3 Foods You NEED To Eat Weekly

Hey there.  I wanted to put a quick blog post up to hopefully help you with your nutrition program.  I do my best to say nutrition program, since the word diet has such a bad connotation.  A healthy nutrition plan is something that we should be doing 90% of the time.  A diet is a quick fix you use to try and drop some weight fast.  The problem with diets, as I'm sure you already know, is that the weight that came off so fast has probably crept right back on. 

I'm currently reading a nutrition book that is really changing my philosophy on nutrition.  As soon as I finish I plan to revise my current nutrition program I do for my clients based on this book.  I will post my ideas once I finish.  The main concept though is to concentrate on foods that you need to eat daily or weekly instead of focusing on which foods you can't eat. 

So think of this post as a sneak peak.  Here are three superfoods you want to be eating each week:

1.  Beans

Beans can be used in a variety of ways to spice up your meals.  An easy way to increase your bean consumption by substituting you common carbs for beans.  So instead of rice, pasta, or bread as a side try using different types of beans.  Beans are a source of low fat protein.  When meat consumption increases so does fat.  Bean can be used as a protein source instead of meats.  Beans are a good source of vitamins, especially, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, and folacin.  Some studies even showed that increased bean consumption significantly lowered the risk of death from heart disease.  They also balance your blood sugar levels and have high fiber.  There is even promising evidence that they may help prevent pancreatic cancer and cancer of the colon.  And for weight loss, they can fill you up, which can help you consume less.

Try and eat a serving a beans at least 4 times per week.

2.  Blueberries

This is a personal favorite of mine.  My top ways to use blueberries are in greek yogurt, in smoothies, and in oatmeal.  Blueberries contain more disease fighting antioxidants than just about any other fruit or veggie.  One study in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that eating 1 cup of blueberries a day resulted in higher levels of anti-oxidants in their blood.  This plays a role in preventing cardiovascular disease, diabetes, senility, cancer, and degenerative eye disease.  They have even been shown to lower the risk of breast cancer and reduce the effects of age related disease, like Alzheimer's. 

Try and eat a serving of blueberries daily.

3.  Broccoli

I know broccoli may not be a tasty as blueberries but its one of the best superfoods out there.  Broccoli may be a most powerful dietary weapon against cancer and it can help boost the immune system.  It is one of the most nutrient dense foods with an incredibly low calorie cost.  Try and consume it both raw and cooked.  The raw form has more vitamin C while cooking them makes the carotenoids more bioavailable.  Broccoli increase the enzymes in our body that kill abnormal cells and helps the body limit oxidation.  Broccoli sprouts might be even more powerful.  Researchers estimate sprouts provide ten to one hundred times the power to neutralize carcinogens.

Try to eat a serving daily.

That's it for now.  I promise to include more superfoods for you to include each week in your nutrition program.  Definitely start with these power packed foods. 

You Stay Healthy San Diego,

Mike Deibler
San Diego Premier Training
My Workout Creator

Fat That Will Reduce Your Risk of Heart Attacks

You probably have heard that Rosie O'Donnell has recently suffered from a heart attack.  Like many other women who suffer from a heart attack, she never called 911.  She thought she had a sore muscle and took some aspirin.  The next day she saw her doctor to discover it was actually a heart attack.

There are many things you can do to reduce your risk of suffering from a heart attack.  Two of the most important things you can do are regular exercise and a well balanced diet.  Speaking of diets, many of us are scared to eat too much fat.   But fat can actually reduce your risk of a heart attack.

Research is showing that a diet higher in Omega 3's can decrease the risk of heart disease while a diet high in Omega 6's lead to increase risk of heart disease. 

Over the last century or so the American Diet has changed dramatically for the worse.  Two types of fats we consume, that you may have heard of, are Omega 3 and Omega 6 Fatty Acids.  Our ancient ancestors probably had a ratio of 1:1 omega 3:omega 6.  Today we are seeing about a 1:10 ratio.  This incredibly unbalance diet filled with processed foods containing corn and soybean oil are resulting in disease, inflammation, and heart attacks.  This type of diet is literally killing us off.  It is our goal to get our diet closer to that one to one ratio which is harder than you think.  Omega 6 Fatty Acids are found every where.

Here are the foods to limit in your diet that are high in Omega 6's:

• Safflower Oil
• Corn Oil
• Soybean Oil
• Mayonaise
• Margarine
• Peanut Oil
• Potato Chips
• Microwave Popcorn
• Granola Bars
• Or anything fried, from a fast food restaurant, or prepared using any of the above

Here are foods you want to include everyday in your diet high in Omega 3's.

• Grassfed Beef
• Omega 3 enriched eggs
• Edemame
• Wild Rice
• Flax
• Beans
• Fish (Salmon, Anchovies...)

Just start looking at some of the ingredients in your most common foods.  If you see corn or soybean oil you might want to try something else.

You Stay Healthy San Diego,

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS
San Diego Premier Training
My Workout Creator

How To Look Like An Olympian

If you are like me at all, you have been stuck to the TV the last few weeks watching the Summer Olympics.  I always get a little bummed when the games first start since I never was able to quite make it to the Olympics for the high jump, but I get over it pretty quick once the games get going.

It is amazing how inspiring it can be just watching how hard these athletes have worked to get where they are.  Its pretty funny how motivated I get watching each sport.  All of a sudden I need to get in the pool and swim, get out to the track and run, or out to the beach for some beach volleyball.

Another thing you can always see at the Olympics is amazing physiques.  Athletes just have some of the best bodies out there.  The funny thing is they don't train to look good.  They train to improve performance.  Their defined body is just the side effect.  Two of the best events for seeing amazing physiques is gymnastics and track and field.  For track this includes most events except for distance events and throwers.  Not to put these athletes down, but they usually do not have the ideal body shapes that most people are looking for.

Jessica Ennis Gets A Gold Medal For Abs

I mentioned before these athletes are not training to look better.  They just eat very healthy and practice to get better at their sport.  I saw an interview with Jessica Ennis, the gold medalist in the Heptathlon, who you will notice has an incredible six pack.  She was asked about her training and she said that she doesn't really do any direct training for her abs like crunches and sit ups.  She contributes it to her endurance training, weight training, and sport specific training.

This just reinforces that fact that if you want a six pack do not worry about what the best ab exercises are.  Instead focus on the big picture.  Train to improve health, build muscle, and burn fat in general.  By performing the right types of exercise you have a much better shot at that amazing stomach.  So if you want a better body stop training like everyone else and start training like an athlete.

Here are 4 styles of training you MUST perform to see real changes:

1.  Olympic Lifting:

Olympic lifting may sounds scary, but with a little practice you can master the technique and really start seeing some great results.  Olympic lifts are power movements that encompass total body explosive power.  These are some of the best calorie burning, hormone releasing exercises.  Make sure you get the techniques down first before really pushing the intensity here.  You can use Barbells, KB's, and DB's for these exercises.  You might want to work with a coach to perfect these moves first.  Below are some examples:

Barbell Jerk:

 

Kettlebell Snatch:

Barbell Power Clean:

2.  Sprinting

There is no arguing that sprinters are just unbelievably defined.  You can see just about every muscle in their body.  Sprinters have some of the best physiques in athletics so there must be something to sprinting and looking good.  There are studies that actually show that sprinting or anaerobic exercise leads to increased metabolic activity and increased anabolic hormone levels such as Growth Hormone.

The more metabolic disturbance you can create, the more fat you will burn during and post workout.  The higher of an anabolic response you can get the more muscle tissue will build.  This is the key to a more toned body.  Increase exercises that burn fat and increase muscle mass so you can see the muscle better.  And as always do not worry about bulking up for women.  You will not be able to increase anabolic hormones enough to build that much muscle.  

3.  Interval Training

I've blogged about this in the past a number of times so I'm not really going to go into this point too much.  Here is one older post if you want to read it:  http://premiertraining.blogspot.com/2010/06/burn-5-times-more-fat.html.  Just know that study after study is showing that high intensity interval training will outperform slower more traditional cardio any day.  That doesn't mean you have to get rid of your slower cardio, just add HIIT into the picture more often. 

4.  Compound Exercise

There should be a recurring theme here.  If you choose an exercise technique that can increase fat burning by causing more metabolic disturbances and at the same time build muscle by increase anabolic hormone release you will see great results.  If you choose two exercise techniques that do this you see even better results, and so on.  Compound exercise means you are getting away for single joint isolated exercises and incorporating multi-joint, total body exercises.  For example a squat with an overhead press is a compound exercise vs a leg extension is a single joint, isolated exercise.  If you just look at the two exercises it is pretty clear which one will be tougher and more effective.   So when you select what exercises you are performing look at how many different muscles are working at one time.  If you can name 2 or more you are in good shape.

So try considering these four elements to your fitness program.  Some may be very challenging at first.  Do not worry about intensity initially.  For example, for the olympic lifts you may want to practice with a broom stick for a while to get the technique down before you add weight.

You Stay Healthy San Diego,

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS
San Diego Premier Training

What's Your Excuse

A new poll in Shop Smart magazine polled 1,000 women, asking what the main reason why they didn't eat healthy.  I thought it would be a good idea to look at the most common excuses why people do not eat healthier and see if we can find solutions or at least persuade you to start changing some of your habits. 

Here were some of the top answers:

57% Eating healthy foods is too expensive.
47% Social settings are too tempting
395% Life is too short; I want to enjoy what I eat
25% My family prefers less healthy meals

Let's take these one by one and see if we can help you out. 

Eating healthy foods is too expensive:

Yes healthier foods are typically more expensive.  Organic foods will usually cost much more than non organic, grass fed beef will be more expensive than corn fed, free range chicken is more expensive, and organic milk is way more expensive.  It is not necessary to buy all organic foods if it is going to break your budget.  Regular beef and chicken you find at the grocery store are still going to be better quality than In and Out or Jack n the Box. 

For fruits and veggies if you can just buy organic for the foods that are highest in pesticides.  Check out the list below for foods you might want to buy organic:

The Dirty Dozen:
1. Peaches
2. Apples
3. Sweet Bell Peppers
4. Celery
5. Nectarines
6. Strawberries
7. Cherries
8. Pears
9. Grapes
10. Spinach
11. Lettuce
12. Potatoes

Depending on your current eating habits, eating healthy may actually be cheaper.  I have had clients tell me how much money they were saving by eating better.  If you eat out for lunch often, go to Starbucks everyday, or eat more on the go you probably are spending a lot more than you think.  Try preparing your own lunch or giving up Starbucks for a while and see how much you maybe able to save.

The bottom line is the majority of your diet if you are eating healthy is primarily plant based and vegetables really are not that expensive.

Social Settings Are Too Tempting:

This is a tough one.  I've been there.  You meet up with friends and everyone is drinking eating and having a good time.  My biggest suggestions here are to let your friends know what you are doing and bring your own foods when you can.  If others know you are trying to loose weight and eat healthier they will more than likely be supportive.  If they are not you might want to avoid people that are sabotaging you.  Or you can just bring your own dishes.  If you know there is going to be foods that you probably shouldn't be eating you can bring a salad or other dish that you can have as well as others who may be in the same boat as you. 

Life is too short; I want to enjoy what I eat:

Well depending how much you enjoy that food life may be even shorter for you.  Eating foods high in trans fat and high in Omega 6 fats will lead to heart issues, fatty livers, and internal inflammation.  What you put in your body will put a toll on it.  Those that eat bad food are usually the ones who die early or live less quality years. 

That being said, you can still enjoy all kinds of foods.  I would be lying if I said I never drank alcohol, french fries, hot dogs, pizza, ice cream....I better stop before I get hungry.  The key is to have cheat meals throughout the week so you are not as tempted as much.  Have 1-2 cheat meals then get right back on your normal routine.  If you can eat healthy 80% of the time you are in pretty good shape.  If there are 21 meals per week then try eating very healthy for 17 of them.  That would be 80% of your weekly meals so you can still enjoy some of the foods you currently eat. 

My family prefers less healthy meals:

Again this can be a tough one.  Just as in social situations make sure you family knows you are trying to eat better because you are concerned with your health and theirs.  You are looking out for their best interest so they will need to start eating healthy as well. 

Tough love might be appropriate too.  If you are the one preparing the meals then they will eat what you put in front of them.  If they aren't happy with it they can start learning how to cook for themselves.  It may sound mean but you want your family eating healthy, not just you. 

If you have kids than this is even more important.  Childhood obesity is a growing problem and as parents it is your responsibility to teach them proper eating habits.  Teach them that they need to have fruits and vegetables in every meal and fast food or pizza is a treat not an everyday meal. 

So hopefully we have helped out with some of your excuses for not eating healthy.  If you still have excuses let me know and we can see if we can get past them. 

You Stay Healthy San Diego,

Mike Deibler MS, CSCs
San Diego Premier Training

The Truth About Artificial Sweeteners

You have probably heard a lot about natural and artificial sweeteners.  With Americans getting fatter and fatter we tried to get sugar out of our diets in hopes that we could lose some weight.  Diet sodas and snacks were popping up everywhere.  It seemed like a good plan.  Reduce sugar, reduce calories and you will reduce your body weight.  But are these so called "healthy" sweeteners really helping us lose weight and are they even healthy for us?

First let's look at a few of the more common sweeteners:

1.  Aspartame (NutraSweet)

This is one of the most study sweeteners on the market.  It seems relatively safe to consume in moderate quantities, although those who suffer from  phenylketonuria (PKU), due to one poduct released during its breakdown should not consume it.  Aspartame is about 200 times sweeter than table sugar.  It also is the closest tasting approved artificial sweetener to sugar.  It is often combined with Acesulfame potassium, another artificial sweetener, for a taste even closer to sugar.  It was discovered by accident when a chemist was working on an anti-ulcer substance and licked his fingers.  Upon digestion it is broken down eventually into formaldehyde and formic acid.   And by the way, both of these can be toxic to humans. 

2.  Saccharin (Sweet-n-Low)

This was the first artificial sweetener on to hit the market.  It has zero calories and is hundreds of times sweeter than sugar.  Along with no calories it has no nutritional value.  You may even notice a bitter, metallic aftertaste.  Saccharin cannot be digested by the body but it can stimulate an insulin response, just like sugar does.  It is interesting to learn how saccharin was discovered.  In 1878 Constantin Fahlberg, a chemist working on coal tar derivatives, noticed his fingers tasted sweet.  He in no way was looking to create an artificial sweetener.  Coal tar derivative?  No thanks, I will take the extra calories with natural sugar instead.  Saccharin is also believed to cause cancer in rodents.

3.  Sucralose (Splenda)

Another artificial sweetener that cannot be absorbed by the body, hence it is zero calories.  It is approximately 600 times sweeter than sugar.  Sucralose can be found in more than 4,500 food and beverage products. It is used because it is a no-calorie sweetener, and does not promote dental cavities, is safe for consumption by diabetics, and does not affect insulin levels.  As in the previous two, it was discovered by accident when chemist were searching for ways to use sucrose as a chemical intermediate in non-traditional areas.  This new use was a type of pesticide.  While testing a chlorinated sugar compound one of the researchers tasted the substance and noticed it was particularly sweet.  Manufacturers of splenda actually add chlorine to it.  

Now that we learned a little about these sweeteners, we can have a better understanding of why we may or may not want to consume these.  Considering they were all discovered on accident by chemists it may raise some red flags.

It is also to look at some studies to see what the research has to say about artificial sweeteners.  There is an overwhelming amount of research out on the topic and unfortunately you will find conflicting information.  Here are a few studies I thought were worth noting however.

The first study from 2010 looked at aspartame, sucrose (table sugar), and stevia to compare the different effects on appetite, insulin response, energy intake, and glucose levels.  The study found that hunger levels were the same for all sweeteners used.  However their was less calories consumed when aspertame was used and even less calories when stevia was used.  Stevis also resulted in the lower insulin responses after consumption than their others and lower glucose levels.  So according to this study the natural sweetener of stevia may be the best choice.  

Another study observed a over 78,000 women for one year who used artificial sweeteners.  Their findings were that artificial sweetener use increased with relative weight and decreased with age.  These women were significantly more likely to gain weight than non users.  Their conclusion was that long-term artificial sweetener use neither helps weight loss or prevents weight gain.

So our "diet" foods and drinks may not actually help us diet at all.  Now this doesn't mean you can't lose weight consuming foods/beverages with artificial sweeteners.  There are a number of studies that show artificial sweeteners combined with a hypo caloric diet result in weight lose.  For these studies they make sure participants are not eating too much so they will lose weight.

But it is no guarantee that you will lose weight by switching sugar for artificial sweeteners.  The reasoning may not be so simple to explain, but it may be a neurological response from the body causing us to eat more when we consume artificial sweeteners.  When we consume foods, especially those with sugar, it activates the reward pathway in the brain.  We feel satisfied that we consumed the sugar and feel better.  Now over time, I have written before, this can be a problem.  Just like a drug we because less sensitive and need more sugar for the same pleasure response.  However, when you have sweetness without caloric content it offers partial activation of the food reward pathway.  This may lead to actual increase appetite.  Our body thinks we are getting sugar but with no nutritional value our brain will send the signal to get more sugar to satisfy us.

Also, artificial sweeteners, since they are sweet, encourage sugar craving and sugar dependence.  Repeating exposure to certain foods trains flavor preference.  So with a lot of artificial consumption, even though there are not calories, it will make you crave more sugar type foods, which leads to overeating.

So my personal habit is to try and pick regular sugar over any artificial sweetener.  That might sounds crazy, but I'm not consuming many foods that are high in simple sugars (besides fruits) and I'm not trying to lose weight.  (I know you all love hearing that).  If you are trying to lose weight then your best bet might be to find foods with stevia as the sweetener or use it instead of using sugar or artificial sweeteners.  Even using raw honey would be beneficial.

Well there is my opinion on the topic.  Unfortunately it is extremely hard to find foods without artificial sweeteners in them.  So you best bet is to stick with real foods more and stay away from low sugar snacks.

You Stay Healthy San Diego,

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS
San Diego Premier Training
My Workout Creator

The HCG Diet

It seems like every day there is a new diet out that some celebrity is claiming they are losing tons of fat, all due to some miracle diet plan they follow.  It is getting pretty ridiculous, but deceptive ads are fooling people into believing there is a magic cure for removing unwanted fat.  I've had a few people ask me about this diet lately and if it was really a good way to drop weight fast.  Here are some of my thoughts on the HCG Diet.

First a little background on what HCG is.  Human Chorionic Gonadotropin is a hormone that is produced during pregnancy by the embryo after conception.  It is also produced by some cancerous tumors.  In fact this is one hormone that doctors will test for to see if a person has a cancerous tumor.  It is suggested that high levels of HCG can cause morning sickness.  Not only that, but those who inject it may also experience other signs of pregnancy like tender breasts, water retention, and swelling.

So the HCG diet began back in the 1950's when a doctor was study a group of pregnant women in India on a ultra low calorie diet and while studying overweight men with pituitary problems.  Despite claims made after years of research their hasn't been anyone able to duplicate the success seen in the 1950's.

For this diet you either take injections of HCG or drops coupled with a 500 calorie a day diet.  The claims are that the injections will reduce hunger, preserve lean tissue, and "reset" your metabolism so you continue to lose weight after you take it.

The funny thing is, even the FDA, is calling B.S.  HCG is approved by the FDA for infertility purposes.  However, they have said it is illegal and fraudulent to sell it for weight loss purposes.  There is just no scientific evidence that it is safe or effective.  The HCG label actually states, there “is no substantial evidence that it increases weight-loss beyond that resulting from caloric restriction, that it causes a more attractive or ‘normal’ distribution of fat, or that it decreases the hunger and discomfort associated with calorie-restricted diets.”  Despite this doctors can still write prescriptions for it.

Side effects from taking HCG include headaches, blood clots, leg cramps, temporary hair thinning, constipation, and breast tenderness.  However, it has not been studied very much in this circumstance for side effects.  Researchers had determined it was not effective, so they saw no need to continue studying it for side effects when used for weight loss.

Hopefully after reading this you can see what my suggestion is for this diet.  There is just no need for this.  It is amazing that people will inject themselves with a hormone and go on a starvation diet to lose weight, instead of just exercising and eating more wholesome foods.  Once we see these claims for fast weight loss we tend to just stop thinking.  People who lose weight on this diet is because you are only eating 500 calories.  You are just starving yourself to lose weight.  Even if these injections helped with the hunger it just isn't worth it.  You will lose muscle mass and slow down your metabolism. 

Please, no matter how good it sounds, don't try this diet.  There is never going to be a magic diet that will get you looking like a supermodel.  Just continue to exercise intensely and more nutrient dense foods and you will be fine. 

So the short answer is yes you will lose weight fast on this diet, but how long will you keep this weight off since it is unrealistic to remain on a 500 calorie diet.

You Stay Healthy San Diego!

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS
San Diego Premier Training
My Workout Creator

5 Reasons You Should Try Yoga

I have to say I never really thought I would be writing a blog post about yoga.  I took a few classes when I was younger and just never really got into it.  I have always been more of a strength training type of guy and didn't really see the benefit of doing yoga.

When I was approached about offering a yoga class at the studio I knew it would be a good idea though.  Even though I wasn't into it I knew it is very popular and many of our clients would enjoy it.  So I figured I would give it another chance.  Courtney does an amazing job blending yoga and strength together.  As I write this now I can feel my sore shoulders from all the push up variations we did the other night.  Each week I can see dramatic differences in how strong I feel in each pose or flow and I notice a great increase in flexibility, which is really helping me with my strength exercises.

So being the nerd that I am I wanted to research yoga and see if it really is an important component to your fitness program.  After review a number of research articles I created a list of my top 5 reasons you should add Yoga to your routine. 

1.  Yoga training can help reduce muscle soreness after a strength workout

A study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that after a bout of eccentric training (workouts that cause muscle soreness the next day), a single bout of yoga significantly improve soreness the the next day.  While I know some people enjoy feeling muscle soreness the next day after a workout, some people do their best to avoid it.  If you want to reduce your muscle soreness try yoga out.  It may also be helpful for those who have a race or competition coming it.  It is important to continue to train but soreness can hinder performance. 

2. Yoga can improve posture

There are three main factors you want to consider when trying to improve posture and yoga addresses all of them.  First, you need chest opening stretches to release tight muscles such as the pectorals and lats.  Next you need core integration.  A strong core builds the foundation for solid posture.  And finally you need back strengthening exercises.  Yoga will help improve all three of these resulting in much better posture. 

3. Yoga reduces back pain

A study took a group of individuals who suffered from low back pain.  Some where the control group who did nothing and two other groups either took yoga classes or were given a yoga video to do on their own.  After 12 weeks the group who took the classes and those who followed the videos at home saw significant improvements with lower back pain compared to the control group. 

4. Yoga improves balance, flexibility, and muscular strength

Another study took a group of people who never performed yoga before.  They completed two sessions per week for 8 weeks and saw significant improvements in balance, flexibility, and upper and lower body muscular strength.  Another similar study found that yoga even helped improve muscular endurance.  Although there were no significant changes in body composition these were pretty amazing results.

5. Yoga can help with depression

While if you are suffering from serious depression you should be seeking help from a professional therapist, we all have suffered from times when we are feeling down.  A study was conducted with cancer survivors who complete 7 weeks of yoga training.  They found that after the 7 weeks those who did the yoga experienced positive changes in emotional function, reduced depression, and reduced mood disturbances.  One of the most beneficial aspects of yoga is its ability to help reduce stress.  If you are feeling run down, depressed, or just stressed out, give a yoga class a try and see how you feel after. 

Well, that's it for now.  I hope you consider trying yoga out.  And of course a shameless promotion, we are now offering Vinyasa Yoga at San Diego Premier Training every Tuesday at 6pm.  First class is free to try it out and see if you experience any of these benefits.  I am always there so see if you can keep up!

You Stay Healthy San Diego,

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS
San Diego Premier Training
My Workout Creator