Fats and Why We Need Them

Fatty Fat-Fats

Saturated fat has been given such a bad rap over the years.  The common belief was that saturated fat was responsible for heart disease.  This is actually not entirely true.  Saturated fat is actually essential for our health.  Foods high in saturated fats were actually a key part of our Paleolithic ancestors.  These fats are healthy for us, however, we need to keep our saturated fats in balance with unsaturated fats, as well as keeping sugars and processed carbs down.

Different Fat Types

For most people, the discussion on fats can be confusing.  However, the main types of fat are:

1. Saturated fats from animal fats and tropical oils such as coconut and palm oil
2. Monounsaturated fats such as olive oil
3. Polyunsaturated fats such as omega-3 and omega-6 oils
4. Trans fats such as margarine

Probably one of the healthiest fats you hear a lot about the media today are omega-3 fats.  It is common knowledge now to know that deficiency in this essential fat can cause or contribute to many serious health problems.  It can also inhibit the body's ability to burn fat.

Having a proper balance between omega-3 and omega-6 fats is very important for optimal health. So not only increasing omega-3 fats is of upmost importance, you should also look at reducing omega-6 fats from your diet.  The ideal ratio of these two fats is considered 1:1, however the diet of the average person can look more like 1:16 to 1:20 in favour of omega-6.  The most common sources of Omega-6 fats are found in:

• Corn oil
• Soy oil 
• Canola oil 
• Safflower oil
• Sunflower oil
• Peanuts and peanut oil / butter

Saturated Fat are Essential for Optimal Function

Saturated fats provide a number of important health benefits.  In fact your body cannot function without saturated fats.  This particular fat is needed for the proper function of:

• Cell membranes
• Liver
• Immune system
• Heart
• Lungs
• Bones
• Hormones

Fats also increase satiety, which means it you will eat less food due to the fullness effect.

Although saturated fats are essential, it is important that you try get them from animals that are hormone-free and grass-fed.  Below are a few more Healthy Fats that you may want to include your diet:

• Olives and olive oil
• Coconut and coconut oil
• Organic Butter
• Avocados or avocado oil
• Palm oil
• Organic egg yolks
• Raw nuts such as almonds, hazelnuts, cashews
• Grass fed meats

What makes us Fat?

So, if saturated fats are healthy for us, what is considered unhealthy for us?  When you replace saturated fat with a higher carbohydrate intake, particularly refined carbohydrates, you exacerbate insulin resistance and obesity, increase triglycerides and LDL cholesterol, and reduce the beneficial HDL cholesterol.

Basically to summarise up, eating fat and protein does not make you fat – carbohydrates do.  If you are really concerned about your overall health, and want to reduce your risk for diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease, what you need to do is:

1. Restrict carbohydrate consumption in your diet, mainly sugars, fructose, and grains.  AND
2. Increase your healthy fat consumption

An Executive Decision

Picture the scene. It's Tuesday. You've been so busy lately preparing for tomorrow's meeting, you lose track of time. It's almost midnight! You need to wind down so you decide to watch some trash TV, or read a book for a while. At 12:47 you decide to go to bed. You suddenly wake up at 2:53 am, use the bathroom and hop back into bed, but can't sleep. You have too many thoughts running through your mind.

Finally you nod off but the alarm sounds and it's now 6:30am and you feel like you've just fallen asleep. Knowing you have a hectic day ahead, you feel the need for a kick-start so you grab a coffee, shower, dress and prepare for the rush hour commute into work. You jump on the crowded tube, your nose two inches away from some obese guys' armpit that has a smell you can only describe as a vintage blue cheese and onion cocktail. After 5 minutes of this, you

decide it's too much and get off the train 2 stops early. Walking the rest if the way to work, you grab another quick coffee and a muffin for breakfast.

It's crazy at work. The big meeting is in an hour and you have to check your emails beforehand...over a hundred of them! Now you battle your way through the meeting, lunch and then realize you have a colleague's leaving do to contend with. At this stage, all you've had to eat is a breakfast muffin, a bagel, and a cheese sandwich from the local vending machine, which had less taste and nutritional value than a piece of cardboard it came in! Oh, and you've also managed to down 4 coffees to “keep your energy”

Your colleague's leaving do was non stop drinking. You leave feeling ravenous from all that drinking and stop to

grab a kebab on the way home. Your lamb Shish contained more oil than a BP filling station, and had less meat than a butchers apron, but you are not too worried about that as you've hardly eaten anything all day. It's past midnight and you pass out. You wake up the next morning feeling fat, fatigued and dehydrated.

Sound familiar? Would you say your average week looks something similar to this? If so, the chances are you're finding it rather difficult to follow a healthy diet and fitness regime. But there is a way to make your life healthy while still being the life and soul of the party. People who lead hectic lifestyles need realistic training programmes. So before you reach for that second coffee of the day, read on.

No More Excuses!

Below are a few excuses we hear all the time.

“I don't have time to train” The following workouts take only 2 or 3 hours out of your week.

“I don't have time to prepare my meals, so I eat out” If you simply must eat out, then look for the best places. I have listed a few tips below.

“I don't like going to gyms”Fair enough, don't go. Hire a personal trainer that will train you at home or in a studio.

Eating Out

As an executive working in the city, you will be eating out a lot - it's part of your job. But when eating out, whether it's for breakfast, lunch or dinner, you should follow these guidelines to ensure you get the most out of it. If you have a nutritionist or a personal trainer, let them take you out and give you the best tips. Or simply follow these easy pointers:

Choice of restaurant, cafe or bar – Pick a reputable place with an extensive menu. There should be at least one red and white meat dish on the menu. If there is somewhere renowned for its free-range /organic selection, then eat there.

Alcohol - Try your best to avoid drinking alcohol on an empty stomach. Finish your meal then indulge in your favourite red.

Starter - Do not order a high carb meal before your main. This will half-fill you and may prevent you finishing your main. Order a light meat salad or soup without the bread.

Mains - Opt for a meat dish (not deep fried) with vegetables. Do not order a huge creamy pasta meal as you'll probably feel bloated.. For most, meat (especially red) means sustained energy – pasta does not. If you're feeling ravenous you'll end up inhaling your food causing indigestion, which can lead to fungal infection and parasites. Food should be chewed until liquified. We have molars for a reason!

Dessert – Try your best to stay away from sweets. Maybe choose a selection of fine cheeses or unsweetened fruit.

Keeping it real

Let's face it, if you're working 80 hours a week, it's going to be very unlikely you'll have time to train an hour a day, 5 days a week. This is why you need to set yourself realistic times so you know work will not interfere. Schedule your training on the least busy days.

Mondays are usually out, Tuesdays are a maybe, but the rest of the week may be looking better. The time of day obviously depends on when you're most likely to not cancel. The best times of day to train are between late am to early pm. If you can train during these periods then great. The mornings would be your next bet as after work, you'll probably be too tired to train. Your body is winding down when it gets dark and prepares itself for rest and recovery. If you can train your body to wake up an hour earlier on training days then you'll find you'll have more energy for the rest of the day. The body and brain appreciates consistency.

Example Workout Schedules:

Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday: Training

Monday, Thursday & Saturday: Off

Monday, Tuesday, Friday & Sunday: Off

Wednesday, Thursday & Saturday: Training

Each of these workouts, with the exception of weekends, are only 30 minutes, max. If you can spare more time then add another set.

Training is ESSENTIAL for you to maintain or better your health. If work is stressing you out, you need to get out of the office and catch up with your trainer, go to the gym, or just simply go for a walk and catch some vitamin D (if it's sunny). Block out two or three, 45 to 60 minutes sessions during the week for your health, wellbeing and stress management. Too busy to even sort your diary - get your PA to do it. If you have a trainer, get them to collaborate with your PA to organise regular slots.

Exercise selection

If you are training for only half an hour a day then stick with squats, dead lifts, pressing and pulling exercises. If you don't mind spending money on a Trainer then that would obviously be the best way to go.

Diet (scary word for most)

Most of us moan and groan at the prospect of dieting. Sad but true, there's no way to properly address fat loss without mentioning diet.

Diet does not have to be based on deprivation, nor will it be mostly carbohydrate based. For most of us, our bodies thrive on NATURAL fats and proteins. I will not go into too much detail as you may get bored. To keep it nice and simple...think natural, organic foods. We weren't designed to consume microwave meals, processed crap that looks like plastic and is covered in sugar.

Our bodies cannot cope with excess artificial sweeteners, colourings and flavourings, soda drinks, sugar, trans fatty acids. Read the nutritional labels on foods and drinks. If there's an ingredient that competes with the longest word in the English dictionary, or has numbers in it, throw it out. If body fat loss is your main objective, keep it simple and natural as often as you can. If you like meat and feel great after consumption then eat meat. Same for vegetable and fruits. Try and eat a protein with every meal. If the meat, egg or fish is free-range, organic, the fat and protein content will be better quality. Good fat is sustained energy for most people, sugar is not. If you've been relying on carbohydrates (bread, pastas, rice, potatoes) for energy most of your life, but have not seen a decrease in body fat levels, switch to the other macronutrients; fats and proteins.

Summarizing up

You have limited time during your week, so it may be hard to fit any training in, but not impossible. If you have only 10 minutes to spare then do some body weight squats, lunges and press ups just before breakfast or bed.

Remember...”all bodies are slow in growth but rapid in decay” – Publius Cornelius Tacitus

Abdominal Training - The Right Way!

How to obtain the mid-section you've always wanted!

Why does everyone want the six pack? Easy - it is way more attractive than the more common, spare tyre or beer belly! There are thousands of articles everywhere you look on how to achieve the "perfect" torso. Most of them promising results. If it was as simple as just going to the gym three times a week whilst following a low carb diet, we’d all be flying out to Ibiza every summer, prancing around shirtless showing off our prize assets! Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Lets face it, everyone wants a flat stomach! The problem is, it is not that simple. There are so many factors that have to be considered when looking achieve this. Every single person has abdominal muscles. If you did not, you would not be able to get up from a horizontal position. The problem is trying to get rid of that sheet of fat so that you can actually see them.

Obtaining the most wanted body part for men and women is quite the challenge. It takes 100% dedication to training, the near perfect diet along with targeted supplementation (BioSignature) and an optimal lifestyle. In order to succeed you must acquire some basic knowledge of how the abdominals and core work.

To keep this simple so that you stay focus, I will summarize the torso up in a couple of sentences:

1. Core muscles – These are the muscles that you cannot see, but hold precedence when training your torso. The primary role of the core is to stiffen the spine, rib cage and pelvic girdle so that the head, arms and legs have a stable working foundation. If you are suffering from some kind of inner abdominal dysfunction, you will not get that flat stomach.

2. Abdominal group – These are the ones that you do see (assuming you have low enough body fat). Performing crunches, leg raises, sit-ups etc...will all hypertrophy these muscles. However, you MUST have a solid core before you start direct abdominal training.

ACHIEVING THE IMPOSSIBLE

If you really want to look your best, walking around shirtless for your next summer holiday, start working on them now! With a combination of physical training, good nutrition, BioSignature and an optimal lifestyle, you can flatten your stomach for summer!

TRAINING

If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got! Change your weights training programme every 3 to 4 weeks. I am not talking about just ab training you must change your whole routine!

Whether your goal is hypertrophy, strength or fat loss, you should never stick to the same exercises and exercise variables for longer than 3 to 6 weeks. Train with free-weights, NOT machines (unless instructed by a health care professional).

When training on machines, you do not stimulate the core and stabilizers. Squats, Lunges, Deadlifts, Military presses are all excellent and safe exercises when performed correctly! They train the abdominals indirectly, stimulating the core, resulting in a flat strong torso. If you are retaining a layer a fat around your stomach but are relatively lean elsewhere, you will need to look at your nutrition and lifestyle. Avoid crunches and sit-ups for at least a couple of months, especially if you are a crunch fiend and perform them religiously!

The chances are you are in need of some structural balancing. Your trunk flexors will be tight and strong in comparison to your trunk extensors which will be weak. Instead, work on your lower back muscles and stretch out your abdominal's. Perform exercises like Deadlifts, and back extensions (not necessarily on the same day). If you never train the mid section and have gotten rid of most of the fat then you could start training them directly.

Below is a sample routine you can try out twice a week.

Side note: Abdominals are composed primarily of fast-twitch muscle fibres, which in laymans terms, mean they usually respond better to the rep range between 6 and 12, with a total time under tension of 30-50 seconds.

A1 – Incline leg raises. 8-12 reps. 4.1.1.1 tempo.

Lying face up on an incline bench of about 30 degrees, grab the bench behind your head. Lifts hips off the bench trying to keep legs straight as possible. Try kick the ceiling and slowly lower down for 4 seconds. Rest 30 seconds then...

A2 – Decline crunches. 8-10 reps. 3.0.1.0 tempo.

Using the same bench as before, anchor your feet at the top somehow so that your head is below your feet. Perform a crunch towards your feet and slowly lower down for 3 seconds. After you have done 10 reps rest 30 seconds then..

A3 – Side bends – 8-10 reps. 3.0.1.0 tempo.

Using a swiss ball or a back extension chair, anchor feet. If you are working your left side, have your left foot back and your right foot in front for better balance. Lower for 3 seconds and up for 1. Aim for 10 reps, rest then....

A4 – Back extensions – 8-10 reps. 3.0.1.0 tempo.

Using the same chair or ball as above, anchor feet. Slowly lower your face towards the floor for 3 seconds, up for 1 and pause in an extension position (NOT HYPEREXSTENDED) for a second then down again. Aim for 10 reps then rest 2 to 3 minutes and repeat the super set for another 2 rounds!

By the end of this routine your abdominals should be in a little pain. If not then you should look at increase the intensity next time, NOT reps. This can be done by holding a weight behind or in front of your head, or between your feet (leg raises).

NUTRITION

Without proper nutrition you will probably never get the results you’re after. I am not going to say that you should cut carbohydrates or fat as this may not work for you. However, if you have been relying on certain carbs and sugars for energy for a long time but have not seen a reduction in the waistline, maybe you should change to good fats and proteins. Here are some simple tips that can help with the stomach, along with increased energy levels:

• Think before you eat - "that cake looks good, but I will regret it after"
• Eat as often as you can - 4 to 6 smaller meals instead of 2 or 3 big ones.
• Do not skip meals - If you do, your body will think there is lack of food around and prepare itself for this. Your metabolism will slow down and you will burn off muscle and retain fat! Try eat every 4 hours.
• Eat Organic whenever possible – There is plenty of info out there on the importance of consuming organic, free-range products.
• Avoid processed foods and drinks - These are high in sugar, additives, bad fats and chemicals which our bodies are not designed to live on.
• Keep well hydrated - Drink at least 2 litres of bottled filtered water everyday.
• Avoid excessive alcohol consumption, especially beer.

BioSignature

Please refer to my BioSignature page for more details.

SUMMARIZING UP

Follow these steps in order and you will have a much greater chance of losing that spare tyre compared to what you are probably doing right now:

1. Nutrition - Cut out all carbohydrates and sugars and focus on animal (and whey) proteins and vegetables (not potatoes). Stay well hydrated

2. Supplementation - For best results, I strongly recommend getting a BioSignature assessment done.

3. Lifestyle - Get to bed by about 11pm every night (try your best here) and wake up at the same time every day. Find ways to control stress, if needed.

4. Training - Having a personal trainer will take out all of the guess-work. However, if you choose not to have one then follow these simple steps for now: Avoid excess sit-ups, crunches, leg raises and focus on big, compound movements, such as Deadlifts, Squats, Military Presses etc. This will burn more calories than direct abdominal exercises, and speed up your metabolism! Avoid, or limit sustained aerobic activities such as long runs. Trust me on this one!

Top Tips For Gaining Muscle

Basically any decent weight training programme will produce positive results as long as

you are progressing in some way. If you are lifting the same weights and performing the same exercises

every time you go to the gym you can be sure you will not put on

any further muscle mass.

This is because, on average, most people adapt to a particular workout every 3 to 6 weeks. Once we have adapted to a workout, we need to change it for continuing progress, otherwise we will hit that inevitable plateau.

Now if your main goal is to put on some muscle mass and to stay as lean as possible, I have given some simple pointers. Baring in mind that this approach may not work for all of you, it will work for most.

Training

As your main objective is hypertrophy (muscle gain), we will focus on lifting weights with rep ranges of between 6 and 15. This does not mean you should stick with these reps ranges all the time, it's just that you will produce most of your hypertrophy following this variable of your workouts. Every 6 weeks you should 'chuck in' a strength workout focusing on the 2 – 5 rep range.

Weeks 1 to 3 (Train 3 times a week)

For the first 3 weeks focus on 2 or 3 exercises per body part performing 3 sets of 12 reps each, resting only 60 seconds in between sets.

Weeks 4 to 6 (Train 3 times a week)

For the next 3 weeks focus on 2 or 3 exercises per body part performing 4 sets of 8 reps each, resting only 90 seconds in between sets.

Weeks 7 to 9 (Train 3 times a week)

For the next 3 weeks do ONLY squats, chins and bench press on one day and Dead lifts, BB military presses and DB rows on the other day. Perform 4 or 5 sets of 3 to 5 reps each, resting 4 minutes in between sets.

After you have completed 9 weeks, repeat the cycle and feel free to change the exercises if you like.

Nutrition and Supplements

The next part covered is your diet. In short, you basically want to eat as much protein as you can stomach along with vegetables, lentils and/or beans. You want to try eat every 3 or 4 hours.

Also make sure you have a post workout shake containing about 50 grams of whey / pea / rice / goat whey protein, 20 grams of glutamine and 50 grams of sugary carbs. Maltodextrin and dextrose work very well for glycogen replenishment.

Cheat day

Once every 5 days, increase your calorie intake by up to 50%. This basically means eat whatever you like making sure you eat more than you normally would every other day. I get all of my clients on a cheat day, usually over the weekend. For best results try stay away from gluten, wheat and dairy all the time.

Rules and safety guidelines for gaining mass

Below are some general rules to follow for gaining mass quickly and safely:

• 75% of your hypertrophy workouts should be with compound exercises such as chins, dips and squats
• Make sure you perform all exercises with a controlled tempo. No fast explosive movements (except during the strength cycle), especially during the eccentric phase of the lift
• Eat protein with every meal and drink at least 3 litres of water every day
• Eat as many green vegetables as you can
• Have a protein shake after every session
• If in doubt of proper exercise form, seek help from a personal trainer
• Get at least 7 hours of solid sleep every night
• Make sure your workouts do not exceed 60 minutes. If it does, reduce your training volume
• Train to failure on the last one or two sets only

Man Boobs

Why do some men retain excess fat in the pectoral region? There are a few main reasons for this - Genetics may play a small role here, the rest is dietary and hormonal imbalances.

What is happening to our bodies? Basically you have too much aromatase (an enzyme in the body that converts testosterone into oestrogen) in your body. So it kind of makes sense to reduce this enzymes production, resulting in probable fat reduction of the pectoral region.

Why is this happening? What are the main causes of excess aromatase? Below are a few reasons why now some men go shopping in the bra department:

• Pollution


• Excess insulin


• Obesity


• Excess alcohol consumption - particularly beer


• Zinc deficiency


• Our water supply


• Hormones in animal proteins


• Medications such as oral contraceptives


• Plastics when exposed to heat, such as microwaving food containers

Getting rid of the Moobs

How do we get from a C-cup to an A-cup (or less)? You will need to first look at your diet. Below are some suggestions:

• Eat at least 4 servings of steamed cruciferous vegetables a day. This would include watercress, broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts, kale, turnip, collards, cabbage, and radish to name a few.


• If you're a drinker, switch to red wine. Red wine contains resveratrol, which acts as an Aromatase inhibitor. A glass of red with dinner may actually help reduce the circumference of your chest area. Also, if you are a beer drinker I promise you will find it very difficult to get out of your man-bra until you cut back, or cut it out


• Green tea - Green tea is loaded with antioxidants which have anti-carcinogenic effects. They also help with the detoxification of oestrogens


• Supplementation - Supplementing your diet with either DIM, Curcumin or Grape seed extract has been shown to reduce the pectoral fat in males!


• Fibre - Adding up to 30 grams of fibre from varied sources will help "pull" out foreign oestrogens from the body.


• Eat organic nuts and wild meat whenever possible. This is a great way to naturally boost your testosterone levels. However, as it is quite difficult to do this nowadays, it is recommended to supplement your diet with Zinc.

The next thing you need to do is to increase your testosterone levels...the legal way! This means hitting the weights 3 or 4 times a week using a personal trainer or by yourself.

Last but certainly not least, I highly recommend getting a BioSignature assessment done. This is particularly effective for targeted fat loss.

Conclusion

Man boobs are a health problem and not an attractive site. The fact of the matter is most men out there are suffering and do not know what to do about it. Follow the simple steps above, or get your BioSignature done and you will be well on your way to ditching your man-bra!

Coffee and Timing

Millions of people rely on caffeine for energy every day. It is the most widely used legal drug on the planet. So is it actually good for us? Like a lot of things, in moderation, maybe. As most of us get our caffeine from coffee consumption, I will just use this beverage for the article.

Coffee seems to be a very popular subject with the media. One week you may hear that drinking coffee will help with fat loss. A few weeks later there will be another story on it may actually make you gain weight. What do you believe? I personally believe that having one a day, black or with cream and no sugar, will not increase the waistline.

If you are putting on weight and are adamant that coffee is responsible, you are probably drinking too many of those Caramel-Mocha Frappucinos with extra cream. Stick to long-blacks or espressos and you should be fine.

Coffee and Cortisol

Why do we take caffeine? Simple, it is a stimulant which can help us stay awake or give us a kick start in the morning. What do a lot of people do for that pick-me-up when they are tired? They grab something sweet, drink a caffeine-containing beverage, or smoke a cigarette. Some will have all three at once! Caffeine, sugar and tobacco are all stimulants, which fire up your sympathetic nervous system (your fight or flight response). This triggers the release of an activating hormone, cortisol, which gives your brain the impression that its time to get up, or time for action.

Cortisol is released in response to stress and light. It is at its peak in the morning from about 6 to 9am and then dropping mid afternoon and at its lowest after the sun goes down. When cortisol drops, melatonin is released which increase the levels of repair and growth hormones. If we continue to consume coffee into the afternoon, we will continue to release cortisol, which will disrupt our sleep cycle. Caffeine can stay in your system for up to 18 hours (depending on the amount you consume).

Weight loss or weight gain

I am no expert on the effects of coffee but bare with me for a minute. Coffee contains caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulant that has been proven to aid in weight loss (notice I did not say FAT loss). Caffeine also increases cortisol. Prolonged exposure to cortisol increases fat around the umbilical region. So, I guess you could say that excess coffee consumption can increase fat around the mid-section? Maybe.

So to reiterate from above, if we are stressed and we go for a coffee, we may actually increase our chances of gaining more fat around the mid-section. I guess if I was to put it that way, most of us may consider given up our favourite daytime beverage...Maybe.

Benefits of coffee

Now, I should also point out that some U.S studies have shown a lot of people get most of the antioxidants from coffee, so if they were to eliminate it from their diet, they may encounter other issues. Also, some research on pubmed has shown that coffee consumption may help prevent chronic diseases such as type-2 diabetes and Parkinsons disease. More recent studies have also shown that coffee drinkers are less likely to get Alzheimers disease and dementia.

To give up or not to give up?

I think that giving up coffee is harder than cutting out the carbs. I have personally chosen to give it up for a few months and switch to green tea. I am actually a coffee-lover because of the taste – not because of the stimulant factor. This makes it even harder to say goodbye to my favourite black liquid!

So as you can see there are pros and cons to coffee consumption. If you are going to continue to drink coffee but want to keep any possible side effects to a minimum, I have given some suggestions below:

1. Keep your coffee black without sugar. Adding cinnamon and cream is OK.


2. Have no more than two small cups a day


3. Always have it with solid meals and never on an empty stomach


4. Have 45 minutes before a workout. As it raises cortisol, you may as well use that cortisol for an effective training session!


5. Never have it post-workout – if you are trying to gain muscle you do NOT want cortisol (a muscle-destroying hormone) hanging around after your weights session!


6. Do not have after lunch time as may interfere with your sleep cycles.


7. Try drink organic coffee. This will be better to a degree as will contain no chemicals from herbicides and fungicides sprayed over the crops during the farming process.

Training Tip #2

Choose Exercises That Have "More Bang For Your Buck" (or "Pow For Your Pound")

Exercises such as Squats, Dead lifts, Lunges, Military presses, Dips and Chins will ensure you pack on more muscle compared to Bicep curls, leg extensions and Swiss-ball gluteal raises. Performing these exercises are not only excellent for piling on the pounds, you burn way more calories in the process.