Thursday, June 30, 2011

Paleo Low Carb Pizza

Yo!  I finally got it!  After many attempts at getting my low carb Paleo Pizza happening, tonight was 100% winner!  Here's the skinny.

  1. Brown 1 pound extra lean ground beef/turkey whatever.  (I used 85% cause I have it at the moment.)
  2. Mix browned beef with 1 cup shredded cheese.
  3. Spread beef mix on greased pizza pan.
  4. Bake at 400 until the beef firms up, add cheese and toppings, toss back in the oven for a few minutes for the cheese to melt. 
Easy and amazing.  This is my favorite meal yet.





Friday, June 10, 2011

If What You're Doing is Working - Ignore This

I'm not sure why so many people think "eating balanced" or "everything in moderation" makes so much sense. You wouldn't say that it's ok to just do a little cocaine right? Some junk is just junk and should be kept as low as possible. I think the great quote from Benjamin Franklin is "Keep all things in moderation, including moderation." There is a time for being hardcore, I believe.

Is the cocaine example too much? Alright - maybe. What about eating a moderate piece of fudge every day, and a moderate amount of pizza and McDonalds? I think we all know where that leads.

Some people think keeping fat low is the answer to weight loss - I tried that with mixed results. It did reduce my fat and left me fairly lean, but I couldn't stop binging on sugary/carb foods. The problem was I was trying to eat that junk in moderation. That's way harder for someone like me than just cutting the cord entirely.

It wasn't until I gave up having a few hundred grams of carbs/sugar (which are basically the same thing) a day, that my binges came under control and I finally could stay on track for long period of times.

Paleo lowish carb nutrition has worked for me for over a year now. It has been amazing. It's made eating out so easy, and less stressful, it's helped with keeping my body fat nice and low and has helped with my general energy levels. I no longer crash after a big carb meal, my energy is more of a baseline all day long. Sleep has improved and all my blood tests have come back with improved numbers.

I don't worry about calories at all - that's a tremendous relief. It caused a lot of unnecessary stress worrying that I'd be over calorie by the end of the day, under calorie, miss a 3 hour feeding window - whatever. Now, I eat 2-3 meals a day, until full, no worries.

Here's my simple rules:

Eat: Animals/Veggies

Don't Eat: everything else. (including wheat, rice, corn, anything out of a box, fruit, sugar)

wait.... fruit?

Yeah - here's the thing.

Fruit has some great stuff in it (although all that can be found in a healthy variety of veggies) but also a bunch of fructose. That's not so great. It's probably too long to post the whole thing, but can you just go with me that fructose won't help big weight loss. Once a client is close to their goal weight, some fruit probably won't hurt, but during the big weight loss portion, I recommend to stay away.

Can overeating protein/fat make you fat?

OF COURSE!

However, when is the last time you really binged hard on protein and fat? If you have - then by all means, ignore me. But if you're like me, I never binged on steak and chicken. It was always carbs/sugar. Ice Cream, Doughnuts, Cake, Pie, Chocolate, Chips - whatever. I have a long long long history of binging and not once crushed an animal in a 3 day mega binge.

I believe that for many of us who struggle with overeating and weight gain - carbs/sugar (love how that's one word?) are as much of an addiction as heroin or cocaine. In fact, it actually activates the same part of your brain - the reward center.

I wish that I could have just a bite of a doughnut and walk away, but I can't. That bite will lead to a whole pie, a pizza, a bag of doritos and all the rest. I've stayed lean for a couple years by completely eliminating all carbs except veggies from my life.

If what you do is working for you - then please, keep doing it. But if it's not - if you're struggling, try my way for a month. If you do it and it doesn't work - you may come to Pittsburgh and kick me in the shin.

Steve.

Resources:
www.Whole9Life.com
www.Marksdailyapple.com
www.RobbWolf.com
The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf
Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes
www.KnightFit.com - by me.

Monday, June 6, 2011

BodyBlitz Abs for Summer Workout

OK, I'm late getting this up, but here's the workout for tomorrow at the Greentree Sportsplex.  Bring your little bucket, cause it's going to be brutal (in a good way.... or something.)  This week is all about getting those abs showing for summer time.  Hitting the beach is going to feel a lot better after you sweat off all that Memorial Day junk with me.  6pm is the new time at the Plex.

I won't tell you the time or amount of repeats coming up, you'll have to drop by and check it out to find out.

A quick word about nutrition.  People have been trying to over-exercise and under-eat for many years now.  How's that working out?  We're fatter as a culture than ever and headed in the wrong direction.  It's not how much we're eating - it's WHAT we're eating.  I know, I'm probably beating a dead horse here, but listen, I did everything wrong when I was trying to lose my weight.  No one told me how really easy it is.  I ate a typical high-carb diet, 6 mini-meals a day, did tons of treadmill time and lost weight - yes, but I looked like a sick weakling.  It wasn't until I finally bought into the Paleo/Primal nutrition plan that I eat tons of healthy good food and am leaner than ever.

Eat: Meat/Veggies/Fish/Poultry/Eggs
Don't Eat: everything else.

Simple right?



Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Update: Time/Volume Training

I finished my first two workouts of this phase and as usual, made a few changes as I learned it.  First - 15 minutes of chin-ups, even in sets of 3 is way too long!  I failed pretty quickly.  I added in Reverse Back Rows alternating with chins after the first 5-6 minutes.  15 minutes of dips are incredibly tough.  I'm sitting here typing this through mind-numbing D.O.M.s in my chest right now - 3 days out from my chest workout.

Here's the change in plan:

I'm going to keep up the same split - same 15 minutes per body part, but pick a new exercise each workout to really target in different body parts.  Some days will be bodyweight, some will be lifting, all will be done on a 30 second interval timer.  This will allow about 8-10 seconds for a 3 rep set, then a 20 second rest.  The only thing this won't work for is the easier workouts - like diamond push-ups, pike press, etc.

This past week looks like this:

Sunday:
  • Dips
  • Barbell Shoulder Press
  • Bench Press
Tuesday:
  • Chin-Ups/Reverse Back Rows
  • Dumbbell Biceps Curls
  • Seated Leg Extension
Thursday and Friday - I'll pick new exercises that target the same body parts.  I'm really looking forward to being able to mix it up each workout.  Going on the road with this technique will be really great as well, as we can pick only bodyweight stuff or use weights if there is a gym there.

I'm continuing with the "no cardio" approach except for what I do while teaching my class.  As long as I can stay lean and keep building muscle, no need to crush myself with more cardio nonsense.