valshealthblog.com

The Real Truth About the Twinkie Diet

Hi,

I just saw this headline and had to write this now.  The headline was: Twinkie Diet Helps Nutrition Professor Lose 27 Pounds.  Here is the link: twinkie diet

There are a few points that this article brings up. 

One is the point that -as I have said many times – it doesn’t matter what you eat for weight loss.  The bottom line is if you take in less calories than you burn you will lose weight. 

Now there are variations of how this works based on macro nutrients, but that is a different story.

So even if you eat nothing but junk fook you can lose weight on it. 

But, this professor wasn’t eating just junk food.  Although if you only read the headline and the first couple of paragraphs that is what you would belive.

He was eating: Twinkies. Nutty bars. Powdered donuts. Hostess and Little Debbie snacks, Doritos chips, sugary cereals and Oreos.

The above was 2/3 of his diet. 

And he lost 27 pounds in 10 weeks.  He did this by dropping 800 calories per day.  That is a pretty good weight loss over that time period.

This article also stated that his LDL or what is called bad cholesterol was reduced by 20%.  the HDL (increased) increased by 20 percent and his triglycerides  were reduced by 39%. 

So why did a diet of 2/3 junk food help reduce the bad fats and increase the good cholesterol.

Two reasons.

One is that the other 1/3 of his diet was pretty good.  He had a multivitamin pill and protein shake every day.  He also ate vegetables every day.  Even though they were canned vegetables mixed with regular vegetables. 

The good stuff he was eating possibly counter acted the junk food he was eating. 

The other point is that this experiment only lasted 10 weeks.  It can take months and years before problems become apparent.

The body is very adaptable.  It will keep functioning for a long time with no apparant consequences.

But, once it reaches a certain point then the problems become very apparent.

I’ll give you an example from my own family.   My dad smoked pretty much all his life and he smoked unfiltered Pell Mells. 

My mom smoked filtered Benson and Hedges before she was married and after the kids were all in school. 

My mom died at 53 years old of lung cancer.  My dad lived to 81.  So whether it is smoking or eating junk food the consequences will catch up with you.

Sometimes it will be sooner and sometimes later.  And before you think my dad was in good health up to 81 you would be mistaken.  His last 20 years were not so great and he suffered a lot even though he finally stopped smoking around 65. 

So what is the bottom line here.  Yes, you can eat junk food all your life.

If you only eat a little bit and counter it with good nutritious food then you can probably postpone the consequences.

However, maybe you will be like my mom and die young because of your choices. 

You don’t know. 

The choices are always yours.  My choice is to eat nutritious foods as much as I can.  And yes, there is room for some junk food. 

Not much, but it does taste good. 

And I exercise every day.  Sometimes it is only stretching, sometimes, cardio, sometimes weight lifting, sometimes fat burning workouts. 

Combine exercise with an overall good nutrition program and you have the best of both worlds.

So stay off the twinkie diet, but if you like them don’t cut them entirely out of your diet.

Thanks

Mike Val

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Fat Burning Revolution

Hi,

Are you ready for the fat burning revolution?

No, I am not talking about some new pill, or miracle exercise program.

I am talking about what is going on with you.

I am going to compare you to a forest.  I know, sort of crazy, but bear with me for a few minutes.

Many times a forest gets overgrown.  And that makes it prime for an explosion.  One bolt of lightening and there is a fire that destroys everything. 

Or at least everything above ground. 

But underneath the ground, that is where the revolution is going on.  Seeds are germinating and propagating. 

And sure enough in a few years you can see a new forest beginning. 

So how does that relate to you.  Maybe, over the years, you too have become overgrown.  This usually translates into too much weight.

Too much weight and poor food choices helps cause inflamation in your body and that primes it for a lightening strike.

Only the lightening in this case could be a heart attack, stroke, diabetes, cancer and a few hundred other diseases.

And, just like the world needs lightening and fires in order to restart, maybe that is what you need to start a revolution. 

I am hoping that you don’t wait that long. 

Why wait until you are overweight, maybe even obese, out of shape and primed for an explosion?

That could be the catalyst for change for you.  If you survive the initial attack.

If you don’t, then there is nothing.

If you do, then you can change.  The body is very adaptable and it will react positively to new changes and it will regrow. 

There might be repurcussions though.  Like large hospital bills, like a paralyzed limb, like a weakened heart, like being on medications for the rest of your life.

My question is why would you want to wait until those things happen when you could change them right now – in an instant.

Instead of becoming overgrown like the forest, let’s start trimming back now.

That means eating nutritious foods, exercising more and turning your life around. 

Anyone can do this and do it now.  It only takes a decision. 

Maybe you don’t know exactly what to do or how to go about doing it.

That is actually the easy part.  The hard part is making the decision. 

Once you do then the fat burning revolution is on the way. 

Yes, it will take some time, just like the forest takes some time to grow back, but once started it is inevitable.

Thanks,

Mike Val

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McDonald’s Pays for Manager’s Obesity

Hi,

Did you see the story about the Brazilian McDonald’s manager?

Turns out he gained 65 pounds over 12 years working at McDonald’s.  That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone, but I guess it was to him.

As a manager he felt it was necessary to sample the food to make sure it met the quality necessary for McDonald’s.

And the free lunches everyday probably didn’t help either. 

So instead of taking responsibility for what he was putting in his mouth, he abdicated all responsibility and blamed it on McDonald’s.  And the judge agreed!

 There are some lesssons to be learned here.   First of all, his case is not unusual.

Most people gain weight over a period of time.  Gaining 5 – 6 pounds a year like this guy did is pretty common. 

And it is so slow that most people do not even notice it.  At least not until a year or two has passed. 

But, that is the time to do something about it.  Don’t do like this guy did and just keep eating and eating for 12 years and then realize that you have gained 65 pounds. 

It is much easier to lose 5-6 pounds and keep it off than it is to lose 65 pounds. 

The other point is that somewhere along the line you and everyone else in the world has to take responsibility for your own actions.

To keep eating as you get bigger and bigger is a decision.  This guy made that decision and he got obese. 

If you are overweight, then you have to realize that it is your decisions that got you that way.  (Unless you are a child living at home, then I will cut you some slack.)

Every time you take a bite of food you are making the decision to keep eating.  Now you have to decide how much of it to eat. 

You also have to decide what kinds of food you are going to eat.  This is not rocket science.  I am sure everyone knows that broccoli is better for you than potato chips. 

Yet, more potato chips are sold than broccoli every day of the year. 

What are you deciding?

But, here is a bigger truth.  It is very easy to blame others for your life and health.

Are you overweight?  It is easy to blame others for being that way.  You can blame your parents, you can blame your job, you can blame advertising and so on. 

In reality there is only one person to blame and that is you. 

So take responsibility. 

Once you take responsibility then something fantastic happens.

You can decide to change.  This takes an instant.  An instant to change your life. 

Once you make this new decision your body will start changing also.

That is the miracle of your body.  It will react to you making good decisions.  You can lose weight and fat.  You can build muscle, get stronger.  You can have more energy.

It doesn’t matter if you are 65 pounds, or more, overweight.  It doesn’t matter if you haven’t exercised in 30 years. 

You can start on your new body as soon as you make the decision.

Take an instant right now and change.

Thanks,

Mike Val

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Hi,

Can you gain muscle and lose fat at the same time?

Many people don’t think so.  And I think that this is a case of getting too much information and not seeing the whole picture. 

There is a new ebook out called The Holy Grail Body Transformation book.  In it Tom Venuto talks about losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time. 

Now Tom is a body builder and he looks the part.  But, more than that he is a pretty smart guy and has written a lot on the topic.

Body builders are obsessed with building muscle and losing fat.  Their normal way of doing things is to gain a lot of weight and muscle in the off season.  Some of this weight is fat.

Then they go on an extended diet to lose the body fat while keeping the muscle during the competition season. 

If they could find a way to build muscle while losing fat at the same time, then indeed that would be the holy grail for body builders.

However, I am assuming you are not a body builder and probably don’t have any desires to look like one.  At least not like the giants (male and female) that are in the sport today.

So does this gaining muscle while losing fat work for the average person. 

Bottom line is yes. 

Look anytime you start an exercise routine you are going to be affecting your muscles.  If you lift a weight you will get stronger and the muscle will grow. 

While you are doing the exercise you will also be raising your metabolism.  This will help burn body fat. 

So as you are doing this one exercise you are indeed building muscle and losing fat at the same time. 

But, as you get in better shape this dual action becomes harder to do.  That is because your body gets used to it. 

So doing the same exercise will become routine and you have to add more weight or do more reps or change the tempo. 

Now this is a good thing and it is a sign you are making progress.

But, it only works up great up to a certain point. 

That is why body builders have learned to focus on building muscle part of the time and burning fat the other time.

So Tom’s book is really making waves in the fitness world. 

I think it is a great book for anyone looking to find out more information on gaining some muscle and losing some fat at the same time. 

As I said Tom is a pretty smart guy and I enjoy his writing style.  If you want more information check out his book here:

Hope you enjoyed this gain muscle and lose fat review.  I plan on doing more of these.  Let me know if you have an interest. 

Thanks,

Mike Val

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Hi,

There is a silly debate going on in the diet guru world right now.  It has to do with calories and weight gain. 

Some say that it doesn’t matter what you eat.  It only matters how much. 

So if you eat more calories than you expend or burn then you will gain weight.  If you eat less calories than you burn then you will lose weight. 

This is pretty straight forward and easy to understand.

But, there is another group that says it is more important what you eat then how much you eat. 

Now the smarter ones in this group do add the caveat that there are limits to how much you can eat.  In other words, overall calories are important.

This group believes that if you eat more carbs, then you will gain weight.  If you eat more protein then you will lose weight or not gain.

So what is the truth?

They are both right to a degree.

This has to do with how your body uses the food or energy it takes in. 

Some people will eat and eat and eat and still not gain weight.  For some of them it doesn’t matter if they eat fat, carbs or protein.  They have a higher metabolism and can process more food without gaining weight. 

Wouldn’t you like that problem?

Well you can have it.  Just not to the same degree.

Yes, overall calories do matter.  However, your body will adjust to the overall calories.  Most people notice this when they go on a diet.

As less food comes in, the metabolism slows. 

However, when you eat more, the metabolism speeds up.  To a degree.  You can’t just eat more and more food and expect your metabolism to keep pace. 

Your body has a system of checks and balances and if this gets to far out of whack, then – in this case – weight gain is a consequence.

But, what about the high protein diets that are the rage. 

Here, is the thing.  You can eat more protein than you can carbs (especially processed carbs) and not gain body weight. 

That is because your body takes a certain amount of energy to process foods.  It takes more to process protein than it does carbs.

And your body needs protein more than it needs processed carbs.  

Too many processed carbs plays havoc with your whole hormone system which can more easily lead to weight gain. 

But eating too much protein can lead to weight gain also. 

So the bottom line is, you can not get away from the formula that more calories in than burned leads to weight gain.

However, what you eat also affects the amount of weight gain or loss you have. 

So to lose weight start by eating less processed carbs and upping your protein intake.  Even if your calorie level doesn’t change, you should see a drop in weight. 

Calories and weight gain can be tricky and we’ll talk more about this in future issues.

Thanks,

Mike Val

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Hi,

Just read an interesting statistic in Health News Weekly today.  If you stopped drinking soda what would your weight loss be?

It is estimated that the average person in the US drinks 600 twelve ounce sodas a year.  At an average of 40 grams of sugar per drink that is a lot of extra sugar per year.

Each gram of sugar has 4 calories.  So you – as an average American – are drinking 96000 calories from soda a year.

Since 3500 calories = 1 pound that is 27 pounds of extra weight you are gaining every year from sugar.  And that is just from soda. 

You can easily double or triple that amount when you count all the rest of the sugar you eat.

Is it any wonder that it is so easy to gain weight. 

And so hard to take it off. 

So does that mean if you stop drinking soda you could lose 27 pounds of weight in a year?

No.

Losing weight doesn’t work that easily. 

While you can lose 27 pounds in a year, you have to do more than just stop drinking soda. 

Whenever you reduce your calories, your metabolism also slows down.  This is just a natural survival response.

Fortunately, there are ways around this.  The easiest way is to increase your movement. 

Whether you start walking, riding a bike, doing calesthenics, or weight lifting – everything helps.  

Maybe you won’t lose 27 pounds, but you just might lose more!

So that is it in a nutshell. 

Increase your movement, cut out your soda and the weight loss will come. 

Thanks,

Mike Val 

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Hi,

You can lower your CRP with fiber. 

What is CRP?  It is called C reactive protein and it is a measurment of the amount of inflammation in your body.  It is also used as a predictor of heart disease and diabetes. 

So you want a very low number on your CRP tests. 

Fiber can help.

A study published in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition evaluated the body composition, diet, physical activity and CRP levels of 524 participants. 

The CRP levels were inversely related to the amount of fiber in the diet.  The more fiber, the lower the CRP levels. 

This is a simple way to fight inflammation in your body.

Just eat a variety of fiber foods.  You should include both soluble and insoluble fibers in your diet. 

Fruits and vegetables have fiber in them.  Eating your 5-7 servings a day will pretty much give you all the fiber you need.

Oats, grains and beans also have fiber.  Just make sure you are eating whole grain cereals and breads and natural oats in order to get the full benefits.

Thanks,

Mike Val

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Hi,

There are 10 zillion acai berry concoctions on the market today.  The question is is the acai berry healthy or not?

The acai berry – by itself – is healthy for you. Just like all berries are. 

However it does not have the highest ORAC score of berries.  The ORAC score is a measurement of the antioxidant force the food source has.

Blueberries and blackberries have scores of 6552 and 5347 respectively.

Acai berries have a score of 3800. 

So yes, acai berries are good for you.

That isn’t the problem however.  I have talked about the acai berry scam from a monetary point of view before so I won’t go into detail about it again.

I will just tell you to beware of the free 30 day supply offers.  They are all a scam and it will end up costing you hundreds of dollars to get out of those programs.

There are other problems.  And that is with the combo drinks that have acai in them.

One of the problems is that while companies that make these drinks are required to list the ingredients, they are not required to tell you how much of an ingredient is in their product.

So there might be more food coloring than actual acai in some of the drinks.  One company purports to have over 18 fruits in them.  It also have tons of added sugar also.

And that brings up the sugar issue.  Berries have a lot of nutrition and low sugar levels. 

These combo drinks all most always have added sugar – some as much as in any soda you buy on the market. 

Here is something else you should check out. 

See if the preservative sodium benzoate is listed as an ingredient.  When sodium benzoate interacts with vitamin C (and all fruits have vitamin C) during pasturization benzene forms.  This could be heat or light pasteurization.

Benzene happens to be a very aggressive carcinogen even in very tiny amounts. 

They are expecially harmful to your cells mitochondria or power houses.  Do you really want this in your “health” drink?

Probably not. 

I am not really picking just on the acai berry.  Every fruit drink has the same marketing, same added sugars, same processing, etc. 

Fruit juices are good for you.  Just make sure they are 100% fruit juices and not 20% fruit juice and 80% junk. 

Never buy fruit drinks.  They have no benefit whatsoever. 

Best of all, just eat fruits or make your own juices in a blender. 

That way you don’t have to worry if your acai berry is healthy or not.

Thanks,

Mike Val

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Hi,

Hope you enjoyed the holiday weekend.  Now, what about your first post holiday workout?

If you are like most people you probably ate a little bit more food than normal over the holiday.

I know I did.  I also had a lot more carbs than normal.

So what can you do about that excess energy.  Make your first workout that you do after your holiday extra hard.

That could mean you spend more time and add a few exercises or that you increase the intensity by trying to get through it faster.

Sometimes the latter is harder to do, so increasing the time is probably the easiest.

But, you can do something else to help burn off those excess calories pretty quickly.

Use more weight and/or more time per rep.

When you are doing weight lifting, you might not really be pushing yourself all the time to improve the weight you are using.

Your body adapts and you are not getting the same benefit of training as you did when you first started out.

When you lift weights, you damage your muscles.  I am talking about minor tears in the myofibrils, not actually tearing or ripping the muscle.

 The repair of the muscles takes a lot of energy.  This raises your metabolism and burns calories and body fat. 

That is one of the reasons you can really change your body shape and lose a lot of fat with weight lifting over just using body weight. 

So in your first workout lift heavier than you normally do and you will get this extra repair benefit.  Also just concentrate on multi joint exercises. 

These would include squats, chest presses, deadlifts and rows.

You can also get it by increasing the time of the repetition.  Especially on the eccentric or lowering phase of the exercise. 

For example, with chest presses, pressing up is the concentric phase.  The lowering of the bar is the ecentric phase.  Try lowering the bar over a count of 6 seconds before doing the next rep.

Do not do your whole workout this way.  Eccentric contractions are harder and actually cause more myofibril damage than concentric contractions. 

Just pick 1 exercise and concentrate on the concentric portion. 

Try this post holiday workout and you will burn away all of those excess calories very quickly.

Thanks,

Mike Val 

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Hi,

With Labor Day coming up many health and fitness gurus will talk about the holidays and fitness.

Holidays are almost always associated with good food and lots of it.  It is a time of gathering with friends and family and drinking and eating is part of that celebration.

Many will tell you that you must maintain your discipline in order to get through the holiday with minimal deviation from your diet or fitness program. 

I say hogwash.

A friend of mine was training with some nutrition and fitness guru (this was in another town).  He told her that she had to maintain her diet and her training schedule through a three day holiday weekend.

She did do it and had a miserable time.  She couldn’t let go and just enjoy herself.  And of course you can imagine the teasing and questioning she got from everyone. 

“You are going to go work out now?”  “Oh, don’t you want a bite of this?”  And so on.

Doing that is just plain silly. 

Let’s look at the bigger picture.  If you decide you have to lose weight or get in better shape that is great.

And if a trainer helps you do that, then it is even better.  But, remember it is your life that you are trying to improve.

Is your life really improving if you are not enjoying yourself?  If you have to put up with questions and teasing from everyone?

If you can’t enjoy some holiday food and drink?

So what can you do?  You still want to stay on track with your fitness and nutrition programs and you still want to enjoy yourself.

So here are a few tips.

Nutrition:    Make sure you do eat some healthy, nutrient rich foods at every meal or snack.  But, go ahead and enjoy the rest of the eats. 

Sip on a protein shake throughout the day.  But, go ahead and have a soda or alcohol drink.

Stop eating and drinking when you start to feel full.  Do not keep gorging. 

Take some extra Vitamin C and some anti-oxidants. 

Fitness:  If you want to keep your workout schedule, then do it early in the morning when no one is up.

Add an extra walk before and/or after a meal.  Take someone with you. 

Have an extra hard workout on the day before the holiday weekend. 

See that wasn’t so hard was it. 

Remember life is about enjoying what you do.  This includes getting fit and eating healthier.  It also includes enjoying the holidays with your friends and family.

You can balance the two so that the holidays and fitness are not enemies. 

Enjoy,

Mike Val

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