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Nutritional Information

I hate the word diet. Have you noticed that as soon as the word diet is brought up most people feel and think failure? No, let’s not use that word. Lets call it a way of life. We eat, train and live depending of what kind of lifestyle we choose and we are lucky enough (barring medical issues) to be able to make those choices ourselves. 🙂

Me, I love the way my eating dictates my energy level and also the way I look. I know everybody is probably really tired of hearing “we are what we eat” but if you think about it it makes sense. We all know that when a woman is pregnant she needs to eat healthy to give her baby all the nutrients needed for proper development, right? So why would we treat ourselves so much worse?

I wish all people, especially most women, understood how much power they have when it comes to the way they look. I hate seeing some of my clients turn away from the mirror while they lift because they don’t want to watch themselves. NO!!!! Life is too short. It doesn’t matter if you want to compete, do a triathlon, just look good or just be able to play with your kids. It’s controllable; if we want to we can all do it, I promise.

When it comes to eating right the most important thing is to be honest with yourself. As long as you are in denial about your eating habits nothing will work.

Unfortunately, not all of us were born with high metabolism allowing us to eat whatever we want and at the same time look the way we want. Honestly, only a s mall minority of us are so blessed. The rest, myself included, have to work hard at it BUT it can be done. Not in five days, and not in five weeks. Believe in yourself, change your lifestyle and stop trying to diet. Make it part of who you are.

First look at your daily food intake and your goal; do they match?

If not, don’t try to change everything overnight. Think baby steps!

Look at your diet again and be smart (and honest). Make a plan. What one or two things can you take out and exchange for something better for the first two weeks to make a change toward a healthier lifestyle? In two weeks…do the same thing again.

Nobody will reach their goals in a week or a month. Give it time. Most important of all, stay positive and persistent.

Easy changes to make:

*Plan your food. The more you eat on “impulse” the harder it is to choose something healthy. Think about what you will do over the next three hours. Will the calories have time to be burned off before bed?

*Substitute light and sugar free products instead of regular. Low calorie or calorie-reduced doesn’t automatically mean healthy.

*Cut out sugary juices and soda. Drink A LOT of WATER.

*Eat a balanced diet and put vegetables in every meal to fill you up.

*Stay with lean meat.

*Stay with complex carbs (like oatmeal, sweet potatoes, and brown rice) that help you last longer.

*If you have a sweat tooth (most people do) try to add berries to your diet instead of candy.

*Make sure to “treat” yourself once in a while, remember to enjoy life.

This is not a five week or monthly solution, this is a way of life. Your way of eating needs to be personalized and therefore changed every so often. Makes sense right? Since your body will start changing so will it’s demands and needs.

Remember: We eat, train and live depending of what kind of lifestyle we choose and we are lucky enough (if there is no medical problem) to be able to make those choices ourselves 🙂

http://fittron.com/marie_gibbon

Gina Aliotti DVD Trailer

Watch this trailer for a great preview of Gina’s new workout DVD. Get in shape with the help of the number one female fitness competitor in the country.

Buy it here on Fittron!

https://fittron.com/fitt_shop/item/gina_aliotti_training__nutrition

Protein Pancakes!

Eating healthy doesn’t have to be a chore! Follow this recipe for a healthy pancake treat:

Protein Pancakes

4 egg whites

1 scoop chocolate protein powder (your preference)

1 cup of plain oatmeal

1 banana mashed, 1/2 cup of blueberries mashed

¼ rice or almond milk (optional)

sugar free syrup (optional if you need it)

In a medium-sized bowl, mix together, egg whites, protein powder, oatmeal, fruit and milk. Heat large frying pan and spray with Pam or other non-stick spray. Pour ¼ mixture into pan (should be able to make about 4 medium-sized pancakes). Cook on low to medium heat for about 1 minute and flip. Cooking time for each pancake is about 3-4 minutes (depending on how well you like them cooked). Serve hot with or without syrup.

Other options:

Try vanilla protein powder with ½ cup of mashed strawberries.

http://fittron.com/nicole_moneer_guerrero

No gym? No problem. See if you can do these pushups.

You’ve read my pushup article, now watch me doing it on video. Work your way up to these exercises. No need for a gym when you can push yourself with pushups like these.

http://fittron.com/sidney_wilson

More exercise, less food. Wrong?! Then HOW do I eat to compliment my exericse?

This question is very commonly asked to me by my clients and obviously by most others around the world of fitness, as it should be, considering that fat and weight loss is broken down into two fundamental elements. Energy consumption (eating), and energy expenditure (exercise). The relationship between these two elements will always be THE absolute determinant as to whether you are successful in achieving your fitness goals. Every little aspect and detail of your fitness activity, from frequency and difficulty of exercise to energy replenishment habits, will ultimately contribute to and influence the way this basic relationship pans out. Thus, determining whether your entire body of activities is effective or ineffective specific to your objectives. In a nut shell, if you burn more calories than you take in, you create a caloric deficit and lose weight. On the other end of the spectrum, if you burn less, youre storing excess calories and will gain weight.

Now this concept is generally understood by most. So, to answer the question of HOW to connect your eating with your exercise, we MUST understand that they truly are and should be connected. Our confusion with how, what, how much, and when to eat stems from our common tendency to think of exercise and eating as two opposing aspects of fitness. We very often put the two sides up against each other as if one’s purpose is to lose the weight and body fat, and the other inhibits this process.

I want to shed some light and encourage you to treat eating and nutrition as a compliment to exercise and not a combatant, because quite honestly it HAS to be implemented to work WITH your exercise if you are to be successful. With exercise we are trying to train our body to operate most effectively through increased metabolism and fat usage stimulated by challenge appropriate physical activity. METABOLISM. The key to all these great results and aethestic desires we have. We run, jump, lift and employ any other fitness modality to burn calories and drop body fat weight. But what gets us to the eventual realization of our goals? That 15 lb weight loss. The ability to finally see that six pack. The overall slim and trimmed look in your legs. Or that increased lean muscle tone.

We get there because over weeks and months our body has been taught and trained to metabolize its energy/calorie sources efficiently due to the types of stressors and challenges you present to it through exercise. These results are a manifestation of that long term process. This is what exercise does. If done appropriately it improves the way our bodies operate and burn calories to sustain our lifestyle and activity levels. But you need energy to burn energy. So to answer the question of how to eat, know that eating should not be taken out of the equation.

If we’re trying to improve our metabolism with exercise as I mentioned, then why would we want to take away what it needs to accomplish this? Not only from the standpoint of food being fuel to drive the activity of exercise, but also the fact that with exercise we’re telling our body to become permanently better at burning calories without giving it what it needs to practice. That’s like if someone would have told Micheal Jordan to become a great basketball player but only let him hold a basketball for 5 minutes a week. Doesn’t make sense. You have to give your body the opportunity to become great at what youre telling it to do. And that opportunity is sufficient amounts of nourishment. Your metabolism will never become faster and more efficient without the consistent and frequent stimulation of the calories it needs to operate.

It seems very counter intuitive that you may need to be eating more or more frequently to acheive your goals but if you think in terms of where you want to get to and not what you want right now, you will certainly begin to see the big picture. Yes, as I explained earlier weight and fat loss can be acheived immediately and on a short term basis through the simple principle of creating that caloric deficit i mentioned. This can be done by simply eating less or dieting to produce a fast and quick drop in weight. But unless that weight loss is done through an altering of the bodies natural metabolism, it will not be sustained permanently.

Your weight and body composition are dictated and maintained according your body’s metabolic characteristics so just simply cutting calories or eating at a frequency less than optimal may drop a little weight and body fat short term, but you are still doing nothing to train the body to operate faster in order to drop more weight and continue permanently. It will continue to metabolize slower even amongst the early weight loss and attempted exercise, making it very hard to make any extensive amount of progress towards that body change you so desire. In trying to build health and fitness, regardless of your personal goals, you must think process. Teaching, training, changing, and transforming the body’s tendencies.

The better you can think in these terms, the easier you will be able to allow food and nutrition into your repertoire to help and reinforce exercise. You will get where you want to be through a great metabolism and great metabolism only. There is no other way around it and all roads lead to it when we’re talking about health and fitness.

So think about food not in terms of what it can do solely on its own, but what it can help the body do. Your fitness goals are acheived through the body. The body can’t improve without food as it’s catalyst. That’s the big picture. Once you see it, you don’t have to be intimidated by the eating aspect of fitness. Everybody is indeed different as far as what’s better for them in terms of the specific aspects of their activity and eating habits, and although this has just been more of an overview of how to think of and percieve the relationship between exercise and nutrition, i would love the opportunity to get into detail and guide any and everbody interested to their personal aspirations. Let’s make it simple!!!

http://fittron.com/jason__spencer

2007 Sunshine Classic

Check out Fittron.com professional Jennifer Bishop winning the 2007 Sunshine Classic.

http://fittron.com/jennifer_bishop

Splenda

Products featuring Splenda are perceived as “natural” because even the FDA’s press release about sucralose parrots the claim that “it is made from sugar” — an assertion disputed by the Sugar Association, which is suing Splenda’s manufacturer, (McNeil Nutritionals).

The FDA has no definition for “natural,” so please bear with me for a biochemistry moment: Splenda is the trade name for sucralose, a synthetic compound stumbled upon in 1976 by scientists in Britain seeking a new pesticide formulation. It is true that the Splenda molecule is comprised of sucrose (sugar) — except that three of the hydroxyl groups in the molecule have been replaced by three chlorine atoms. (To get a better picture of what this looks like, see the image of a sucralose molecule.)

While some industry experts claim the molecule is similar to table salt or sugar, other independent researchers say it has more in common with pesticides. That’s because the bonds holding the carbon and chlorine atoms together are more characteristic of a chlorocarbon than a salt — and most pesticides are chlorocarbons. The premise offered next is that just because something contains chlorine doesn’t guarantee that it’s toxic. And that is also true, but you and your family may prefer not to serve as test subjects for the latest post-market artificial sweetener experiment — however “unique.”

Once it gets to the gut, sucralose goes largely unrecognized in the body as food — that’s why it has no calories. The majority of people don’t absorb a significant amount of Splenda in their small intestine — about 15% by some accounts. The irony is that your body tries to clear unrecognizable substances by digesting them, so it’s not unlikely that the healthier your gastrointestinal system is, the more you’ll absorb the chlorinated molecules of Splenda.

So, is Splenda safe? The truth is we just don’t know yet. There are no long-term studies of the side effects of Splenda in humans. The manufacturer’s own short-term studies showed that sucralose caused shrunken thymus glands and enlarged livers and kidneys in rodents. But in this case, the FDA decided that because these studies weren’t based on human test animals, they were not conclusive. Of course, there are countless examples of foods and drugs that have proved dangerous to humans that were first found to be dangerous to laboratory rats, and then again, countless others that have not. So the reality is that we are the guinea pigs for Splenda.

And now, are our children the next trial group? Thanks to an agreement between McNeil Nutritionals (makers of Splenda) and PTO Today, which provides marketing and fund-raising aid to parents’ associations, your elementary school’s next bake sale may be sponsored by Splenda — complete with baked goods made with the product.

Splenda side effects

Observational evidence shows that there are side effects of Splenda, including skin rashes/flushing, panic-like agitation, dizziness and numbness, diarrhea, muscle aches, headaches, intestinal cramping, bladder issues, and stomach pain. These show up at one end of the spectrum — in the people who have an allergy or sensitivity to the sucralose molecule. But no one can say to what degree consuming Splenda affects the rest of us.

If this sounds familiar, it should: we went down the same path with aspartame, the main ingredient in Equal and NutraSweet. Almost all of the independent research into aspartame found dangerous side effects in rodents. The FDA chose not to take these findings into account when it approved aspartame for public use. Over the course of 15 years, those same side effects increasingly appeared in humans. Not in everyone, of course — but in those who were vulnerable to the chemical structure of aspartame.

As food additives, artificial sweeteners are not subject to the same gauntlet of FDA safety trials as pharmaceuticals. Most of the testing is funded by the food industry, which has a vested interest in the outcome. This can lead to misleading claims on both sides.

But one thing is certain: some of the chemicals that comprise artificial sweeteners are known hazards — the degree to which you experience side effects just depends on your individual biochemistry. Manufacturers are banking on the fact that our bodies won’t absorb very much of these compounds at any one time. And many of us don’t. But what happens when we are ingesting a combination of artificial sweeteners like Splenda dozens of times a week through many different “low–sugar” or “sugar–free” products?

People have been using artificial sweeteners for decades. Some react poorly, some don’t — the problem is, you never know until you’re already sick. Scientists are calling Splenda a mild mutagen, based on how much is absorbed. Right now, it’s anyone’s guess what portion of the population is being exposed to the dangers of Splenda or already suffering from Splenda side effects. Until an independent, unbiased research group conducts long-term studies on humans (six months is hardly long-term!), how can we be certain? With all the new Splenda products on our shelves, it looks as if we are now in the process of another grand public experiment — without our permission. And we may not know the health implications for decades. As with all things, time will unveil truth.

So I urge you to be concerned about the potential dangers of Splenda — as with any unnatural substance you put in your body. And I am especially concerned about its use for children, which I recommend you avoid. But unlike many holistic practitioners, I do think artificial sweeteners can serve a purpose for some women. And that has to do with the old question — which is better, sugar or an artificial sweetener? Let’s start with sugar, where the problems all begin.

http://fittron.com/kavvy_sonhos

Fittron Featured Professional- Monica Guerra

Monica Guerra is a personal trainer, nutritionist, personal chef, fitness model, IFBB pro, and NPC fitness level competitor. Working out of Los Angeles, California, this accomplished athlete has devoted her life to helping others achieve their fitness goals. She runs her own fitness company, Peak Performance Nutrition, which offers a bevy of services from personal training to nutritional consultation. Monica is a recognized industry leader and viable celebrity in the fitness world. Her passion, dedication, and knowledge of the industry make her a fitness professional that you should be contacting to help you achieve your goals.

Monica’s skill set is diverse. She works with expecting mothers, young athletes, fitness competitors, and businessman. Harboring a unique knowledge, fortified through actual experience, of the fitness competition industry, she is a PTA examiner and judge for several fitness competitions throughout the country. If you are considering entering a fitness competition you should seriously consider enlisting her services. In addition to obtaining the coveted IFBB Pro Card, Monica has judged various shows and knows what the judges are looking for on stage. Don’t despair if you’re not on the West Coast. Monica offers online consultation and is capable of training serious competitors remotely. You don’t get many chances to work with a professional like Monica. Don’t let distance get in the way of that.

Monica is also a coveted fitness model. Acting as a spokeswoman for numerous product lines, Monica brings professionalism and credibility to each of the products she works with. A striking beauty of Hispanic heritage, you should consider Monica for work if you have a product you would like to introduce to the fitness community. Monica could help you launch your product the right way. Her resume speaks for itself.

Want to learn more about Monica? Visit her Fittron.com profile and contact her for fitness help. She is ready, and more then capable, of transforming not only your body, but your life as well.

http://fittron.com/monica_guerra

Fattening Fructose! How processed sugars can maximize your middle…

Fructose is the new trans fat.

Everyone hates fructose; it is en vogue to use the simple sugar as a scapegoat for America’s obesity problem, but is there anything to this fructose blasting trend?

This is Your Body on Carbs

Let’s start with a very simple review of how carbohydrate are used in the body. First you eat–or drink– something that is high in carbohydrates. the source could be “complex,” like oats, whole grain pasta, quinoa, beans, potatoes, or even fibrous vegetables, like broccoli. The usable carbohydrates from these sources will eventually be broken down in the digestive tract and absorbed as the simple sugar glucose.

Table sugar, other processed sugar and syrups, and some natural foods usually contain a combination of “simple” sugars. For instance, milk contains the sugar lactose, which breaks down into the simple sugars glucose and galactose. Table sugar is sucrose; this sugar breaks down into glucose and fructose (50/50). Sources like fruit and high fructose corn syrup also provide glucose and fructose, but fructose is slightly favored (about 55/45, give or take). In the media, there has been a demonizing of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), specifically.

After you eat carbohydrates and they are absorbed as simple sugars (one unit carbohydrate molecules), they are all sent to the liver first, and the liver can decide their fates. In the case of glucose, the liver can a very orderly and controlled process and can do several things based on the body’s needs. If you’ve just come back from a really long run, your liver may decide to replace depleted carbohydrate storage in the liver, glycogen. If your liver is doing a lot of processing and needs energy for itself, the glucose may be used simply to make more energy units. If you haven’t eaten for 12 hours, your liver may recognize that your blood sugar is low and then send all of the glucose in to the blood. On the other hand, if you’ve been sitting and eating all day and you have lots of energy in your body, the liver will recognize that energy surplus and change the glucose into fat for long-term storage.

Fructose is also sent straight to the liver, but it is dealt with in a more chaotic fashion once it gets there. Because it has a different structure than glucose, the easiest thing for the liver to do with fructose is simply make fat. Scientists have speculated for a long time that the liver does this, but no one really proved it, until recently.

The Latest Fructose Research

Dr. Elizabeth Parks and her colleagues recently did a study where 6 people (4 men and 2 women) all went through three different experiments. One time, the participants drank a solution containing 100% glucose (85g of total carbohydrate; 340 Calories worth) while fasted in the morning. Another time they had 50% glucose and 50% fructose (this is a lot like drinking soda or another beverage with high fructose corn syrup). Finally, they were also fed 25% glucose and 75% fructose on another occasion. Additionally, the participants were fed a standard lunch with each experiment four hours after the “breakfast” sugar drink.

The researchers actually showed at the end of the experiment that both of the higher fructose solutions resulted in significantly higher fat production in the body than the pure glucose solution did immediately after drinking the beverage. The high fructose drinks also cause a greater storage of fat from the standard lunch meal. WOW! The same calories, all carbohydrates, but the fructose made more fat in the body!

Other Recent Fructose Research

After reading a popular story on the research above and the original research paper, I decided to do a search of the recent fructose research. A recent article in the Current Opinion in Lipidology showed that high-fructose, but not high-glucose, diet increased circulating fat after eating.

In another study overweight post-menopausal women were given diets to maintain their weights. Thereafter, the women were given diet with the same number of Calories, but with 25% of the Calories coming from high-fructose beverages. The women’s circulating fat 14 hours after eating was 141% higher afer the fructose beverages were included in the diet. And many more research papers can be found.

Sports Nutrition Application

In the first study, where the three different sugar drinks were given, the participants had they drink in a fasted state, in the morning. That means two things 1) liver glycogen was probably low because the carbohydrate reserve was used to maintain blood sugar throughout the night 2) general energy state in the body was low; yet, a high fructose drink still caused the increased fat production. This means that the carbohydrates were NOT being used to replace lost glycogen stores after a fast.

Athletes fatigue during endurance events when glycogen stores wane. If your fuel/carbohydrate sources of choice is not metabolically primed to make glycogen, it may be time to consider another source of carbohydrates for optimal performance. This is, of course, pure speculation. But you cannot go wrong by carbing up with a source that will definitely come into your liver as glucose, namely, the “complex” sources listed above. Note that gatorade has sucrose syrup (50% fructose) and glucose-fructose syrup (unknown amount of fructose) as the carb-providing ingredients. Honey is a good source of glucose. A carb drink can easily be made at home with water, honey, lemon and a little salt.

Health Implications

After perusing some of the recent research regarding fructose, I am fully convinced that processed, added fructose is detrimental to health, and I will AVOID it in the future. Remember that table sugar enters the body as 50% fructose; this is not so far off from the 55% fructose of HFCS. Most processed, added sugars are likely to be high in fructose even if the ingredients label does not have fructose listed anywhere on it.

Tricky Product Reformulation

Since HFCS has received a lot of terrible press, many manufacturers are reformulating products to omit that specific term from the packaging; however, the products are often not actually lower in fructose. A perfect example of this trick is the new balance bar reformulation.

High fructose corn syrup used to be one of the first ingredients listed on the package of the Balance Yogurt Honey Peanut bar; however, now the outside of the box boasts “No high-fructose corn syrup.” At the same time, the newly formulated bar reads 1) a protein source; 2) corn syrup; then; 3) fructose. Based on the ingredients, the amount of fructose that is delivered to your trusty little liver would still be about the same as the HFCS products or, potentially, higher. Given the opportunity to reformulate a health product, wouldn’t it be better to make it healthier? WHAT’S UP WITH THAT?

The Point

The “bad stuff” in the food supply has one major thing in common– excessive processing! Build a diet based on real food, that does not come from a shelf-stable package, and you will automatically avoid trans fats, high sodium and excessive fructose.

What about fruit?

Fruit is a natural and healthy source of food–it should not be omitted from the diet to avoid fructose! For instance, fruit has a variety of redeeming qualities, like an abundance of antioxidants and fiber, which certainly make it worth eating! Furthermore, fructose portion must be kept in perspective. A nectarine has 60 Calories and about 13g of sugar; about 7g are fructose. A regular 20oz soda has 240 Calories; 67g carbohydrates; about 37g of fructose. Essentially, you would have to eat 5 nectarines to get the same about fructose as one bottle of coke. After 5 nectarines, you’d be really full and loaded with over a gram of potassium and 12g of fiber. After drinking one bottle of coke, you’d still be up for a pizza, so choose wisely 😉

Jean Jitomir offers nutrition coaching for weight loss, muscle gain, or any of your personal goals at her office in the Alico building in downtown Waco, TX. She also offers personal training services at Ironhorse gym on the corner of Franklin and 17th, which is also very convenient to downtown.

http://fittron.com/jean_jitomir_phdc_rd