RPM spinning stuff...I find it is rough on your
hips and knees.

c) When on the upright bike, sit as upright as possible for the
recovery intervals or even stand for some of the work intervals.
Just avoid the "rounded over" posture as that can be hard on your low back.

So the winner is...The Treadmill.

The treadmill can burn 16-20 calories per minute of exercise
during your workout. That's a big burn, but of course only advanced fitness levels can achieve that - but hopefully you fit that category now or you will someday with consistent training and nutrition.

Some tips: Don't go crazy with the incline (as that can lead to
tight calves), but if you are able to run at more than 10mph, use a 1% incline to help offset the need for speed. The last thing
you want to do is end up in a crazy video on YouTube flying off the end of a treadmill into an elliptical machine.

So as with all types of sprinting, be careful.

Honorable mentions go to...The Rowing Machine and
Stairmaster...these can be used in place of other machines for
variety and are still effective.

Better yet, if you are able, use your body as the best fat burning
machine. I highly recommend bodyweight circuits for interval
training. These are fun, effective, and perhaps even better at
sculpting your body.

I really like bodyweight interval circuits for advanced
fat-burning, plateau-busting workouts. If you're stuck, you'll
benefit from bodyweight circuits.

Sincerely,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com

=====================================
Discover Free and Helpful Information
Subscribe to the monthly KieFit Journal NOW!
CLICK HERE: http://www.kiefit.com/
=====================================

Submit your Articles
Do you write articles about health, fitness, sports, nutrition etc? Feel free to send it to us. If your article meets our needs we will be willing to publish it. Email: articles[at]kiefit.com

Enjoy your healthy life!

Heidi

P.S. Tell your friends about http://www.kiefit.com

P.P.S.Please ad me to your twitter, facebook and linkedin.
http://twitter.com/KieFitDotCom
http://www.facebook.com/KieFitDotCom
http://www.linkedin.com/in/KieFitDotCom

Orthorexia and the New Rules of Clean Eating (Part 2)

Orthorexia and the New Rules of Clean Eating (Part 2)
By Tom Venuto
www.burnthefat.com

In part one, I described the growing obsession many people have with eating only the purest, healthiest foods, aka “clean eating.” You’d think that nothing but good would come from that, but some experts today dislike the concept of clean foods because it implies a dichotomy where other foods, by default, are “dirty” or forbidden - as in, you can never, ever eat them again (imagine life without chocolate, or pizza… or beer! you guys). Some physicians and psychologists even believe that if taken to an extreme, a fixation on healthy food qualifies as a new eating disorder called orthorexia.

Personally, I have no issues with the phrase “clean eating.” Even if you choose to eat clean nearly 100% of the time, I don’t see how that qualifies as a psychological disorder of any kind (I reckon people who eat at McDonalds every day are the ones who need a shrink).

However, I also think you would agree that any behavior - washing your hands, cleaning your house, or even exercise or eating health food - can become obsessive-compulsive and dysfunctional if it takes over your life or is taken to an extreme. In the case of diet and exercise, it could also lead to or overlap with anorexia. It’s debatable whether orthorexia is a distinct eating disorder, but I’m not against using the word to help classify a specific type of obsessive-compulsive behavior. I think it’s real.

The truth is that many people are quite “enthusiastic” in defending – or preaching about - their dietary beliefs: no meat, no grains, no dairy, only organic, only raw, only what God made, and on and on the rigid all-or-nothing rules go. What people choose to eat is often so sacred to them, it makes for tricky business when you’re a nutrition educator. Sometimes I don’t feel like telling anyone what to eat, but simply setting a personal example and showing people how I do it, like, “Hey guys, here is how natural bodybuilders eat to get so ripped and muscular. It may not suit you, but it works for us. Take it or leave it.

” On the other hand, I can’t help feeling that there’s got to be a way to better help the countless individuals who haven’t yet formulated their own philosophies, and who find nutrition overwhelmingly confusing. For many people, even a simple walk down the aisles of a grocery store, and trying to decipher the food labels and nutrition claims is enough to trigger an anxiety attack.

That’s where I hope this is useful. I can’t draw the line for you, or tell you what to eat, but I can suggest a list of “new rules” for clean eating which simplifies nutrition and clears up confusion, while giving you more freedom, balance, life enjoyment and better results at the same time.

New Rule #1: Define what clean eating means to you

Obviously, clean eating is not a scientific term. Most people define clean eating as avoiding processed foods, chemicals and artificial ingredients and choosing natural foods, the way they came out of the ground or as close to their natural form as possible. If that works for you, then use it. However, the possible definitions are endless. I’ve seen forum arguments about whether protein powder is “clean.” Arguments are a waste of time. Ultimately, what clean eating means is up to you to define. Whether your beliefs and values have you restrict or expand on the general definition, define it you must, keeping in mind that your definition may be different than other’s.

New Rule #2: Always obey the law of energy balance

There’s one widely held belief about food that hurts people and perpetuates the obesity problem because it’s simply not true. It’s the idea that calories don’t matter for weight loss, as long as you eat certain foods or avoid certain foods. Some people think that if you eat only clean foods, you’re guaranteed to lose weight and stay lean. The truth is that eating too much of anything gets stored as fat. Yes, you can become obese eating 100% clean, natural foods. There’s more to good nutrition than calories in versus calories out, but the energy balance equation is always there.

New Rule #3: Remember that “foods” are not fattening, “excess calories” are

There’s a widespread fear today that certain foods will automatically turn into fat. Carbohydrates – particularly refined carbohydrates and sugars - are still high on the hit list of feared foods, and so are fatty foods, owing to their high caloric density (9 calories per gram). Foods that contain fat and sugar (think donuts) are considered the most fattening of all. But what if you ate only one small donut and stayed in a calorie deficit for the day – would you still say that donut was fattening?

If you want to say certain foods are fattening, you certainly can, but what you really mean is that some foods are calorie dense, highly palatable, not very satiating and eating them might even stimulate your appetite for more (betcha can’t eat just one!). Therefore, they’re likely to cause you to eat more calories than you need. Conversely, “non-fattening” foods have no magical properties, they’re simply low in caloric density, highly filling and non-appetite stimulating.

New Rule #4: Understand the health-bodyfat paradox

Two of the biggest reasons people choose to eat clean are health and weight loss. Health and body composition are intertwined, but dietary rules for health and weight loss are not one in the same. Weight gains or losses are dictated primarily by calorie quantity. Health is dictated primarily by calorie quality. That’s the paradox: You can lose weight on a 100% junk food diet, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be healthy. You can get healthier on an all natural clean food diet, but that doesn’t mean you won’t gain weight… and if you gain too much weight, then you start getting unhealthy. To be healthy and lean requires the right combination of calorie quantity and quality, not one or the other.

New Rule #5: Forbidden foods are forbidden.

Think of you on a diet like a pressure cooker on a burner. The longer you keep that pot on the heat, the more the steam builds up inside. If there’s no outlet or release valve, eventually the pressure builds up so much that even if it’s made of steel and the lid is bolted down, she’s gonna blow, sooner or later. But if you let off a little steam by occasionally having that slice of pizza or whatever is your favorite food, that relieves the pressure.

Alas, you never even felt the urge to binge… because you already had your pizza and the urge was satisfied. Since the “cheat meal” was planned and you obeyed the law of calorie balance, you stayed in control and it had little or no effect on your fat loss results. Ironically, you overcome your cravings by giving in to them, with two caveats: not too often and not too much.

New Rule #6: Set your own compliance rule

Many health and nutrition professionals suggest a 90% compliance rule because if you choose clean foods 90% of the time, it’s easy to control your calories, you consume enough nutrients for good health, and what you eat the other 10% of the time doesn’t seem to matter much. Suppose you eat 3 meals and 2 snacks every day, a total of 35 feedings per week. 90% compliance would mean following your clean eating plan for about 31 or 32 of those weekly feedings. The other 3 or 4 times per week, you eat whatever you want (as long as you obey rule #2 and keep the calories in check)

You’ll need to decide for yourself where to set your own rule. A 90% compliance rule is a popular, albeit arbitrary number – a best guess at how much “clean eating” will give you optimal health. Some folks stay lean and healthy with 80%. Others say they don’t even desire junk food and they eat 99% clean, indulging perhaps only once or twice a month. One thing is for certain – the majority of your calories should come from natural nutrient-dense foods – not only for good health, but also because what you eat most of the time becomes your habitual pattern. Habit patterns are tough to break and what you do every day over the long term is what really counts the most.

New Rule #7: Have “free” meals, not “cheat” meals

Cheating presupposes that you’re doing something you’re not supposed to be doing. That’s why you feel guilty when you cheat. Guilt can be one of the biggest diet destroyers. Consider referring to these meals that are off your regular plan as “free meals” instead of “cheat meals.” If having free meals is part of your plan right from the start, then you’re not cheating are you? So don’t call it that. What can you eat for your free meals? Anything you want. Otherwise, it wouldn’t truly be a free meal, would it?

People sometimes tell me that my bodybuilding diet and lifestyle are “too strict.” I find that amusing because I love eating clean 95-99% of the time and I consider it easy. I had a butter-drizzled steak, a glass of wine, and chocolate sin cake for dessert to celebrate my last birthday. I had a couple slices of pizza just four weeks before my last competition (and still stepped on stage at 4.5% body fat). Oh, and I’m really looking forward to my mom’s pumpkin pie and Christmas cake too. Why? How? Because as strict as my lifestyle might appear to some people, I’ve learned how to enjoy free meals and I will eat ANYTHING I want - with no guilt. Meanwhile, my critics are often people with rules that NEVER allow those foods to ever cross their lips.

New Rule #8: For successful weight control, focus on compliance to a calorie deficit, not just compliance to a food list

Dietary compliance doesn’t just mean eating the right foods, it means eating the right amount of food. You might be doing a terrific job at eating only the foods “authorized” by your nutrition program, but if you eat too many “clean” foods, you will still get fat. On the fat loss side of health-bodyfat paradox, the quantity of food is the pivotal factor, not the quality of food. If fat loss is your goal and you’re stubbornly determined to be 100% strict about your nutrition, then be 100% strict about maintaining your calorie deficit.

Lesson #9: Avoid all or none attitudes and dichotomous thinking

If you make a mistake, it doesn’t ruin an entire 12 week program, a whole week and not even an entire day. What ruins a program is thinking that you must either be on or off your diet and allowing one meal off your program to completely derail you. All or nothing thinking is the great killer of diet programs. Even if they don’t believe that one meal will set them back physically, many “clean eaters” feel like a single cheat is a moral failure. They are terrified to eat any processed foods because they look at foods as good or bad rather than looking at the degree of processing or the frequency of consuming them. Rest assured, a single meal of ANYTHING, if the calories don’t exceed your energy needs, will have virtually no impact on your condition. It’s not what you do occasionally, it’s what you do most of the time, day after day, that determines your long term results.

New Rule #10: Focus more on results, less on methods

I’m not sure whether it’s sad or laughable that most people get so married to their methods that they stop paying attention to results. Overweight people often praise their diet program and the guru that created it, even though they’ve plateaud and haven’t lost any weight in months, or the weight they lost has begun to creep back on. Health food fanatics keep eating the same, even when they’re sick and weak and not getting any stronger or healthier. Why would someone continue doing more of the same even when it’s not working? One word: habit! Beliefs and behavior patterns are so ingrained at the unconscious level, you repeat the same behaviors every day virtually on automatic pilot. Defending existing beliefs and doing it the way you’ve always done it is a lot easier than changing. In the final analysis, results are what counts: weight, body composition, lean muscle, performance, strength, blood pressure, blood lipids, and everything else you want to improve. Are they improving or not? If not, perhaps it’s time for a change.

Concluding words of wisdom

We need rules. Trying to eat “intuitively” or just “wing it” from the start is a recipe for failure. Ironically, intuitive eating does not come intuitively. Whether you use my Burn The Fat, Feed the Muscle program or a different program that suits your lifestyle better, you must have a plan.

After following your plan for a while, your constructive new behaviors eventually turn over to unconscious control (a process commonly known as developing habits). But you’ll never reach that hallowed place of “unconscious competence” unless you start with planning, structure, discipline and rules. Creating nutritional rules does NOT create more rule breakers. Only unrealistic or unnecessary rules create rule breakers. That’s why these new rules of clean eating are based on a neat combination of structure and flexibility. If you have too much flexibility and not enough structure, you no longer have a plan. If you have too much structure and not enough flexibility, you have a plan you can’t stick with.

To quickly sum it all up: Relax your diet a bit! But not too much!

Tom Venuto, author of:
Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle

Orthorexia and the New Rules of Clean Eating (Part 1) click HERE!

About the Author:

Tom Venuto is a fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, independent nutrition researcher, freelance writer, and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat-Burning Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models (e-book) which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com

=====================================
Discover Free and Helpful Information
Subscribe to the monthly KieFit Journal NOW!
CLICK HERE: http://www.kiefit.com/
=====================================

Submit your Articles
Do you write articles about health, fitness, sports, nutrition etc?
Feel free to send it to us. If your article meets our needs we will be willing to publish it.
Email: articles[at]kiefit.com

Enjoy your healthy life! Heidi

P.S. Tell your friends about http://www.kiefit.com
P.P.S.Please ad me to your twitter, facebook and linkedin.
http://twitter.com/KieFitDotCom
http://www.facebook.com/KieFitDotCom http://www.linkedin.com/in/KieFitDotCom

Orthorexia and the New Rules of Clean Eating (Part 1)

Orthorexia and the New Rules of Clean Eating (Part 1)
By Tom Venuto
www.burnthefat.com

Clean eating has no official definition, but it’s usually described as avoiding processed foods, chemicals, preservatives and artificial ingredients. Instead, clean eaters choose natural foods, the way they came out of the ground or as close to their natural form as possible. Vegetables, fruits, legumes, 100% whole grains, egg whites, fish, and chicken breast are clean eating staples. Clean eating appears to be a desirable, sensible, even noble goal. Eating clean is what we should all strive to do to achieve optimum health and body composition isn’t it? Arguably the answer is mostly yes, but more and more people today are asking, “is it possible to take clean eating too far?”

Physician Steven Bratman thinks so. In 1997, Bratman was the first to put a name to an obsession with healthy eating, calling it orthorexia nervosa. In his book, Health Food Junkies, Bratman said that whether they are trying to lose weight or not, orthorexics are preoccupied with eating healthy food and avoiding anything artificial or “toxic.”

Orthorexics are not only fanatical about eating the purest, healthiest, most nutritious (aka “clean”) foods available, says Bratman, they often feel a sense of righteousness in doing so.

Whether orthorexia should be officially classified as an eating disorder is controversial. The term appears in pub med indexed scientific journals, but it’s not listed in the DSM-IV as are anorexia and bulimia. Opponents wonder, “Since when did choosing a lifestyle that eliminates junk food become a disease?”

Media coverage and internet discussions about orthorexia have increased in the past year. Websites such as the Mayo Clinic, the Huffington Post and the UK-based Guardian added their editorials into the mix in recent months, alongside dozens of individual bloggers.

In most cases, mainstream media discussions of orthorexia have focused on far extremes of health food practices such as raw foodism, detox dieting or 100% pure organic eating, where some folks would rather starve to death than eat a cooked or pesticide-exposed vegetable.

But closer to my home, what about the bodybuilding, fitness, figure and physique crowd? Should we be included in this discussion?

In their quest for adding muscle mass and burning fat, many fitness and physique enthusiasts become obsessed with eating only the “cleanest” foods possible. Like the natural health enthusiasts, physique athletes usually avoid all processed foods and put entire food groups on the “forbidden” list. Oddly, that sometimes includes rules such as “you must cut out fruit on precontest diets” because “fruit is high in sugar” or “fructose turns to fat”.

According to Bratman’s criteria, one could argue that almost every competitive bodybuilder or physique athlete is automatically orthorexic, and they might add obsessive-compulsive and neurotic for good measure.

As you can imagine, I have mixed feelings about that (being a bodybuilder).

If I choose to set a rule for myself that I’ll limit my junk food to only 10% of my meals, does that make me orthorexic or is that a prudent health decision?

If I plan my menus on a spreadsheet, am I a macronutrient micromanager or am I detail-oriented?

If I make my meals in advance for the day ahead, does that mean I’m obsessive compulsive, or am I prepared?

If I make one of my high protein vanilla apple cinnamon oatmeal pancakes (one of my favorite portable clean food recipes) and take it with me on a flight because I don’t want to eat airline food, am I neurotic? Or am I perhaps, the smartest guy on the plane?

Some folks are probably shaking their heads and saying, “you bodybuilders are definitely OCD.” I prefer to call it dedicated, thank you, but perhaps we are obsessive, at least a wee bit before competitions. But aren’t all competitive athletes, to some degree, at the upper levels of most sports?

Athletes of all kinds – not just bodybuilders - take their nutrition and training regimens far beyond what the “average Joe” or “average soccer mom” would require to stay healthy and fit.

What if you don’t want to be average – what if you want to be world class? What then? Is putting hours of practice a day into developing a skill or discipline an obsessive-compulsive disorder too?

Okay, now that I’ve defended the strict lifestyle habits of the muscle-head brother and sisterhood, let me address the flipside: being too strict.

Where does the average health and bodyweight-concerned fitness enthusiast draw the line? How clean should you eat? Do you need lots of structure and planning in your eating habits, or as Lao Tzu, the Chinese philosopher said, does making too many rules only create more rule-breakers?

Debates have started flaring up over these questions and as inconceivable as it seems, there has actually been somewhat of a backlash against “clean eating.” Why would THAT possibly happen? Eating “clean” is eating healthy, right? Eating clean is a good thing, right?

Well, almost everyone agrees that it’s ok to have a “cheat meal” occasionally, but some experts - after watching how many people are becoming neurotic about food - are now clamoring to point out that it’s not necessary to be so strict.

The diet pendulum has apparently swung from:

“Eat a balanced diet with a wide variety of foods you enjoy.”

To:

“You MUST eat clean!”

To:

“Go ahead and eat as much junk as you want, as long as you watch your calories and get your essential nutrients like protein, essential fats, vitamins and minerals.”

Talk about confusion! Now we’ve got people who gain great pride and a sense of dedication and accomplishment for taking up a healthy, clean-eating lifestyle and we’ve got people who thumb their nose at clean eating and say, “Chill out bro! Live a little!”

The current debate about how clean you should eat (or how much you should “cheat”) reminds me of the recent arguments over training methods such as steady state versus HIIT cardio. Whatever the debate of the day, most people seem to have a really difficult time acknowledging that there’s a middle ground.
Most dieters, when they don’t like a certain philosophy, reject it entirely and flip to its polar opposite. Most dieters are dichotomous thinkers, always viewing their endeavors as all or nothing. Most dieters are also joiners, plugging into one of the various diet tribes and gaining their sense of identity by belonging.

In some cases, I think these tribes are more like cults, as people follow guru-like leaders who pass down health and nutrition commandments that are followed with religious conviction. Seriously, the parallels of diet groups to religious groups can be downright scary sometimes.

Whether the goal is to optimize health, to build muscle or to burn fat, there’s little doubt that many individuals with all kinds of different motivations sometimes take their dietary restrictions to extremes. Obviously, an overly restrictive diet can lead to nutrient deficiencies and can adversely affect health, energy and performance.

In some cases, I can also see how swinging to any extreme, even a “healthy obsession” with pure food could lead to distorted views and behaviors that border on eating disorders. If you don’t believe it’s a real clinical psychological problem, then at the very least, you might agree that nutritional extremes could mean restricting social activities, creating inconvenience or making lifestyle sacrifices that are just not necessary.
I believe there’s a middle ground - a place where we can balance health and physique with a lifestyle and food plan we love and enjoy. Even more important, I believe that your middle ground may not be the same as mine. We all must find our own balance.

I believe that going back to BALANCE, but this time with a better definition of what balance means, is the approach of the future.

I also believe that some new rules would help us find that balance.
If you'd like to learn the rules that bodybuilders and fitness models follow to "eat clean" and stay lean, then visit http://www.burnthefat.com.

Tom Venuto, author of:
Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle

Orthorexia and the New Rules of Clean Eating (Part 2) click HERE!

About the Author:
Tom Venuto is a fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, independent nutrition researcher, freelance writer, and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat-Burning Secrets of The World’s Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models (e-book) which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com




=====================================
Discover Free and Helpful Information
Subscribe to the monthly KieFit Journal NOW!
CLICK HERE: http://www.kiefit.com/
=====================================

Submit your Articles
Do you write articles about health, fitness, sports, nutrition etc? Feel free to send it to us. If your article meets our needs we will be willing to publish it. Email: articles[at]kiefit.com

Enjoy your healthy life!

Heidi

P.S. Tell your friends about http://www.kiefit.com

P.P.S.Please ad me to your twitter, facebook and linkedin.
http://twitter.com/KieFitDotCom
http://www.facebook.com/KieFitDotCom
http://www.linkedin.com/in/KieFitDotCom