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May 2010 Newsletter

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Greetings and welcome to the May newsletter for 2010. Autumn is well and truly upon us, so in a couple of weeks, the family are heading to the northern hemisphere for some much needed RnR. The footy season is well underway, with a few scandals gracing the covers of most media.

As always, your feedback is cherished, so please keep up all the comments. I certainly take them on board. If there’s something that you want to know about, then drop me an email. If I can’t give you an answer straight away, i’ll research it and come back to you.

If I Train, can I eat what I want?

The other day, as I was walking out of the club where I run my PT business, I crossed paths with a group of Fitness First Employees.  I’ll leave them nameless for they had just popped out for lunch and upon returning to the club, they were carrying various bags from McDonalds, KFC and Subway.

As they saw me, they all hung their heads in shame and tried to enter the club without being seen.  Now I’d not said a word to them about their CHOICE of lunch, however, their actions and body language clearly indicated to me that they were hugely ashamed of their poor meal choices.

One even made the comment to me and I’ll quote his words, “Oh I’m OK with this, I train, so I can eat whatever I want” and this got me to thinking.

If staff at the largest health club chain in the world has this attitude, does everybody who regularly exercises think, “IF I EXERCISE, CAN I EAT WHAT EVER I WANT?”

The simple answer is NO!  But rather than just standing on top of my pedestal and shouting this with a pair of lungs filled with hot air, let’s have a closer look and back this up with some common sense and some science.

We all know (or should know) that food is the building block for all of our living cells.  In essence, the human body is a complicated, salty, hairy bag of water and all of our living cells derive their sustenance from the foods and water that we consume on a daily basis.

So at a cellular level, you are only as good as the foods and water you consume.  (Or to be more exact, you digest and then absorb)

Have you ever wondered how so many computer programs that now exist in the world don’t work or give back false or incorrect data?

Most I.T professionals will back me up here when I say that crap data into a database will give you crap data out and your body is exactly the same.  If you put crap into it, you’ll get crap out.

I like to use the analogy that Paul Chek, a well regarded health professional uses in his book, Eat, move and be happy.  Imagine building a boat with rusty nails and rotten timber.

How sea worthy would that boat be?  Not very and so it ceases to amaze me how people who ought to know better can think that training is an excuse to eat crap.  On the contrary, eating crap will decrease the quality, quantity and end result of any workout.

Before I go on, I’ll relay a story told to me by a client of mine.  He’d just recently returned from Melbourne having spent some time there for work.  While he was there, he asked me to hook him up with a trainer so he could get a pt session done.

An excellent idea and I commend him for his dedication to achieving his goals. However, during the session he vomited.

Some might say that I had set too hard a program for him whilst in Melbourne.  On the contrary, by his own admission, he hadn’t eaten well the day before, had a crap night’s sleep and trained on an empty stomach.  In essence, he’d gone to the gym on an empty tank of fuel with no sleep and thrown up as a result.

So, not only is it vital that you eat quality food in order to get the best results, but you also have to eat FULL STOP!!!

How many of you truly eat the right foods for you consistently?  It always amazes me how those that achieve their results are the ones that do everything right and those that don’t don’t.  So, here are my top thoughts for eating for training and ultimately for achieving your results:

  • Never ever train without having properly fueled up beforehand.  This means having adequate fuel on board for all exercise sessions, no matter what time you train.  (Especially breakfast) 
  • Junk food earned its name because it is JUNK.  Don’t be fooled into thinking otherwise.  The major offenders (McDonalds, Hungry Jacks, KFC, Subway, Pizza Chains) are all trying to lift their game but in my opinion have a very long way to go. If you have to eat junk food, accept that it is junk and don’t kid yourself into thinking that by choosing their healthy option, you’ve done the right thing.
  • The only true nutritional program is made up from organic whole real foods, especially if you eat it raw. It does not include meal replacement shakes, potions, powders, processed boxed or packaged convenient meals (Lite n Easy as an example)
  • Eat right for your metabolic type.  (If you don’t know your type, then call me and I’ll email you some information)Eat right according to your genes.  (Again if you don’t know how to work this out, contact me)
  • If you eat well 80% of the week, then maybe (just maybe) you can reward yourself with a little treat, but make sure its not OVER THE TOP.

Free Radicals and Anti-Oxidants

Over the past few weeks, during some Holistic Lifestyle Consultations, the topic of free radicals and antioxidants has popped up, with some blank and confusing looks closely followed, so, in order to clear up some confusion and dumb down exactly what these two things are, here’s my version.

What is a free radical?

In scientific terms, a free radical is a molecule with a missing electron.  Its structure is damaged and so in an attempt to re-balance, it will seek out a spare electron from a neighboring molecule.  The problem is, by doing this, it creates another free radical and this ongoing chain reaction has the ability to damage many of the body’s cell structures.

What are the Results of Free Radical Damage?

Free radicals result in all sorts of bad and naughty things.  For example,

  • Free Radicals cause cell death and injury – Free radicals penetrate the cell wall and kill or damage the cell.  Free radicals injure cells making them more vulnerable to infection and degenerative disease.
  • Free Radicals cause DNA damage– Free radicals damage the DNA causing future cell reproduction to be deformed and cells to function poorly.  This may result in the “chain reaction” of mutated cells which we recognize as cancer.
  • Free Radicals cause Joint inflammation – Free radicals make bone, muscle and connective tissue far more stiff and brittle than healthy tissues.  Once tissue is damaged it becomes a “factory” multiplying free radicals hundreds of times.  This slows the healing process because new “healing replacement cells” and existing tissue cells are attacked by more of the free radicals.

How are Free Radicals Produced?

Free radicals are produced through a number of different means.  They are, “a fact of life”.

Normal respiration & metabolism is one way of creating free radicals.  Exposure to air pollutants and sun exposure is another way.  Exposure to radiation from X-rays, consuming drugs, alcohol, smoking cigarettes, catching viruses and bacterial infections are all different ways in which free radicals are formed.  Parasites, dietary fats, stress and injury are also means of creating free radicals.

Health Problems Related to Free Radicals

The scientific community is surprisingly unified when it comes to the various health problems associated with Free Radical Damage.

Such diseases as:

  • Arthritis
  • Cancer
  • Kidney and liver disorders
  • Vascular disorders
  • Weakened immune system
  • Poor Vision and Loss of Hearing
  • Skin Conditions
  • Inflammation

So, knowing all there is to know about free radicals and their potential to cause monumental harm are we all doomed?  Is there anything we can do?

Well the short answer to this is, YES WE CAN.  Surprisingly, nature has created these substances called antioxidants, that neutralise free radical damage.

What is an antioxidant?

There are two kinds of antioxidants, endogenous (meaning produced in the body) and exogenous (meaning consumed within our diet).  Both forms of antioxidants have a spare electron, meaning that when they come into contact with a free radical, they can neutralise it, whilst remaining in a stable state.

Where are antioxidants found?

Antioxidants are found abundant in beans, grain products, fruits and vegetables. Look for fruits with bright colour – Lutein in some of the yellow pigments found in corn; orange in cantaloupe, butternut squash and mango; red from Lycopene in tomatoes and watermelon, and purple and blue in berries. So enjoy eating a variety of these products. It is best to obtain these antioxidants from foods instead of supplements.

Most commonly known Antioxidants

Vitamin A and Carotenoids
Carrots, squash, broccoli, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, kale, collards, cantaloupe, peaches and apricots (bright-coloured fruits and vegetables!)

Vitamin C
Citrus fruits like oranges and lime etc, green peppers, broccoli, green leafy vegetables, strawberries and tomatoes

Vitamin E
Nuts & seeds, whole grains, green leafy vegetables, vegetable oil and liver oil

Selenium
Fish & shellfish, red meat, grains, eggs, chicken and garlic

Summary:

So, to summarize, free radicals are a part of life, they are found everywhere we look, including oxygen, however, our 21st century life style can drastically increase our exposure to them.

Antioxidants neutralize free radicals and are abundant in fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains and beans.  The issue for us as a species is to minimize our exposure to free radicals and maximize our consumption of antioxidants to survive in the 21st century with our lifestyles the way they are.

We head north for 4 weeks

On Saturday 15 May 2010, the family are heading to Malta for a four week holiday visiting relatives. While we are away, arrangements have been made for my One on One Clients to receive extra special care from “Substitute Trainers”. On top of this, homework tasks have been set for you all consisting of documenting:

  • Your Cardio & Flexibility Workouts for the four weeks of my absence (Weeks 1-4)
  • Your Daily Food Time Line for 7 days (Week 1)
  • Your Sleep patterns for 7 days (Week 2)
  • Forward planning seven days worth of meals, including shopping lists (Week 3)