What Is A Healthy Meal?

I know the title of this post sounds silly.  We all know what healthy is right?  When you see a meal you will just know if it is healthy or not.  Ok you might not know every ingredient or how it was prepared, but you would think we could look at a meal and say this is healthy or this is not healthy.

The problem is depending on who you talk to, there are inconsistencies with what "healthy" is.  Let's look at my breakfast this morning.  I had 6 whole eggs, kale, mushrooms, tomatoes, cooked as a scramble with coconut oil.  I also had two pieces of whole wheat toast with a little butter and jelly.  This is actually what I ate.  Well, Davis had some too, but I ate most of it.  So is this a healthy meal?  Well if you talk to a vegan, then no this is not healthy.  If you talk to someone who is anti-gluten then again I'm eating an unhealthy meal.  How about the 6 whole eggs?  Many will say this is unhealthy too.  And butter?  What was I thinking?

So how do we tell if a meal is healthy?  This is harder than it sounds.  This is why nutrition is such a complex topic.  There are so many unknowns (even though most are convinced they know everything) so it is hard to make a healthy decision.  I have always been a middle of the road fitness coach.  Maybe I'm more boring, but until I'm definitely proven wrong I will be stubborn here.  You will love this next point.  There really are no bad or unhealthy foods.  The problem arises when we consume too much of certain foods.

I sent an article out in our newsletter a few weeks ago on detoxes and cleanses.  One point was made that if you consume enough bok choy it can be toxic.  Does that mean bok choy is unhealthy?  Of course not.  But if that was all you ate all day, then yes you will have problems.  Instead of thinking of good vs. bad or healthy vs unhealthy, think if you have meet your limit for certain foods.

Start with your macronutrients.  These are your fats, carbs, and proteins.  You may have to play around with this some depending on what your fitness goal is, but you should have an idea of what much of each you should be consuming.  For example, if you are trying to lose weight you may want to try eating 40% of your diet from carbs, 30% from protein, and 30% from fat.  Once you have gotten your macronutrient ratios correct, then you can look at micronutrients.  These are things like vitamins and minerals.  If you are following certain diets you may be deficient in certain micronutrients, and over consuming others.  Then you will want to focus on foods higher in the micronutrients you are missing.

And finally we want to see how you are feeling after consumption of certain foods.  If you ate the same breakfast I had this morning and felt great, then this may be a good breakfast choice for you.  If you felt terrible, then maybe there is something you should be avoiding like gluten or eggs.  But you can't say something is definitely healthy or unhealthy just by looking at the meal and nothing else.

Hopefully this changed your perspective a bit on how you eat.  Here is a "healthy" recipe that Emily and I came across.  See if it fits your healthy nutritional habits.

Sweet Potato, Black Bean, and Goat Cheese Quesadilla:

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 cup onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup salsa, your choice of heat
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 (19 ounce) can black beans, undrained
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, minced
4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
8 (8 inch) flour tortillas

Directions:
1
Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic, and saute for 3 minutes.
2
Stir in 1/2 cup salsa, cumin, and beans, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes or until thick.
3
Mash the bean mixture slightly with a potato masher.
4
Remove from heat; stir in the cilantro and goat cheese.
5
Spread the bean mixture evenly over 4 tortillas; top each with 1 tortilla, pressing gently.
6
Heat 1/4 teaspoon olive oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 quesadilla, and cook for 2 minutes on each side. Repeat the procedure with the remaining olive oil and quesadillas.
7
Cut each quesadilla into 6 wedges. Serve with fat-free sour cream and 1/2 cup salsa.


You Stay Healthy San Diego,

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS

San Diego Premier Training

Fix Knee Pain For Running, Probiotics, & Diet Deficiencies.

Sorry for the long title to this blog post.  Unfortunately I was very creative today while writing this.  But I did have a few random things I wanted to post for our readers.  I wasn't sure each one would be enough for a post of its own, but hopefully you can get some good information from these topics.

Quick Fix For Runners With Knee Pain:



First up is a simple fix for those who experience knee pain while running.  If you are a serious runner or recreational runner, there is a good chance that you have had knee problems at some point. You may even be still dealing with this problem.  Now this pain may be coming from a number of different issues from your sneakers, muscle imbalances, improper gait pattern, orthopedic issues, and many other possible causes.  If this pain has been chronic, I always recommend getting it checked out.  A medical professional will be much better at diagnosing your problem than a blog post can.

That being said it won't hurt to try this one simple thing.  Try increasing your step rate or step frequency.  A study from Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, showed that when step rate is increased in will decrease the forces placed on the knee.  There was also less forces placed on the muscles as well, which may reduce risk of injury to the muscles involved in running like the hamstrings, quads, and calves.  So if you are trying to run faster take shorter, quicker steps instead of longer ones.

Probiotics To Treat Fatty Liver Disease:

I'm sure you have heard at least a minimal amount of probiotics.  Probiotics are microorganisms that help improve the health of their host.  We essentially have good and bad bacteria in our digestive tract.  Probiotics help improve the balance of our intestinal micro flora. There are many potential benefits of taking probiotics including better weight management, improve immune function, relieving constipation, improving digestion, increasing nutrient absorption, and now helping with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.  I wrote a blog post in the past about this condition that increases your risk of obesity and type II diabetes.  You can read more about it here:  http://premiertraining.blogspot.com/2012/10/is-your-liver-making-you-fat.html.  To sum it up, our liver helps metabolize carbs, fats, and proteins.  When it gets overworked it will get backed up and develop fat deposits.  This will result in slowing down metabolism and reducing insulin sensitivity.

By increasing your probiotic consumption you may be able to help improve this.  There is promising evidence showing that taking probiotics through foods or supplements help with fatty liver disease, reducing the risk of metabolic syndrome, and increases insulin sensitivity.

You can get probiotics in fermented foods with live active cultures like yogurt, sauerkraut, and kefir.  If you don't like those types of foods you can also take a probiotic supplement.  Here is one that we recommend and take ourselves.

Is Your Diet Deficient?:

Often when we are trying to lose weight we get caught up in calories and nothing else seems to matter.  We may pay attention to macronutrients (fats, carbs, proteins), but is that enough?  We often forget about micronutrients and how they help our body function better.  Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals that we must have in order to live, workout, or do anything to our full potential.  When you are deficient in certain vitamins it will lead to a long list of health issues.

If you are currently on a diet or have dieted in the past, there is a pretty good chance that you are deficient somewhere.  Here are four popular diets and how they are deficient (courtesy of aarr):

1. The Mediterranean-type diet is 55% sufficient providing 100% of the recommended levels of 15 our of 27 essential micronutrients.
2. Low fat diets (DASH) was 51% sufficient providing 100% of the recommended levels of 14 out of the 27 essential micronutrients.
3. Low carb (Atkins) was 44% sufficient providing 100% of the recommended levels of 12 out of the 27 essential micronutrients.
4. Low carb (The South Beach Diet) was 22% sufficient providing 100% of the recommended levels of 6 our of the 27 essential micronutrients. 

So the best option was still barely half way to completely sufficient.  So using whole foods sources all four diet programs failed to get all proper levels of essential micronutrients.  Six micronutrients were consistently low or nonexistent in all four diets.  These included biotin, vitamin D, vitamin E, chromium, iodine, and molybdenum.  While you may lose weight on these popular diets, you might be damaging your health in the process.  

No diet will be able to hit 100% of all essential micronutrients without consuming a very high calorie number so vitamin and mineral supplementation may be a good option.  If you do not want to a multi-vitamin, then it is at least a good idea to take these six previously mentioned micronutrients that are lacking in most weight loss diets.  Or you can examine your current diet and find out where you are deficient.  This will take some time and effort though.  Here is a multivitamin that we current recommend and take ourselves.

Our Spartan Run

You may have heard of the obstacle course races out there that are becoming so popular.  I'm not much of a runner and really never plan on being one, but I don't mind doing the occasionally 5K/10K.  I have done a few obstacle courses in the past, but not since the birth of the Spartan Run, Tough Mudder, Warrior Dash, and other crazy races.

The opportunity came up to give the Spartan Run a try, so Emily and I decided to give it a shot.  I have to admit that I was not looking forward to this at all.  Partially due to that fact that I ran only 1 day to train for this race.  But also, I was not looking forward to getting dirty and muddy.  I guess I am just a pretty boy and don't want to get my hands dirty.

I have to admit though it was pretty fun.  I don't enjoy just running, but it was fun to break it up with a few obstacles.  The challenges were hard but not unbearable.  There were only two obstacles that I failed to complete and one that Emily and I decided to skip since the wait was so long for it.  So as penalty we had to perform 80 burpees.  I really don't mind burpees but 80 is pretty much ridiculous.

The race included obstacles like running through muddy water, jumping over/under walls, flipping tires, carrying sand bags up hills, rock climbing-like walls, crawling through mud under barbed wire, rope pulls, rope climbs, spear throws, and probably a few more that I can't remember.  Oh and of course climbing over mud hills and sliding into pools of freezing cold, muddy water.  At the end of the hills you then have to completely submerge under a wall, just to make sure you got muddy from head-to-toe.

It sounds as crazy as it was, but we would both most likely do it again.  It definitely beats the average 5K run.  Below are some pics of us going through a few of the obstacles.

If you ever want to try one out let us know.  I'm sure we can be easily convinced.  

You Stay Healthy San Diego,

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS

San Diego Premier Training

Carbs and Better Weight Loss Results

Well it is January and I am sure you are pumped to start your new cleanse, diet, super hardcore workout, or anything else you had planned to make sure 2014 starts off on the right foot.  I am sure you have also noticed the increase in advertising for all of these products, diets, supplements, and workout programs.  I will admit, that I am guilty of it too.  This is a great time to get your message out to people who are interested in living a healthier lifestyle.

"But I didn't eat the bread."

If you have followed me for a while you know that I am not one to jump on a bandwagon.   There are tons of fads that come and go.  I have always been a believer in the fundamentals.  With everything in life, the fundamentals will get you the most results, so why not focus mainly on them.

One fad that has been around for way to long is the carbophobia that people are falling prey to.  It seems that everyone is terrified of eating carbs when trying to lose weight.  Anytime I see a diet program that is trying to eliminate something completely from your diet it is usually a red flag for me.  Just like the newer gluten craze.  Everyone that is having trouble losing weight is all of a sudden gluten intolerant and that is the reason they cannot drop any fat.  Now I am not saying that this is not true for some people, but it is not as many as people think.

I am also not saying you should eat tons of carbs if you are trying to lose weight but they may be a crucial part of your diet program.  If you do not believe me then look at this study.
I have to say I am fairly excited about a study I just came across courtesy of AARV.  This was published in 2012 by the European Society of Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism.  What the researchers did was divide a group of women into two groups.  Both groups went on a low calorie diet and exercise program.   One group was low calorie but ate bread products and the other group went low calorie with no bread products.  Both groups stayed at the same calories.

The results.... Surprising to many the weight loss results were almost identical.  Over 16 weeks the bread group lost 4.3kg and 2.5% body fat.  The no bread group last 4kg and 2.1% body fat.  So the bread group actually did slightly better.  Also, they found there were no significant blood profiles between groups like blood lipids and glucose control.  Probably the most significant results from this study though, was adherence levels.  The no bread group saw significant cheating from the program of over 150kcals, while the bread group so no serious deviations.  The dropout rate was also significantly greater in the no bread group.  There was a 6.6% dropout in the bread group and a 21.3% dropout in the no bread group.

So what this tells us is that it most likely is not carbs that makes us gain weight or prevents us from losing weight.   It may be overconsumption of these products but there is nothing about carbohydrates that makes you fat.  Again I'm not saying eat carbs all day and you will lose weight.  You can still enjoy bread products in moderation.  And more importantly if having those types of foods occasionally will help you stick to your program better it only makes sense to have those foods.  Just know when to say enough is enough.

I hope this helps you be even more successful this time around on your weight loss journey.

You Stay Healthy San Diego,

Mike Deibler
San Diego Premier Training
Carlsbad Personal Trainer

Top 10 Fitness Gifts

Well it is that time again.  The year is almost over and the holidays are just upon us.  I wish I could say my holiday shopping was done, but unfortunately I have a long way to go.  Thank goodness for online shopping though.  Here is a quick post that I wanted to share that may help you with anyone that you just don't know exactly what to get them.  Whether they are already fit, want to get in better shape, or don't currently work out much, you should be able to find something for everyone here:

1.  The Fitbit:

There are a few different products out like the Fitbit, but Emily and I have first hand experience with this one.  We both use it and love it.  The Fitbit is an activity and sleep tracker.  They have a few different models varying in price but they will measure you steps taken, calories burned, sleep patterns, and a few other things.  It is amazing all of the different things this little item can do.  All you do is wear it on your wrist or clip it to your waistband and it does the rest.   You can also integrate a food log into the program to really track your progress.  It is amazing how much more active you get when you are trying to hit your step goal each day.

2.  Foam Roller:

If there is one piece of equipment everyone should have it is a foam roller.  This simple piece of equipment almost works like magic.  We all have muscle knots, scar tissue, or adhesions preventing us to move properly and causing nagging injuries.  Just rolling for a few minutes on these areas will work wonders for your muscle and joints.  I hope to run foam rolling workshops next year to teach how to use them properly.  They got the nickname the "poor man's massage."  It is basically like giving yourself a massage everyday.  While nothing completely replaces the work of a soft tissue therapist, this is great to do in between massages.

I am also a big fan of this stick which is great for travel.

TRX Trainer

3.  TRX Trainer:

The TRX is one of the best fitness products to come out in the 10 plus years.  This single piece of equipment can work every muscle in your body better than any other home fitness product.  I will never forget how sore my abs were the very first time I used one of these.  Today I use it every single day with my clients.  Just do a quick search on Youtube and you can find thousands of workouts using just the TRX.


4.  Apocalypse Bread

I know you might be thinking what the heck is Apocalypse Bread?  I actually created the name for the bread after reading the description by the chef Pieter Jones.  Pieter is actually one of the trainers at San Diego Premier Training.  He has spent months working on this recipe, and he nailed it.  I have never needed such a little serving size to by 100% satisfied from a piece a bread.  And everything in this bread is amazing and healthy for you.  I have never seen a bread that has over 7g of protein per mini slice.  Here is the description from Pieter:

I proudly present High Protein, Whole Grain, Superfood Bread!

Oodles mini loaf nutrition as follows:
1334 calories
26g fat
209g carb
75g protein
30g fiber

If sliced into 10 slices:
133 calories per slice
2.6g fat
30g carb
7.5g protein
3g fiber

INGREDIENTS: whole grain organic (spelt, white spelt, hard red wheat, soft white wheat) flour, water, whole grains of organic (spelt, kamut, amaranth, red quinoa, white quinoa, rolled oats), wheat germ, brown rice, sacha inchi, hulled hemp seeds, vital wheat gluten, turbinado, egg, salt, water, extra virgin coconut oil and yeast.

The hemp and sacha inchi are both considered superfoods and are responsible for a lot of the fat content in the bread. Both rich in omega 3, 6, 9 EFA including Gamma Linolenic Acid (GLA); in addition, they are both high in complete protein, while quinoa is another complete protein.
It has a very nutty full flavor with a delicate balance of fluff and hearty, whole grain density.
The macronutrient profile of the bread has been streamlined to produce a nutrient rich, elegant natural flavor and true whole food experience.

This might be pushing it a little but in the event of an apocalypse, all you need to survive would be a adequate supply of this bread and quite simply, that would make you the King or Queen of the Hill.

We are currently the only place you can get this bread.  If you would like to try it just come by the studio and pick up a mini loaf for only $5.

5.  San Diego Premier Training Gift Card:

Ok ok, I had to put in a shameless self promotion.  But what better gift could you give someone than a SDPT gift card.  Especially now with the new services we are offering like Pilates and Massage.  Until the end of the year if you are picking up a gift card for someone you can get a $100 gift card for only $50.  Pretty sweet deal if you ask me.

6.  Anything From LuluLemon (for women)

I just don't get it.  There is something addictive they must put in LuluLemon clothing.  Women love anything from this store.  I'm sure men do too, but from my experience women will pay anything for workout clothes from here.  You honestly cannot go wrong picking up a gift card for someone.  Warning though, everything in this store is pretty much at least $100.

7.  Gym Boss Interval Timer

Most of you probably already know how beneficial interval training is.  If you are trying to improve performance or speed up fat burning, you need to be doing some form of high intensity interval training.  The Gym Boss is a cool timer that you can just set up your intervals that you want to perform and hit go.  You can have it beep or vibrate.  It is small enough to clip on your waistband so you can workout with it on.  This is a big favorite at the studio.

8. Heart Rate Monitor

A HR monitor really is another must have if you are at a plateau.  You really need to be able to tell at what intensity you are training.  A simple HR monitor will show you what intensity you are getting to and if you need to be pushing harder or maybe backing off.  They will also give you an estimate of calories burned during the workout.  If you know someone who is big into cardio they would love something like this.

9.  Kettlebells

Quite simply, Kettlebells are just awesome.  If I could only use two pieces of equipment for a workout I would pick a TRX, which we already talked about, and a Kettlebell.  They can just do so much for you.  Research has shown multiple times the versatility of KB training.  With just a few simple exercises you can improve strength, power, speed, endurance, and increase fat burning.  All great things.  And best of all you can do them all at once with typical KB exercises.  A good starting point is 8-12kg for women and 16-20kg for men.

10.  Body Fat Analyzer

I know most people want to see the scale change when trying to loss fat.  While it is important to know what your weight is, it really doesn't tell you a whole lot.  You really should be tracking your body fat instead.  They have scales that can do that as well, but we use the handheld tester on our clients and have had good success with it.  It is incredibly simple to use and something you should be checking and relying on more than your weight.  

6 Reasons Why You Should Drink Tea.

I have to admit, coffee and tea are not my favorite drink choices.  I have never enjoyed the taste of either and still really don't.  I will occasionally have a cup of coffee if I am having a rough morning, but that is pretty much it.  I do try and have a cup of green tea everyday however.  I, again, don't really enjoy the taste of it, but there is so much evidence out there on the health benefits of tea that I feel it should be part of my daily routine.  I know most people will choose coffee over tea, but you may want to cut back on your morning joe a bit.  Here is some information that may help you change your mind from a team of scientist from the US and UK.  

Researchers used data from the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study, a large-scale, long-term study of health and fitness. Researchers included 43,727 subjects in their coffee-mortality investigation, men and women ranging in age from 20-87.  Here are the main findings:

• Men who drank more than 28 cups of coffee per week (4-8oz cups per day) had a 21% increased risk of all-cause mortality.
• Men under 55 who drank more than 28 cups per week had a 56% increased risk of mortality.
• Women under the age of 55 saw a 113% increase in mortality risk.

While yes there are health benefits to coffee most people highly over consume it.  Too much of a good thing turns bad here.  

So if you don't currently drink tea you may want to give it a try.  In the October 2013 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, there were numerous studies looking at the healthy benefits of tea consumption.  I have summarized their findings with these 6 reasons below:

1. Regular tea consumption may reduce the risk of stroke.
2. Tea might protect against the development and progression of cardiovascular disease, such as atherosclerosis. 
3. Tea can help improve alertness, attention, mood, creativity, and work performance.
4. Catachin- and caffeine- rich teas such as green, oolong, and white teas enhance energy expenditure and increase fat burning.
5. Some studies are showing green and black tea may help prevent certain cancers and prevent lesions from becoming malignant tumors.  
6.  Tea can help prevent bone loss and osteoporosis.  
7. Tea is loaded with antioxidants. 

These are just a few of the very significant reasons why you might want to try some green, black, white, or oolong tea in the mornings.  If you love coffee you don't have to give it up, just think about subbing a day or two each week with tea.  

Cheers.  

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS

San Diego Premier Training

Diet Or Exercise For Weight Loss?

So if you have struggled with losing weight in the past you probably have tried many different methods to lose weight.  You probably followed some diet or maybe even a few diets.  When that didn't work as you hoped you started an exercise program.  Maybe you even tried some combination of both.  Hopefully you found some strategy that worked best for you.

Now there is one thing we can be absolutely sure of in terms of weight loss.  There are many different ways you can achieve it.  We all need to discover the lifestyle that works best for us.  Regardless of how you plan on losing weight, the two main criteria that we must look at are your calories in and your calories out.  Losing weight may not be this simple, but no matter what the diet program or exercise program you follow, we have to be aware of how much we are eating and how much energy we are spending.

So this is often followed up with, "well what is more important diet or exercise?"  Most people will tell you that you diet is 80-90% of your weight loss success.  While this is true, it is only partially true.  Obviously you can follow the best workout programs that burn hundreds of calories, but if you eat too much you won't see anything move on the scale.

While I don't disagree that you nutrition is a huge part of it, this really is a loaded question.  Neither is more important.  They both are a necessity and should work together, so one can't be more important than the other.  To illustrate my point check out this brand new study that was just published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

Researchers wanted to look at the effects of diet and exercise on behavioral change.  In this case, as in most cases, our behavior we are trying to instill is to eat a better diet and exercise regularly.  They divided the subjects into 4 groups.  One group just changed their diet first then 4 months latter they added exercise.  The second group just did the opposite and started with exercise first.  A third group changed both at the same time.  And the final group was the control group that did nothing.

They wanted to see with all of these scenarios, which group would be most likely after 12 months to stick with the program.  We can assume that those that stuck with it had the best weight loss results.  They found that the group that lead to the best adherence was the diet plus exercise group from the start.  This goes against what many people do though.  Often we will start one to try and get into a routine and then start the other.  It seems logical to do it this way, but it seems the best strategy is to start with both and incorporate the entire program right from the beginning for the best results.

You probably also heard me talk in the past on how important exercise is for weight loss in addition to dietary changes.  One of the biggest reason previously discussed was when diet is used without exercise (especially resistance training) muscle mass and bone mass is lost as well as a reduction in metabolism making it more difficult to continue to lose weight in the future.

So if you are really trying to make a lifestyle change and not just a quick fix for weight loss, work on putting all the pieces together right away.  Neither is more important, they both are a must.

You Stay Healthy San Diego,

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS
San Diego Premier Training