Formosa Fitness

One of the ideas in yesterday's New York Times piece that really bugs the hell out of me is this idea that exercise alone won't help you lose weight. It will, if done correctly. The overall idea to keep in mind is calories in, calories out.

In the documentary "I Want to Look like that Guy" the would-be bodybuilder McDonald lost 6% bodyfat with no change to diet whatsoever. This was a brillant move by his trainer Jeff Willet. Willet started McDonald with exercise alone and got him used to working out with good form. As the form got better, the weights increased and the cardio got more intense. But Willet told McDonald to not change the diet, meaning McDonald didn't suffer any food withdrawal problems or cravings. But here's the key: his caloric expenditure went UP over time. More calories burned with no diet changes = negative energy state. McDonald WAS burning fat. Again, he lost 6% bodyfat. A noticeable difference.

But this process is NOT what was talked about in the article. The article made is seem like you have to cut back on calories through dieting or you're doomed. That's not true. What you have to do is get into a negative energy state by: a. buring more calories through exercise, b. cutting calories, or both. That range of options wasn't explored.

I've seen this in my own clients. I just have them work out hard at first and get used to it. The trick is to have them NOT increase the amount of food they consume.They will lose fat if they stick to that idea.

Now again, the criticism that could be made is that diet is still important in this equation because it's important that you not consume more calories for the exercise to burn fat. That's true and it may look like I'm splitting hairs. But it's an important hair and not clear at all from the NYT article. People reading that article will be greatly discouraged.

Additionally, let me interject that this will only get you so far. Eventually diet must be addressed for additional fat loss to take place.

And to stick my foot in it even more, I would highly advise people get their training advice from trainers, not scientists (or reporters). People are NOT mice. That should be obvious. Scientists have no idea how to train people. That isn't their job. Science is nice and all but it isn't the end of the story. Trainers are the people that take the theory and put it into practice. If you want to get into shape, you want a trainer not a guy in a white lab coat.

If you want proof of the process, get "I Want to Look Like That Guy" and watch. You will be surprised.

Maybe, maybe not but it's the best protein shake I've ever had. I thought EAS was good but this is soooo much better. Mocha cappucino is great. It blends very well, no after taste, no powdery taste, and best of all no digestion problems. I can't wait to try out some of the other flavors.

If you're looking for a solid all-around protein, this one should be very high on your list.

Get your hand out of the kid's candy pumpkin. And how do I know it's in there? Um....er..... :)

But seriously, Halloween candy shows one good thing that can help people control cravings and move towards a better diet: small serving sizes.

Halloween candy comes in those convenient bite sizes allowing you to better control your intake of these morsels. Having to un-wrap each one means you have a second or two to actually think about what you're doing. That pause gives you time to consider if you're satiated or not. The idea is to get re-sensitized to where one or two will satiate you instead of a whole bag.

Second, many of us grew up with the idea of finishing your meal or something you opened. Bigger candy bars or bags of M&Ms work against you greatly when you have that mindset.

Third, buying bite size candies are more expensive and we need to start making these junk food purchases more expensive, not less. We need to see these things as indulgences, not staples. Luxuries must be expensive.

Finally, the volume of a container of bite size candy will always be lower than non-bite size due to the extra packaging. Unless of course the bag/box is even bigger to make up for that fact (think Costco). So you'll be keeping less junk food in the house, period. That's a good thing.

So if you're weening yourself off chocolate or just looking for a way to enjoy yourself without totally wrecking your diet, learn from Halloween and buy bite size candies if you must. A half measure is better than no measure.

You hear a lot about "shocking fat loss secrets" but this one from nutrition expert Leigh Peele is real, and NOT at all comforting. If you like to lick the spoon after getting peanut butter, then don't watch this short clip. You won't be happy. This is a harsh reality but for fat loss, this is what we have to deal with.

And I'm not even talking about the Americanized Chinese food. A lot of us here in Taiwan are understandably happy that we have daily access to real Chinese food and we should be. But I think we often forget that much of that food isn't exactly healthy.

For example: fried rice, fried noodles, "bian dang" (which is lunchbox stuff), huifan, street food of all types, etc., etc. Is this "real" Chinese food? Sure it is. But let's be honest: it's Chinese fast food. It's convenience food. It's what we eat for lunch and on the run. It's often oily, made with God-knows-what ingredients and isn't exactly conducive to a healthy lifestyle.

Looking at my diet, I've come to the uneasy conclusion that you must be very careful when seriously training and trying to eat this kind of food. Sure it tastes good but the nutritional value of such food is going to be quite low.

So don't go fooling yourself that you're eating healthy if you're scarfing this stuff down for lunch and/or dinner everyday. You're not. And in fact, it may be one major area that's sabotaging your diet.

Something to think about.

I hate Supersize Me. Not that I'm a McDonald's lover cause I'm not. It's junk "cooked" by teenagers and endorsed by a clown. But excuse me for saying this but Spurlock was a pretentious jerk with his Landrover and "vegan chef" girlfriend. Yeah I guess if we all could afford a Landrover then we might be able to afford to eat out at places more expensive than McDonald's. I guess we all needed to see an extended shot of his vomit, too. Real classy.

Now there's a new documentary that shares my hate and the hate is good. Very good. It's called Fathead. Check this out:

I highly recommend all the clips he put up. They have lots of good info, some that will really surprise you -- like him eating at McDonald's every day for 30 days and LOSING weight!

Try this out next time tou go to the grocery store: buy 100% of your purchases from the fruit/vegetable section, milk (note: not the whole dairy section), and the meat section.

In other words, the sections that are on the outside edges of the store. Don't buy anything from the middle!

Usually all the processed junk like cookies, sugar-filled spaghetti sauce, instant mac-n-cheese, etc. are all in the middle. Avoid all of that stuff and you've gone a loooooong way towards improving your health already.

Naturally this is easier said than done but you can do it! I did it and you can too. One change you'll have to make is shopping more fequently because the veggies take up a lot of space in your cart, but they shrink down when you cook them. You'll also go through them faster than you think.

Here's some tips to help make this happen:

1. Get some potatoes to help with the transition away from rice, bread, and pasta. All that stuff is in the middle and you'll want to cut down on it. But keeping potatoes in your diet will make it an easier transition. And NO, I don't mean french fries either. Stew, bake, or make soup out of your spuds and you'll get the benefit without adding lots of calories.

BTW, spuds are great for people who need help recovering from exercise or gout sufferers like me. Spuds are alkaline, unlike the other carbs like bread and pasta, which are acidic. The more acid in your system, the longer it takes to recover from exercise. A buildup of acid contributes to muscle soreness and being sore obviously gets in the way of making progress. Exercise produces plenty of lactic acid already. Potatoes help your body by not adding more dietary acid to the mix.

2. Get corn. Technically a grain, corn is another transition food that you'll find in the veggie section. It's sweet, especially when you steam it as corn on the cob. Kids love it and you will too. Make corn a staple of your diet and like with spuds, you'll transition out of the other carbs a lot faster.

3. Reward yourself with fruit. Get apples, strawberries, or something exotic that you don't normally buy. Use the money you save from not buying Chip Ahoy chocolate chip cookies to get mangos or something else you haven't tried like wax apples. Fruit can satiate a sweet tooth quickly. I know: I ate 3 kiwis last night.

Let me know if this helps.

I hate to talk about diets because I often feel i don't have anything to add. On the one hand, it's a vital subject if you want to make any true progress but on the other hand, it's an even more contentious area than physical training. There are just too many variables for people to get a handle on. And there's research coming out all the time on this or that food and how it's good for you this week and bad for you the next. What to do?

I don't pretend to be a scientist or a nutritionist. I primarily talk about what has worked for me because my own experience is all I've got. Will it work for others? Maybe in a general way and that's how I present it. So what has worked?

Certianly NOT Atkins or any extreme no-carb diet like it. Atkins for me as a gout sufferer was a death sentence. Atkins has you eating pure acid all day -- not what gout suffrers need. But even for normal people, I see Atkins as the most bizarrely extreme diet out there. It just isn't something you can do long term. I think we should be thinking of diet not in terms of short fads that we try just to lose a few quick pounds, but a long-term change of your whole diet -- everything you consume.

Cutting way back on complex carbs like breads, rice, pasta, and simple sugars like table sugar, honey, etc. have made a big difference in my training. I try to eat those things once a day, at most. I make note if i have them twice a day because I know that day will set me back in my training as far as weight loss is concerned.

I also try to eat that one serving at breakfast time or lunch time at the latest. I want them early in the day to fuel workouts.

One of the best pieces of diet advice I know came from Fabio, the romance novel cover model that was popular back in the early 90's. He said NEVER eat carbs after 6 p.m. I think that's solid advice. Dinner and late night snacks should be protein based for recovery. Carbs are for energy and not needed obviously for you to sleep. Eating carbs at night is adding empty calories to your diet.

However I do eat carbs for dinner in the form of vegetables. I have a large salad every night as my main dinner course. I highly recomend this. I now get about 10-12 servings of veggies a day and feel much better for it. And of course it goes against Atkins advice, but there it is. Cutting out healthy carbs like veggies is not something I would recommend.

Replace your rice, bread, and pasta with veggies and your body will thank you for it!