14 OBJECTIVES, 28 DAYS AND AND A NEW YOU - MISSION #9

Missions #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7 and #8.

MISSION #9 - LEARN HOW TO READ FOOD LABELS

Go to your fridge or pantry. 

Pick out a packaged food product that claims to have health benefits: organic, all natural, low fat, low carb, reduced calorie, whole grain, high protein, "100 calories," etc.

Now, read the label, including the ingredient list. 

Is it really healthy?

Low fat often means high sugar. 

You can make sure of this by looking at where the sugar is listed in the ingredient list. 

If it's listed first, second, or third, then there's a lot of it in there. 

Remember, whatever is listed first is the main ingredient in regards to weight; whatever is listed second is the second most prevalent ingredient, and so on.

What about low carbs?

Low carb often means high fat, and that also means calorie dense: it's still very high in calories despite being lower in carbs or carb-free.

Also, the word "organic" or "all-natural" on the label doesn't mean it's supportive of your fat loss plan. 

Read the calories and serving sizes. 

"All natural" low-fat cereal can have more than double the calories and carbs of an equal amount of Fruit Loops (but don't eat that crap either!)

And just because pomegranate is good for you doesn't mean that a high-sugar drink with 2% pomegranate juice is good for you.

Further Reading:

Get the Facts on Nutrition by Reading Your Food Labels –

http://www.dadehealth.org/downloads/HealthyYouNutritionFacts.pdf

Work Book Exercise: going back through your food diary, look at as many food labels as you can and see how any grams of protein, carbs and fats you are consuming to give you a real look into what you’re eating.

Add these up into calories where 1 gram of protein or carbs = 4 calories, where 1 gram of fat = 9 calories.

You’re looking for as even split as possible of your total calories so 33/33/33 or close to.

If your carbs or fats exceed 40% of your total calories intake then you need to increase something (protein more than likely) and decrease higher one.

14 Objectives, 28 Days and a New You - Mission #8

Mission #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6 and #7.

MISSION #8 - CUT THE GROG

Yes I am well aware that this is my 3rd Homer image in this blog series but hey,he's a perfect example of what not to do is't he?

This mission is probably the one you dread the most but really is it so bad?

You always say you're gonna do it but you never do so here's yet another chance.

Cut the grog for the rest of this month (technically there's 8 days left to this month but have areal crack will ya?)

There's no simple way to put it - alcohol is poison and that's exactly how the body perceives it.

If you are trying to stay in shape or even better, lose some fat, then when there is alcohol in your system, the body will prioritise getting all the alcohol out of your body before anything which is why you're body up regulates when you're hung over (increased heart rate, the sweats etc) - it;s working overtime to get back to your personal baseline as fast as it can.

To add that generally your food choices aren't great under the influence so any not-so-great food choices are also hindering your efforts to drop weight.

To really put a dent in your fat cells I believe you HAVE to take at least a month off all alcohol.

Pair this with a specific nutritional plan that is followed consistently over the long term and you can see some quite dramatic results in as little as 4 weeks.

I've personally dropped 7.5kgs from an already lean-ish body in 28 days doing exactly that.

It wasn't fun but it wasn't horrendous (I could do it again I'm pretty sure) but the result stands for itself.

So for the next 4 weeks replace your alcohol with green tea or just plain water - don't try and replace it with "better" forms of alcohol - it's not the carbs making you fat that's for sure.

Further Reading:

A Muscle Heads Guide to Alcohol –

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sex_news_sports_funny/a_muscleheads_guide_to_alcohol_1

Work Book Exercise: use this progressive method to decrease your alcohol intake:

Step 1 – cut out drinks from Monday to Thursday

Step 2 – cut drinking days back to 2 days between Friday and Sunday

Step 3 – cut back to 1 drinking day between Friday and Sunday

Step 4 – have at least 1 full week off drinking per month

14 Objectives, 28 Days and a New You - Mission #7

Mission #1, #2, #3, #4, #5 and #6.

We are at the half way mark today...

MISSION #7 - EARN YOUR CHEAT MEAL

This mission involves a fast lesson in cheat meals.

Should you have that cheat day, that Chinese buffet, or that pie your granny made? 

Do you justify cheating on your nutrition with self-sabotaging thoughts like this:

• "I trained hard all week; I deserve a cheat meal."

• "Hey, I lost ½ a kilogram last week; I can afford to have that pie!"

Cut the flimsy rationalizations.

Did you do 5 hours of intense training this week? 

We're not talking throwing up 5 times from going too hard, but we also not talking 5 hours of low intensive activities like Yoga, Pilates and walking, but they can be a part of your 5 hours.

By the way we don’t class Pilates, Yoga and walking as intense activity.

It has other benefits but calorie expenditure isn't one of them. 

If the answer is yes then you may have a cheat meal once every 1 - 2 weeks. 

If the answer is no, then your for the sake of those jeans that are on the edge of fitting, you're best to leave it alone.

It's that easy to make the decision and it’s all in your control.

And if you do earn your cheat meal then make sure you have it on a training day so at least some of the calories will go towards recovery, off-setting some of the extra calories.

Further Reading:

The Cheat Meal Manifesto –

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/the_cheat_meal_manifesto

In Defence of Cheat Days –

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/in_defense_of_cheat_days

Work Book Exercise: for 1 week keep a total food log and at the end of it add up all of your meals...if you have had something “bad” with more than 10% of your total meals, then you know the adjustments that need to be made

14 Objectives, 28 Days and a New You - Mission #6

Mission #1, #2, #3, #4 and #5.

MISSION #6 - WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE SO LET'S ALL HAVE A DRINK

I wouldn't live my life fully to the tune of Homerisms but he's onto something here.

While much depends on activity level, your environment, and a host of other factors, the most common advice you hear about fluid intake is to get at least a 2 litres of water per day. 

So, where do you stand? 

Are you getting less than 2 litres? 

More?

Today, go to the store and buy a 2 litre bottle of drinking water. 

Carry it around with you.  

The bottle allows for an easy visual analysis of your fluid intake. 

No guessing, no measuring: just get 2 litres of water and see if you drink it all in one day without thinking about it.

Once you actually know where you're at, increase by 1 extra glass every 2 – 3 days and aim for 3 litres.

And by the way, people spend a lot of money on things that are supposed to get rid of "toxins" in the body. 

Well, we have the little things called kidneys that flushes everything through our body on it's own but if you wanted to make sure your kidneys are in good health to do said flushing, then water is the best "product" on the market for that. 

Spending money on detoxification pills when you're not even drinking enough water is just plain dumb.

Another interesting note is that for a bottle of water costs 2000 x more then the same volume of tap water!

Further Reading:

Question of Nutrition Volume 5 Question 2 –

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_nutrition/question_of_nutrition_vol_5

Benefits of Water –

http://www.shapefit.com/water-benefits.html

Work Book Exercise: keep a water intake log for the next week, add it all up then increase it by 25% each week x 4 weeks then maintain your new figure.

14 Objectives, 28 Days and a New You - Mission #5

We're objectives/missions in so you should starting to form some new habits at this stage. If you're just joining in here's what you've missed so far:

Mission #1

Mission #2

Mission #3

Mission #4

MISSION #5 - Veg Out

I’m pretty sure we all know the importance of vegetables. 

Packed with minerals and vitamins, the most overlooked parts of consuming adequate amount of vegetables is that they will make you feel fuller for longer which in turn means if you are eating more than enough vegetables, than you’re not eating cakes and pastries!!

Couple the satiety effects of vegetables and protein in a single meal and you shouldn’t get the energy high’s and low’s of a pasta or rice based dish like the one you for lunch today that had you falling asleep standing yup at the water cooler, much to the amusement of your workmates but not so much your boss!

The best vegetables to have are green, crunchy vegetables that take some chewing to digest. 

Broccoli, beans, asparagus and spinach are all great choices but really any veg is a good veg now isn't it?

Whatever amount of veggies is that you had yesterday, double it for today then double today's amount next week and hold that for the rest of the challenge (and forever).

Further Reading:

Bad Fruit Evil Veggies –

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/bad_fruits_evil_veggies

Work Book Exercise: list 5 ways you can include more veggies into your day.

14 Objectives, 28 Days and New You - Mission #4

We're objectives/missions in so you should starting to form some new habits at this stage. If you're just joining in here's what you've missed so far:

Mission #1

Mission #2

Mission #3

MISSION #4 - INCREASE YOUR PROTEIN INTAKE

The fibers of your muscles are made up of a different number of different proteins.

Holding adequate muscle mass increases your metabolism significantly because it requires more calories to sustain muscle mass compared to fat cells.

If you can ,manage to increase your muscle mass then you'll need even more calories to sustain it - a fat loss trainee's dream!

When we receive our nutritional analysis sheets back from our clients we see a lot of extremely low protein consumption.

Protein food sources include red emat, white meat, eggs, tuna/fish, turkey, pork, tofu, quinoa, and the beans/lentils/legumes group.

We all know of protein powder which is a more concentrated source that is fine to roll with, but it is actually best used to "add" extra protein into your nutritional plan, not by replacing other actual food protein sources.

The biggest problem in regards to consuming enough protein is that you often can't just grab it and eat it like an apple or a bagel - it takes time to make and prepare it in advanced.

The golden rules for protein consumption is to include protein every time you eat and to also aim to have at least 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.

 So if you weight 67kgs then aim for 134g of protein every day.

Further Reading:

6 Things You Need to Know About Protein –

http://www.tnation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_nutrition/six_things_you_need_to_know_about_protein

Protein: More Muscle Less Guesswork –

http://www.tnation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_nutrition/protein_more_muscle_less_guesswork

Work Book Exercise - 

List a protein source that you could include in each of your 3 – 6 feedings throughout the day...take into account where you’d be eating it and the preparation you’ll need to do.

Find Your Stress Sweet Spot

Stress kills, it really does.

Way before that cold settles in, way before that lower back pain comes for no reason, way before you can't sleep and way before you try and lose weight and fail...again...is stress.

Building up more stress then your body can handle will result in an illness, injury and/or weight gain down the track.

Until you decrease your stress then you'll forever be sick, you'll forever be in pain and you'll forever be out of shape.

The decline life quality starts with stress, it's that simple!

The bad? You can't avoid stress.

The good? You can manage it though!

The info-graphic I link to below is as good as it gets as far as telling you what stress is and how to handle it is concerned.

The highlights:

- Everyone has a stress sweet spot where you seem to function optimally, you need to determine where that point is though and it lays somewhere between "you've got my attention' and "I'm starting to freak out".

- You can have positive responses to stress such as motivation, excitement and productivity

- As is life you can also have negative responses to stress such as fatigue, boredom and anxiousness.

- Your ability to handle stress depends on genetics, history, current stress load, environment, support network, coping ability and attitude.

- To help you to reach your potential without burning out set effective goals, start with 1 action each day, track your progress and spend time with a mentor or coach.

- For rest and recovery partake in parasympathetic dominant activities, meditate, get outside, balance your exercise routine and practice self compassion.

You can view the info-graphic here.