Protein Lean Power

Power-up your workouts by adding lean protein to your breakfast

Warm Gluten Free Cereals: 

Buckwheat, Gluten Free Oatmeal and Organic Brown Rice Cereals

Cook as directed on the label and just before the cereal is completely cooked add pre-mixed protein powder to the cereal. Continue to cook on low heat for a few more minutes, or until the protein liquid is mostly absorbed. This will give you a creamy breakfast cereal with complex carbohydrates and protein.

To mix the protein powder: Add two scoops of protein powder to about 7-10 ounces of water (or non-dairy “milk”). Shake or blend until dissolved. Do not put the powder directly into the cereal without mixing, it will probably curdle and get lumpy without blending into the cereal.

Gluten Free Cold Cereals:

Blend protein powder in 8-10 ounces of almond, rice, oat or hemp milk. Shake or blend well. Add to your cereal bowl. You can combine this with fruit in season. 


Best Bet:

I recommend Protein Lean from Burn & Build Body to add to your warm or cold cereals and protein smoothies. It will add 17 grams of brown rice and green pea protein to your breakfast and won't cause bloating the way whey and casein protein powders can.

Protein plus Fruit Smoothies:

Mix fresh or frozen fruit with protein powder and about 8 ounces of water or almond milk. If you are allergic to nuts – use rice, oat or hemp milk.  

Eggs:

Look for organic, free range (as opposed to cage free), antibiotic free eggs. Buy them from farmers markets, or if you’re lucky enough to live in the country, go right to the farmer.

Best hard or soft boiled. Tasty scrambled eggs oxidize the cholesterol in the yolk. 

Combine your eggs with a slice of gluten free toast and steamed vegetables.

Meats:

Stay with leaner meats (turkey, chicken). Avoid sausage and fatty meats like bacon. Turkey bacon is processed, it just promotes itself as healthy, don’t be fooled.

6 to 8 ounces of is good for a serving. If you’re on a lean down and build fitness quest, meat at breakfast might be a short-term option. However, our morning metabolism isn’t usually ready for this kind of heavy protein. Stay with organic meats, or at least certified meats, free of growth hormones and antibiotics.

Combine your meat with a slice of gluten free toast, brown rice or quinoa and steamed vegetables.

McFriedBreakfasts:

This isn’t part of a healthy lifestyle or diet. No fast food breakfasts.

Know your egg, know your meat, don’t even think about dunkin a donut.

While you're at it, put these foods on your unhealthy list and  eliminate them from your diet:

Dairy including milk, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese

Gluten containing grains, pastas and baked goods

Refined sugar and chemical sugar substitutes

Peanuts and peanut butters

Shell fish and shrimp

Deli meats and processed meats

Hydrogenated oils and oils heated to frying 

Soy products

Train your Mind,Train your Body,Tame your Tongue

Information on this site is not a substitute for consulting a licensed medical professional or nutritionist. Never begin an exercise or nutritional regime without consulting your health care provider.

Burn & Build Body with your Detox

More than Squeezing Lemons

I remember my first “detox experiment” when I was in my 30’s. Some friends were doing a fasting cleanse with water, lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper. What did I know? It sounded good to me, and since we were all engaged in similar spiritual pursuits and taking breath work classes together, I figured someone knew what they were doing. As it turned out, all we were really good at was squeezing the lemons and getting the cayenne pepper mix just right. In the end, we all went back to our old eating habits.

That wasn’t my last adventure into detoxification and I’m glad that I’ve had various experiences which have included a guided juice and vegetable liquid fast and Panchakarma, the Ayurvedic cleansing program. The goal of all of the various programs is always physical cleansing and rejuvenation.

Since then I’ve learned a lot, and since I’m working with my training clients on anti-aging and lifestyle changes in addition to pumping iron, I thought I’d share some of the information here. 

Metabolic Slow Down

Most people think that a detoxification is necessary only after you’ve binged excessively on drugs, alcohol or prescription medications. They also think that a detoxification has to be in a “fasting” form.  But that isn’t the case. Our bodies accumulate toxins through the ingestion of pesticides, breathing polluted air, drinking chlorinated water laced with fluoride and from the toxic by-products of digesting food, or only partially digesting food and from working out– as well as from drugs and alcohol. These toxic substances slow our metabolism - we get fat, decrease our energy and chip away at the vital life forces that keep us young, strong and confident.

Toxic Congestion

When toxins build up, our body looses the ability to function at its peak, opening the door for chronic, degenerative and non-specific diseases.  Our natural state of health and wellness is lost. Like Superman around kryptonite, we’re weaker everywhere… that includes mental functions and emotions that should be calm and happy – in addition to the physical dangers.

Starting a Detox

We can scrub our skin, but what about our internal organs? To look and feel our best, we have to make a conscious decision and take action to clear toxic substances from our system. Because a healthy, well functioning body is critical to gains made while strength training, I have about 70% of my new clients start with a cleanse. If you’re looking for a program, you’ll want to make sure you have guidance and support, someone to modify your program depending on your level of detoxification. Burn & Build Body was created to support my clients and Dr. Margolin's patients. Dr. Margolin and I co-founded Burn & Build Body and have been testing the Detox Kit for the last 5 years, it's user friendly, uncomplicated and has proven results.

Detox on the Run

On the run? Well, not really. But unless you can drop out of life for a week or two, you’ll be managing a detoxification program while you’re working, and dealing with everyday life. Since a program that detoxes the liver, kidneys, lymph system and supports intestinal function along with providing digestive enzymes is important to start with, I use the 14-Day Anti-Aging Detox Kit that has a specific diet, doesn’t’ crash your body and leaves everyone feeling more energetic and usually lighter.

My favorite thing is that the Burn & Build Body 14- Day Anti-Aging Detox program has a defined beginning and end, a specific and manageable diet, re-focuses eating patterns and while eliminating toxins, brings calm and change to both body and mind.

14-Day Detox vs "Fasting"

A fasting vs. food based detox. Both types of detoxification programs have benefits. When I "fast", it’ll be a fruit and vegetable juice fast, I’ll drop out of life for the duration and be in a place that prepares the juices and supports me spiritually as well as physically. The benefits of the Burn & Build Body cleanse – a cleanse that with a modified food diet include: being able to  choose to stay in your daily activities and having food to absorb and carry released toxins out of your system. 

Detox to Retox

I’m not sure if I made that word up, but it does happen. We slip into some of our old eating habits after a while. Confront your daily stresses and toxins start to build up again. So one detox gets us started, and repeated ones keep us healthy and vibrant. The New York Times (T-Magazine) recommends getting a detox Kit in December to detox after the holidays. (T-Magazine - see December 18)

Subversion Assault

It’s not just alcohol, sugar, dairy, gluten, heavy metals, pesticides and pollutants that are out to bring us down. (Translate that as “accelerate our aging process”), it’s people we know, even “friends” who want us on the same binge as them. Detoxification can also mean cleaning up our relationships and choosing healthy ones instead.

Burn to Build

Once I’ve completed this 14-Day Detox program, I find my results at the gym to multiply quicker than they have in the months before. Everything is building on a clean strong base, and nutrients are being absorbed and used as they were meant to. Because my liver is performing well, my hormone levels are better.

If you’re a guy reading this, know that a poorly functioning liver also affects your prostate health adversely. My post-detox leaner body affects my spirit as well, and I have more creativity when I’m writing or painting.

Adam Razak, an elite fitness trainer and martial artist uses and recommends these products to his clients to stay fit and get cut. On the Burn & Build Body cleanse, you'll burn body fat but not lean muscle.

This is what Rich Fitter, editor of Men's Exercise had to say about his experience:

"I plan on repeating this program every six months to ensure I stay healthy and fight father time. Given my experience with the (Burn & Build Body) 14-Day Anti-Aging Detox Kit, I highly recommend it to our (Men's Exercise) readers."

See the Anti-Aging Detox article from Men's Exercise.

Choose Anti-Aging

We get to choose what we put in our body. Choose foods that heal, nourish it and promote anti-aging. Tune-up your engine twice a year. You’ll be another chronological year older in 12 months, but your body won’t have biologically aged more than a few days.  See Burn & Build Lifestyle for food, shopping, cooking and recipe suggestions.

Train your Body. Train your Mind. Tame your Tongue.

Information on this site is not a substitute for consulting a licensed medical professional or nutritionist. You should never begin an exercise or nutritional regime without consulting your health care provider.

MetroSource Magazine Article – The Pre-Travel Workouts

GETTING IN SHAPE FOR TRAVEL

As published in MetroSource Magazine, April-May 2011

Growing up in Portland Oregon in the 50’s, long distance travel was never high on my family’s agenda. Somehow I got a travel itch that started in high school and it hasn’t stopped. It’s not as easy now. I used to hitchhike and we all used to be able to walk on and off planes to see our friends off on their trips.

JUST SITTING AROUND

The most challenging part of traveling is sitting. Whether we are traveling by car, train or air, our bodies are badly supported with seats that push our shoulders forward and make our lower backs scream with inflammation and stress.  Once we arrive, hotel beds and pillows aren’t always up to the support standards that keep our bodies healthy.

ARRIVING SHARP

Whether we’re traveling for business or vacation, we want to arrive feeling rested and strong, not tired and achy. The time to insure this is prior to travel. Make a plan and perform exercises that target endurance and core muscle groups to achieve this goal.

PRE-TRAVEL PLANS

·      For vacation travel, get committed three weeks before your departure date.

·      If you travel for business, incorporate this formula into your workout regime.

·      Dedicate three days a week to fitness conditioning for travel.

·      Include a yoga or stretch class at least one day a week.

·      Include two 30-40 minute cardio sessions each week between weight workouts.

·      Get a massage every week to work out any existing stiffness.

·      Adjust your diet so it’s low in fats and carbohydrates and heavy in protein and vegetables.

·      Eliminate inflammatory foods: sugar, anything fried, alcohol and excessive salt.

STRENGTH-TEST YOURSELF

On Day 1, you will Test your strength and endurance with this simple (yet challenging) routine outlined below.  Each week, you will perform the strength test and time how long it takes you to complete. At the end of three weeks, your goal is to shave time off your initial performance.

·  Start with 10 Squats

·  Move directly to 10 Push-ups 

·  Then follow with 10 Crunches. 

·  Immediately stand and repeat the sequence 9 more times. 

Stop if you have to, but your goal is to complete all of the movements with no rest between them. This routine targets your legs, abs and upper body and will give you a good cardio workout.

TRAVEL FIT WORKOUTS

Here are 3 days worth of exercises. I recommend doing them Monday, Wednesday, Friday separated with cardio on Tuesday and Thursday.

Perform each exercise 3 times with a goal of 15 repetitions for each – excluding the Strength Test, perform that just once.

Day 1:

1.              Strength test workout

2.              Medicine ball woodchop

3.              Cable side twists

4.              Stability ball dumbbell press

5.              Stability ball dumbbell flyes

6.              Barbell upright rows

7.              Dumbbell bicep curls

Day 2:

1.              One arm dumbbell row

2.              Wide grip cable pull down

3.              Narrow grip cable pull down

4.              Seated leg extensions

5.              Hip dips on stability ball

6.              Dumbbell weighted squats

7.              Stability ball crunches

Day 3:

1.              Medicine ball weighted sit-up

2.              Oblique crunches

3.              Plank on stability ball (hold for 10-60 seconds)

4.              Dumbbell side lateral shoulder raises

5.              Dumbbell single arm shoulder presses

6.              Push-ups, toes on stability ball

7.              Triceps rope push downs

You can find instructional videos to all of the exercises      at Rick Dinihanian's Channel on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/rickdinihanian?feature=mhsn

Train your Mind,Train your Body,Tame your Tongue
Information on this site is not a substitute for consulting a licensed medical professional or nutritionist. Never begin an exercise or nutritional regime without consulting your health care provider. 

Cooking Healthy

Six Simple Tips

This is part 4 of “Living a Detox Lifestyle”.

1. Clean Your Food

Thoroughly rinse all vegetables, lettuce, and greens before using. The use of vegetable and fruit “soap” is recommended to help removing pesticide residues. Grains should also be thoroughly rinsed before being cooked.

2. Cooking Vegetables

The best way to cook vegetables is to steam them. Boiling destroys their nutrient content. Be careful not to over cook them – you’ll destroy valuable enzymes as well as nutrients, vegetables should be a little crunchy, not soggy.

3. Cooking Meat

Ground meat, should be lean and always cooked to well done. Other meat cuts can be cooked to your preference, although medium or medium-rare better preserve nutrients.

4. Cooking Poultry

Remove the skin of all fowl before cooking. Use a thermometer when roasting to determine when poultry is done. Grill, roast or steam, never fry.

5. Cooking Fish

Fish may smell a bit like the sea, but never bad. Do not eat it if it does. Make sure fish is cooked all the way through.

6. Steaming Fish and Poultry

You can easily steam your fish and poultry in a stacking bamboo steamer. If you want to steam vegetables at the same time, put your fish or poultry on the bottom steamer and your vegetables on the top one. Vegetables usually cook faster, simply remove the top steamer and continue cooking the fish or chicken until done. You’ll be surprised at how tender and moist your food will be.

Avoid Cooking This Way

1. Frying

Broil, steam, bake grill, roast or saute instead.

Do not fry anything.

2. With Salt

Do not salt foods, at least until after they have been cooked. Use unbleached, crystal or sea salt.

3. With Microwave Ovens

Microwaving changes the chemical structure of your food. It’s not a form that is beneficial to your body.

4. With Aluminum

Aluminum is a highly toxic metal. Aluminum molecules enter food that is cooked, covered or stored in aluminum pots, cans or foil. Teflon coatings do not prevent aluminum for leaching into food.

5. Scrambling Eggs

Cooking scrambled eggs causes oxidation of the cholesterol contained in the yolks, making it a harmful substance. Poaching eggs is best, followed by boiling.

4. Raw

Unless you have a healthy digestive system, raw vegetables can be difficult to digest. Steaming is the best choice for the first month or two of a health therapy program. If you digest raw vegetables well, disregard this last suggestion.

For more information visit the NPR website. You'll find a vinegar wash formula for cleaning vegetables and fruit as well as other tips. Click Here.

Train your Body. Train your Mind. Tame your Tongue.

Information on this site is not a substitute for consulting a licensed medical professional or nutritionist. You should never begin an exercise or nutritional regime without consulting your health care provider

More Healthy Shopping

Shop Smart

This is part 3 of "Living a Detox Lifestyle". These tips will continue to help you navigate through grocery store items in order to choose the highest quality food.

Produce

Although it is usually more expensive, organic produce is much healthier and has more nutrients than non-organic produce. Ideally, produce should be fresh, ripe, in-season and locally grown. Look for a local farmer’s market or consider mail-ordering organic food if there is none in your area. Color counts too–bring home an entire rainbow of colorful fruits and vegetables if your eating guidelines allow for them.

Meat

Buy only organic and/or free-range, hormone and antibiotic-free meats whenever possible. Lean meat is always healthiest. If it is not available then trim off all excess fat before cooking.

Poultry and Eggs

Poultry and eggs should be organic and/or free-range, hormone and antibiotic-free. Eggs labeled as “High Omega 3” are especially healthy. If the label says "cage free", it doesn't necessarily mean "free range".

Seafood

Buy only smaller varieties of cold water, non-farm-raised fish. Fish should smell a bit like the sea, but fresh. It should not smell bad. Avoid shellfish and scavenger type seafood. Most fish are contaminated with toxic metals and chemicals, farm raised is the least healthy and most contaminated.

Buy Whole Fresh Foods

Read labels carefully and look for foods that contain only one ingredient. Look for the word “whole” before the first ingredient on the label or ingredient list. Fresh food is healthier than packaged, frozen or canned foods. Always buy fresh first. If you do by packaged foods, always check the expiration dates on the labels.

Watch out for These

Non-Domestic Produce

Non-domestic produce is usually out of season for the climate we live in, picked unripe, heavily sprayed and lacking nutrients you’ll get with local, organic produce. If it was picked ripe and unsprayed, do you think it could handle the shipping?

Ground Meat

A patty of ground meat can contain body parts from up to 80 cattle whose health is unknown. That package of ground meat started collecting bacteria on all of its surfaces as soon as it was ground. If you insist, have your butcher grind it fresh for you, or do it yourself. Better– stick with whole meat cuts.

Frozen Poultry

Most frozen poultry is packaged by poultry processors. Most use hormones to maximize bird size and growth rate and must use antibiotics to prevent disease because of the extreme cage-crowding found in a typical poultry farm. The hormones and antibiotics remain in the bird and are passed into your body when you eat them. 

Deceptive Labeling

The word “natural” does not mean healthy or safe. Insect parts and rodent droppings are also “natural”. If the ingredients say "hydrogenated oil" (of any kind) or "partially hydrogenated oil" then the food contains trans-fats – even if the "Food Facts" say zero trans-fats. Our watchdog government allows up to .5 grams of trans-fats to be in foods without declaring it. A few servings of deceptively labeled processed foods and you are taking your trans-fat consumption into the danger zone.   Click for more trans-fat information.

10 Things to Avoid

1.  Non-domestic produce

2.  Ground Meat

3.  Frozen Poultry

4.  Farm Raised Fish

5.  Food with Additives

6.  Processed Foods

7.  Deceptive Labeling

8.  Hydrogenated Fats

9.  Artificial Sweeteners

10 High-Fructose Corn Syrup

Train your Body. Train your Mind. Tame your Tongue.

Information on this site is not a substitute for consulting a licensed medical professional or nutritionist. You should never begin an exercise or nutritional regime without consulting your health care provider

Healthy Shopping

Shop Well – Eat Well
This is the second part of a series about living a "detoxification lifestyle". For an  overview of detoxification read this blog – click here. My  detox program starts with a metabolic detox and targets the liver, kidneys and helps restore function to the lymph system and intestines. It also includes probiotics and digestive enzymes. The 10-day diet does not include grains of any kind, red meat, alcohol, coffee, dairy or sugar. You'll find versions of some of those items on the healthy food shopping list even though they are eliminated in the detox program. We can’t eat well without having healthy foods around and having a shopping list keeps me from wandering down the bright isles lined with Twinkies and Doritos.

Shop Green

Buy everything organic if you can. But if you have to budget, or if organic simply isn't available, here's a list of foods containing the most toxins which you’ll definitely want to buy organic – and those foods that are safer and can come from from conventional sources. The Environmental Working Group lists the most chemically treated foods, and also provides information on those foods that are safer to eat non-organic.

Buy Organic

White Potatoes

Grapes 

Leafy Greens

Spinach

Kale

Carrots

Pears

Tomatoes

Bell Peppers

Celery

Peaches

Apples

Strawberies

Blueberries 

Cherries

Nectarines

OK Non-Organic

Onions

Avocados

Sweet Corn

Pineapple

Mango

Bananas

Asparagus

Sweet Peas

Kiwi

Cabbage

Eggplant

Papaya

Watermelon

Honeydew

Broccoli

Sweet Potato

Grapefruit

Count the Numbers

Blueberries are rated by as the most polluted berries on the market, containing up to 52 different pesticides. Conventional spinach has up to 48 different pesticides, cherries 42, carrots 26 and pears 28. The extra buzz you get in your non-organic coffee can come from pesticides. Look for coffee beans that say USDA Organic and Fair Trade Certified, or Rainforest Alliance (or bird friendly). No washing can clean the pesticide residue from grapes, which can harbor as many as 34 different pesticides – and remember, wine is made from grapes.

Beefy Toxins

Meats contain most of their toxins in the fat, beef muscle is fairly clean but beef fat contains up to 10 different pesticides and both meat and fat can contain growth hormones. Look for grass fed organic.

Grainy Poisons

Animals fed on non-organic grains absorb the toxins of the grains. Conventionally farmed produce and grains are frequently grown with fertilizers that contain cadmium. Cadmium is a known human carcinogen, it damages DNA and also disrupts a DNA repair system that helps to prevent cancer. Cadmium accumulates in and can also damage the kidneys. Two other common toxins that are found in non-organic grains and foods are arsenic and lead.

PCB Salmon

Polychlorinated biphenyls also known as PCBs interfere with our thyroid – the gland most important to our energy and metabolism. While PCBs are no longer used in the USA, they are still in the environment, and found particularly in "farmed" salmon – another reason to choose wild salmon. Enough exposure to these and you end up with a poorly functioning thyroid, or hypothyroid, causing weight gain, depression and low energy.

Whey This

This is a good place to mention that the whey protein you drink to support your gym workouts can contain cadmium, lead, arsenic, mercury and bovine growth hormones. Look for Non-BGH (bovine growth hormone) and organic, or from grass fed cows on the labels. You really don't want rat poison in your protein shake do you?

Ads Make Us Fat 

According to “The Daily Green”, the food industry spends $25 Billion a year marketing their products. With processed foods, for example, that kind of advertising power can create enough brand identities to make a whole nation confused and fat. In fact, it has. In 1978, 45% of the population was overweight. Today that number is 67% with increasing consumption of processed foods and obesity comes cancer, liver disease, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, kidney disorders and more.

When you’re shopping, you want to look for locally grown, in season produce and vegetables. In order for a food item to be shipped, it has to be picked before it’s ripe and full of the complete set of nutrients a ripe fruit has. Don’t cheat yourself.

Shopping Suggestions

Here’s a starter list of foods to help you stay healthy, energetic and lean:

Greens and Fresh Vegetables:

Romaine, Arugula, Watercress, Endive, Mustard Greens, Bok Choy, Spinach, Kohlrabi, Swiss Chard, Kale, Parsley, Cilantro, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Brussels Sprouts, Asparagus, Peppers, Green Beans, Celery, Carrots, Cucumber, Zucchini and Sea Vegetables.

Fruits and Vegetables

Lemons, Limes, Apples, Pears, Bananas, Melons, Strawberries, Raspberries and all fruits and berries in season.

Beans, Legumes, Grains, Seeds and Nuts

Lentils, all varieties of Beans, Quinoa, Wild and Brown Rice, Amaranth, Buckwheat, Gluten Free Oatmeal, Millet, Almonds and other Nuts (except peanuts), Sunflower and other seeds. Include hummus and almond butters. Avoid gluten containing grains.

Meat, Poultry and Tofu

Lean cuts of Chicken and Turkey, wild Salmon (not farmed) and white fish, organic, free range eggs and grass fed beef. Make sure you only consume organic and non-gmo Tofu.

Beverages

Almond and Rice Milk (avoiding soy milk), distilled and spring water, diluted organic fresh juices, herbal teas, green and white teas. Milk is not your friend.

Sweeteners

Vermont Maple Syrup, Raw Honey, Turbanado Sugar, Sucinat, Stevia and Agave. Please read the three part series on sugars from January 2010 starting with Sugar Baby - Part 1.

Seasonings and Condiments

Cayenne Pepper, Garlic, Basil, Celery Seed, Chives, Dill, Marjoram, Oregano, Rosemary, Sage, Tarragon, Thyme, Anise, Bay Leaves, Cinnamon, Corrander, Cumin, Curry, Turmeric, Fennel, Ginger, Natural Ketsup, Celtic Sea Salt (the unbleached, grey salt), Miso (in moderation), Braggs Liquid Aminos and Wheat free, low sodium Tamari.

Dan Alexander, a celebrated health writer wrote about processed foods  in his 1960 book  Good Health and Common Sense:

“Many “modern-day” diseases were unknown centuries ago. The types of illness that afflicted 

mankind 5,000 years ago were far different from the ailments of today.

Early men, and primitive people today were dependent on natural foods. They did not eat any 

processed foodstuffs, which lack certain needed elements and contain other needed elements – but in strange combinations that are unfamiliar to the body and possibly unworkable. Examples are whipped butter, hydrogenated peanut butter, processed cheeses. When we began to consume vast quantities of highly refined foods, we became victims of a flood of “new” diseases.”

Good Health and Common Sense was written half a century ago, but it didn't make us wake up. The changes since then have been an exponential increase in chemically treated and processed foods and a corresponding increase in diseases. But we can make a difference in our own lives; start with a personal shopping list, detoxify your body and diet, enjoy eating and live greener.

Train your Body. Train your Mind. Tame your Tongue.

Information on this site is not a substitute for consulting a licensed medical professional or nutritionist. You should never begin an exercise or nutritional regime without consulting your health care provider

10 Beach Body Tips

1.   Eat Often

Space your meals out three hours apart and make them small.  Aim for three “meals” and two or three snack size meals. You’ll kick-up your metabolism this way. If you’re still full after three hours, you ate too much at the last meal.

2.   Go Green

Fill up on vegetables. They don’t weigh a lot on the calorie counter, but they’ll fill you up, add fiber and insure your supply of vitamins and minerals. Go for cruciferous vegetables and dark leafy greens.

3.   Drink it up

Drink water. If you’re under-hydrated, your body will hoard water and you’ll feel bloated. Plus water helps your body process toxins and to eliminate lactic acid after you’ve worked out. You’ll want to drink at least one ounce of water for every two pounds you weigh.  Have at least 8 ounces of water ½ hour before a meal, and minimize your water intake at meals to small sips. You want your digestive fires undiluted for the best metabolism of your food. Sodas and juices are not water.

4.   Choose Proteins

We burn about 25% of the calories in each gram of protein while it’s being digested. Compared to carbohydrates (which only take about 6%) protein wins on the calorie burn race. And protein will give you the fuel to build the muscle you want.

5.   Cut your Carbohydrate Intake

But don't cut it completely. Here’s a trick. Alternate low carb and normal carb days like this:  

Give yourself two days with one serving of carbohydrates like brown rice, white sweet potato or quinoa. Replace the missing carbs on these two days with vegetables and protein. On day three, have four servings of carbs. Then repeat for a second time. When you’ve done this cycle, limit yourself to 3 servings of carbs per day.  You’ll notice your body shift. One serving is about the size of your clenched fist.

6.   Challenge Yourself

If you weight train on Monday, Wednesday and Friday then hit the gym for an additional cardio blast on Tuesday and Thursday – and make these two days “challenge” days. Aim to run farther in the same amount of time, or to increase your time from 20 minutes to 25 minutes. Every week challenge yourself to be better than the week before.

7.   Work Up-and-Down

Alternate a lower-body set with an upper-body set when training with no rest between the two sets. Pause 60 seconds and repeat the routine. Do this 3 times for a total of 6 sets. You’ll be resting your lower-body while performing an upper body set and vice-versa.

8.   Do the Big Ones

Work your big body parts. Heck, work your arms too. But focus on your bigger body parts. Working them will create the calorie burn and muscle you want. Your abdominals get worked every time you do a squat, lung, bench press or pull down. Do your abs workouts, but don’t count on them to produce a six-pack. Getting lean and putting muscle on the rest of your body is a better solution.

9.   Sleep Deep

At night our bodies detoxify things like lactic acid as well as emotional waste. When it’s doing that, it’s also secreting growth hormones that we want to build muscle. Besides, you know how good you feel, and how much energy you have to work out after a solid nights sleep. 

Try this for 10 days: Take a warm shower (or better yet, soak in a bath with magnesium flakes) before you sleep every night; your skin holds surface tension from all the electro-magnetic fields you’ve been exposed to during the day disrupting your sleep. 

           

10.   Get Smaller, Look Bigger

When you lean down, your body will be smaller and tighter. Your jeans won’t fit anymore, but you’ll actually look bigger because your muscular definition will be more visible. So eat more often, on smaller plates and double up on your cardio. If you make your mantra “yes I can”, you’ll be beach ready before summer.

Train your Body. Train your Mind. Tame your Tongue.

Information on this site is not a substitute for consulting a licensed medical professional or nutritionist. Never begin an exercise or nutritional regime without consulting your health care provider.

Making Strides

The early morning sun in West Hollywood is streaming into Peet’s Coffee. It’s a crisp sunny Los Angeles morning. Sunset Boulevard is waking up along with me. I feel great and soon I’ll be ready to head out for a run.

My first recollections of the joy of intense “cardio exercise” go back to somewhere around the seventh grade. I had a big, clunky green Schwinn Bike that took me everywhere.  As soon as my parents let me ride it wherever I wanted, off I’d go. Soon, I’d explored every park in East and West Portland. The next year I talked older friends into letting me ride with them into the foothills of Mt. Hood. In the summer, we’d end up splashing in the Sandy River and coming home sunburned.

The idea that we were “exercising” never entered our minds. It was just sheer joy of the adventure and how good everything felt. Moving my body became associated with freedom and fun.

Happy Feet

In high school I started running. Running became an add-on to my bike adventures. I’d had no idea that my legs could take me so many places so fast. At the same time, I felt elated with the activity. While I didn’t understand it back then, my body was releasing tons of “feel good” chemicals. At the same time, all my insecure teen mental chatter would stop for an hour or two.

After high school I transplanted myself from the Pacific Northwest to the San Francisco Bay area. The climate was amazing, and you could run the foothills above Palo Alto all year long. I didn’t have a car, so my bike (now a 10-speed special) became my transportation.

Transportation. I guess that’s what this blog is about. I’m lucky that I love doing things that Trans-port me to a place called elation. As much as I love cars, they’ve never been able to create the same internal feeling for me as physical exertion.

I’ve coached one of my clients away from doing a long daily run. If heroin had a healthy double, running would be it for him. After two weeks of replacing some of his runs with weight training, we saw a body shift – better muscle tone and more energy. After week three, he reported that his weekend run was the most energetic and fastest he’d had in 6 months.

Most of us are like racehorses. If we don’t get out and move – we go stir crazy. Our bodies sag and slow down and our minds slow down too. Overtraining can produce the same results. Personally, I get a little grumpy if I have to be still for too long. When I’ve had a stretch of morning aches that keep me from activity, I start to feel sorry for myself.

Writing this in Peet’s, I see a jogger with an amazing stride coming up the street. As he passes I can see that he’s lost a leg and has an arc of metal to replace it. Nothing is going to stop him from following his bliss. The universe couldn’t have sent a better messenger to me this morning and I’m filled with gratitude and determined to take even better care of my body.

I like being trans-ported.

Getting Started

1. Walk first

If you haven’t run, start by walking. That’s intense walking, not walking to get yourself to work. Walk, then speed walk. Build up to a walk-run-walk-run. You’ll see results faster than you think.

2. Buy Good Shoes

Buy running shoes, not sneakers. Shoes that fit you well, are comfortable and assist you with your stride. You must change them… they don’t last forever. The more you run, the quicker you should replace your shoes. Here’s a shoe buying tip: try on new shoes on in the afternoon, our feet are usually “larger” then.

3. Get F I T

Combine these for your running program – Frequency, Intensity and Time. With this formula, you’d start with walking, graduate to a walk-run and then run. Make your "frequency" every other day, your "intensity" a comfortable pace and your "time" about 30 minutes. Your comfortable pace will increase along with the distance you cover.

4. Lighten up

If you’re severely overweight, lose some weight before you start to run. Your joints will thank you for it. Running exposes your joints to two to three times your body weight – with each foot impact!

5. Hot Stuff

Warm-up means getting your body temperature up before you hit your stride.

Speed walking, jumping jacks or push-ups. Save your heavy duty stretching for after your run.

6. Stretch It Out

When you finish, be sure to stretch. Otherwise you’re like a horse that’s been rode hard and left wet (a sure recipe for problems). Make stretching a part of your practice that you never miss.

7. Hydrate

You’ll want to drink more water and also replace lost electrolytes. Water supports your body in cushioning your joints. Dehydration is a disaster for knees and ankles.

8. Be Social

Run with friend. If you can talk to each other you’re in aerobic mode. If you’re breathing so hard you can’t talk, you’re in anaerobic mode. You’ll want to experience both modes during your run.

9. Lift Weights

Want to improve your run? Lift weights. You’ll have extra muscle and energy to propel you along the way. Long distance running can break down muscle, so build it back and add to your bone density at the same time.

10. Be safe, carry id and don’t hop right into a hot tub after your run. 

Cool down and stretch. If you’ve created inflammation during the run, getting right into a hot tub will make it worse.

Train your Body. Tame your Mind. Tame your Tongue.

Information on this site is not a substitute for consulting a licensed medical professional or nutritionist. Never begin an exercise or nutritional regime without consulting your health care provider.