Tone Down the Protein Please

I was going to write something profound today, but then I read the following article and blog post and had to re-post it here today.

This was written by ExSci student and I-FAST gym member Lance Goyke. Guys like Lance are the future of the industry, and it's pretty bad when you write something so poor that a 19 year old can poke holes all throughout your article!

Have a great weekend!
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MSN is the leader of health, right?

Ehh, I'm not so sure.

I'll a attempt to dissect this article in order.

Martica Heaner, M.A., M.Ed., has just told us that we eat too much protein. Not we as my friends in the bodybuilding community, but we as in the population. If we want specifics, the third paragraph is what set me off. She says that working out puts us in an anabolic state overnight. Night time is synonymous with catabolism! Some hardcores who don't care about sleep will wake up in the middle of the night to drink a shake or take some BCAAs to stop the muscle eating! Hell, even working out alone puts you in a catabolic state if you don't have proper post-workout nutrition (which, thankfully, she discusses later).

She mentions a study by Peter Lemon that suggests this is true. After a quick search of PubMed.com, a site that consists of fitness and nutrition studies, I've found that this professor does a lot of research work with world-renown Dr. John Berardi. Not a surprise seeing as they're both Canucks. For the record, I never actually determined what study she was referring to. I really wish she had cited the information!

"More protein can lead to more body fat"

No shit. Excess calories need to go somewhere, and if you eat too much of something, it will be stored as fat. However, protein, out of all the macronutrients, is the least likely to be stored as fat because of it's inability to make for a good energy source. She fails to mention that protein is harder to digest, and in turn burns more calories. She used a great tactic that is used when talking about statistics a lot. A journalistic lie if you will (much like what every processed food manufacturer does). It's kind of like if I were to say that only a small percentage of my body gets erect when I see things like Isla Fisher.

Sure it's true, but it's very misleading.



Ohhh, Isla...

She wants us to consume less than a a gram per kilogram of bodyweight. I am "overweight and I'm less than 80 kg. She says 65 grams a day for me.

You have got to be fucking kidding?

For the record, a cup of chopped broccoli is usually a lot more than somebody will eat in a day. Much greater than a serving that the beloved Department of Agriculture makes so popular. And she thinks the average American consumes 100 grams of protein! 100 grams!? If you look on a nutrition label you can easily find out that they base those off of 50 grams of protein a day. I would venture to guess that most people don't get that unless they have a figure in their life that enjoys cooking.

"Timing your muscle fueling efforts"

This paragraph actually baffled me. How can she read great work like that of Nutrient Timing by Dr. John Ivy and still think all of this other stuff? I do think that 4:1 on carbs:protein is a little excessive on the carbohydrate side, but I would say that you want at least 2:1.

Last line:Peanut butter on bread.

Nothing about the peanut butter being natural. Nothing about the bread being 100% whole grain. Don't even worry about the fact that there's roughly no healthy loaf of bread that you can find in a grocery store. Just throw those fats onto those carbohydrates and get a lovely, gigantic insulin spike! Speed up the fat gain, Mommy! I'm taking up sumo wrestling!

Eating healthy while eating out

This past weekend I had the chance to catch up with some old friends in Chicago. One thing I always come back to when traveling is trying to make solid food choices while "on the road."

Luckily, if you arm yourself with a little knowledge it's generally pretty easy to be successful. Here are some things I try and do to eat well on the road, regardless of the situation:

- Pack small snacks. My wife and I are really good about packing mixed nuts, water, protein bars, protein shakes, etc. If you're in a pinch, these items can substitute for a meal. Along those same lines, it will curb your appetite so you don't binge on the 8 lb. burger (yes, one of the restaurants we ate it really did offer it up!)

- Always order a sald and/or extra fruit. If your only goal is to consume copious amounts of calories, then by all means forget about this tip and get that fried appetizer sampler platter and double dessert. If you are in the least bit concerned about your health (not to mention your waistline), adding a sald or fruit to your order helps ensure that you get more nutrients and fiber from your food.

- Opt for extra virgin olive oil or vinagrettes instead of "traditional" salad dressings. Not only do they taste better (assuming your palette isn't dead), but they typically have better fatty acid profiles.

A few more quick hits, without all the explanations:

- If you are looking to shed pounds or body fat, say no to the pre-meal bread and get double-veggies for your sides.

- Drink water vs. calorie-laden beverages.

- Be reasonable with your meat selections. I'm all for a huge slab of beef from time-to-time, but eating a 10 or 12 ounce steak every night probably isn't necessary.

- Whenever possible sub a salad, veggie or even a soup instead of fried side items. They may taste good but there's minimal nutritional value in fried foods.

- I won't ever tell you that beer is bad - at the very least, drink light vs. normal beers.

While eating out or on the road may never be optimal, performing some damage control can go a long way to helping you achieve your health and fitness related goals.

Stay strong
MR

Why Choose Oats

by Dr. John Berardi

If you're looking to gain mass and have a good carbohydrate tolerance, place a bowl of fiber-rich, low-GI rolled oats along with ½ scoop of vanilla protein powder, frozen mixed berries, pineapple and a small quantity of mixed nuts right next to your omelet. This is a muscle building breakfast that’s hard to beat. I place this bowl right next to my omelet for a breakfast that's hard to beat.

If you like this tip and want to learn more about JB and his products, check out his Precision Nutrition website.

Increasing Water Intake

By Dr. John Berardi

Sedentary individuals should drink at least 2L or about 8 cups of water per day, athletes should drink at least 3L or about 12 cups of water per day, and athletes in hot weather climates drink at least 4L or about 16 cups of water per day.

Since following these recommendations can prevent dehydration and can actually assist with fat loss, you’d have to be a desiccated fool to ignore them.

However, try as they might, some individuals find it difficult to ingest up to a gallon of water per day. So try out these three proven strategies for increasing water ingestion:

1- Drink cold water – cold water is more palatable, improving “mouth feel” and ingestion
2- Add lemon – lemon increases urge to drink and also kills bacteria
3- Chuggables – always carry some sort of jug of water around to ensure you’re drinking. Rubbermaid makes a nice blue top container (Chuggables) that we recommend to our clients.

If you like this tip and want to learn more about JB and his products, check out his Precision Nutrition website.

Can you out-train a bad diet?

A few weeks ago I was reading the "Fat Loss Hierarchy" article written by Alwyn Cosgrove at t-nation.com, and he brings up a great point:

Can you out-train a bad diet? Especially if your primary goal is fat loss?

In fact, Cosgrove goes on to state that proper diet/nutrition is not only THE most important factor in fat loss, it should be the top two most important factors. It's THAT important.

Which brings me to where I am today...

Our company in Indianapolis, Custom Fitness/Custom Athletics, is running a bodyfat challenge for the month of June. The client who loses the greatest amount of body fat over 5 weeks is deemed the winner, and receives a very nice little prize. As part of the challenge, all the coaches are participating as well. My training has been going great, and I've been steadily losing body fat in the process.

But not like I feel like I should.

I've been training hard; cutting rest periods, using big, basic exercises, and I've even doing interval sessions (which totally suck, I might add). So why am I not garnering the body fat loss I think I should?

Diet.

Quite simply, I haven't had my diet as dialed in as I need to. Had I done better up to this point with cutting starchy carbs to pre-determined times, or doing better with regards to nutrient timing, I could be a lot farther along at this point. And it rings true that the leaner you get, the more dialed in your diet must become - not the opposite! How many times have you seen someone start to get lean, and then they go back to their old ways thinking they've "made it" or something?

Here's the moral of the story - no matter what your goals are, you must emphasize proper diet and nutrition to maximize recovery and/or body fat loss. If you have no clue how to eat properly, when to eat certain foods, or just need a nutrition overhaul, check out John Berardi's Precision Nutrition or Mike Roussell's Naked Nutrition Guide.

I should have an article going up at T-nation later this week with regards to my current training, and when the contest is over I'll be sure to let everyone know how much body fat I lost.

I just hope the calories I take in while vacationing in Vegas this weekened won't count.... ;)

Stay strong
MR