Snacks and their Breakdown

I get a lot of people asking me about what they can use to snack on during the day, and what they should be eating at certain times of the day.

 

The best way is to figure out WHEN you will be doing your workout, and plan accordingly with a pre-workout or post-workout snack, then put in the additional meals around this.

 

Below I have broken down what should constitute each meal in terms of protein, carbs and healthy fats. If you want more information on what each of these are, please read blogs below as they will point you in the right direction.

 

Morning Snack: 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% healthy fats. Should also be low GI (glycemic-index) to keep you sustained throughout the day.

 

Afternoon Snack: 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% healthy fats. This balance is important to help sustain your glycogen levels and avoid that mid-afternoon slump we all experience.

 

Pre-workout Snack: 60% carbs, 20% protein, 20% fat. Low in fat means it is light and easily digested, and the additional carbs help you exercise much harder and therefore burn more calories.

 

Post-workout Snack: 60% carbs, 30% protein, 10% fat. This combinaton will help to jumpstart muscle recovery period.

 

Bedtime snack: 30% carbs, 50% protein, 20% fat. Prevents cravings and allows muscle repair when sleeping. Foods containing tryptophan (eg. glass of milk, slice of turkey) will help to kickstart seratonin in your brain when you sleep, creating feel good chemicals for the next day. Tryptophan is found in high levels in certain foods and is derived from amino-acids present in high protein foods. Potassium and magnesium rich foods are also good to eat during this timeframe to assist in avoiding cramps during sleeping.

 

Snack Ideas:

 

Breakfast:

• 1 slice wholegrain toast + 1 tbsp peanut butter + 1 cup skim milk OR
• 1 pkt plain porridge + 1 cup skim milk + 1/2 cup walnuts OR
• 1 banana + slice of wholegrain bread + slice of low fat cheese

 

M/Tea/Lunch:

• 1 cup couscous + 115gm tofu + 1/2 cup broccoli + 1 tsp olive oil + 1 tsp balsamic OR
• 1 sl pita + 85gm chicken breast + 1/2 cup cucumber + 1 slice tomato OR
• 1 med wholegrain tortilla + 2 tbsp hummus + 2 slices tomato + 4 slices cucmber + 30g tuna OR

 

A-Tea:

• 1 cup vege soup + 3 sml wholegrain crackers + 1/2 cup unsweeted applesauce OR
• 1/2 wholegrain English muffin + 2 tbsp hummus + 1/2 cup fresh berries OR
• 3 rye crackers + 1/2 cup lofat cottage cheese + sml piece fruit OR
• 40g soynuts unsalted + 1 orange OR
• 1 cup skim milk + 1/2 cup strawberries + 2 scoops protein powder OR
•  1 sml pear + 1 string cheese low fat OR
• 1 cup low fat milk + 1 scoop protein powder + 2 strawberries + 1/4 cup blueberries OR
• 1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese + small apple OR

 

Dinner:

• 15gm lofat mozzarella (or boccocini) + 30gm turkey breast + 15cm corn tortilla + 2 tbsp salsa OR
• Low fat spaghetti bolognese with spinach leaves
• Fish or chicken and side of vegies, with brown rice
• Fish or chicken and side of salad,with quinoa or couscous

 

Bedtime:

• 1 banana + 1/4 cup nuts OR
• 1 banana + 1 tbsp peanut butter + 1 cup water OR
• 1 banana + 3/4 cup low fat cottage cheese OR
• 1 banana + 1 cup skim milk + 1/2 cup strawberries + protein powder OR

Fitness Trends and their Ability to Burn Fat and Put on Muscle

There are a lot of trends around right now which attest to burning calories (fat) and building muscle, and many myths about what does and doesn't work.

Well the first bit of good news is ANYTHING THAT MOVES YOUR BODY and gets you off the couch, is destined to burn more calories than what you are presently doing. The second bit of news is that many of us will try, and fail, and try, and fail, until we find something that is interesting enough to keep us going at it.

Here are just some trends which I have rated on a scale of 5 for their calorie burning and muscle development properties (feel free to list your own at the end of this blog!):

1. Power Yoga

A recent survey carried out by RMIT found that increasing numbers of Australians are turning towards power yoga (an athletic style of yoga that focuses more on strength and flexibility than breathing and spirituality).
Cardio effects: 3/5, Muscle effects: 4.5/5

2. Running Clubs

Even regular folk can now join a running club. The advantage of running clubs is that as well as being a fitness outlet, it can be very much a social outlet, with buddies along to help motivate you.
Cardio effects: 5/5, Muscle effects 3/5

3. Group Personal Training and Bootcamps

Once again, these intense sessions can have a social outlet, and unlike running clubs will generally cater to all levels of fitness, or provide different options. They are cheaper than a one-on-one session with a personal trainer, yet the benefits are the same.
Cardio effects: 4.5/5, Muscle effects 5/5

4. Functional Fitness / One-on-one training

Functional fitness involves an intense session one-on-one with a personal trainer that focuses on moves that challenge the body the sam way that is challenged in daily life, which is somethihg that many gym machines focused on resistance are unable to assist with. Functional training can vary, depeding on the needs of the individual, but may include push ups,lunges, squats, shoulder raises, balance exercises and the like.
Cardio effects: 3/5, Muscle effects 5/5

5. Pole Dancing

The trend in pole dancing is increasing by the minute, and we can all attest to envying the muscles on a pole dancer's body! Great for toning, developing muscular strength and endurance, but be warned - not for the faint hearted. Particularly good for developing upper body strength, but be warned you might need to be at a certain level of strength before you are able do some of those challenging up-side down moves.
Cardio effects: 4/5, Muscle effects: 5/5

6. Sport-Specific Training

Training sessions involve completing exercises that wll allow you to achieve greater results in your everyday sport. For example, a netballer might be asked to do med ball throws and catches while sitting on a med ball; a golfer might concentrate on cable rows that mimic his golf hit. This training will definately improve your overall performance in your sport of choice, and the trainer will design the workout specifically towards your individual sporting performance needs.
Cardio effects and muscle effects: will depend on the sport being followed.

7. Time-Crunch Workouts

Workouts may include circuit-style or interval-style training. They are short and intense workouts that will push you to the limit in 30-45 mins. The key is to work hard during these sessions to get the same calorie burning effects as a standard 60 mins workout.
Cardio effects: 5/5, Muscle effects: 4/5

8. Dance Aerobics / Zumba

Who doesn't love to dance? But whilst most dance classes are structured to teach you amazing skills, they are not always focused on the 60-80% fat burning zone. Zumba is one exception - as a Latin-infused style incorporate aspects of salsa, samba, reggaeton, cumbia and hip-hop it will get your heart rate quickly to the fat burning zone and keep it there. Another great dance to learn is salsa, as after you have mastered the basics, there are plenty of opportunity to use your skills in a social setting (and salsa DOES burn fat at 60-80% capacity - providing you dance to every song!).
Cardio effects: 4/5, Muscle effects: 2/5

Healthy Eating Tips

I get a lot of people, every day, asking me how to eat. Well it's actually pretty simple. The HARD thing is the preparation and planning that goes into it. One day a week, plan out your entire week's menu to avoid this.

There are a few key things to watch:
* PORTION CONTROL - make sure you eat 5-6 small meals a day
* WATER - drink plenty of it, 2 glasses of water with every meal, and at least one glass of water before you eat will help to curb your appetite. Also, make sure you add and extra glass of water for every coffee, caffeinated tea, fruit juice or soft drink (diet only softdrinks please!)
* In every meal, select ONE CARBOHYDRATE, ONE PROTEIN and as many vegetables or salad as you need. I have included a full list of these below. To make it easy, you should be eating one handful of CARBOHYDRATE and one handful of PROTEIN at each meal, you can have as much salad and vegetables which appear in the protein category as you like.
* If you are cooking for your whole family, make the meal the same for everyone. Your family should be supporting your efforts, and this way of eating is healthy for all of them. Australia has the highest rate of obesity per capita IN THE WORLD so now is a good time to start educating your children about what they should be eating.
* Go to your cupboard RIGHT NOW and throw out (or give to neighbours you don't like and want to make fat) anything you know isn't good for you. Then the temptation is not there for you to eat when you feel like caving in!
* Try and put an extra serve of non protein vegies in every meal, it will fill you up more and add extra nutrients to make you feel better.
* Stock up on healthy snacks (1 protein + 1 carbohydrate) to keep in the car, in your handbag, at work, or anywhere you are likely to get stuck in an emergency situation. My faves are trail mix, yoghurts with nuts or muesli bars (choose these wisely as many are high in sugar).
* One day a week, eat whatever you like. This will allow your body to understand you are not in starvation mode. So go for it! During your week anything you really feel like eating, but know is bad, put on a list. On your free day, you can eat any of these foods, if you then feel like it. You'll be surprised how much your appetite changes over the week!
* Prepare every meal fresh where possible and use fresh vegies/salad, if possible.
* Deliberately look to introduce foods into your diet that are high in antioxidants. Some examples are blueberries, green tea, green vegetables.
* NEVER NEVER EVER skip breakfast - it is the most important meal of the day as it elevates your insulin levels for the day, meaning your body does not stay in the fasting state.
* Anything you are not cooking fresh, look at the labels. Run your eye over to the last column (per 100g). I classify this as percentage. Now look down to sugar and fat content, remembering that if it reads 30g, that is 30%, for example. If your package is less than 10% fat and less than 10% sugar, you can take it home... if not, look for an alternative!

PROTEIN:
Chicken breast, skin off
Chicken mince, low fat
Turkey or turkey mince
Kangaroo
Beef mince, low fat
Cuts of meat with no fat
Cottage cheese (VERY GOOD SOURCE OF PROTEIN)
Low-fat cheese (moderation only)
Nuts (moderation only as they are high in healthy fats)
Oats*
Low fat milk*
Quinoa*
Yoghurt*
Baked beans
Chick peas
Lentils
Tuna
* These foods contains both carbs and proteins in more or less equal quantities so cannot be classified as either but are still good to eat.

CARBOHYDRATE:
Bread
Wheat
Flour
Rice
Weetbix
Fruit
Potato
Pasta
Pumpkin
Sweet potato
Bread
Polenta
Couscous

VEGETABLES and SALAD
Fresh, tinned, or frozen.

Healthy Eating all!

The Lazyman's Guide to Fatloss..... Step 1: Develop Muscle!

As a fitness trainer, I spend a lot of time explaining to people how best to eat for maximum fat loss.

The first thing I need to explain is WHY YOU NEED MUSCLE. Sounds basic doesn't it, but every woman I speak to is afraid to "bulk up" or "get muscly".... usually responding with "I just want to tone up, but don't want to look big". Girls, you will never look like a toned up female version of Arnold Schwarzzanegger unless you take steroids, cut all the bad foods out completely for at least six to twelve months and spend eight hours a day in the gym.

Now given that you now understand that you will not be bulking up any time soon, let me explain that there is a difference between male and female muscle.

Muscle building is basically a miniscule tearing of the muscle at the cellular level. That soreness you feel after exercising is that tiny tearing of muscle, that is then re-generating as you sleep and therefore becoming bigger. When men tear their muscle and it rebuilds, it builds on top of eachother, which is why it doesn't take too long in the gym before our guy's muscles are bulging! However, on the other hand, when we tear our muscle and rebuild it, it rebuilds it in a flat-pack style. It does develop, but the muscle becomes long and lean with several tiny muscle fibres bound together.  Basically our muscles become long and lean and tone us up. I can attest to this, at my very smallest I was a size 6 and full of muscle (generally I am a size 10-12, so this gives you some idea of muscle.

But getting to the best bit..... MUSCLE BURNS FAT EVEN WHEN YOU ARE SLEEPING.

That's right, the thermogenic effects of muscle means as soon as you start developing it, you will start burning more fat exponentially! In other words, not only are you working hard to eat the right foods (low-fat, high protein) and exercise (hard slog at the gym)... but when you get home after you've had your chicken breast and three vegetables, your body gets to it and continues to burn fat!

Now call me crazy, but I'm pretty lazy and anything that makes me work less, I am happy about. So why wouldn't I take advantage of a hefty weights session lasting an hour, if for the following eight hours, my body is doing the hard work for me. It's all a matter of maths.

So ladies, next time you go to the gym, don't be afraid of the weights machines; or of building muscle. You will look more like Elle MacPherson than Sly Stallone, providing you are working hard to develop each and every muscle to it's maximum potential.