Top 50 Fitness Blogs
Well it appears that this blog has made it onto Diet Spotlight’s top 50 fitness blogs.
There are some very good blogs on this site and so I thought I’d share them.
Enjoy.
Monthly Archives: November 2010
Don’t Try – Do
Place a pencil on a table. Take a good, long look at it.
Now, try to pick it up.
Did you succeed?
If you did, you didn’t try – you did it.
Put the pencil back down.
Now, once again, TRY to pick up the pencil.
If you are really trying to pick it up, it won’t budge.
Try even harder.
Try as hard as you possibly can. Put both hands on it a give it everything you have.
See? Nothing happens except you get drained and eventually quit.
Now stop trying and just pick it up. See? How easy was that?
No matter how hard you try in life you will never, ever accomplish your goal.
Stop trying to lose weight. Stop trying to get in shape. Stop trying to improve your health.
Don’t try – do. It’s a lot easier that way.
Gluten Free on ABC
Well, well, well. ABC News has really shown its colors this time by airing a news segment the other day on the dangers of going gluten free. The dangers?
Gluten is a protein composite found in wheat, rye, barley and other grains. There is no known need or requirement for this particular protein blend in the human diet. Given this fact, one wonders how the lack of it could be harmful.
In fact, grains and other forms of carbohydrate are completely unnecessary in the human diet. From the Institutes of Health DRI report:
The lower limit of dietary carbohydrate compatible with life apparently is zero, provided that adequate amounts of protein and fat are consumed.
The doctor in the video (and we don’t know what sort of doctor he is as the segment doesn’t say) states that adopting a gluten free diet could lead to nutritional deficiencies in fiber and B vitamins. Really? It appears that this doctor has forgotten about foods like fruits, vegetables, eggs and meat – all of which are as gluten free as it gets.
He also tries to suggest that if you go gluten free you might become vitamin deficient since you’ll miss out on all those lovely vitamins that food companies infuse into their products. I mean, c’mon! One good look at this “doctor” and you can see he too needs a gluten free diet lickety-split. Oh I kid the good doctor.
And there was no opposition or counterpoint. Responsible reporting includes the other side of the story. But in this one, the opposition is completely nonexistent.
One wonders how this segment came to be produced and aired. As I see it, Conagra must have paid to have this show dreamed up and then pushed its production to the networks. ABC then irresponsibly picked up the idea, produced the show and aired it.
This show may very well have influenced some people to start eating gluten again and for many, this can be very harmful. Forty lashes ABC. This is the kind of stuff I find revolting.
I know my mother-in-law is going to call or email me shortly to tell me that going gluten free is dangerous. Hopefully she didn’t see the segment. I’ll of course explain to her at length why the segment was wrong and how they twist stuff to cause fear and panic in people. But, as in the past combating info like this with her, it boils down to Fred the trainer vs. _________ the doctor.
Guess who wins in her mind?
What will Conagra dream up next? I know: The Dangers Of Eating Non-manufactured Foods.
Hmmm…I probably shouldn’t have said that…
Thanksgiving Day Challenge
OK strength fans there are only twenty days to Thanksgiving. So I’m tossing out a challenge.
For the next twenty days ditch all your grains and starches. If you don’t know what a grain or a starch is read here and here.
Basically, you’re not going to eat:
Bread, rolls, pasta, rice, potatoes, cereals, muffins, bagels, crumpets, croissants, biscuits, french fries, pancakes, waffles, toast, cous cous, quinoa, yams, tortillas, crepes, babka, pretzels, chips, corn, macaroni, noodles, rugelach, popovers, strudel, that twisty-bready-sugary-thingy you see in bake shops, bialys, hamantaschen – capeesh?
I made such a long list because so many clients have said things to me like “You mean I can’t have toast?!” after I just said to them they can’t eat bread. Apparently there is a disconnect between the actual material a food is made from and the noun used to name it for many people. Hey, what can I tell ya?
Here is what you will eat at each meal:
Meats, fish, fowl. Eat decent sized portions until you feel satisfied. (Eat slowly – chew baby, chew! Enjoy the food.)
Non-starchy veggies (no potatoes, beans, etc.)
Keep fruit to a minimum – one piece a day.
Also, you want to add some healthy fats. I recommend 2 table spoons of coconut butter or 2 shots of extra virgin olive oil on your meats and salads. You don’t want this to be a low calorie experiment. You want to keep calories up but the carbs to nil.
Here’s what you do:
1. Weigh yourself today in the raw. Write the number down.
2. Take a pic of yourself in a bathing suit of your choice or close fitting clothes. (You will take your after pic in the exact same clothes.) Cut your face off if you like.
(NOTE: I will never, ever, ever use photos without permission.)
3. The day of Thanksgiving weigh in again and take the after pic with the exact same clothes and preferably in the exact same position. Here is an example of good comparison photography:
Take a pic of yourself like this (ladies it can be a once piece suit if you wish but its not as good for seeing changes) for the back side as well. A side shot with the hands on the head away from the face is a plus. Men please don’t use those long baggy hip-hop bathing suits.
The winner of the challenge gets:
1. An autographed copy of both my books
2. 5 FREE personal training sessions with yours truly
You can gift the sessions to someone if you don’t live in NYC. Weight loss alone does not determine the winner. It’s the overall change that counts. And yes, I am the sole judge and jury on this one.
Tips to win:
1. Avoid alcohol
2. Avoid caffeine
3. Drink a gallon or more of cool water throughout the day
4. Avoid diet sodas
5. Sleep for 8 hours a night
6. Strength train twice a week. It doesn’t have to be Slow Burn but lift weights in a progressive manner
7. Take a digestive enzyme and a probiotic of high quality
8. Stop doing excessive aerobics. Walk or swim but keep it enjoyable and easy
9. Avoid saunas and anything that causes excessive water loss
10. Watch comedies and laugh a lot. This improves hormonal tone by reducing stress
Questions, comments and arguments are pleasantly accepted. [email protected]
Alright – let the games begin!
Don’t Give To The Poor
OK before any of you de-friend me on Facebook or block my Tweets, please hear me out.
Now is the time of year when feelings of giving and good cheer begin to seep from our pores and spread throughout our communities. Altruistic alms and sharing our services to those in need is a common scene as Christmas and Chanukah draw near.
It is also the time of year when we all start eating way too much crap.
Halloween, for example, is not scary because of the demons and monsters, but because of the evil that lurks inside the treat gathering pumpkin basket.
There’s enough sugar in this bowl to kill a wildebeest.
Oh – that little white paper you see in the center of the bowl was written by my daughter Amber. She sure does covet her candy!
I think you would all agree that if I took that bowl and tossed the lot into the trash bin, no one would accuse me of wasting food, right? In fact, most people who have even an inkling of knowledge in nutrition would pat me on the back for such an action.
But why? Why it is OK to add a bowl of candy to our landfill when the end result of eating this junk is an increase in blood glucose – just like eating any other form of carbohydrate. The answer is we’ve been had.
If you were to follow my nutritional advice, you would go into your kitchens and place the following items in a cardboard box:
All breakfast cereals
Pastas
Breads
Rice
Chef Boyardee and other commercially canned “foods.”
Miscellaneous fare like Pop-Tarts, Cheese Doodles, and other stuff of that ilk
Ideally, you would take your cardboard box of “carbage” (I think the brilliant Tom Naughton coined that phrase) and you would dump it in the trash. It’s not fit for humans nor is it fit for rats.
If you want to give to the poor, given them nutritionally dense foods like eggs, meats, fruits and vegetables. Don’t feed them the kinds of foods that will make them sick, tired, obese and diabetic.
Peace on Earth and good will towards humans. Good will includes good nutrition.
