Category Archives: Weight Loss
10 things to avoid
Be Realistic with Fitness
The desire to lose weight, look better and get fit, can grip men in frenzy of activity. Paying out for expensive equipment only to watch it gather dust because motivation has slipped is all too familiar. To avoid expensive failures don’t set high targets and make grand plans.
Wrap fitness into your routines
Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Where possible walk to pass on a message rather than sending an email. Reconsider labor-saving devices and go for manual instead of automated.
Buy a Pedometer
You don’t need to broadcast the fact that your fitness program has begun but you might consider buying a pedometer as a simple investment. Depending on the type you opt for this can provide you with feedback as to how much you are moving and even give a rudimentary idea of how many calories you are using up.
Involve others in your fitness plan
You may not be in a position to involve others but motivation is helped if you are part of a group or team. In a family setting, for example, you might want to consider buying everyone a pedometer.
Get Twitchy!
How do you sit? If you’re someone who sits down and goes completely still for hours on end you are in self-defeating mode. People who sit and do hobbies burn up more energy (even modest amounts) than someone who does nothing. Even consciously moving your legs around or bouncing about to music is better than doing absolutely nothing.
Take an action audit
Many people have unrealistic beliefs about how much they really move around. Take a record of your activity levels over a week (be honest or what’s the point) and you might surprise yourself.
Increase activity levels
You could sit around for all your lunch break or you could move around. Feelings of fatigue are often the reasons why men don’t move around yet inactivity is the worst culprit for making you feel like doing even less. It may take a little effort to begin with but all you need to do is start.
Link activity to something you Like
Inactive people often find formal exercise boring and without much purpose. Break into this by linking movement with a positive outcome. I like getting home after a day at work so I might sometimes walk; I don’t do it all the time but its one of my options. I like a newspaper so instead of having it delivered I go out and get it.
Take a break
By this I mean an activity break. It can be a great way of trying out new ideas and can help kick-start fitness or just revitalize you.
Put that burger down!
Don’t use increased activity as an excuse to top up on sweet stuff or fast-foods. You won’t fade away as a result of increased movement but you may find that your system responds to increased exercise. Feeling that your appetite is increasing is a positive outcome and you should respond by eating what your body (not your head) is looking for. Drink water or fruit juice rather than more coffee or fizzy drinks, take more fruit and vegetables on board, experiment with good foods you may have previously overlooked or never even thought about. It’s not hard or complex and it will support all your other efforts.
Until next time,
Brandon Jenkins
Born Again Fitness
78 Reasons to Avoid “White Death.”
2. Sugar can upset the body’s mineral balance.
3. Sugar can cause hyperactivity, anxiety, concentration difficulties, and crankiness in children.
4. Sugar can drowsiness and decreased activity in children.
5. Sugar can adversely affect children’s school grades.
6. Sugar can produce a significant rise in triglycerides.
7. Sugar contributes to a weakened defense against bacterial infection.
8. Sugar can cause kidney damage.
9. Sugar can reduce helpful high density cholesterol.
10. Sugar can promote an elevation of harmful cholesterol.
11. Sugar may lead to chromium deficiency.
12. Sugar may cause copper deficiency.
13. Sugar interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium.
14. Sugar may lead to cancer of the breast, ovaries, prostate, and rectum.
15. Sugar can cause colon cancer with an increased risk in women.
16. Sugar can be a risk factor in gall bladder cancer.
17. Sugar can increase fasting levels of blood glucose.
18. Sugar can weaken eyesight.
19. Sugar raises the level of a neurotransmitter called serotonin, which can narrow blood vessels.
20. Sugar can cause hypoglycemia.
21. Sugar can produce acidic stomach.
22. Sugar can raise adrenaline levels in children.
23. Sugar can increase the risk of coronary heart disease.
24. Sugar can speed the aging process, causing wrinkles and gray hair.
25. Sugar can lead to alcoholism.
26. Sugar can produce tooth decay.
27. Sugar can contribute to weight gain and obesity.
28. High intake of sugar increases the risk of Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis.
29. Sugar can case a raw, inflamed intestinal tract in person with gastric or duodenal ulcers.
30. Sugar can cause arthritis.
31. Sugar can cause asthma.
32. Sugar can cause candidiasis (yeast infection).
33. Sugar can lead to the formation of gallstones.
34. Sugar can lead to the formation of kidney stones.
35. Sugar can cause ischemic heart disease.
36. Sugar can cause appendicitis.
37. Sugar can exacerbate the symptoms of multiple sclerosis.
38. Sugar can indirectly cause hemorrhoids.
39. Sugar can cause varicose veins.
40. Sugar can elevate glucose and insulin responses in oral contraception users.
41. Sugar can lead to periodontal disease.
42. Sugar can contribute to osteoporosis.
43. Sugar contributes to saliva acidity.
44. Sugar can cause a decrease in insulin sensitivity.
45. Sugar leads to a decreased glucose tolerance.
46. Sugar can decrease growth hormone.
47. Sugar can increase total cholesterol.
48. Sugar can increase systolic blood pressure.
49. Sugar can change the structure of protein causing interference with protein absorption.
50. Sugar causes food allergies.
51. Sugar can contribute to diabetes.
52. Sugar can cause toxemia during pregnancy.
53. Sugar can contribute to eczema in children.
54. Sugar can cause cardiovascular disease.
55. Sugar can impair the structure of DNA.
56. Sugar can cause cataracts.
57. Sugar can cause emphysema.
58. Sugar can cause atherosclerosis.
59. Sugar can cause free radical formation in the bloodstream.
60. Sugar lowers the enzymes’ abilities to function.
61. Sugar can cause the loss of tissue elasticity and function.
62. Sugar can cause liver cells to divide, increasing the size of the liver.
63. Sugar can increase the amount of fat in the liver.
64. Sugar can increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in the kidney.
65. Sugar can overstress the pancreas, causing damage.
66. Sugar can increase the body’s fluid retention.
67. Sugar can cause constipation.
68. Sugar can cause myopia (nearsightedness).
69. Sugar can compromise the lining of the capillaries.
70. Sugar can cause hypertension.
71. Sugar can cause headaches, including migraines.
72. Sugar can cause an increase in delta, alpha, and theta brain waves, which can alter the mind’s ability to think clearly.
73. Sugar can cause depression.
74. Sugar can increase insulin responses in those consuming high-sugar diets compared to low-sugar diets.
75. Sugar increases bacterial fermentation in the colon.
76. Sugar can cause hormonal imbalance.
77. Sugar can increase blood platelet adhesiveness, which increases risk of blood clots.
78. Sugar can increase the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Until next time, keep moving and stay positive.
Will fruit make you fat?
Learn the truth about fruit…is it the diabolical diet-killer it’s
sometimes made out to be or is it just fruit
and actually pretty good for you?!
The answer to the question of whether fruit can or will make you fat isn’t as simple as yes OR no…because the answer is yes AND no.
Sound confusing? It’s not so bad!
There have been studies done on fruit sugar (fructose) and how it’s metabolized in the body and liver, which I’ll get into in a bit, but I’m also going to talk about fruit from a practical standpoint.
First, here is why it WON’T make you fat…
Fruit is a fat-free (with rare exception, like avocados) and fairly low-calorie, high-fiber food. It’s going to be hard to eat ENOUGH fruit to result in an excess of calories, resulting in noticeable fat gain…hard, but not impossible.
You would have to look long and hard to find somebody who ate a lot of fruit and had gained a lot of fat because of all the fruit they ate. Fruit roll-ups, fruit juice (with 10% real juice), Fruity Pebbles and Froot Loops…maybe not so hard, though I do have to say high fructose corn syrup is NOT a fruit just because it has the word “fructose” in it, so that doesn’t count.
And I don’t know about you, but I have yet to hear of somebody sitting down in front of the television and not realizing they ate an entire bag of apples or saying their doctor told them they need to lay off the bananas!
“Real” fruit actually contains a lot of water, nutrients, fiber, etc…healthy stuff…stuff your body NEEDS. It’s generally when we start mucking around with fruit that we start to run into problems.
In the words of Homer Simpson…”This jelly donut has purple stuff in it. Purple is a fruit.”
That being said, there ARE metabolic issues with fruit and fat.
Yes, it IS true that the body has certain limitations processing fructose (the type of sugar found in fruit).
Fructose can only be stored as glycogen (glycogen is the carbohydrate storage molecule in the body) in the liver, not in the muscles. Muscle cells lack the proper enzymes to convert fructose into this storage molecule.
So that leaves the liver for storage…
When liver glycogen levels are full and your body can’t store any more carbs in the liver, fructose IS easier for the body to convert into fat than other carbs because of its molecular structure.
This fat is NOT immediately converted into bodyfat, however. It becomes free fatty acids circulating in the bloodstream. If they’re not burned, they CAN be stored as bodyfat.
But the OTHER good stuff you find in fruit, notably the fiber and vitamins and minerals, outweigh the “dangers” of storing a little extra fat.
And here’s the point that a lot of people miss, especially when they hear that fruit has the potential to work against fat loss when on a diet…
If you’re dieting, you should be in a caloric deficit. This means that your liver glycogen levels should very RARELY be full. You’re in a deficit after all!
Therefore…
1. The fructose should have little chance of being converted into fat.
2. If some excess fructose IS converted to fat, chances are good it’ll be USED by the body soon after being converted to fat because you’re in a caloric deficit.
Granted, just like ANY other carbohydrate, if you eat too much of it, it can be stored as fat. If you’re a competitive bodybuilder peaking for a competition, you MAY have to watch your fruit intake to be sure you come in at your leanest.
But for the average person looking to drop body fat, fruit is not something I would be too worried about (unless you’re on a low-carb diet, in which case you’re watching ALL carbs anyway).
I would be FAR more concerned about a person drinking too much of that diet soda garbage while dieting before I’d even be slightly concerned about them eating an apple.
Bottom line, my stance is this…DO NOT feel guilty about eating fruit, even while dieting. Treat it as you would any other food with calories in it and simply be aware of your intake because ANY food has the potential to make you fat, especially if you eat it when your body doesn’t need any more calories for that day.
If you want to minimize the impact of fruit on your fat-loss diet, eat it in the morning when liver glycogen levels are naturally at their lowest point. This will help ensure fructose won’t be converted into fat.
Honestly, there are MUCH more important things to worry about when it comes to fat loss…your training and overall nutrition are much more important than worrying about eating too much fruit.
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Born Again Fitness Personal Training & Nutrition 