Function Follows Fitness

You all know how much of a fan of the benefits of functional training I am.  Check out some research below that shows you one of the many reasons why.....
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New ACE research that shows older adults can expect quick benefits from functional fitness programs

By Mark Anders

ACE FitnessMatters  •   July/August 2007

News Flash: You’re not getting any younger.  And you’re not alone. As a population, the number of older adults in the United States has grown to more than 36 million—that means one in every eight people is over the age of 65. By 2010, that number is expected to jump to more than 40 million. Couple that with the fact that Americans are more sedentary than ever before and we’ve got a problem. A big one. 

As inactive people grow older they lose strength, mobility and balance, and it becomes tougher for them to accomplish what exercise scientists call activities of daily living or ADL. These seemingly simple things like getting up from a chair, carrying groceries or putting away dishes are obviously essential for good physical—and mental—health for all people.

Within the last five years or so, many fitness professionals have been promoting functional fitness programs as a way for older adults to remain active and independent as they age. Although anecdotally many are convinced these programs are effective, very little scientific research has been conducted to prove it. “There have been a number of studies that look at traditional weight training and the carryover to activities of daily living, but only a couple small studies have looked at function-al training specifically,” notes John Porcari, Ph.D., of the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. “Our goal was to find out if older adults see improvements from functional fitness programs in a short period of time.”

The inspiration behind this American Council on Exercise–sponsored study was the hope that if researchers could prove that functional fitness works, and that most will see real-world benefits relatively quickly, then more older adults would be willing to try functional exercise programs and be more likely to stick with them.

The Study

Led by Porcari and Denise Milton, M.S., a physical therapist with the U.S. military, a team of exercise scientists at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse Exercise and Health Program recruited 24 male and female volunteers, ages 58 to 78 years.  Each of the test subjects had some form of cardiac, metabolic or orthopedic condition and all were already actively participating in the university’s La Crosse Exercise and Health Program.

“A lot of [the subjects] have been in our program for a long time, doing pretty traditional exercise, things like walking and aerobic dance, but we’re seeing people getting older and they’re having more and more trouble doing things in everyday life,” says Porcari, illustrating that the study participants were prime candidates for testing the validity of functional fitness. Each subject was randomly assigned to either the experimental group (which would do functional exercises) or a control group (which would stick with a traditional exercise program). Before the training period began, both groups were given the Functional Fitness Test for Older Adults, which consists of six components designed to evaluate things like strength, endurance, flexibility, balance and agility.

Once a baseline was established, it was time to start the exercise program. The experimental group participated in functional exercise sessions three times weekly for four consecutive weeks. Each session consisted of a five-minute warm-up, a circuit of 12 functional exercises, including moves like the wall push-ups, lunge and chop, and squat with diagonal reach (Table 1), followed by a 10-minute cool-down. Subjects were instructed to work at a moderate-intensity level while performing each of the exercises, one minute per move with a 15-second transition between each.

Researchers used sand-filled milk jugs (from 0.5 to 10 pounds) to simulate the weights of common household items. Similarly, the reaching and bending exercises mimicked the postures used in many common ADL. As the exercises became easier for the subjects, resistance was added and modifications were made to ensure that the exercisers maintained a moderate level of intensity throughout the test period.

After four weeks of exercise training, the research team once again administered the Functional Fitness Test for Older Adults to gauge the physical improvements of both the experimental group and the control group.

The Results

The experimental group, which underwent the functional fitness training, showed greater physical improvements than the control group (Table 2). In particular, improvements were seen in lower-body strength (13% improvement), upper-body strength (14%), cardiorespiratory endurance (7%), agility/dynamic balance (13%) and shoulder flexibility (43%). The researchers concluded that the functional fitness program was superior to conventional exercise for improving the subjects’ abilities to complete most ADL.

Though the efficacy of functional training was no surprise to the researchers, Porcari finds it encouraging that the test subjects showed significant improvements in as little as four weeks. What makes these findings even more significant is that researchers weren’t simply starting with totally inactive subjects and seeing big benefits—all subjects in the study were already regular exercisers.

Beyond the Science

Obviously the take-home message here is: Functional fitness really works. Even the simplest exercise regimen, like the one employed by our researchers using inexpensive equipment like sand-filled plastic jugs, is effective enough for older adults to reap significant benefits in less than a month.

Though this study did not assess the psychological consequences of the increase in functional fitness, anecdotal comments from subjects in the experimental group suggested they were encouraged by the subsequent benefits they experienced while performing everyday tasks. Researchers asked each of the subjects if they noticed any improvement in their ADL. The responses were generally positive, but Porcari recalls one woman in particular:

“At first she said, ‘No.’ Then she called me back and said, ‘When I reach for stuff in the cupboards it’s a lot easier than it used to be. Or when I’m in my car, it’s a lot easier for me to turn around and look behind me when I’m backing up,’” says Porcari.  “It just brings a smile to my face to hear the anecdotal comments that it does work in everyday life. Sure, it’s nice to do this kind of bench research, but it’s much more gratifying when you see people actually getting benefits.”

Table 1.
Functional exercises used by the experimental group.

• Unilateral balance:standing on one leg
• Golfer’s lift:like picking up a golf ball
• Squat with arms forward
• Wall push-ups
• Lateral squats
• Forward/backward leans
• Squat with diagonal reach
• Walk-around obstacle
• Overhead press
• Rotation lunges
• Lunge and chop
• Stairclimb

The Workout

Fabio Comana, ACE consultant and exercise physiologist, created the following functional fitness circuit workout based on the findings of this research. This 30-minute circuit requires no special equipment and can be done just about anywhere. Do it two or more times per week and you’ll improve your balance, agility and cardiovascular fitness, as well as flexibility and strength in your lower and upper body. For best results, complete each exercise as shown here and then repeat the circuit a second time.

Station 1: Standing Balance

Week 1: Stand with feet hip-width apart, eyes closed and attempt to maintain balance for 15 seconds (use supports as necessary). Do four reps of 15 seconds each.
Week 2: Progress the exercise by extending your arms out in front and then out to your sides while reaching 6 inches in each direction without losing balance or moving your feet (eyes open or closed). Do five reps in each direction (forward, left and right).
Week 3: Progress the exercise again by standing on one leg while lifting the opposite leg as high as possible. Attempt to maintain balance for 15 seconds. Relax and repeat three more times with each leg.

Station 2: Step Overs

Week 1: Place a 6-inch-tall vegetable can (or cone) on the floor and stand approximately 6 inches behind it with both feet facing forward. Slowly lift your right leg and—while maintaining your balance—step over the can. Shift your weight to balance on your front leg and lift your left leg up and over. Return to the starting position by stepping back over the item. Do 10 reps.
Week 2: Progress the exercise by adding a stepping motion in a sideways direction. Do 10 reps.
Week 3: Progress the exercise again by gradually increasing the height of the item to 10 to 12 inches. Do 10 reps.

Station 3: Figure 8 Cone Drill

Place one cone (cone A) 10 feet in front of a chair and a second cone (cone B) 10 feet to the right of cone A. Begin the drill seated in the chair. Next, stand up and walk as quickly as possible to the left side of cone A. Turn to the right around it and walk toward the right side of Cone B. Walk completely around that cone and proceed back toward the left side of Cone A. Circle around that one as well and head back to your chair. Do three reps with 30 seconds rest between reps.

Station 4: Chair Stands with Chest Stretch

Sit in a chair holding your torso upright off the backrest with feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart, and hands placed in your lap.  Slowly rise to a stand. Try to push through your heels while extending your arms out to your sides at chest height with thumbs turned to point  toward the ceiling. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and hold for one to two seconds. Next, bring your arms back to your sides and slowly sit back down. Start by doing the exercise continuously for 30 seconds, and gradually build up to 60 seconds as your strength and endurance improve.

Station 5: Standing Push-presses 

Stand with feet hip-width apart holding weights (2- to 10-pound dumbbells or cans of vegetables) at shoulder height, palms facing forward with your weight on your heels. Slightly dip the knees to start the exercise, then straighten your knees and simultaneously push the weights overhead until your arms are fully extended. Avoid arching your lower back.  Slowly return your arms to shoulder-level and repeat. Do this exercise continuously for 30 seconds.

Station 6: Seated Leg Extension 

Sit in a chair holding your torso upright off the back-rest with feet flat on the floor and hip-width apart, and hands placed in your lap. Without moving your hips or back, slowly extend your right leg, attempting to raise it until it’s parallel to the floor. Hold for two seconds. Relax and return to the starting position. Do this exercise continuously for 30 seconds, then repeat with the opposite leg. If you can’t quite get your leg parallel, use the backrest for support or just attempt to lift it as high as possible.

Station 7: Penny Pick Up

Start three steps away from a penny placed on the floor. Slowly walk toward the penny. Stop to lunge or squat down, pick the penny up, then stand back up and continue walking another three steps. Do five reps.

Station 8: Biceps and Triceps

Stand with your feet hip-width apart holding a 4- to 10-pound dumbbell (or can of vegetables) in your left hand. Place the opposite hand on a table edge or back of a chair for support.  Standing upright, slowly do a biceps curl. Keep your elbow by your side and avoid arching your lower back. Slowly return your arm to your side, bend your torso forward 45 degrees while supporting yourself using the opposite arm. Allow your left arm to bend at the elbow as you lean forward and slowly extend it back behind your body. Hold for one to two seconds before relaxing your arm at your side. Finally, return to an upright standing position. That’s one rep. Do this exercise continuously for 30 seconds and then repeat with opposite arm.

Station 9: Treadmill Walk 

Walk for a half-mile on a treadmill at a speed setting that is moderately difficult, yet slow enough that you feel confident walking. If you don’t have access to a treadmill, simply take a brisk half-mile walk.

Station 10: Standing Hamstring and Hip-flexor Stretch 

Using a chair, step up with your right leg and place your foot firmly and flat on the seat. Use
the backrest of the chair as a support if needed.  Slowly shift your weight forward while maintaining a slight backward lean with your torso.  Simultaneously extend your arm overhead (orarms, if not using the support). Hold for one to two seconds. You should feel the stretch in your groin area. Relax and slowly shift your weight backward. While bending forward at the hips, straighten your leg on the chair and reach your arms forward toward your straightened leg. Hold for one to two seconds. You should feel the stretch in your hamstrings. Slowly return to starting position. That’s one rep. Do a total of three reps with each leg.

Pregnancy and Exercise

www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au 

Regular physical activity can provide health and social benefits for many pregnant women. Suggestions for exercise during pregnancy include walking, swimming and supervised classes such as yoga or Tai chi. Pelvic floor exercises are also important before, during and after pregnancy. Unless you have complications, it should be possible to enjoy some level of physical activity throughout most of your pregnancy.

The first step is to consult your doctor, physiotherapist or healthcare professional to make sure your exercise routine won’t harm you or your unborn baby. You may need to modify your existing exercise program or choose a suitable new one if you were sedentary before conceiving.

While exercise during pregnancy is usually encouraged, under some circumstances exercise can be detrimental to both the expecting mother and the growing fetus.

Benefits of physical activity during pregnancy

Exercise during pregnancy offers many physical and emotional benefits. Physical activity may also help manage some symptoms of pregnancy and you’ll feel better knowing you’re doing something good for yourself and your baby. Some of the benefits of exercising regularly throughout your pregnancy include:

• More energy
• Stronger back muscles which can help manage back pain and strain as your belly grows
• Improved posture
• Weight control
• Stress relief
• Improved sleep and management of insomnia
• Preparation for the physical demands of labour
• Faster recuperation after labour
• Faster return to pre-pregnancy fitness and healthy weight
• Increased ability to cope with the physical demands of motherhood.

Changes associated with pregnancy

There are many changes that take place during pregnancy. Some will affect your ability to exercise.

• Hormones such as relaxin loosen ligaments which could increase your risk of joint injuries (for example, sprains).
• As pregnancy progresses, weight increases combine with changes in weight distribution and body shape. This results in the body’s centre of gravity moving forward, which can alter balance and coordination.
• Pregnancy increases your resting heart rate, so it is not recommended to use target heart rate to work out the intensity of your exercise. In healthy pregnant women, exercise intensity can be monitored using a method known as Borg’s Rating of Perceived Exertion Scale (RPE). This measures how hard you feel (perceive) your body is working.
• Your blood pressure drops in the second trimester, so it is important to avoid rapid changes of position – from lying to standing, and vice versa – so as not to experience dizzy spells.

General exercise suggestions during pregnancy

It is important to discuss your exercise plan with your doctor, as each pregnancy is different. In general, healthy women who have uncomplicated pregnancies can continue their previous exercise program after consultation with a doctor. It is also now considered safe to start a new exercise program during pregnancy if given the all-clear by your doctor.

If you have been cleared to exercise, it is recommended that you:

• Engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity (according to the Perceived Exertion Scale) on most, if not all, days of the week.
• Do no more than three sessions per week of vigorous exercise by the third trimester.
• Let your body be your guide. You know you’re at a good intensity when you can talk normally and not become exhausted too quickly.
• Be guided by your doctor, physiotherapist or health care professional.

Suggested exercise activities during pregnancy

Activities that are generally safe during pregnancy, even for beginners, include:

• Walking
• Swimming
• Cycling – outdoors or on a stationary bicycle
• Exercise in water (aquarobics)
• Yoga
• Stretching
• Dancing
• Pilates
• Pregnancy exercise classes.

Some activities are safe when done in moderation by pregnant women who had already been participating in these activities prior to pregnancy. These include:

• Running
• Strength training.

General cautions for pregnancy exercise

While most forms of exercise are safe, there are some exercises that involve positions and movements that may be uncomfortable or harmful for pregnant women. Be guided by your doctor or physiotherapist, but general cautions include:

• Avoid raising your body temperature too high – for example, don’t soak in hot spas or exercise to the point of heavy sweating. Reduce your level of exercise on hot or humid days.
• Don't exercise to the point of exhaustion.
• If weight training, choose low weights and medium to high repetitions – avoid lifting heavy weights altogether.
• Don’t exercise if you are ill or feverish.
• If you don’t feel like exercising on a particular day – then don’t! It is important to listen to your body to avoid unnecessarily depleting your energy reserves.

Exercises to avoid while pregnant

During pregnancy, avoid sports and activities with increased risk of falling. These include:

• Contact sports or activities that carry a risk of falling (such as trampolining, rollerblading, downhill snow skiing, horse riding and basketball)
• Competition sports – depending on the stage of pregnancy, the level of competition and your level of fitness
• After about the fourth month of pregnancy, exercises that involve lying on your back – the weight of the baby can slow the return of blood to the heart. Try to modify these exercises by lying on the side.
• In the later stages of pregnancy, activities that involve jumping, frequent changes of direction and excessive stretching (such as gymnastics).

If you're not sure whether a particular activity is safe during pregnancy, check with your healthcare professional.

Pelvic floor exercises and pregnancy

The pelvic floor muscles are weakened during pregnancy and during birth (vaginal delivery), so it is extremely important to begin conditioning the pelvic floor muscles from the start of the pregnancy. Appropriate exercises can be prescribed by a physiotherapist. It is important to continue with these throughout the pregnancy and resume as soon as is comfortable after the birth.

Abdominal exercises and pregnancy

Strong abdominal muscles support your spine. The internal core and pelvic floor abdominal muscles act as a natural ‘corset’ to protect the pelvis and lumbar spine. Traditional sit-ups or crunches can be ineffective during pregnancy and may make worse the condition known as diastasis recti abdominis (a painless splitting of the abdominal muscle at the midline).

Appropriate core stability exercises are recommended during pregnancy to strengthen the muscles of the abdomen:

• Concentrate on drawing your belly button towards your spine.
• Breathe out while pulling in your belly.
• Hold the position and count to 10. Relax and breathe in.
• Repeat 10 times, as many times a day as you are able.
• You can perform this exercise sitting, standing or on your hands and knees.

Warning signs for exercising during pregnancy

If you experience any of the following during or after physical activity, stop exercising immediately and see your doctor:

• Headache
• Dizziness or feeling faint
• Heart palpitations
• Chest pain
• Swelling of the face, hands or feet
• Calf pain or swelling
• Vaginal bleeding
• Contractions
• Deep back or pubic pain
• Cramping in the lower abdomen
• Walking difficulties
• An unusual change in your baby’s movements
• Amniotic fluid leakage.

Where to get help

• Your doctor
• Physiotherapist
• National Continence Helpline Tel. 1800 330 066
• Bicycle Network Victoria – for further information on cycling and pregnancy

Things to remember

• Exercise during pregnancy offers many physical and emotional benefits. While exercise during pregnancy is usually encouraged, you may feel it’s not right for you.
• Talk to your doctor, physiotherapist or healthcare professional to make sure your exercise routine won’t cause harm to you or your unborn baby.
• Any illness or complication of the pregnancy should be fully assessed and discussed with your doctor before commencing or continuing an exercise program. 

Summary

Regular physical activity provides many health and social benefits and may also help manage some symptoms of pregnancy. Unless you have complications, it should be possible to enjoy some level of physical activity throughout most of your pregnancy. Consult with your doctor, physiotherapist or healthcare professional before starting any new exercise program.

This artticle has been produced in consultation with and approved by:

Are Eggs Really As Bad For Your Arteries as Cigarettes?

By Mark Sisson of www.marksdailyapple.com 15th Aug 2012

This past weekend, I caught the headline while flicking through my phone for a few brief seconds. Didn’t open it up, though. Just cruised on past. I’d hoped to just forget about it, to ignore it, to banish it to the back of my mind where half truths and junk studies go to die. And truth be told, I pretty much had forgotten about it until I checked my email to find a ton of frantic emails from readers wondering if their beloved and dependable egg yolk breakfasts were killing them faster than the cigarettes they don’t smoke. What? You didn’t hear?

STUDY: EGG YOLKS ALMOST AS BAD AS SMOKING

Followed by (with less hysterical capitalization) “May increase carotid plaque build-up.”

So what are we looking at here?

We’re looking at a study in which a trio of researchers (two of whom with extensive ties to the statin industry) quizzed a group of middle-aged and elderly stroke patients about their lifelong egg intake and smoking history, making sure to stress the importance of accuracy and honesty in their answers. Yes, you heard me right: they expected people to remember every last egg they ever ate. Still, everyone in the study was assumed to have supernatural memory, so I guess it evens out.

Those who ate the most eggs were the oldest – almost 70 years old on average, compared to the relatively sprightly 55 year-old egg avoiders. It’s pretty well accepted that with age comes the progression of atherosclerosis, a process that takes, well, time to occur. Plaque doesn’t just snap into existence; it develops. All else being equal, the older you get, the more plaque you’ll have.

Those who ate the most eggs also smoked the most and were the most diabetic. To their credit, the authors tried to control for those factors, plus several others. Although they tried to control for sex, blood lipids, blood pressure, smoking, body weight index, and presence of diabetes, the study’s authors didn’t – couldn’t – account for all potentially confounding variables. In their own words, “more research should be done to take in possible confounders such as exercise and waist circumference.” Hmm. “Possible” confounders, eh?

Exercise reduces inflammatory markers of atherosclerosis.

Exercise even reduces markers of atherosclerosis in pre-pubertal obese children!

Exercise reduces thickness of the carotid arterial wall. It doesn’t get much clearer than that. 

Exercise is a massively confounding variable that the authors failed to take into account.

What about waist circumference?

A high waist circumference predicts atherosclerosis of the carotid artery.

Or how about stress, which also wasn’t considered?

Perceived daily psychological demands – the amount of crap you perceive to be heaped on your plate – are associated with progression of carotid arterial plaque.

Yeah, it’s not like the size of a person’s waist, whether or not they move of their own volition or sit in an easy chair all day, and how much stress they endure have any impact on their risk of developing atherosclerosis. Those things may be linked, and I’m sure the authors would have loved to include them in their analysis, but there just wasn’t enough space on the questionnaire. Besides, it’s not like a little physical activity and mediation could even undo the damage wrought by 4.68 sinful egg yolks per week. Why, that’s nearly a half dozen!

Seriously, though, the subjects were all stroke patients who’d lived to tell the tale. They’d been in contact with the medical community (you generally don’t just shake off a stroke without medical attention), who no doubt gave them the standard required advice to prevent another event, which includes “a reduction in saturated fat and cholesterol intake…and a boost in physical activity.” Since the egg-eaters obviously didn’t listen to their doctors’ recommendations to cut back on cholesterol intake, I’d wager they treated the exercise recommendations with similar levels of disdain. What do you think?

Here’s what I think: this is an observational study whose already limited worth depends entirely on the memory of an inherently fallible creature being infallible. As such, it cannot assign causality, contrary to what the media (“Egg Yolks Can Quicken Hardening of the Arteries“) and authors (“It has been known for a long time that a high cholesterol intake increases the risk of cardiovascular events”) say. Furthermore, why single out egg yolks? I mean, I get it – the authors sort of have a vendetta against eggs – but what about other foods? Were those even analyzed or asked about? What about the stuff that people generally eat with eggs, like pancakes and vegetable oils, or the foods that contain egg yolks, like baked goods and mayonnaise? For all we know, egg yolk intake could have been a marker for eating garbage; most people aren’t tossing raw yolks into post-workout shakes, gently poaching eggs with coconut vinegar, or horrifying co-workers with a bag full of hard-boiled eggs like we Primals are wont to do. They’re getting Grand Slams at Denny’s, eating bologna sandwiches with mayo on white bread, and overcooking scrambled eggs in canola oil until they’re rubber.

For fun, though, let’s look at what some other studies have found with regards to the artery-clogging capabilities of whole eggs:

Egg consumption and endothelial function: a randomized controlled crossover trial. Two eggs daily did not impair endothelial function (the flow of blood through the arteries), nor did it increase total or LDL cholesterol. Overall, eating two eggs a day elicited no change in cardiovascular health when compared to eating oatmeal (a cardiologist’s pride and joy).

Daily egg consumption in hyperlipidemic adults – effects on endothelial function and cardiovascular risk. In patients with high cholesterol, eating several hard-boiled eggs a day had no effect on endothelial function.

Effect of a high-saturated fat and no-starch diet on serum lipid subfractions in patients with documented atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Obese patients with heart disease ate lots of saturated fat, zero starch (including zero grains – sound familiar?), and tons of vegetables, and saw massive weight loss without any negative effects on their blood lipids. Once upon a time, I had access to the full study (it was freely available at the website for the Mayo Clinic, who’s since taken it down…wonder why), and I remember seeing that they ate three or four eggs a day. If egg yolks were bad for all heart disease patients, these guys would have felt the effects.

Okay, despite all those confounders and other egg studies that support yolks as harmless and the fact that this was merely an observational study without the power to assign causation and whose authors failed to even propose a potential mechanism of action, let’s entertain the notion that something was going on with this population of egg eaters. What if the egg yolks did have something to do with the atherosclerosis?

In a previous post on “Human Interference Factor,” I highlighted a study showing hens given an unnatural industry-standard diet high in omega-6 containing grains (soy and corn) produce less healthful eggs than hens on a more natural diet of grains lower in omega-6 with supplementary antioxidants. When subjects ate two of the soy/corn-fed eggs a day, which were high in omega-6 fats, their oxidized LDL levels were increased by 40%. Subjects who ate two of the other eggs each day, which were low in omega-6 fats, had normal levels of oxidized LDL (comparable to subjects in the control group, who consumed between two and four eggs a week). Since the oxidation of LDL particles is strongly hypothesized to be a crucial causative factor in atherosclerosis, it’s conceivable that eating normal, industrial eggs could have a negative effect on carotid plaque.

Anyway, what are the takeaways here?

Exercise, practice stress reduction, and get your waist circumference checked.

Don’t smoke.

Don’t age.

Don’t pay too much attention to ridiculous observational studies (this is part of stress reduction).

Oh, yeah – eat egg yolks, and lots of them. Doubly so if you’re low-carb (remember the starch/grain-free high-egg diet referenced above). Make ‘em pastured, if possible, or at least from hens that ate something besides soy and corn. They’re more nutritious and probably “safer” than industrial eggs.

(In retrospect, that mention of the authors’ ties to the pharmaceutical industry was a low blow. After all, I myself am a direct benefactor of my local pastured egg industry; they pay me in delicious golden yolks.)

Read more: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/are-eggs-really-as-bad-for-your-arteries-as-cigarettes/#ixzz24RUPqT8b

7 Reasons Why You Are Not Getting Results

By Greg Brookes

Hi guys,

Feel like you're working hard but not getting the results you want.  Here are 7 possible reasons why not.

1. Not Creating a Stress Response

Do you just go through the motions? or do you really push yourself? The body adapts when it is put under stress but the stress has to be great enough to warrant an adaptation. Whenever the stress is great enough the body adapts in order to economise movement for future episodes of the same stimulus. Most people do not push themselves enough, resulting in no stress response and no adaptation. A very simple method to ensure that the stress response is high enough is to push yourself just past the point where you want to stop (within reason of course). Another more scientific way is to use a heart rate monitor and work on percentages of your maximum heart rate.

2. Too Much Stress

Big gains aren’t made in the gym they’re made when you rest and recover. As we train we go through the ”Supercompensation Cycle” which involves fatigue during the session and then compensation as the body returns to homeostasis and then finally supercompensation as the body surpasses its original status. If you train during the fatigue or compensation stage, before the body has fully recovered, then you risk overtraining, plateaus and a decrease in your gains. The trick is to hit the body again at the peak of supercompensation, this varies depending on the intensity of the session and the individual. If you find you are not making gains in the gym then add an extra rest day to your schedule.

3. Not Creating the Correct Stress

There are some simple rules to follow when it comes to exercise selection. Magazines and websites try to make this more complicated than it is and to be honest if you stick to these rules you can’t go far wrong. If you want to build muscle and strength then centre your workouts around heavy Squats and Deadlifts. If you want to blow torch fat than work on short intense interval sessions and monitor your rest periods with a heart rate monitor. Focus on the stuff that really makes a difference and worry about the smaller stuff later.

4. No Workout Consistency

Imagine if you had done some good quality exercise twice per week for the last 12 months? Where would you be now? Just think of those changes. For most people consistency is the number 1 reason why they lack results. It’s time to build habits. Habits take time to install but also time to uninstall. So work through the hard part of habit building now and it does get easier. My advice is to just do something 2-3 times per week. You can work on refining things later but just start building an exercise habit now.

5. Bad Nutrition Strategy

In my mind nutrition always comes first. If I am eating and drinking well everything else falls into place. You cannot out exercise your nutrition so if you think an extra session at the gym means more pizza or ice cream then you are badly mistaken. The nauseating statement of ”Calories in versus calories out” is so badly misguided. 10 calories of carbs has a totally different impact on the body than 10 calories of protein or 10 calories of fat. This statement is like comparing apples with oranges. A good nutritional clean up will not only be your biggest ally against fat but it will also help build solid muscle too.

6. Repetition, Repetition, Repetition

As I mentioned in point 1 adaptation is due to major stress placed on the body but as the body adapts the stress levels required to cause adaption also increase. In other words we get better at whatever used to cause us stress. So in order to continue making adaptations you need to alter the stresses placed upon the body by changing your exercises every 4-6 weeks. This keeps the body guessing and changes coming.

7. No Progression Plan

Ensuring that you progress your exercises either by increasing the resistance by 10 % or time by 5 % or reducing the rest periods by 10 secs are all vital ways to keep the results coming in.

Why Women Should Not Be Afraid of Gaining Muscle

by Charles Poliquin

2/11/2010 12:56:55 PM

Increasing your muscle mass and bone mass has a myriad of health benefits.

Here is what you should know before you frown upon on gaining a few kilos of muscle mass:

1. The more muscle and bone mass you have, the greater the acid buffering power you create. That is, you now have more protein, potassium, magnesium and calcium to buffer the acidity in your body. The more alkaline you are:

-       the greater the endurance potential of the body

-       the greater your immune power is, the better your chances

         at surviving cancer or the swine flu.

2. According to Tufts University, the greater your muscle mass the greater the longevity potential. It is, in fact, the number one biomarker of longevity. It is a far better predictor of longevity than total cholesterol or blood pressure.

3. The more muscle you have, the more insulin receptor sites you have, and the more sensitive they will be. Increased muscle prevents diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Translation: the more muscle you have, the easier it is to have low body fat.

4. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest. It is estimated that for every pound of muscle you gain you burn an extra 50 calories a day.

5. The more muscle you have, the more strength you have. This, according to the same researchers at Tufts University, is the number two predictor of longevity. For women, strength is empowering.

6. In my thirty years of experience as a strength coach, for every kilo of lean tissue gained, there was an equal loss of weight in body fat. In other words, the body composition changed dramatically. For example, a female executive with a 60 kg bodyweight with 20 % body fat has 12 kg of fat. If, in 10 weeks, she gains 4 kg of muscle mass and loses 4 kg of fat, her body fat will now be 13%. With these body composition changes, not only will she feel more empowered, but her body will look fantastic!

All About Coffee

by Brian St. Pierre, May 24th, 2012.

Summary: Coffee is among the most consumed — and controversial — beverages in the world. While coffee should be treated with care and avoided altogether by those who metabolize it poorly, it also provides health benefits to many people. Read on to find out what they are – and how to drink coffee responsibly.

Coffee is the second most popular drink in the world, trailing only water and, debatably, tea.

Caffeine, a key component of coffee, is a controversial compound. With 90% of North American adults consuming caffeine daily, it is the world’s most consumed psychoactive drug – and coffee is the delivery method of choice.

Perhaps that’s why, in the fitness world, we’ve traditionally viewed coffee with some suspicion.

But is coffee really bad for us? Should we give up our beloved cuppa joe? If it’s bad, why does it feel so good?

Coffee’s origins

 

The coffee plant originated in East Africa — according to legend, a goat herder tried coffee cherries after he noticed his goats acting much more energetic after nibbling on the coffee bushes.

The earliest evidence of coffee drinking occurred in the 15^th century in Yemen.  From Yemen, coffee quickly spread to Egypt and North Africa, and by the 16^th century it was being enjoyed by the rest of the Middle East, Persia, and Turkey and soon thereafter Italy and the rest of Europe.

Fast forward to today. Coffee is ubiquitous in our culture.  Everywhere you look, there’s a coffee shop on the corner. What effect might our cultural love of coffee have on our health?

Short answer: Well, we’re not completely sure.

Coffee’s risks

 

Research on coffee’s safety is mixed, for several reasons:

• Metabolism matters. People vary genetically in how well they can process caffeine and coffee.
• Coffee interacts with many hormones and neurotransmitters in the body, such as cortisol, acetylcholine, and insulin. These relationships are complex, and often depend on timing, amount, and people’s individual makeup.
• As a crop, coffee is less like corn or soy, and more like cacao or wine grapes: It’s typically grown and processed in smaller batches by smaller-scale farmers and producers. Variations in soil and climate, as well as later roasting and brewing technique, will change the taste and chemical makeup. It’s hard to standardize the exact chemical compounds in coffee from batch to batch. (By the way, JB likes to roast his own coffee. You can follow along with his process here or see a nice PDF version here.)

So it’s hard to say definitively that coffee is “good” or “bad”; “healthy” or “unhealthy”. Let’s explore this in more depth.

 

What about my metabolism?

 

One reason that evidence on the health effects of coffee is so mixed is that people clear caffeine at different rates. Caffeine is broken down and cleared by the liver, and our genetic makeup shapes how quickly and effectively we can do this.

• On one hand, “slow” metabolizers of caffeine don’t process caffeine effectively. These are people who are adversely affected by caffeine, get the jitters, and are wired for up to nine hours after consumption.
• Others just get a boost in energy and alertness for a couple of hours; they are considered “fast” metabolizers of caffeine.

Research in the emerging field of nutrigenomics shows that about half of us have the gene variant that makes us “slow” metabolizers, while the other half enjoy the gene variant that allows them to get away with quad-espressos.

(For more on this, see JB’s interview with nutrigenomics researcher Ahmed El-Sohemy here.)

Thus, whether coffee is better or worse for you depends on how well and quickly you metabolize caffeine.

If you are a slow metabolizer of caffeine and coffee, steer clear (or at least, reduce your consumption). In your case, coffee can do more harm than good, and this may explain why high coffee consumption has been associated with:

• higher risk of miscarriage
• disrupted sleep
• worse PMS symptoms
• increased blood pressure, even in people without hypertension
• non-fatal myocardial infarction (aka a heart attack)

On the plus side, low caffeine consumption still seems relatively safe for most folks, so a few daily cups of tea or squares of dark chocolate shouldn’t harm you (and in fact, may greatly boost your wellbeing!).

And fortunately, not everyone is adversely affected. For those lucky enough to be fast metabolizers, there is good news – and lots of it. Fast metabolizers don’t show the same association between coffee and disease — if you’re a fast metabolizer, coffee might even improve your health!

If you’d like to know more about how well you metabolize caffeine, you can take a quick and easy genetic test through agencies such as  23andme.com or existencegenetics.com.

 

What about cortisol?

Cortisol is a hormone produced by the adrenal glands. It increases blood pressure, spikes blood sugar and prepares the body for “fight or flight” mode.

Coffee and caffeine tend to transiently increase cortisol levels; however, this depends on several factors, including when you drink coffee, how often you drink it, and whether you have high blood pressure.

Cortisol is normally high in the morning, so if you drink some coffee at 6 a.m. and 10 a.m., you should be fine, as cortisol is naturally elevated at that time of day anyway.  However, your body may not appreciate coffee as much in the afternoon or evening, when cortisol normally drops. At that point, consider tea or something decaffeinated.

Again, there’s individual variation: Habitual consumers of coffee seem to be less affected by the cortisol bump, while those with hypertension seem to be more affected.

If cortisol levels are a problem for you, keep your coffee intake to first thing in the morning, and otherwise consume more tea. (Not only does tea have less caffeine, it also has other beneficial, calming compounds such as L-theanine.

 

What about pesticides?

C

offee plants are heavily sprayed with pesticides, which pose obvious health concerns. Fortunately, the plant’s structure offers some protection. While the outer “berry” does receive a lot of exposure, it’s the interior bean that is roasted and used for coffee, and its exposure is far less.  In addition, the roasting process destroys the majority of pesticide residues.

If you’re especially wary of pesticides, choose organically grown coffee. (Hey, it can’t hurt.) And while you’re at it, look for the Fair Trade label, which helps insure that family farmers are paid a fair wage for their crops.

 

What about my insulin sensitivity?

 

While a high dose of caffeine tends to decrease insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance acutely, it doesn’t seem to cause chronic problems. While those at risk of developing diabetes may want to be cautious, overall coffee consumption is actually associated with a 35% decreased risk of developing type II diabetes.

What about my kids?

There’s no clear guideline on when kids can safely consume coffee. Guidelines on caffeine consumption are based mostly on the size of the child, rather than their chronological ages.

Nevertheless, Health Canada recommends:

• no more than 45 milligrams a day for kids aged 4 to 6;
• 62.5 milligrams for kids age 7 to 9;
• 85 milligrams for kids age 10 to 12; and
• no more than 2.5 milligrams per kilogram (2.2 pounds) of body weight for adolescents 13 and up.

All this means that a 110 pound adolescent should not have more than 125 milligrams of caffeine a day — about one 6-8 oz cup of coffee.

Bear in mind, too, that kids may be getting plenty of caffeine from soft drinks, bottled tea, etc.

 

Coffee’s benefits

 

Caffeine & dehydration

For years, fitness enthusiasts worried that coffee would dehydrate them. However, a recent review of 10 studies found that consuming up to 550 mg of caffeine per day (or about five 8-oz cups) does not cause fluid-electrolyte imbalances in athletes or fitness enthusiasts.

In another review, researchers concluded that consuming caffeine-containing beverages as part of a normal lifestyle does not lead to fluid losses exceeding the volume of fluid consumed (intake and output were roughly equal), nor is it associated with poor hydration status.

Take-home: Don’t drink coffee as your only beverage, and drink enough water, and you’ll be fine.

Coffee & performance

 

Let’s be honest — that first morning coffee can transform us from beast to philosopher (or at least, slightly more awake and nicer beast). Coffee, and more specifically its caffeine content, provide many noted mental and physical performance benefits.

Caffeine reduces our rate of perceived exertion, so it doesn’t feel like we’re working as hard as we actually are. People who regularly drink coffee perform better on tests of reaction time, verbal memory, and visuo-spatial reasoning.

Another study found that women over the age of 80 performed significantly better on tests of cognitive function if they had regularly consumed coffee over the course of their lifetimes.

Take-home: A little bit of coffee/caffeine before important tasks requiring alertness and energy can be a good thing.

Coffee & Parkinson’s

Parkinson’s disease is a fatal and incurable brain disease that affects 1 percent to 2 percent of people over 65.  Amazingly, at least six studies have found that regular coffee drinkers are up to 80% less likely to develop Parkinson’s.

Researchers have identified a gene called GRIN2A that appeared to protect people who drank coffee from developing Parkinson’s.  GRIN2A is linked to glutamate, a compound that is suspected of killing the brain cells that die off in Parkinson’s patients.  Glutamate can be affected by another compound called adenosine, and coffee interferes with this process.

However: Only about 25% of the population has the gene variant of GRIN2A that boosts the protective effect of coffee.

Take-home: Coffee may lower Parkinson’s risk, but only in a small subset of people. 

 

Coffee & Alzheimer’s

Speaking of neurodegenerative disorders, Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia.  There is no cure for the disease, which gets progressively worse over time, and eventually leads to death.

What separates the research on Alzheimer’s from most of the other information covered in this article is that it derived from directly controlled trials versus simple observation.

Here, research indicates that people who drink about three cups of coffee a day show a marked reduction in cognitive impairment compared to non-drinkers.  Once you got up to four or more cups per day, though, the associated protection disappears.

This protection was not seen with tea or decaf coffee, so the benefit seems to be from the combination of the caffeine and some of coffee’s bioactive compounds.

In fact, new research from the University of South Florida found that this combination boosts blood levels of a critical growth factor called GCSF (granulocyte colony stimulating factor) that seems to prevent the formation of Alzheimer’s disease. People with Alzheimer’s disease have less  GCSF than the rest of the population. Increasing GCSF in mice improves their memory.

In the U of South Florida study, the researchers compared the effects of regular and decaf coffee to those of caffeine alone.  In both Alzheimer’s mice and normal mice, treatment with regular coffee dramatically increased blood levels of GCSF; neither caffeine alone nor decaf coffee provided this effect.

GCSF seems to improve memory performance in the Alzheimer’s mice in three ways:

• It recruits stem cells from bone marrow to enter the brain and remove the harmful beta-amyloid protein that initiates the disease.
• It creates new connections between brain cells.
• It increases the birth of new neurons in the brain.

As the lead researcher, neuroscientist Dr. Chuanhai Cao, remarked: “Coffee is inexpensive, readily available, easily gets into the brain, appears to directly attack the disease process, and has few side-effects for most of us”.

According to the researchers, no other Alzheimer’s therapy being developed comes close to meeting all these criteria.

Take-home: Coffee seems to contain compounds that may reduce Alzheimer’s risk; and may also be part of a treatment protocol in the future.

 

Coffee, antioxidants & cancer

While dark chocolate and green tea gather a lot of acclaim for their antioxidant content, coffee actually outshines them both in this department.

In fact, the antioxidants in coffee may make up as much as 50-70% of the total antioxidant intake of the average American! (Which is not necessarily a good thing, because it means that there are a lot of vegetables not getting eaten…)

Despite some general worries about the health effects of coffee, coffee consumption is associated with an overall decreased risk of cancer.  In particular coffee consumption has been shown to be associated with a lower risk for oral, esophageal, pharyngeal, breast (in post-menopausal women), liver, colon, and aggressive prostate cancer.

When it comes to the prostate, researchers recently found that men who drank the most coffee (6 or more cups per day) were nearly 60% less likely to develop advanced prostate cancer than non-coffee drinkers.  Other research has shown that people who regularly consume two or more cups per day may have a 25% decreased risk of colon cancer.

Again, the research is mixed in part because of the variation in response to coffee.

Take-home: Coffee may lower your cancer risk, but don’t count on it as your only health strategy. And eat some vegetables already.

 

Coffee & cardiovascular health

Drinking unfiltered types of coffee can increase your levels of LDL (aka “bad”) cholesterol. But overall the data seems to indicate that coffee consumption may moderately reduce your risk of dying from cardiovascular complications.

Take-home: Research is mixed on cardiovascular disease and coffee.

 

Coffee & overall mortality

A recent study in The New England Journal of Medicine showed that drinking two to three cups of coffee per day was associated with a 10% decreased risk of death for men at any age, and a 13% decreased risk of death for women at any age.

In general, coffee drinkers were less likely to die from heart or respiratory disease, stroke, diabetes, injuries, accidents or infections. (Which makes us wonder… what do they die of? Espresso steamer mishaps?)

Take-home: Coffee appears to generally lower overall premature mortality slightly.

 

Summary & recommendations

Coffee’s not for everyone. And it’s not a magic bullet. Still, it seems to have significant health benefits for those who can tolerate it. This includes:

• better athletic and mental performance
• possibly lower rates of some types of cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and Type 2 diabetes
• possibly some prevention of premature mortality and cardiovascular disease

Most of the research on coffee is epidemiological. This means studies look at associations rather than cause and effect. Simply because coffee is associated with particular risks and benefits doesn’t necessarily mean that coffee causes all of these risks or benefits.

Just as with all foods (and nutrients for that matter), dosage matters. While some studies have found large intakes (5-6 cups) to have significant benefits, other research suggests that drinking that much coffee is counter-productive.

In general, it appears that drinking some coffee is good, but more might not be better, especially if you are a slow metabolizer.  For those who are greatly affected by coffee and caffeine, avoid it altogether or cut down your consumption.

Want a quick and easy test of your coffee consumption? Ask yourself how you feel physically, mentally, and emotionally a few hours after you drink some… as well as if you miss your daily dose.

Also, go black if possible. Pumping your coffee full of cream, sugar, and other exotic additives reduces any potential health benefits by adding unnecessary calories and artificial flavours and sweeteners. (And Frappucinos or chocolate covered coffee beans? C’mon.)

Taking all the data into consideration, it seems that your best bet is about 1-3 cups of coffee (8-24 oz) per day. This will maximize the benefits while minimizing the risk.

And keep this in mind…while there is positive data on coffee, these benefits don’t necessarily include things like energy drinks and caffeine pills.  There are many antioxidants and bioactive compounds in coffee that are interacting with its caffeine content to provide the benefits.  So, unfortunately, Red Bull doesn’t count.

References

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Hamza TH, et al.  Genome-wide gene-environment study identifies glutamate receptor gene GRIN2A as a Parkinson’s disease modifier gene via interaction with coffee.  PLoS Genet. 2011 Aug;7(8):e1002237.

Gavrieli A, et al.  Caffeinated coffee does not acutely affect energy intake, appetite, or inflammation but prevents serum cortisol concentrations from falling in healthy men.  J Nutr. 2011 Apr 1;141(4):703-7.

Cornelis MC, et al. Coffee, CYP1A2 Genotype, and Risk of Myocardial Infarction. JAMA. 2006;295(10):1135-1141

Wisborg K, et al. Maternal consumption of coffee during pregnancy and stillbirth and infant death in first year of life: prospective study. BMJ. 2003 326 (7386): 420.

Richelle M, et al. Comparison of the Antioxidant Activity of Commonly Consumed Polyphenolic Beverages (Coffee, Cocoa, and Tea) Prepared per Cup Serving. J. Agric. Food Chem., 2001, 49 (7), pp 3438–3442

Leitzmann WF, et al. A prospective study of coffee consumption and the risk of symptomatic gallstone disease in men.  JAMA. 1999 281:2106-12

Leitzmann MF, et al. Coffee intake is associated with lower risk of symptomatic gallstone disease in women. Gastroenterology. 2002 Dec;123(6):1823-30

Webster Ross G, et al. Association of Coffee and Caffeine Intake With the Risk of Parkinson Disease.  JAMA. May 24, 2000, 283:20

Hancock DB, et al. Smoking, Caffeine, and Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs in Families With Parkinson Disease. Arch Neurol. 2007;64(4):576-580.

Klatsky AL, et al. Coffee, Cirrhosis, and Transaminase Enzymes. Arch Intern Med. 2006;166:1190-1195.

van Dam RM, Hu FB. Coffee consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review.  JAMA. 2005 Jul 6;294(1):97-104.

Tavani, A, et al. Coffee and tea intake and risk of oral, pharyngeal and esophageal cancer. Oral Oncol. 2003 39 (7): 695-700.

Ganmaa D, Willett WC, Li TY, et al. Coffee, tea, caffeine and risk of breast cancer: a 22-year follow-up. Int  J Cancer 2008 122 (9): 2071-6.

Inoue M, Yoshimi I, Sobue T, Tsugane S. Influence of Coffee Drinking on Subsequent Risk of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Prospective Study in Japan. JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute 97 (4): 293-300

Nkondjock A. Coffee consumption and the risk of cancer: an overview. Cancer Lett. 2009 May 18;277(2):121-5.

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Somoza V, et al. Activity-Guided Identification of a Chemopreventive Compound in Coffee Beverage Using in Vitro and in Vivo Techniques. J Agric Food Chem. 2003 51 (23), pp 6861–6869

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Josh's Fat Loss Challenge Journey

OK.  So before I begin, a quick apology to anyone who had no particular desire to see me in a state of semi-undress.  However, pictures are worth 1000 words, so I just wanted to start by showing you what I achieved in the last 6 weeks of concerted effort to burn off some unwanted body fat.

(If you don't think I lost much, try walking around holding a 10kg dumbbell all day.  What size dumbbell are you carrying around with you all day?)

So, to transform your body and reduce all that annoying jelly from around your middle, both exercise and food habits must be taken into account.  Both are 100% necessary to lose weight and live a healthier, longer life.  We know this. 

We know so much.  In fact it's not the knowing that's the problem.  It's the knowing too much but not doing anything that is. 

I've had many people come to me over the years asking me to help them lose fat and tone up.  "No problem" I say.  Just do as I say and I'll get you the body you desire.  All you need to do exercise for around 30 mins vigorously for 5 days a week, and change what, when and how you shop, prepare food and eat/drink. 

"Yeah.  Nah.  I already eat healthily.  Just show me some exercises."

"Um.  OK.  What if I told you, you could keep eating the way you do, but you'd have to run 10km every day minimum plus do 3 sessions of resistance training for 45 minutes each week?  OR...... you could listen to me and change what, when and how you shop, prepare food and eat/drink?"

There is a big difference between eating healthily and eating for weight loss.  Specifically fat loss.  These can be the same, but for most of us they aren't.  I've been asking clients to change their eating habits for years.  Those that listen to me get very clear, quick and visible results.  Those that don't, still enjoy a raft of benefits from training with me including improved strength, bone density, flexibility, balance, range of motion, core strength & stability, pain reduction and fitness but rarely change the main thing they came to me for in the first place.  Reduce their waistline. 

Recently a colleague of mine took on a 6 week fat loss challenge.  He is about the same height and build as me and managed to lose a staggering 15 kgs over the 6 week period.  He looks amazing, feels fantastic and it transformed the way he thinks about food.  His efforts inspired me to do some thinking.  I've watched my weight slowly creep upwards over the years.  Less cardio and a slowing metabolism saw my average weight go from around 80kgs in my 20's to around 90kgs in more recent years.  I also thought to myself, I haven't changed my eating habits in over 10 years.  Also, if I'm asking my clients to give up the naughty foods and drinks they love and reduce their calorific intake, don't I need to know what that feels like first?  Don't I need to set an example for those who look to me for guidance and inspiration.  What if I lost 10kgs of fat.  Wouldn't that inspire some people?  Wouldn't it make me a  better coach?  A more empathetic coach at the very least and be able to speak with conviction from experience?  Might more of my clients listen to me and commit to making some changes for their own benefit?

The course was clear.  It was time to commit to a fat loss challenge and see what I could achieve when I set my mind to it.  I engaged the services of weight loss coach.  I mean, doesn't everyone need a coach & mentor to help them with the things they're not too great at on their own?  I got my partner to join me on the challenge to reduce temptations in the household and to keep me accountable.  I paid some money, filled out a lifestyle questionnaire and got my meal plan for the next week.  It was go time.

We got our meal plans for the week, did our shopping and started preparing the night before.  We needed lots of organic eggs, free range chicken, lean red meat, fish and heaps of green veggies.  In the first week, the primary goals were to eat clean, real food.  Drink plenty of water.  Stop eating when 80% full and eat every 2-3 hours like clockwork.  No more coffee.  No more alcohol.  No more grains, wheat, dairy, sweets and almost no salt. 

That first week for me was the toughest.  My body had been used to eating pretty much whatever I liked, whenever I liked and I had basically no portion control.  Sure I kept away from high GI starchy carbs, sugary sweets and hardly drank any alcohol but my body was used to a very different eating habit.  So when I started the plan I was shocked at the power of my cravings for my morning latte and dark chocolate.  Previously daily staples for me.  I did not anticipate turning into Mr Crankypants when I got hungry.  I'd get cranky about some extremely trivial crap, storm off in a huff, then come back 30 mins later and say "I have no idea what just happened.  I am very sorry".   So much for tough guy PT.  Yep.  Just as human and fallible as everyone else.

By the end of week one, I had lost 3.5kgs. 

Week 2 came around and we had managed to overcome 2 pretty big hurdles over the week-end.  We managed to go to a movie and walk straight past the snack bar and crack-like aroma of pop-corn without succumbing.  We also managed to go to a friend's birthday lunch gathering at a very nice restaurant in Red Hill.  All I did was call ahead, explain the situation and the kitchen were happy to prepare something that fit the meal plan guidelines.  I mean, every restaurant has chicken, fish and veggies in the fridge right?  Just because it's not on the menu, doesn't mean they can't whip you up something healthy so long as you give them a couple of day's notice.  The new meal plan came through with specific food measurements so we had to go and buy some digital kitchen scales and get used to weighing our food before cooking it.  Knowing how much total weight of meat and veggies we needed for the week was great, as we could go to the market, buy up in bulk, and save heaps of money.  All we had to do was measure out the portions and then freeze what we weren't going to use in the next couple of days.  We found ourselves in an efficient routine of measuring, wrapping, freezing, defrosting, cooking, separating in to Tupperware and then simply eating each meal at the designated times and frequency.  This simplified things considerably.  Plus we were saving lots of money by not eating out or ordering in.

By the end of week two, I had lost 5kgs.

Week 3 was the start of a new meal plan.  One that involved even less carbohydrates.  Over the week-end I went to a friend's birthday party.  At the party there were kegs of beer and plates of dips, chips, sweets and soft drinks.  I got a mineral water and started distracting myself from temptation with socialising.  All was going well until the birthday cake came out and then someone heated up some Swedish meatballs so the aromas were making a beeline for my nostrils.  I was hungry, my stomach started to groan.  I felt myself starting to weaken.  I began justifying how surely a little bit of this or that wouldn't be so bad...Danger!  Danger!  I thought about the money I'd spent on the weight loss challenge.  I thought about my partner who had given up many of the foods she loved cooking and eating to support me.  I thought about the promise I'd made to myself and my coach to stick with this no matter what and did the only thing I could think of in the moment.  I walked out of the party, got in my car and drove away from the temptation.  Problem solved.  Week 4 was a lot like week 3.

By the end of week 4 I'd lost 7.5kgs.

Week 5 came along and the meal plan changed again.  Now we were learning to play with food timing and training times.  By now people around the gym had started to notice I was looking thinner.  I was still training hard.  I had added some high intensity interval training (HIIT) to my week in the form of 10 x 120 meter sprints on the treadmill with 2 minutes rest in between.  I noticed how much faster my weight dropped when I did HIIT.  I also found that whilst the day to day cravings weren't as powerful anymore, I was starting to dream about eating  pizza and biscuits dipped in chocolate.  I also noticed that I didn't quite have the same amount of power in my resistance training sessions, got tireder quicker and was slower to recover.  This is natural as I was on a calorie deficit, my body had no sugar in the stomach to use readily as per usual and had to go scrounging around my body to liberate fat, synthesise it into glycogen to be then used as energy.  A much harder pathway for it than usual.  I gained inspiration from my colleague who said, just know that no matter how much weaker you feel, whatever you are doing now is burning the fat away, so keep pushing.  And so I did.

By the end of week 5 I'd lost 8.5kgs.

Week 6 was a lot like week 5.  We kept our spirits up by fantasising about all the foods we miss and how we look forward to having some of them again when we're done.  Of course, now, we know what to do to lose the weight and keep it off.  We will not be eating the naughty foods as often as we used to and have agreed to give ourselves a cheat day once a week as a reward for a week of healthful eating.  Thinking about that first pizza after the challenge is over is driving me onward.  I'd give my right arm for a pizza!  Soon my precious.  Soon.  But not yet.....

By the end of week 6 I'd lost just over 10kgs.  Challenge over. 

Epilogue....

In the interest of being completely honest and transparent about this experience, there are a few points I'd like to share:

• This was one of the toughest things I've done in a long time.  Some may find it easier than I did but I'm a foodie.  I LOVE food.  I love all food except for deep fried, doughy, sugar coated death (i.e. donuts, glazed bread scrolls, KFC etc).  Sure I avoided bread/rice/potatoes/pasta for the most part and I'm not a fan of sweet, sugary things, but I essentially ate when I needed to and because my job is so active and I workout so frequently, I rarely thought about portion size.  To go from that, to limited food variety, calculated amounts and designated timing of meals felt like torture at times.  For the most part however, after a couple of days on each new plan, my body would get used to it, and I would cruise a little easier for a while. 
• Being creative with flavours is crucial to not going mad.  Especially when your world consists largely of lean meat and veggies and no salt.  I have to give credit to Jenn who took time to research herb & spice combinations and made a huge effort to make the humble chicken breast a thing of delicious wonder on a daily basis.  Not to say she did ALL the cooking (I cooked as often as I could), but she enjoys it far more than I do and is coincidentally much better at it than I.  
• Beware of all the hidden rubbish in pre-made foods.  I thought I'd sprinkle on some "Garlic and Herb" seasoning to our dinner on one of the early nights in the process.  Then Jenn checked the ingredients list and whilst there was no salt in it, there was amazingly and inexplicably, sugar and rice flour?!  So trust me when I say, it's always a better idea to mix up your own dressings, marinades, seasonings and sauces than it is to buy them ready made and trust your health to someone else.  Sure it takes time & effort that most of us are short of, but it's your and your loved ones' health at stake here, so it's definitely worth it.
• A weight loss plan/diet/challenge or whatever you want to call it WILL NOT WORK unless you have a plan of attack.  A strategy.  A structure.  A compelling reason and something valuable at stake.  There are too many temptations around.  You will have weak moments.  You will get tired, weak, cranky and your resolve will falter at times.  Without forethought and planning and something in place to support you or hold you accountable, what will stop you from sneaking something that you know you shouldn't.  Once you start to cheat, you can open the flood gates to more cheating.  "Ah well.  I've blown it now.  What difference does it make?" etc.  It's a very slippery slope.  You MUST commence any endeavour that takes you outside of your comfort zone with the unwavering belief that you will succeed.  If you don't believe you will, you are sabotaged before you begin.  Make sure that you are clear what the consequences will be if you fail and how much you will gain when you succeed.  But don't leave it to chance.  Spend some money on it so at least there is the knowledge in the back of your mind that you will have wasted it if you cheat.  Give something valuable to a friend and order them to smash it to pieces if you fail.  Write a blank check for $1000 and sign it and give it to a trusted compatriot with the orders to give it to the charity of their choice if you don't finish your task.  Conversely arrange a big reward for yourself when you do complete your goal successfully and put it on a calendar or somewhere in clear view so you can see it every day (just try not to make it a bucket of KFC or an entire mud cake etc).  Without these things, what will lift you up and remind you of your purpose and give you strength when you don't have any of your own?
• Remember, nothing great was every achieved without some kind of risk or sacrifice.  Nothing and no one can make you feel as strong, proud and unstoppable as giving yourself a big, scary goal, throwing caution to the wind, going for it, sticking with it no matter what, and ultimately finishing it.  It's a high that very little if anything else in life can compare to (Yes.  I was a life coach before I became a PT.  Can't help it.  :-) )
• Let me know if I can be of any assistance in helping you go for your goals.  It would be my pleasure.