Nutrition

[Grant R. Nieddu]

Post your questions here. Add your responses as well.

Help and Be Helped.
Teach and Be Teachable.

[Elizabeth Carpenter]

Will Wine Pack On The Pounds


Recent research suggesting that wine has health benefits has led many people to believe that alcohol is nutritious, or at the very least can't hurt you. While a little bit of wine may have medicinal effects, alcohol can hamper your efforts to lose weight and decrease body fat. Here's the scoop.

Some well-publicized studies have found a link between drinking wine and a lower risk of heart disease. Men who drank two glasses a day and women who drank one were found to have a decreased risk of having a heart attack or stroke or dying from heart disease than non-drinkers or heavy drinkers.

At the same time, other studies have shown an increased risk in breast cancer among women who are moderate drinkers. So while heart-disease risk may improve, cancer risk may worsen. That suggests that the drug-like effect of alcoholic beverages may be beneficial for some people, but not for others. And as with all drugs, there are side effects. Too much alcohol has detrimental effects on the liver over time, and booze can be addictive.

Keep in mind that alcohol is toxic to the body and that is why the liver plays a role in metabolizing it. One infrequently recognized problem with alcohol is its biochemical role in digestion. When you eat food, enzymes in your stomach and intestines break it down so that different vitamins, minerals and other substances can be absorbed and used by the body. Many people believe that alcohol aids digestion. In fact, alcohol inactivates some of the enzymes that are needed for nutrient breakdown and absorption. Alcohol can also impair blood glucose control—and this can have severe consequences for diabetics. Alcoholics wind up suffering from severe nutrient deficiencies, especially of vitamins A, C, D, E, K and the B group.

Alcohol also has more calories per gram than the same exact amount of protein or carbohydrates, so adding liquor can lead you to taking in many more calories than you need. Research also suggests that excess alcohol creates a tendency toward having more ab fat (the term "beer belly" may not be far off).

If you are drinking fluffed-up cocktails like a White Russian, you may boost your calorie consumption even higher. While one glass of wine only has about 70 to 100 calories, depending upon the size, a cocktail can pack in around 300. That's more than a candy bar!

So, if you take in one or two of these drinks every night, in one week you could easily be slurping down an extra 1,400 to 2,100 calories. If you have party nights where you drink 4 or 5 drinks in an evening (or, yikes, more!) then simply cutting out these drinks could help you lose weight without having to diet at all.

But let's face it, most people enjoy relaxing over a cool beer or a glass of wine. And most health professionals advocate moderation when it comes to your lifestyle. If you tend to follow a healthy diet and lifestyle, then a little bit of alcohol may be fine.

[Elizabeth Carpenter]

A Sample of A Healthy Diet

Morning Meal
2 slices whole wheat toast
3 scrambled eggs
Coffee or tea

Midmorning Meal
¼ cup trail mix (a combination of sunflower seeds, peanuts, almonds,
pumpkin seeds, and walnuts)
1 glass water with lemon

Afternoon Meal
Chicken sandwich (2 slices whole wheat bread, 1 Tbsp
low-fat mayo, 1 tsp mustard, lettuce, tomato, and 2 oz chicken)
½ cup fresh carrot sticks
1 glass water with lemon

Midafternoon Meal
1 Wasa cracker with 1 Tbsp almond nut butter
1 glass water with lemon

Evening Meal
Chicken and Asparagus Tossed with Penne
1 cup tossed baby greens salad with Italian dressing
1 slice whole grain baguette
1 glass of wine


This is just a starting example of a healthy diet... enjoy!

[Chad Lindsey]

You rock, there will be some girls logging on soon, that are new to the nutrition and working out process. I know they will value this information. Thanks for your participation Liz as always!

[Christina]

Liz,

Very informative and helpful posts! I've been reading a book on digestion (and what inhibits good digestion), which primed me to really "get" what you said: "Many people believe that alcohol aids digestion. In fact, alcohol inactivates some of the enzymes that are needed for nutrient breakdown and absorption."

I did not know that!!

Hmmm...so if I am spending a gazillion dollars (okay...being a bit dramatic here) on supplements, but drink wine then I am basically creating an environment where my body can't process the supplements. Food for thought... :)

Keep the good info comin'!

[Grant R. Nieddu]

Good comments, to everyone. Liz, that is great info!

[Elizabeth Carpenter]

Understanding Your Body Fat Percentage In Regards To Weight Loss

Body fat measurements and the measuring tape are recognized as superior methods for measuring "weight loss". When one declares that they want to "lose weight", what they often mean is that they want to lose fat. So, now that you've had your body fat percentage measured, what does the number really mean?

First, your body fat percentage is simply the percentage of fat your body contains. If you are 150 pounds and 10% fat, it means that your body consists of 15 pounds fat and 135 pounds lean body mass (bone, muscle, organ tissue, blood and everything else).

A certain amount of fat is essential to bodily functions. As fat regulates body temperature, cushions and insulates organs and tissues and is the main form of the body's energy storage. The following table describes body fat ranges and their associated categories:


Classification
Essential Fat 10-12% (Women) 2-4% (Men)
Athletes 14-20% (Women) 6-13% (Men)
Fitness 21-24% (Women) 14-17% (Men)
Acceptable 25-31% (Women) 18-25% (Men)
Obese 32% plus (Women) 25% plus (Men)


Knowing your body fat percentage can also help you determine if your weight loss goals are realistic. And remember, weight loss doesn't always mean fat loss. For example, we will use a 130 lb. woman with 23% body fat, and her goal is to lose 20 pounds:

Initial body fat: 130 lbs. x 0.23 fat = 30 lbs. body fat

Lean body mass: 130 lbs. total – 30 lb. fat = 100 lbs. lean body mass (bones, organs, water, etc.)

Goal: 130 lbs – 20 lbs = 110 lbs.

As you can see, the goal of losing 20 pounds is not realistic or healthy. At 110 pounds, this woman still requires 100 lbs. of lean body mass (bones, organs, water, etc.), but would only be carrying 10 lbs., or only 9% body fat. From the chart above, you can see that this is a dangerously low percentage for a female.

A better goal might be for the woman to reduce her body fat from 23% to 18%. In this case:

130 lbs. x 0.18 = 23 lbs. body fat

100 lbs. lean body mass + 23 lbs. = 123 lbs. goal weight

So, for this individual to achieve a lean, but healthy 18% fat, she would need to lose only 7 pounds of fat, reducing her weight from her current 130 pounds to 123 pounds. Losing more than 7 pounds means losing lean body mass (i.e. metabolically-active muscle tissue), which is clearly not desirable.

So before you decide that you need to "lose weight", remember to consider that "weight" consists of both lean body mass and body fat. Try to keep your weight loss goals realistic, and remember, keep the calorie-burning muscle, and lose only the fat.

With all that said now the real question remains- What is the best way to loose fat?

To lose fat you have to eat! Do not starve yourself. Your body is designed for survival, and part of it's survival mechanism involves storing and holding onto body fat to be used in times of food shortages. If you make it a habit of not eating, or eating only a small amount of calories each day, eventually your body will think that you are in a time of famine a begin to slow your metabolism. Your body is just trying to conserve energy (calories) because it is getting so little nourishment.

Your metabolism determines the rate at which your body burns calories, so if you have a fast metabolism, you will burn a lot of calories without much effort. If you have a slow metabolism, it will be very difficult to burn calories—especially fat calories. Your body will always slow your metabolism in response to low calorie dieting.

To avoid this, you simply must eat. Unfortunately, eating three meals per day will not cut it! It does not provide your body with the constant flow of nutrients and energy it needs increase your metabolism and burn fat. Ideally, you should strive to eat 5-6 meals evenly spaced throughout the day.

To shed the fat quickly, aerobic exercise is essential—it is not an option. Many people will begin to see results just from this alone. It not only helps to burn fat and calories during the actual time you are exercising, but it also elevates your metabolism for hours afterwards. This leads to greater calorie burning and fat loss throughout the day.

Any exercise that elevates your heart rate for about 30-45 minutes will do. Do something that you prefer doing, like running, climbing stairs, aerobics classes or boxing. When choosing an exercise, make sure that it keeps your heart rate elevated consistently without breaks. Some "stop & go" sports like basketball or football, are not adequate candidates for our purposes. These games have too many pauses, breaks and periods of low activity. They will not keep your heart rate elevated long enough to burn much fat or elevate your metabolism.

It is not the simple fact of doing the cardio that will increase your fat loss, but when you do it and what you eat. The only time you should be doing cardio for fat loss purposes is first thing in the morning before your first meal—this is when you burn the most fat. Any other time should be considered recreational. The pace should be moderate otherwise you would be working towards cardiovascular endurance, not fat loss.

After about 4 weeks of this, you can then add interval training into the mix to change things up. This is when you do one minute of normal intensity, then one minute of high (almost max) intensity. You alternate this for 30-45 minutes.

I know aerobics instructors who teach 5-6 classes per week, but are still soft and overweight. You would think with that much cardio exercise, they would be ripped. They are not because their diets are not correct and they do not train at the correct times for fat loss.

Also keep in mind that you really do not have to train as often. Some people still believe that the more training means more muscle and increased fat loss. Not true. It doesn't work that way. Working out too often does not allow your muscles the necessary time to recuperate. Not only will you not gain any muscle and definition, but you will be setting yourself up for chronic injuries from over training.

Improper diet and over training are two reasons why most people never get beyond an average physique. I use to see people at the gym who workout 5-6 days per week for 2 hours or more each day—but they always look the same.

For your program, I recommend working out 3 times per week, working upper body twice per week and legs once. Keeping your workout between 45 to 75 minutes and concentrated on exercises that worked large muscle groups like bench press, squats, deadlifts, pull-ups and dips.

Use heavy weight (weight that is challenging for you), and low reps. Try to rest 2 minutes between sets and increased the weight after each set. Your body should adapt quickly to specific workouts so you may need to change your parameters (sets, reps, tempo, exercises) frequently (usually every 4-6 weeks).


Here's A Summary Of The Concepts To Follow:


Diet
•To lose body fat you must eat fewer calories than your body burns off, so eat less—but you must NOT starve yourself, otherwise you will lose more muscle than fat!
•Start eating 5-6 meals per day (space them out to about one every 3 hours). You are eating more often, but not necessarily more.
•Increase your protein intake. Without protein your body cannot build new muscle. Protein also helps to increase your metabolism—which burns calories.
•Increase you water intake. A good formula for this is to multiply your bodyweight by .66 to get the required number of ounces per day.


Training
•Keep your workouts under 75 minutes.
•Concentrate on compound exercises that work the large muscle groups.
•Use moderate to heavy weights with low reps, rest 2 minutes between each set.
•Do only 2 (maximum 3) exercises per body part.
•Train no more than 3 times per week, working each body part only once per week.
•Include some form of cardiovascular activity in your program. This will not only help to burn calories, but it will elevate your metabolism for hours afterwards
•Perform aerobic exercise 3-4 times per week
•Rest

[Grant R. Nieddu]

YEAH! This rocks. I am digging it!
This is good information. You should message Krysta on it, too. She is working with a friend on fitness stuff to some degree.

[Krysta]

hey liz -
thanks for this, this is GREAT.
i noticed you wrote about heavier weights and few reps...i've always heard that for women lighter weights and more reps is more effective for fat loss.
any insight?
thanks!

[Elizabeth Carpenter]

It may be taught that females should follow a different format when loosing body fat, but the key to loosing body fat is to increase muscle mass (heavier weights stimulate the muscle fibers and challenges them as apposed to lighter weights) and therefore decrease overall body fat. The only reason why some teach that women need lighter weights and more repetitions is because of the whole fear that the female will bulk up and get that hard bodybuilder look (I am not telling you to workout as though you are a bodybuilder nor do you have to in order to reach your goals)... I know first hand that this is not so. Again, the same concepts apply to males and females when decreasing body fat. If you have any other questions let me know.

[Elizabeth Carpenter]

Going Nuts


As with all foods, the key with nuts is simply not to overeat them. They are highly concentrated in both their calories and their nutrients, so you only need a small handful at a time. Eating a variety of nuts appears to be the best way to get all the different benefits each nut has to offer. And with that said, the following have been found to be the best nuts to add to your everyday diet.


Walnuts
When it comes to nuts, the walnut is the king. It's a great source of the healthy omega-3 essential fatty acids, which have been found to protect the heart, promote better cognitive function, and provide anti-inflammatory benefits for asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, eczema and psoriasis. Walnuts also contain the antioxidant compound ellagic acid, which is known to fight cancer and support the immune system.

Almonds
Just a quarter cup of almonds contains nearly 25 percent of your needed daily value of the important nutrient magnesium, plus is rich in potassium, manganese, copper, the antioxidants vitamin E and selenium, and calcium. In fact, a quarter cup of almonds has almost as much calcium as a quarter cup of milk. Plus, almonds are one of the best nuts for lowering cholesterol because 70 percent of the fat they contain is the healthy monounsaturated variety, which has been shown to help clear arteries.

Cashews
Cashews are lower in fat than most nuts, and 65 percent of this fat is unsaturated fatty acids. Of this, 90 percent is oleic acid, the heart-healthy fat found in olive oil. In addition, cashews are rich in copper, magnesium, zinc, iron and biotin.

Pecans
Pecans are an excellent source of over 19 vitamins and minerals including vitamins E and A, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, copper, phosphorus, potassium, manganese, several B vitamins and zinc.

Brazil Nuts
These nuts are extremely nutrient-rich and contain protein, copper, niacin, magnesium, fiber, vitamin E and selenium. Selenium is known as a powerful antioxidant that works to neutralize dangerous free radicals.

[Grant R. Nieddu]

Of course, I love nuts, too! Almond butter has been a life saver, and just munching on nuts keeps my diet on track most of the time.

[Brigitte Dedekind]

Again, this stuff is great! Thank you so much!!