2020 Wellness

Eating Like a Bird, Training Like an Animal

2009-11-06T06:34:00.000-08:00

By Ryan Miller; B.S. Biochemistry, NASM Certified Trainer

I’m willing to bet that if you’ve ever set out to lose weight, you’ve thought about simply eating very little and working out more. This sounds like a great plan, and if you’re not working out and eating with no control at the time you set your plan into motion, its going to help you lose some weight in the beginning. But this method will end up working poorly in the long run.
What if you’re already working out and eating healthy and consistently? What if you’re doing those things but you’re not losing weight? What if you’re doing those things and actually gaining weight?
I want to share with you a scenario that I recently came across with a dedicated client. This client had been consistently training with me for over a year. She initially came to me with the goal of “looking like I workout.” At the time, she wasn’t eating properly and wasn’t working out properly. She was under eating and overworking, which is a terrible combination, and her physique matched her habits. She had nearly no muscle and her strength levels were low. You need to keep in mind that this client wasn’t new to the gym. She had 20 years of gym experience under her belt, and still, she wanted to look like she worked out!
How does that happen!? She was working out and eating consistently for years, but unfortunately, she was doing it wrong! When we sat down and really looked at her eating habits, it was discovered that she was consistently eating approximately 800 calories per day. Now, if you read that number and didn’t think twice about it, you’re about to learn a lesson in calorie levels that will improve your life and results in the gym. If you read that number and felt shocked that someone could eat so little while working out, then you can relate with me through the rest of this article.
How did we make it right? To start, I explained to her what I’m going to explain to you; under eating will get you nowhere fast! If you’ve read my article, Real World Metabolic Rate and Why You Need Resistance Training then you’ll understand this explanation better. If you haven’t read that article, I suggest reading it, and then coming back to finish this article with a better understanding of the subject.
Why does eating too little hurt your progress in the gym? My client’s maintenance level with activity factored in was 1400 calories per day. In one day, her body burns 1400 calories in order to keep her alive, well, and able to perform her daily activities. In order for her to gain weight, she needed to eat above 1400 calories per day. In order for her to maintain weight, she needed to eat 1400 calories per day. In order for her to lose weight, she needed to eat under 1400 calories per day. I told her that she should be setting her calories around 1200 and we would adjust accordingly based on her body’s response. Her body responded well and she dropped in weight, was happy with where she was headed, and everything seemed fine. Unfortunately, a couple of months later we ran into trouble.
She had stalled her metabolism out and was actually gaining fat! I knew that the first place to look was her diet and that she probably changed her habits. Her workouts were consistent and were based on the same concepts that had provided her with strong results since the beginning of our training relationship, so this wasn’t the problem area. Upon request, she listed out her daily food intake for me and sure enough, she was back to eating less than 1000 calories per day! She had it so ingrained in her mind from the past that eating less would get her farther, that she abandoned our plan and dropped an additional 300 calories from her daily intake on her own! When your total calorie intake is 1200, and you drop 300 calories, that’s 25% of your daily calorie intake! That is a significant percentage and is much too large of a drop to be made suddenly. She had made a classic mistake and was eating like a bird while she was working out like an animal!
The numbers don’t lie! Her maintenance calories were 1400, her intake was 900, she was digging herself deeper and deeper into a hole of undereating. This was causing her body to slow down its metabolism and hang onto fat to accommodate her new calorie intake. The body stores fat, as it is the most useful energy source in a time of bodily stress. She told me that she was only eating because “she knew she should be, not because she was hungry.” She was basically never hungry! This was a red flag for me that her body had come to a halt. She said she could “miss meals for half of a day and not feel hungry.” When you’re running in a fat burning mode, you should be feeling hungry every 2-4 hours, definitely not every 8-12 hours.
Resetting her metabolism was the only way to dig out of the hole, and it had to be done properly to avoid anymore fat gain. After an hour of consulting, we determined the best way for her to reset her metabolism. I explained to her that if she didn’t work on eating the proper amount of calories, she would only hurt herself more. As she began to follow the plan to reset her metabolism, her strength levels increased, her physique improved, and her motivation in her workouts increased. She was no longer feeling run down, stalled out, and unmotivated.
Nutrition is powerful, and you can’t expect results if you aren’t paying attention to what you’re putting into your body. I always say that you can’t outwork a garbage diet, and my client was a prime example of that statement. She was performing proven workouts, completing effective cardio, and eating healthy foods. That sounds like a recipe for success, but she was eating the wrong amounts of those foods, and that was her missing link.
Once a person finds all the links and completes the chain, they can’t be stopped in their goals. Many people workout consistently and see no results. If you think you’re missing a link to your chain, do something about it. You’ll be stronger, more energetic, and you’ll feel good about your time spent in the gym!

Failure is Not an Option, Failure is a Necessity

2009-10-19T10:07:00.001-07:00

By Ryan Miller; B.S. Biochemistry, NASM Certified Trainer

Failure Is Not An Option

Depending on the context, “Failure is not an option” is either a strong motivator for success or a sure fire way to sabotage your success. . This concept is just one of those funny ideas that doesn’t seem right at first, but after an explanation will be as clear as water.

A famous saying comes to mind, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” There is great reasoning behind this statement. In order to see the reasoning, I want to take a look at the statement and show you how relative it is to everyone who has ever walked the earth. The creator of this statement is assuming that you will fail, are failing, or have failed at what it is you are trying to achieve. This statement is encouraging you to keep on trying, even though you aren’t able to achieve what you want at the time of failure.

Nobody will go through life without failing, unless they perform perfectly in everything they set out to do. So, like I said, nobody will go through life without failing. See, the thing about failing is that it should tell you something about yourself. You can’t fail if you haven’t tried. If you’ve tried, then you have a goal and you are making an effort to achieve that goal.

Failure is the first indicator of your next challenge to overcome. Failure is the result of that first push to try something you have never done before. Failure sets your sights high and shows that you are forcing true progression. Progression, my friend, is what the gym is all about!

Prime Example Number One

I want you to meet my first subject, Max. Max has been hitting the weights now for a solid year. He has seen some great strength gains, which primarily took place within the first 6 months of his training. But now Max’s newbie gains are wearing off and his strength increases are slim to none. He has hit the wall. He really has no idea why he isn’t getting any stronger. Max is doing now what he did in the beginning, 3 sets of 10 reps with a weight that pushes him but allows him to get his 10 reps for each set. You see, Max knows that if he’s not getting his 10 reps completed during each set, he’s failing. In Max’s eyes, this isn’t acceptable……but it should be!

Max knows that in order to get that third set of 10, he has to save some energy during sets 1 and 2. He is stuck in the mindset that he has to use the same weight amount for all sets as well. This is the wrong mindset for making any kind of progress. Max really needs to increase the weight of the first, second, and third sets to see gains. So what is he fails on his first set and only gets 8 reps. I still want him to use that same weight for his second set. So what if he fails on his second set and puts up 6 reps. Stick with that weight and go for a final set of 3-6 reps.

Max failed three for three, but in the long haul, he has taken a step toward achieving his goals and being successful. Within a few weeks, Max will be completing 10 reps with his increased weight. If he dropped back down to his previous sticking point, he would laugh at that weight and vow to never return to it again. So what does Max do when he completes his reps with the 100 pound dumbbells? He puts in a request for heavier dumbbells and gets back to work.

Max’s story is unbelievably common, and is a prime example of why failing is necessary for success.

Prime Example Number Two

Max’s wife, Maxine has been hitting the gym for a year as well. In fact, they go together all the time, the epitome of a healthy couple. Like most women, Maxine tends to stick to cardio for her workouts, which is a huge mistake, but I’m not getting into that right now. Right now I am focusing on Maxine’s cardio efforts.

Just like Max, she had a great six months. Weight was coming off, endurance was increasing, she was feeling like a teenager again! But sooner or later, the same old workout turned into the same old body weight. Maxine’s body adapted to her workouts, and at that point, the results diminished. I want you to ask yourself, when is the last time you couldn’t finish one of your cardio workouts because it was just too hard? If you can’t remember the last time a routine really took you down and caused you to step off and fail, you are probably relating to Maxine right about now.

Maxine has been forgetting to fail. She completes her regular routine, but doesn’t increase her settings on a regular basis. If she doesn’t increase her settings, she will be selling herself short, which is what too many people do in the gym. She needs to bump that resistance or that incline up a couple notches and see what happens. She needs to monitor her heart rate and make sure she is truly pushing herself. Physical feeling isn’t always enough, but heart rate doesn’t lie.

Once she passed her newbie gains period, she has been wasting her time. Once your body catches up to you, you better take the lead again and keep your body on the run. You see, when your body is constantly striving to keep up with what you press it to do, the results will keep coming. Effective workout methods will keep your body on the run, all the time.

Final Words

There has been important lesson learned here; if you want to succeed, you need to fail. Finding your limits and crushing them is important. Failure will set that limit and you will crush it through sequential attempts at success. Here’s something you never thought you’d here as a motivational quote: “You know what to do, now go out there and fail!”

Real World Metabolic Rate and Why You Need Resistance Training

2009-10-19T10:06:00.000-07:00

By Ryan Miller; B.S. Biochemistry, NASM Certified Trainer

Those of you who know me know that I’m not one to fill your mind with nonsense just because it’s what I think you want to hear. I believe in giving it to you straight, with just a tiny bit of sugar coating (we all need a little bit of sweetness at times). At times I’m a man of few words, at other times I have plenty to say. Regardless of when you catch me, I’m always going to provide you with sound, proven advice to help you attain what you are here to attain.

You’re dead set on reaching your goal by using only one piece of equipment; I’ll tell you reasons to widen your choices of exercise and open your mind to new ideas.

You’re dreading an hour on the elliptical; I’ll tell you there are ways to shorten up your session, but I’ll tell you it’s going to take some extra effort.

You’re convinced that your methods for muscle growth or fat loss are the way to go; I’ll lay out multiple plans of action to help you add to your master plan. Once again, it’ll require new concepts and ideas.

Of course there are endless details as to why some gym members see results quickly, some see results slowly, and some never see the results they joined the gym to achieve. Truthfully, the average person falls into that last unappealing and unfortunate option. It’s time to assess where you fall in this “results spectrum.”

Before we go jumping into things, there are some statements in the spectrum that can be seen differently by different individuals. This problem must be addressed before we can determine where you fall.

We Begin:

Statement one; “some gym members see results QUICKLY.”

Now, in all honesty, quickly to some could be one week, while to others it could be three months. From personal experience, it is possible to see new lines, changed measurements, and pounds lost or gained within 1-3 months. I’ve made all those changes to myself in 1-3 months time. How? I had a proper plan, and I followed it. Do you have a plan?

Statement two; “some see results SLOWLY.”

Have you been working towards your goal for months on end, all the while seeing friends and peers passing you by on their road to their destination? Chances are you’re on the slow track to where you want to be. If your friends and peers are making increased strength and size gains, losing more weight, or seeing results in shorter time than yourself, you’re falling into the slow portion of the “results spectrum.” You may or may not have a plan, and if you do have a plan, is it effective, and are you following it?

I always have the view that when you’re in the gym, and set on a goal, that should be your only reason for being there. You should want to make that goal a reality. You should want to take control and make it happen as efficiently and effectively as possible. You wouldn’t drive through extra miles to get to a meeting on time, why should other aspects of life, such as the gym, be any different?

Statement three; "some NEVER see results."

These people give exercise a shot for a few weeks. Results take dedication. Results take commitment. Dedication and commitment aren’t centered around a month of effort here, and a week of effort there. Humans are creatures of habit, make the gym a habit. Exercise should be a given in everyone’s life. The person next to you isn’t in great shape because they have better genetics, they are in great shape because they stick to their plan.

You’re reading this article; that means you’re here at 2020 Wellness. You’ve got your own personal coach here for you anytime you need them. We’re your vehicle, but you’re still the driver. Give it your all, let us show you what we can do and begin to feel better for the rest of your life!

Do You Have a Plan?

2009-10-19T10:05:00.000-07:00

By Ryan Miller; B.S. Biochemistry, NASM Certified Trainer

You’re dead set on reaching your goal by using only one piece of equipment; I’ll tell you reasons to widen your choices of exercise and open your mind to new ideas.

You’re dreading an hour on the elliptical; I’ll tell you there are ways to shorten up your session, but I’ll tell you it’s going to take some extra effort.

We Begin:

Statement one; “some gym members see results QUICKLY.”

Statement two; “some see results SLOWLY.”

Statement three; "some NEVER see results."

The 2020 Plan

2009-10-19T10:04:00.001-07:00

Why the 2020 Plan Works

Fad diets don’t work for numerous reasons. They tend to require too much effort, are not based around sound reasoning, and are not easily incorporated into the rest of a person’s life. Just think of it this way, if fad diets worked, they wouldn’t be fads….its that simple.

The 2020 Plan is a reasonable approach to healthy nutrition. When scientific and rational reasoning is used, you’ll be surprised at how much you can get done. But hey, why leave it to surprise, I’ll show you right now how much one can get done on the 2020 Plan.

The following trial, which documents my personal 2020 Plan testing, puts my reputation and confidence in my plan on the table.

I’m going to keep this short, sweet, and to the point. I began my “Fat Blast 08” on May 26^th, 2008. My plan was to initially cut bodyfat for 3 months, which you will see, has turned into a 6 month fat blasting marathon! Before getting into the numbers, I want to mention two tiny details;

1. I HAVE ACHIEVED THESE RESULTS WITH LESS THAN ONE CARDIO WORKOUT PER WEEK!

2. I HAVE ACHIEVED THESE RESULTS WITH FOUR HOURS PER WEEK SPENT WORKING OUT.

I’m telling you these points to stress the effectiveness of the 2020 Plan. I simply changed my eating pattern to put my body into fat burning mode. My workouts were not designed around fat loss. In fact, they were designed around strength and general conditioning, which are tough, but not as tough as fat loss specific workouts.

Now that I have that taken care of, bring on the results!

This first chart illustrates my change in bodyweight. You can see that on May 26^th I was weighing a hefty 203 pounds. By October 15^th I was sitting at a lighter 186 pounds. This averages out to a rate of about one pound of bodyweight lost per week.

If I were reading this article, I would say to myself, “One pound a week is respectable, but only if it’s a pound of fat.” So did I manage to lose a pound of fat per week, or was it water or muscle loss like most fad diets cause? Read on to find out.

This second chart illustrates change in bodyfat percentage. There should be a direct correlation between change in bodyweight and change in bodyfat percentage, and there is. On May 26^th my percentage was 19.3. By October 15^th my percentage plummeted to 11.7.

This kind of change induces new clothing sizes, a feeling of well being, and comments from friends and family. Nearly 8% is a big change in bodyfat over such a short time period.

So far, you have seen that I lost 17 pounds of bodyweight and 7.6 percent bodyfat by simply changing my eating habits,NOTHING ELSE! Trust me, those are fantastic numbers, but to really blow the house down, here’s the kicker: All of my weight loss came from fat loss! In fact, I actually lost over 17 pounds of fat, but managed to gain enough muscle in the process to counter some of that loss in terms of actual bodyweight.

Chart 3 illustrates my loss in terms of pounds of body fat. On May 26^th I was carrying about 39 pounds of fat with me everywhere I went. By October 15^th I reduced my excess baggage to 22 pounds. This is nearly half the fat that I was originally holding!

To follow up, here is a quick summary of my results on the 2020 Plan along with a comparison photo to illustrate the results:

Duration: 4.5 Months

Bodyweight Lost: 17 Pounds

Bodyfat Percentage Lost: 7.6%

Fat Lost: 17.4 Pounds

How the 2020 Plan Works

Your plan will provide you with a new way of eating. Your plan is not a diet and you will not feel as if you are dieting. You will be learning how to eat and losing healthy weight as a result.

Your plan will include the following:
- Meal schedule
- Food portion guide
- Special Notes

- Custom Supplement Guide
- Add Ons, if applicable

Your plan will be sent to you via email or delivered in person where available.

Inquire About Your 2020 Plan Today!

Carbs: What You Need To Know

2009-10-19T10:03:00.001-07:00

By Ryan Miller; B.S. Biochemistry, NASM Certified Trainer

Carbohydrates and Insulin

As promised in my last article, we are going to look at the effects of the carbohydrate on insulin production and how this affects your body. There are few people who can tell you why carbs should not be associated with being overweight, resulting in the widely growing idea that carbs are “bad” for you. This idea is nonsense, and I’ll prove it to you if you stay with me here.

To begin, here is an excerpt from my article, The Basics of Nutrition:

“Think of carbohydrates as chains of sugar molecules. For the body to use these chains, the chain needs to be broken apart into single links (glucose molecules). The longer the chain, the more complex the carbohydrate, because the longer it takes the body to breakdown the chain and utilize the individual links. These chains can also be branched as well, similar to the branches on a tree. The more branched, the more complex as well.

A basic example of a simple sugar is a single glucose molecule. There is no chain, only the single molecule of glucose. An example of a more complex carbohydrate is maltodextrin, which consists of a chain of glucose molecules. Maltodextrin is still fairly simple, but it is more complex than a single glucose molecule alone.

Why does this matter? Well, the simpler the carb, the more dramatic effect it has on your body as a result of its digestion. If you want immediate energy to burn, simple is the way to go. But for times when you aren’t going to be burning your carbs you ingest immediately, complex is best.”

Carbohydrate structure matters, and it matters for these reasons: The simpler the structure, the greater the insulin spike. The more complex the structure, the smaller the insulin spike. I’ve just introduced a new term; insulin spike. An insulin spike is the production of insulin by your body as a result of carbohydrate intake. You’ll be reading this term often, and I want you to understand what it means. A great analogy is your heart rate during intense exercise. Think of your heart rate as your body’s response to your exercise. The more you exercise, the more your heart rate increases, or spikes. Just like the simpler the carb, the more your insulin production increases, or spikes.

Insulin production occurs as a response to elevated blood sugar, which is a result of carbohydrate digestion, which is the result of eating foods containing carbs. Insulin is a powerful hormone which is not to be disrespected. Insulin is your blood’s watchdog against sugar. Insulin keeps your blood sugar in check by removing excess sugar from the blood and diverting it to other areas of your body. These areas include muscle glycogen stores and fat stores. Unfortunately for you, muscles are typically not happy with being force fed sugar and you can guess what other option is left……fat stores.

Let’s say you just ate a bag of candy at the movies. You’re relaxing at the time, your body isn’t in need of fuel, but because it just tastes so good, you are fueling up anyway. Your body sees a bounty of sugar being ingested and unlike your vehicle’s gas tank where excess fuel would just spill out and evaporate, your body is amazing and it has the ability to store fuel for later use.

Pop quiz!

How many calories of energy are contained in one gram of fat?

How many calories of energy are contained in one gram of protein?

How many calories of energy are contained in one gram of carbohydrate?

If you answered 9, 4, and 4, you scored an A, and if you can see where this is leading, you get an A+. I know if I had the choice to store energy in multiple forms, I would store it in the form that will give me the most bang for the buck when I need it. Your body and I think alike, and your body stores that excess sugar as fat.

Post Workout Insulin Spike

I want to elaborate more on the fact that your muscles don’t want to accept the incoming sugars being brought to them by insulin related actions. Your muscles produce energy from glucose. Your muscles store glucose in a form known as glycogen. When your muscles work, as in working out, they tap into their glycogen stores for energy.

There are certain times when consuming simple sugar is useful. If you have just gone through a tough workout, your glycogen stores are going to be lessened, and they would love to be refilled. Consuming a post workout recovery drink or meal replacement bar consisting of a simple sugar and a complete protein source is a nice way to refill and restore spent glycogen. The simple sugars will cause an insulin spike, driving the protein and carbs into your muscles, not into fat stores!

An even better post workout option is to consume a simple sugar source, a complex carb source, and a complete protein source together. The simple sugars will instantly spike your insulin while the complex carbs will keep it spiked, continuing to feed your muscles with the complete protein source. Our Recharge bar, found at www.2020-wellness.com, contains these ingredients, and is perfect for post workout. As we already know, insulin prefers bringing sugar to your muscles over storing it as fat. If your muscles are accepting, your body has nothing left for fat storage.

Post workout is the only time I recommend consuming simple sugars. I also recommend no more than 50 grams of simple sugars after your workout. Under shooting is ok, but over shooting is what you want to avoid.

Carbohydrate Consumption Guidelines

What do medicines, nutritional supplements, and any other substances you put into your body have in common? They all have guidelines, directions, and warnings. Apparently these connotations are null and void when it comes to the food that you consume…..yeah right. You might think they are, but there is no doubt in my mind that food should have guidelines, directions, and warnings as well. Unless you know how to use it, food can have adverse health effects and the obesity rates of today prove my point day in and day out. Since this article is focused on carbohydrates, keep the following carb specific rules in mind when you eat throughout your day.

Rule 1: Separate carbohydrates from fats during meals.

As you remember, carbohydrates raise insulin levels, having a nutrient delivering effect, but also a fat storing effect. When consuming carbs, pair them with a complete protein source. Leave the fats out of meals containing carbs to keep fat storage to a minimum.

My most disastrous meal, which happens to be a very common meal for many people is a fast food meal. Let me break a common drive thru meal down. Typically you’ll order a fatty cheeseburger with fatty fries, and a simple sugar filled soda. Sounds like a solid meal to me (please catch my sarcasm). You have around 40-60 grams of unhealthy fats, 100-120 grams of simple sugars, and 20-30 grams of highly processed protein. This meal works in harmony to sabotage your physique. The simple sugars will shoot your insulin through the roof, the unhealthy fats are present for storage, and the protein is hardly top notch for muscle maintenance. Something to think about; eating ten of these types of meals adds up to a total of 1-1.5 pounds of fat consumed.

Rule 2: Keep your carbs complex at all times except post workout.

I’ve gone over this concept earlier in this article, and you should know the reasoning behind this rule. I will list some complex carb choices to help you stick to this rule.

Pumpkin	Squash
Oats	Quinoa
Yam	Sweet Potato
Brown Rice	Ezekiel Bread

Rule 3: Limit how many carbs you consume, no matter how complex they are.

Imagine that you’ve found a new magical carb that is more complex than any known carb today. Beyond the initial hype of this new and highly complex carb, when all is said and done, you still have a carb. The complex carb will still have 4 calories per gram, and will still cause you to gain weight if over consumed. Just because you are eating Ezekiel bread or oatmeal, this doesn’t mean you can eat the entire loaf of bread or have three bowls worth of oatmeal. You need to determine how many carbs your body will allow you to eat depending on your goals. This is the secret to being able to control your body weight.

People who have total control over their bodies have done this. They know how many calories to eat, where those calories should come from, and when to eat those calories. Knowing these bits of information is just as important as exercising when it comes to obtaining the body you want. Do you know yours?

Rule 4: Keep carbs in your diet, they are important.

The human body is designed to produce energy from three main sources. These sources are as follows: Carbohydrates, Fat, and Protein. Here’s the kicker though, your body has preference as to which source it prefers to obtain energy from. Carbohydrates are priority number 1, fat is priority number 2, and protein is priority number 3. Now, you can alter your body’s preferences to an extent (sounds like another article in the future to me), but we are going to deal with this priority order for now.

Your body is made for carbs, period. Your most efficient biochemical process used to produce energy is glycolysis. This process begins with a glucose molecule (carb) and through a series of steps, converts the glucose into ATP, your body’s form of energy. You body runs most efficiently through glycolysis, so provide it with glucose to begin the process.

As something to keep in mind, many nutritionists advise that a 20/70/10 calorie ratio of protein to carbs to fats should be used in a healthy diet. I believe that this ratio is great for the general public, most of which don’t exercise. In terms of you, a person who exercises, I advise a ratio of 40/40/20. This ratio provides you with more protein to aid in maintaining muscle and recovery. This ratio also provides you with more healthy fats, which are known for numerous health benefits. At the same time, you are still consuming enough carbohydrates to fuel your daily energy requirements. This ratio is really an all around winner.

In conclusion, keep the carb present in your daily diet. You will feel better, look better, and carbs taste great. Carbs are not the enemy and are not dangerous. You just have to know how to use them.

If you have any questions or would like to inquire about a personal diet plan for yourself, contact me at ryan@2020-wellness.com or 919-671-8585. Good luck in your fitness goals!

The Basics of Nutrition

2009-10-19T10:01:00.000-07:00

By Ryan Miller; B.S. Biochemistry, NASM Certified Trainer

Nutrition is delicate, you have to treat it with respect. Nutrition can beat you in several ways. Eat too little, your weight loss will be unhealthy. Eat too much, your weight loss will be a figment of your imagination. Eat the wrong foods, your road to your goal can end up never ending.

Nutrition seems simple, but once you get around to it and give it a dedicated shot, you’ll find that it takes a bit of learning, but the feeling you get from having it down to a science is very rewarding. It can be frustrating when you have control of so many other things in your life, but you just can’t seem to get control of your body, which in today’s society is held in high importance.

Total weight control is entirely possible, you just have to know how to achieve it. My plan is to slowly educate you on nutrition and how to obtain the control I’m talking about through a series of monthly articles. Let’s get to article one, The Basics of Nutrition. As these articles progress, you can bet you’ll be reading more in depth information, detailed tips, and effective diet strategies. The following tips and information are just the beginning of what’s to come.

What is Food?

This should be an easy question right? Food is what you eat. Food is what you get when you are hungry. Food is something that has taste, something that satisfies you, something that gives you energy to live. Those are all explanations of what food is used for and what food does for you, but what exactly is it? What does food actually consist of? Certainly food must consist of thousands of materials, since there are thousands of tastes out there.

When it comes down to the makeup of food, well, natural food, there are only a minimal number of basic “ingredients” that make up your food. These are known as the macronutrients, and consist of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. These are the nutrients that provide your body with calories.

In fact, 1 gram of protein accounts for 4 calories, 1 gram of carbohydrate accounts for 4 calories, and 1 gram of fat accounts for 9 calories. As an example, let us say you are eating a food that contains 30 grams of protein, 50 grams of carbohydrates, and 10 grams of fat.

The total calorie count for this food would equate to:

(30g protein x 4 calories) + (50g carbohydrates x 4 calories) + (10g fat x 9 calories)

The total calories would then equal:

120 calories + 200 calories + 90 calories = 410 calories

What Does Food Do?

Food provides your body with the materials it needs to stay strong, repair itself after a time of stress or injury, and produce energy to power your daily processes. Different macronutrients serve different purposes throughout your body.

The Carb

The carbohydrate is your body’s preferred source of energy. Your body can most efficiently turn a carbohydrate into ATP, which is your body’s form of energy. Carbohydrates consist of sugar molecules and exist in simple and complex forms. The difference between a simple and complex carbohydrate lies within the molecular makeup of the carbohydrate.

Think of carbohydrates as chains of sugar molecules. For the body to use these chains, the chain needs to be broken apart into single links (glucose molecules). The longer the chain, the more complex the carbohydrate, because the longer it takes the body to breakdown the chain and utilize the individual links. These chains can also be branched as well, similar to the branches on a tree. The more branched, the more complex as well.

Simple carbs can be found in foods such as soda, candy, white bread, white pasta, fruit juice, and white rice. Complex carbs can be found in whole wheat breads, wheat pasta, fibrous vegetables, and brown rice.

The Protein

So carbs are your energy source. What is protein used for? Protein is the building block of almost every part of your body. We’ve all heard of amino acids, but few actually know what they are. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. On a molecular level, proteins are chains of amino acids known as polypeptide chains. The order of the amino acids making up the polypeptide chain determines the type of protein that chain will be. Different combinations of amino acids make proteins for hair, skin, organs, muscle, nerves, virtually your whole body.

But you’re in the gym, you’re not trying to repair your organs or skin, so we’re going to focus on using protein to build muscle. In order to build muscle, you need its building block, protein. Protein can be found in numerous foods, particularly meats, eggs, dairy products, and some beans. In order for your body to utilize protein, the protein source must contain all of the amino acids that are needed to make up protein, making the protein “complete”.

Vegetable sources are usually incomplete protein sources, meaning they do not contain all of the necessary amino acids to build your muscles. Meats, dairy, and eggs are sources of complete protein. These protein sources contain all of the necessary amino acids to build your muscle and should be your main source of protein in your diet.

Your body is least likely to use protein as an energy source, but it can be done if put in the right situation. Your body is able to break down its own muscle and use it for energy. This is something that we want to avoid, unless losing muscle is one of your goals.

The Fat

I always think of fat as the most misunderstood macronutrient. In our culture, being physically fat is something that nobody wants to be. Being physically fat is undesirable and unhealthy. When you hear the word fat, you associate it with the physical condition of being overweight or obese. Unfortunately for fat, it gets a bad wrap.

There are numerous types of fat, and fat is an energy source as well as necessary for certain bodily functions. I’ll start with the fats that deserve the bad wrap.

Trans fats are the most harmful form of fat. These are manmade fats and are known to cause harmful build up in certain areas of your body. These fats taste great, but aren’t worth your while.

Saturated fats are harmful, but only when overly consumed. You’ll notice that on your nutrition labels, a certain amount of saturated fat is recommended daily. These are found mainly in animal sources of food such as meats, eggs, and dairy. Saturated fats play a role in hormone regulation in your body. We are carnivores by nature, so don’t completely remove saturated fats from your diet.

Poly and monounsaturated fats are the fats that get the bad wrap. Yes, they are a fat, but no, they aren’t harmful for your body. These fats have numerous benefits to your health. When you hear about Omega 3, 6, or 9 fatty acids, think unsaturated fats. These fats will actually aid in your fat loss goals when ingested at the proper times and in the proper amounts. These fats can be found in fish, nuts, certain seeds, and certain fatty fruits and vegetables.

Putting it all Together

Give yourself a pat on the back, you now know more about what you eat than the average American. You can differentiate between a simple and complex carb, realize the importance of protein, and be confident that fat isn’t always a no no.

Now you have to put this information together and set up an easy to follow diet plan for yourself. You might know about the macronutrients, but in order to truly get it, you need to know how much to eat, and also when to eat what foods. There is no set of magic numbers that works for everyone, please keep this in mind when you hear or see a commercial that offers a diet program that isn’t individualized. There is no way that a diet for a 300 pound man will work for a 150 pound woman.

Diets need to be specific to you! Formulas exist in which you can plug in your age, weight, daily activity level, and other information to obtain what is known as your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). This is the number of calories you would burn if you were to lay in bed all day (if only life was so simple). This number is constant for you. Now comes the variable; your activity outside of lying in bed all day. You can only imagine how this can begin to differ among individuals. If you’d like to discuss an individualized diet, please email me at ryan@2020-wellness.com.

I’ll get more in depth on intake and timing in later articles. I’d highly recommend giving a diet program a try, it only takes a short period of time to form a habit. Get through the initial few weeks, and you’ll be set to go for a healthier life in which you control your body through your diet, not the other way around! Oh yeah, don’t worry, you can still eat tasty foods and achieve your goals, there are unlimited recipes that allow tasteful, healthy eating.