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What Exactly does a Natural BodyBuilder Eat to Maintain single Digit Body Fat? Here is the Top 10

Sian — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 15:35:21 +0000

Guest post – Tom Venuto

Anytime the topic of discussion in my blogs, articles or newsletters has turned to my own personal grocery shopping list, there has always been a spike in interest. It seems that many people are not only curious about what foods a natural bodybuilder eats to maintain single digit body fat, but they also want to be taken by the hand and told exactly what foods to eat themselves while on fat-burning or muscle building programs. That’s why I decided to put together four separate “top 10″ lists of healthy foods that burn fat and build muscle.

Exact quantities and menus are not listed, just the individual foods, and of course my food intake does vary. I aim to get as many different varieties of fruits and vegetables as possible over the course of every week and there are a lot of substitutions made, so you are not seeing the full list of everything I eat, only what foods I eat most of the time.

I also want to point out that while I don’t believe that extreme low carbs are necessary or most effective when you look at the long term, research has shown that there are some definite advantages to a low to moderate carb and higher protein diet for fat loss purposes. These include reduced appetite, higher thermic effect of food and “automatic” calorie control.

Personally, I reduce my carb intake moderately and temporarily prior to bodybuilding competitions. Specifically, it’s the foods that are on the starchy carbs and grains list that go down during the brief pre-competition period when I’m working on that really “ripped” look. I keep the green and fibrous veggie intake very high however, along with large amounts of lean protein, small amounts of fruit, and adequate amounts of essential fats.

This list reflects my personal preferences, so this is not a prescription to all readers to eat as I do. It’s very important for compliance to choose foods you enjoy and to have the option for a wide variety of choices. In the past several years, nutrition and obesity research – in studying ALL types of diets – has continued to conclude that almost any hypocaloric diet that is not completely “moronic” can work, at least in the short term.

It’s not so much about the high carb – low carb argument or any other debate as much as it is about calorie control and compliance. The trouble is, restricted diets and staying in a calorie deficit is difficult, so most people can’t stick with any program and they fall off the wagon, whichever wagon that may be.

I believe that a lot of our attention needs to shift away from pointless debates (for example, low carb vs. high carb is getting really old… so like… get over it everyone, its a calorie deficit that makes you lose weight, not the amount of carbs).

Instead, our focus should shift towards these questions:

How can we build an eating program that we can enjoy while still getting us leaner and healthier?
How can we build an eating program that helps us control calories?
How can we build an eating program that improves compliance?

Here’s one good answer: Eat a wide variety of high nutrient density, low calorie density foods that you enjoy which still fit within healthy, fat-burning, muscle-building guidelines!

Here are the lists of foods I choose to achieve these three outcomes. This eating plan is not difficult to stick with at all, by the way. I enjoy eating like this and it feels almost weird not to eat like this after doing it for so long.

Remember, habits work in both directions, and as motivational speaker Jim Rohn has said, “Bad habits are easy to form and hard to live with and good habits are hard to form but easy to live with.”

These are listed in the order I frequently consume them. So for example, if oatmeal is on the top of the list, it means that is the food I am most likely to eat every single day.

My 10 top natural starchy carb and whole grains

1. Oatmeal (old fashioned)
2. Yams
3. Brown rice (a favorite is basmati, a long grain aromatic rice)
4. Sweet potatoes (almost same as yams)
5. Multi grain hot cereal (mix or barley, oats, rye. titricale and a few others)
6. White potatoes
7. 100% whole wheat bread
8. 100% whole wheat pasta
9. Beans (great for healthy chili recipes)
10. Cream of rice hot cereal

My Top 10 top vegetables

1. Broccoli
2. Asparagus
3. Spinach
4. Salad greens
5. Tomatoes
6. Peppers (green, red or yellow)
7. Onions
8. Mushrooms
9. Cucumbers
10. Zucchini

My top 10 lean proteins

1. Egg whites (whole eggs in limited quantities)
2. Whey or Casein protein (protein powder supplements)
3. Chicken Breast
4. Salmon (wild Alaskan)
5. Turkey Breast
6. Top round steak (grass fed beef)
7. Flank Steak (grass fed beef)
8. Lean Ground Turkey
9. Bison/Buffalo
10. Trout

My top 10 fruits

1. Grapefruit
2. Apples
3. Blueberries
4. Canteloupe
5. Oranges
6. Bananas
7. Peaches
8. Grapes
9. Strawberries
10. Pineapple

Note: I DO include healthy fats as well, such as walnuts, almonds, extra virgin olive oil, flaxseeds, flaxseed oil (supplement – not to cook with), avocado and a few others.

Also, I do eat dairy products and have nothing against them, nor am I lactose intolerant. I simply don’t eat as much dairy as the rest of the stuff on my lists. When I eat dairy, its usually skim milk, low or non fat cottage cheese, low or non fat yogurt and low or non fat cheese (great for omelettes).

Last but not least, I usually follow a compliance rate of about 95%, which means I take two or three meals per week of whatever I want (stuff that is NOT on these lists – like pizza, sushi, big fatty restaurant steaks, etc)

I hope you found this helpful and interesting. Keep in mind, this is MY food list, and although you probably couldn’t go wrong to emulate it, you need to choose natural foods you enjoy in order to develop habits you can stick with long term. In the fruits and vegetables categories alone, there are hundreds of other choices out there, so enjoy them all!

About the Author:

Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilder, certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) and a certified personal trainer (CPT). Tom is the author of “Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using methods of the world’s best bodybuilders and fitness models.

Can you get Stronger in your Sleep? Why..yes you CAN!

Sian — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 15:16:10 +0000

Sipping some milk before turning in for the night may do more than ensure a good night’s sleep. According to new research from the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, consuming protein right before you go to bed may help your body better recover from a workout.

For the experiment, 16 participants followed a standardized diet for a full day. At 8:00pm, they completed a resistance-based exercise program followed immediately, at 9:00pm, by a snack containing 20g of protein and 60g of carbs. At 11:30pm, (30 minutes before the pre-determined bedtime) the participants were given one of two beverages; one contained 40 grams of casein protein (found in dairy products) while the other did not.

Researchers then collected blood samples intravenously throughout the night to monitor participants’ protein absorption and balance throughout the body.

Mixed muscle protein synthesis (muscle-construction) rates were roughly 22% higher in those who had the protein-packed beverage. This synthesis is crucial to the growth, repair and maintenance of our muscles, so it’s especially beneficial post-workout.

Try one of these healthy, late-night snack options 30 minutes before bed on days you work out:

1 cup skim milk (86 calories/8 grams protein)
1 cup nonfat cottage cheese (104 calories/15 grams protein)
6 oz non-fat Greek yogurt (100 calories/18 grams protein)
Two hard boiled eggs (150 calories/12 grams protein)
1/2 cup oatmeal with 1-cup skim milk (236 calories/13 grams protein)
2 tablespoons peanut butter (188 calories/8 grams protein)
23 almonds (162 calories/6 grams protein)

Source

Review: P90X2 Workout

Sian — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:48:18 +0000

To give you a sense of what you’re up against if you attempt to make it through P90X2, the sequel to the phenomenally popular P90X fitness program, here’s a sample exercise: the four medicine ball push-up. Yes, that means having a ball under each hand and foot. “It’s like doing push-ups during an earthquake,” says Tony Horton, the 53-year-old former stand-up comedian who created the original program eight years ago.

That 90-day, 12-DVD regimen has sold 3.5 million copies, spawned an astounding number of before and after photos, persuaded politicians from both sides of the aisle to sweat it out together at the House gym and become shorthand for “really hard workout.”

Now it’s time for an even harder workout. P90X2 (Beachbody, $139.80), which shipped just in time for the holidays, is designed for folks craving more “muscle confusion,” a phrase Horton coined to describe the mishmash of moves designed to keep viewers’ bodies guessing.

What’s new for version two is that the cardio’s gone, replaced with workouts emphasizing a combo of speed, power and balance. And there are plenty of exercises Horton expects no one to be able to pull off on the first attempt, including lever pull-ups (performed with your body parallel to the ground rather than perpendicular) and a push-up variation he’s dubbed “the impossible.” “If you’re not in shape, it’ll be like climbing Everest,” says Horton, who notes that P90X2 is five days a week rather than six because anyone slogging through it will need the extra recovery time.

If you’re wondering who would pay to subject themselves to such a thing, meet 49-year-old lobbyist Stephen Sayle. The Capitol Hill resident bought P90X in September after pledging “to be in better shape at 50 than at 40.” It’s the challenges posed by Horton’s program that seem to be making that goal a reality.

“You do so many lunges you think you’re going to die,” Sayle says. But after more than three months of lugging his DVD player to Results Gym almost every day to complete the workouts, he’s a believer — and eager to take it to the next level.

He’s a typical P90Xer, as are young moms and college students and former athletes. The program appeals to a wide swath of folks who want to be told what to do without having to think about it, have the ability to work out where they want and when they want and know that they’re guaranteed to see results. Some also credit Horton’s goofy form of motivation that includes the occasional pterodactyl impression (although that’s not universally beloved).

But what really seems to set P90X apart from other DVDs on the market is that these workouts aren’t merely a way to lose weight or get healthier. They’re a kind of dare. Anyone can exercise, but it takes a certain level of persistence to keep up with such a demanding program day after day.

What worries Ed Ingebretsen, director of training at Results Gym, is that Horton’s encouragement to “Bring it!” can push people beyond what’s safe. “If you want intensity, jump out of a plane. Intensity doesn’t mean fitness,” he says. “Guys especially can blunder through something, and it can trash your body.” (Sayle admits that he developed tennis elbow from the huge number of reps of push-ups and pull-ups.)

Horton tries to temper overzealousness with his other motto, “Do your best and forget the rest.” He makes it clear there’s no shame in choosing one of the simpler modifications he offers of every exercise, or hitting the pause button while you figure out a move. And if something is deemed too risky, it’s cut from the DVDs. For instance, P90X2 viewers won’t see the four-ball pike press, a variation on the four-ball push-up that’s done in downward-facing dog position. It’s great for your delts, but not for your skull if you manage to smash your head into the ground.

The earliest clue of whether P90X2 is striking the same chord as the original will come in about three months, when the earliest adopters complete their initial pass through the program. They’ll be the first people to ever attempt it. For P90X, Horton worked with a test group for 90 days. For P90X2, he couldn’t be in any one place for that long and still manage a packed schedule that included traveling overseas to exercise with troops and writing his second book (“Crush It”).

If these people emerge buff rather than broken, it may not be long until we start seeing infomercials for P90X3.

More online Follow @postmisfits on Twitter, and read more fitness coverage at washingtonpost.com/wellness.

The Best of Girl Get Strong for 2011

Sian — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 15:45:10 +0000

Where did the year 2011 go? I’m sure we are all feeling this way. I hope your year was full of great health and happiness. Here are the top posts from 2011 and some of my favorite motivational quotes to bring you into 2012.

7 Detox Smoothies With Added Health Benefits

Magic foods that reduce bloat
The Secret to Using Mantras for Motivation
The Best Ankle Weights Workout
From Jody from Truth2BeingFit.com

Victoria Secret Model Candice Loses her Job for Being Too Thin
The 17 Day Diet Review
Champion Toning Shoes Review
Review: Tracy Anderson’s 30 Day Method
Have a Safe and Happy New Year and here is to 2012 of Health and Fitness from the GGS Crew!
Visit us on Pinterest for some healthy inspiration! Our virtual vision boards are jam-packed with thing we love including recipes, workouts, fitness reviews plus so much more.

Top 10 Things That Get Me Moving

Crazy Legs — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:30:39 +0000

~Abby, Fitsmi

In general, I really like to exercise. Or, let me amend that: I really like having exercised. I like knowing there’s a diet coke with my name on it at the end of a long, sweaty bike ride. I like knowing I’ve done something good for myself.

This is not to say that I’m a pillar of exercise excellence. There are days—many, in fact—when I’d rather, oh, scrub my toilet than hit the gym. On those days, it takes everything in my power to get off my ass and actually moving. But nine times out of ten I actually succeed.

1. I want to get in shape! And exercise is the best way to do it.
2. I feel great–physically and psychically–after I’ve worked out.
3. Muscles are sexy.
4. There are REALLY hot guys at my gym.
5. I pay good money to belong to the gym; how can I just let it sit there, un-used?
6. My iPod likes to sweat, too.
7. I really dig the way my muscles feel—and look!—after I spin, kickbox, swim, or run on the treadmill.
8. I love food! And what’s the best way to eat and not gain weight? Yep, you guessed it.
9. I have awesome workout clothes and it seems un-American not to wear them.
10. Did I say there are really hot guys at my gym?

Visit Fitsmi

What are yours?