Stop Jogging...
4 Reasons Why You Need Quality Sleep
1. Want leaner legs? - Phase 1 & Phase 2 detoxification happen during sleep, if your sleep is poor you will have higher body fat on the lower body. Also, it will be more difficult to lower stored body fat on Thighs, Hamstrings, Knee, Calves
2. Sleep deprivation can increase inflammation, which will lead to a reduction in insulin sensitivity. Which will lead to a increase in body fat over time due to insulin resistance.
3. Sleeping just one less hour can lead to a increase of hunger as much as 45% according to one study on sleep & nutrition habits.
4. Sleep is a opportunity for the body to repair itself. Most restorative functions of the body happen overnight, so poor sleep will comprise your ability to recover from your training sessions.
Procrastination
THE MISCONCEPTION: You procrastinate because you are lazy and can’t manage your time well.
THE TRUTH: Procrastination is fueled by weakness in the face of impulse and a failure to think about thinking.
Want never goes away. Procrastination is all about choosing want over should because you don’t have a plan for those times when you can expect to be tempted. You are really bad at predicting your future mental states. In addition, you are terrible at choosing between now and later. Later is a murky place where anything could go wrong...
If you fail to believe you will procrastinate or become idealistic about how awesome you are at working hard and managing your time, you never develop a strategy for outmaneuvering your own weakness.
Procrastination is an impulse; it’s buying candy at the checkout. Procrastination is also hyperbolic discounting, taking the sure thing in the present over the caliginous prospect someday far away. You must be adept at thinking about thinking to defeat yourself at procrastination. You must realize there is the you who sits there now reading this, and there is the you some time in the future who will be influenced by a different set of ideas and desires; a you for whom an alternate palette of brain functions will be available for painting reality.
The now-you may see the costs and rewards at stake when it comes time to choose studying for the test instead of going to the club, eating the salad instead of the cupcake, writing the article instead of playing the video game. The trick is to accept that the now-you will not be the person facing those choices, it will be the future-you—a person who can’t be trusted. Future-you will give in, and then you’ll go back to being now-you and feel weak and ashamed. Now-you must trick future-you into doing what is right for both parties. This is why food plans like Nutrisystem work for many people. Now-you commits to spending a lot of money on a giant box of food that future-you will have to deal with.
Fat is Good. Animal Fat is Best.
The most important fats which should be consumed daily and which should constitute the bulk of all fat consumption, are animal fats: fats in fresh meats, fats rendered from meats, dairy fats (butter, cream and ghee) and fats in egg yolks. Animal fats contain largely saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids.
I’m sure you’re begging to ask the questions: What about the “deadly” saturated fats? Don’t they cause heart disease? Aren’t animal fats all saturated? Well, this is the result of the relentless efforts made by the food industry to fight their competition. What is their competition? The natural fats, of course. There is not much profit to be made from the natural fats, while processed oils and fats bring very good profits. So, it is in the food industry’s interest to convince everybody that natural fats are harmful for health, while their processed fats, hydrogenated and cooking oils are good for us. We have been subjected to this propaganda for almost a century, so it is little wonder that many of us have succumbed to it.
The saturated fats in particular were singled out by the food industry. How did this happen? Dr. Mary Enig, an international expert to lipid biochemistry, explains: “In the late 1950s, an American researcher, Ancel Keys, announced that the heart disease epidemic was being caused by the hydrogenated vegetable fats; previously this same person had introduced the idea that saturated fat was the culprit. The edible oil industry quickly responded to this perceived threat to their products by mounting a public relations campaign to promote the belief that it was only the saturated fatty acid component in the hydrogenated oils that was causing the problem … From that time on, the edible fats and oils industry promoted the twin idea that saturates (namely animal and dairy fats) were troublesome, and polyunsaturates (mainly corn oil and later soybean oil) were health-giving.”
The wealthy food giants spend billions on employing an army of “scientists” to provide them with “scientific proof” of their claims. In the meantime the real science was, and is, providing us with the truth. However, it is the food giants who have the money to advertise their “science” in all the popular media. Real science is too poor to spend money on that. As a result, the population only hears what the commercial powers want them to hear.
So let us dive into the truth that real science has provided us:
Processed fats, hydrogenated fats and cooking vegetable oils cause atherosclerosis, heart disease and cancer. This is a fact, proven overwhelmingly by real science.
Animal fasts have nothing to do with heart disease, atherosclerosis and cancer. Our human physiology needs these fats; they are important for us to eat on a daily basis.
Saturated fats are heart protective: they lower the Lp(a) in the blood (Lp(a) is a very harmful substance which initiates atherosclerosis in the blood vessels), reduce calcium deposition in the arteries and are the preferred source of energy for the heart muscle. Saturated fats enhance our immune system, protect us from infection and are essential for the body to be able to utilize the unsaturated omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. One of the most saturated fats that Nature has provided is coconut oil. It has been shown to be wonderfully healthy and therapeutic in most degenerative conditions.
Animal fats contain a variety of different acids, not just saturated ones. Pork fat is 45% monounsaturated, 11% polyunsaturated and 44% saturated. Lamb fat is 38% monounsaturated, 2% polyunsaturated and 58% saturated. Beef fat is 47% monounsaturated, 4% polyunsaturated and 49% saturated. Butter is 30% monounsaturated, 4% polyunsaturated and 52% saturated. This is the natural composition of animal fats and our bodies use every bit. Including the saturated part. If you want to understand how important every bit of the animal fat is for us let us have a look at the composition of human breast milk. The fat portion of the breast milk is 33% monounsaturated, 16% polyunsaturated and 48% saturated. Our babies thrive beautifully on this composition of fats and the largest part of it is saturated.
We need all the natural fats in natural foods, and saturated and monounsaturated fats need to be the largest part of our fat intake.
The simplistic idea that eating fat makes you fat is completely wrong. Consuming processed carbohydrates causes obesity. Dietary fats got into the structure of your body: your brain, bones, muscles, immune system, etc. -- every cell in the body is made out of fats to a large degree.
These are the facts which real science has provided. Unfortunately, as already mentioned, most of us do not hear about the discoveries of real science. Spreading any information in this world costs money. So, the population at large mostly gets information that serves somebody with a fat wallet. In order to get the real, true information on any subject, we have to search for it, rather than relying on news reports of “scientific breakthroughs” unleashed on us by the popular media.
Directing our attention back to the fat composition of human breast milk again we remember it is 33% monounsaturated, 16% polyunsaturated and 48% saturated. Mother Nature does not do anything without good reason. Human breast milk is the best and the only suitable food for a human baby. Human physiology does not change as babies grow, so our requirements for a particular fat composition in food stay about the same throughout our lives: 33% monounsaturated, 16% polyunsaturated and 48% saturated. This is what we need as it is what Mother Nature intended. The only foods with this composition of fats are animal products: meats, eggs and dairy; and these are the foods that should provide us with the bulk of all fats we consume.
Fats which plants contain have a very different fatty acid composition, they are largely polyunsaturated. Polyunsaturated fatty acids are very fragile, they are easily damaged by heat, light and oxygen. That is why Mother Nature has locked them up and protected them very well in the complex cellular structure of seeds and nuts. When we eat seeds and nuts in their whole natural state we get the fatty acids in their natural state, unchanged and beneficial to health. When we extract oils from seeds and nuts in our big factories, we damage fragile polyunsaturated fatty acids and make them harmful to health. But the most important point is this: when we consume whole natural seeds and nuts, we get their polyunsaturated oils in small amounts, amounts which are compatible with our human physiology. We do not need a lot of polyunsaturated fats, the bulk of our fat consumption should be saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids. When we consume vegetable and cooking oils, we consume their polyunsaturated fatty acids in excess, far too much for healthy human physiology. It is excessive omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids from vegetable and cooking oils that are to a large degree causing an epidemic of inflammatory degenerative conditions in our modern world, from heart disease and various autoimmune problems to cancer.
Except from Gut and Psychology Syndrome
12 Clinical Pearls from Dr. Rakowski
1. People who thrive are the ones that make and metabolize acids correctly. Acid can be your friend if you manage it properly.
2. Here is a pearl from Dr. Rakowski, he showed a scientific paper on B12 absorption and brain aging. If you don't absorb B12, your brain ages 617% faster! As I have stated before, the greatest impact of not testing your HCl levels is compromising your brain health.
3. Growth hormone is a significant anti-depressant. Deep sleep is the real way to achieve optimal growth hormone levels.
4. The major benefit of using Arginine is boosting growth hormone during effort, besides boosting NO2.
5. Only fat people make too much estrogen.
6. People who have elevated triglycerides have low levels of growth hormone.
7. The body ignores constant stimuli. Changing everything constantly is one of the keys to success whether we are talking about training, diet, or supplements.
8. Brain derived neurotrophic factor is a strong anti-depressant produced by exercise that induces lactic acid production.
9. Learning improves 20% after exercise. Why are we canning Physical Education classes?
9. Charlie Chaplin fathered a child when he was 80. Sexual dysfunction is rampant because people are simply unhealthy.
10. Low-grade systemic inflammation (metaflammation) is associated with obesity, insulin resistance and chronic disease (Brithish Journal of Nutrition (2009) 102, 1238-1242
11. Friends do not let friends get fat.
12. Sleep is your most powerful anti-inflammatory agent
Tips for Optimal Leanness
#1: Take Control of What You Put In Your Mouth
When people let their emotions drive their eating, they end up feeling out of control and always hungry. Instead, try making informed choices about what and how you eat. By taking control of what you put in your mouth you avoid the pitfalls of emotional eating and can be empowered by your decisions.
#2: Get Fat Adapted
Most people don’t have the metabolic machinery to effectively burn body fat. Instead they run on carbs all day. The solution is to restrict carbohydrates in favor of protein and fat for your first two meals of the day (or at least for breakfast) in order to force the body to fat. Anaerobic exercise such as weight lifting or sprinting will also improve your body’s ability to burn fat.
#3: Eat The Most High-Quality Proteins—10 Grams of EAAs At Every Meal
High-quality protein includes fish, meat, poultry, eggs, and Greek yogurt. Planning meals around these foods blunts appetite and keeps you full, while also preserving lean mass during fat loss;. Protein also keeps blood sugar steady and and increases resting energy expenditure because protein is the most metabolically costly food for the body to digest.
#4: Ruthlessly Take Care of Your Gut Health
The microflora that live in your gut play a pivotal role in establishing your body composition, cholesterol profile, and long-term heart health. Support it by eating foods with fermented probiotics and lots of plant foods. Studies of groups that eat traditional diets have excellent gut health due to the high intake of root tubers, leafy vegetables, fruit, and nuts.
#5: Eat Fats That Are Good For You
Healthy fats are necessary for optimal hormone function and they provide bioavailable nutrients that will support a lean, muscular body composition. They are also delicious and filling. Good fats include those from olive and coconut oil, nuts, avocados, eggs, dairy, wild fish, and organic meat.
#6: Eat. Real. Food.
Most processed foods are engineered to trigger food intake and make you eat more calories. Processed foods also have a lower thermic effect than whole foods, meaning that if you eat a processed meat sandwich with white bread, your body will burn fewer calories during digestion than if you ate the same amount of calories from chicken breast, rice, and sweet potatoes.
#7: Favor Plants Over Grains.
Favoring vegetables instead of grains is an easy way to fill you up and increase nutritional density, but with fewer calories. Grain-based foods, whether it's good bread, crackers, rice, or cereal are very easy to overeat and they tend to crowd out other more nutritious foods.
#8: Save Higher Carb Foods For Dinner/Post-Workout
After working out your muscles are starving for nutrition. They are extra sensitive to insulin so that any carbs you eat will be stored as glycogen instead of fat. This makes post-workout the perfect time to enjoy higher carb foods. Further, including complex carbs at dinner will help lower cortisol and raise serotonin for restful sleep.
#9: Invest In Organic Meat, Eggs & Dairy
Organic meat, eggs, and dairy are significantly more nutritious than conventional versions and they help you avoid growth hormones and pesticides that may have estrogenic activity. High chemical estrogen intake is associated with higher body fat and worse health.
#10: Strength Train & Do Sprints—Proper Exercise Makes Everything Better
Don’t let lack of exercise be your blind spot. Exponentially greater benefits will come if you combine training and the optimal diet. Find a way to make it fun so that you enjoy movement—it’s what you were put on this earth to do!
For Fat Loss & Building Strength - Sprint Don't Walk!
#1: Burn More Belly Fat with Sprint Intervals
A large number of convincing studies show that high-intensity interval training is the best conditioning strategy for losing belly fat. In contrast, one research group that has conducted a number of experiments comparing aerobic and anaerobic training for belly fat loss write, “Disappointingly, aerobic exercise protocols have led to negligible fat loss.”
The reason anaerobic interval training works so much better is that it requires the body to adapt metabolically—your body is forced to burn fat to sustain the level of intensity being asked of it. It also elevates energy use for more than 24 hours post-workout, which has a dramatic effect on belly fat loss.
For example, a 2008 showed that a 6-week program increased the amount of fat burned during exercise by 12 percent and decreased the oxidation of carbohydrates—obviously, a favorable result for losing fat. More impressive, a 2007 study showed that in as little as 2 weeks, active women who performed interval training experienced a 36 percent increase in the use of fat for fuel during exercise.
Interval training is so effective for fat loss because it taps into different energy pathways than aerobic exercise. Simply, aerobic exercise tends to burn carbohydrates first and activate pathways that are degrading to muscle, whereas high-intensity exercise such as weight lifting and sprinting will burn a greater percentage of fat, enhance the body’s production of enzymes involved in fat breakdown, and activate pathways that lead to muscle development.
The other reason anaerobic intervals are superior for belly fat loss is that they increase excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) a huge amount. A 2006 review showed that protocols that are more anaerobic in nature produce higher EPOC values than steady-state aerobic training because the trained muscle cells must rest restore physiological factors in the cells, which translates to a lot of energy expenditure.
Additional research on high-intensity training (HIT) programs noted that “the effect of regular aerobic exercise on body fat is negligible” whereas research into high-intensity exercise “indicates that it may be more effective at reducing subcutaneous and abdominal (visceral) body fat than other types of exercise.”
One study that compared the effect of high-intensity exercise (60 sprints of 8 seconds each, 12 seconds rest) with aerobic exercise (60 percent of maximal oxygen uptake for 40 minutes) found thatHIT resulted in significant decreases in overall fat mass, while the aerobic exercise group had a fat gain of 0.44 kg on average. The HIT group also had a significant 9.5 percent decrease in visceral fat, whereas the aerobic group had a non-significant increase of 0.2 kg or 10.5 percent. Of related interest is that the HIT group decreased fasting insulin significantly more than the aerobic group (31 versus 9 percent).
A second study found that in men with type 2 diabetes, an eight-week program that mixed aerobic and anaerobic exercise (twice a week of 45 minutes of aerobic exercise at 75 percent of max, and once a week of 5 sprints for 2 minutes at 85 percent) had a significant 44 percent decrease in visceral fat, with a 58 percent improvement in insulin sensitivity. They had no change in bodyweight but did have a 24 percent increase in thigh muscle cross sectional area, indicating muscle development, which accounted for the fact that they didn’t decrease bodyweight.
A third study performed on obese women compared a 16-week low-intensity protocol with a high-intensity protocol, based on rating of perceived exertion—not a very scientific indicator, but I’ll mention it anyway. The protocols produced comparable volumes of work as well as almost equal calories burned and miles completed. Despite this, only the HIT protocol yielded significant changes in metabolic markers or visceral fat loss. They lost significantly more total and visceral fat than the low-intensity group. Interestingly, both groups had similar exercise adherence to the program with 80 percent of each group completing the study, indicating that the high-intensity protocol was not too demanding for an obese, previously untrained population.
High-intensity exercise is effective because it increases exercise and post-exercise fat burning and may yield decreased post-exercise appetite. During exercise and after HIT, fat burning increases to remove built up lactate and hydrogen ions. Elevated growth hormone also supports fat burning and is a result of HIT programs.
#2: Lose Belly Fat With Sprint Intervals: The Proof
The following are examples of the superiority of anaerobic interval training for belly fat loss from the research:
- A 12-week high-intensity interval training program produced a 17 percent decrease in belly fat in overweight young men. Subjects lost 1.5 kg of belly fat and 2 kg of total fat, while building 1 kg of muscle. Fat burning was increased by 13 percent due to the 3-day a week program of 20-minutes of cycling in which the subjects sprinted for 8 seconds and then did 12 seconds of recovery, repeating these intervals for a total of 60 sprints.
- The same 20-minute cycling interval program produced 2.5 kg of fat loss in young women in 15 weeks, and the majority of the fat loss come from the legs and abdominal area. The sprint intervals were compared to a steady-state aerobic program that produced no fat loss.
- A 16-week study had trained athletes perform either a sprint interval protocol or steady-state running four days a week. The sprint interval protocol varied each day, but an example of one of the workouts used was 10 intervals of 30-sec sprints with 90 seconds rest. The sprint interval group lost 16 percent or 1 kg of visceral fat as well as 2 kg of total fat, compared to the endurance group that lost no belly fat, but did lose 1.4 kg of lean mass. The belly fat loss appears to be small, but be aware that subjects were lean, trained athletes to begin with and had less belly fat to lose than overweight subjects.
- An 8-week interval program using both high- and moderate-intensity intervals decreased belly fat by 44 percent in middle-aged men with type 2 diabetes. Subjects increased quad muscle size by 24 percent and improved insulin sensitivity by 58 percent—a dramatic improvement that highlights the other mechanisms involved in belly fat loss (muscle building, insulin health & blood sugar management).
#3: Sprints Take Less Time than Aerobic Exercise
Not only do sprints help you lose MORE belly fat, they help you lose it FASTER and with LESS training time. Repeatedly, studies show that more fat loss is achieved in high-intensity programs that use 20 to 25 minutes of training time than those that use 45 or 50 minutes of aerobic training time.
Scientists write that anaerobic intervals are overwhelmingly preferable to aerobics for producing belly fat loss, and that the estimated optimal dose of aerobic exercise necessary to lose belly fat appears to be 3,780 calories expended per week. This is an enormous volume of exercise that would require 1 hour of moderate intensity aerobic cycling 7 days a week to burn 550 calories a day so that you could lose even a pound a week!
In less than half the time you can get better results with anaerobic training. A 1994 study is indicative of this: Participants did either 20 weeks of aerobic training or 15 weeks of intervals (15 sprints for 30 seconds each) and lost nine times more body fat and 12 percent more visceral belly fat than the aerobic group.
What is so interesting about this study is that the energy cost of the aerobic program over the whole study period was 28,661 calories, whereas for intervals it was less than half, at 13,614 calories. In less time, the interval group lost much more weight—nine times more weight. How do researchers explain it?
Aside from greater fat oxidation and higher EPOC, hormone response plays a major role…
#4: Sprints Improve Hormone Response for More Belly Fat Loss
Sprint intervals and anaerobic exercise in general improve your entire endocrine system. Both training modes enhance the cells’ sensitivity to insulin, making anaerobic training a successful treatment for diabetes.
Perhaps most important, anaerobic exercise also elevates growth hormone (GH) —a powerful fat burning hormone that helps restore tissue and build muscle—much more than aerobic training. GH is released by the body in greater quantities in response to physical stress above the lactate threshold, which is the reason heavy, sprints are so effective.
Another hormone called adiponectin that is released from fat tissue during exercise also helps burn fat. Emerging scientific evidence shows that any time you perform forceful muscle contractions, adiponectin is released, and then your body produces a substance called PGC1 that is like a “master switch” that enhances muscle and metabolic functions, thereby burning belly fat. Naturally, anaerobic training is most effective for increasing adiponectin and PGC1 to burn fat since sprints and especially weight lifting require extremely forceful muscle contractions.
#5: Anaerobic Training Produces Less Cortisol For More Belly Fat Loss
Cortisol is the stress hormone that is elevated when you are under both physical and psychological stress. Research shows cortisol is chronically higher in endurance athletes—one study found that aerobic athletes had significantly higher evidence of cumulative cortisol secretion in their hair than controls.
In addition, cortisol is generally elevated more following aerobic training than anaerobic training. Part of this has to do with the fact that strength training and intervals do elevate cortisol, but they also elevate anabolic hormones such as GH and testosterone that counter the negative effects of cortisol.
If GH and testosterone are not elevated, cortisol overwhelms tissue, having a catabolic effect that leads to gradual muscle loss and fat gain. By doing aerobic training without strength training, you will lose muscle, lower your metabolic, rate, and gain fat. Worst of all, high cortisol causes chronic inflammation, which lead to belly fat gain over time—all-around bad news!
#6. The more aerobic volume, the more your brain ages. Therefore, senile dementia in Olympic athletes is proportionate to the annual volume of aerobic works.
#7. Slow long distance aerobic work is not a guarantee of cardiac health. Actually top cardiologist Dr. Bijan Pourat considers it “junk exercise”. He espouses resistance training for cardiac patient.
#8. Aerobic training can help you lose fat if you are just starting to exercise. Although it is not the most effective type of exercise for fat loss, aerobic-style cardio can work if you are new to exercise.
The Duke study used sedentary, out of shape, overweight people. The aerobic training they did was fairly intense (80 percent of max heart rate), so it's no surprise that they lost body fat. Being overweight and out of shape, and then exercising at that intensity for 40 minutes 3 times a week for 8 months can clearly lead to fat loss.
#9: In the long run, aerobic training is useless for fat loss. In a Duke study the aerobic group only lost an average of 1.6 kg of fat (not much!) and they didn't build any muscle, which is where we see the fault in the plan. By decreasing body weight, the aerobic group lowered metabolism, while improving aerobic conditioning.
They were “in shape” and thinner, but no stronger, and they had decreased their resting energy expenditure. In order to maintain that fat loss, they would need to eat less, change their macronutrient proportions, or exercise longer and more intensely.
For example, in the 2006 study of runners, only the runners who tripled their weekly mileage from 16 km/week to 64 km/week did not gain fat over the 9-year study. That's a huge increase that would naturally triple the amount of training time required to prevent fat gain.
#10: Doing smart anaerobic training, you can lose more fat quicker, while building muscle so that you raise your metabolism. For example, in a study of women that compared an anaerobic resistance training program with an aerobic protocol, the heavy load training group lost nearly 5 kg of body fat, gained about 3 kg of muscle, and had dramatic increases in strength. The women who did the high rep, aerobic-style lifting program had no change in body composition.
The benefit of building muscle is that your hard work lasts longer if you quit exercising: A study that tested what happens when subjects stopped exercising for 3 months after doing aerobic or resistance exercise found that a resistance training group maintained improvements in strength, muscle, and cardiovascular fitness longer than an endurance group.
The benefit of resistance training is even more pronounced for people who are in shape. In trained male athletes, a 6-week heavy load strength training program with multi-joint lifts (deadlift, squat, military press, chin-up, and bench press) allowed them to lose 1 percent body fat , while gaining 1.3 percent muscle mass for a dramatic improvement in body composition.
Compare that to the Duke study: The aerobic group also lost 1 percent body fat but gained no muscle, resulting in a less valuable body composition; the resistance group lost 0.65 percent body fat percent and gained 2 percent muscle; the concurrent group lost 2 percent body fat and gained 1.4 percent muscle mass.
The most favorable body composition was seen with the concurrent group, but it took double the time. When you consider the long-term effect of such a time-consuming, stressful program, it certainly is suboptimal.