Nutrition and Exercise: Part 4

This is the final part of my Nutrition and Exercise "prescription"... use this to recover from Thanksgiving and survive the Holiday season.


Once you have completed your three-day inventory outlined in Part 2, you can go for your goals.

1. To burn fat and build muscle, which is the key to shaping, subtract 300 to 400 calories from the average number you came up with after the three day inventory. Please note, if your total calories burned exceeds your total calories in, or your total calories in is less than 1200 each day and you are having troubles with weight, volume, energy levels or all three, don’t subtract. You are probably in “starvation mode.” You need to spend a week or two eating more and you may need to change the timing and type of your exercise.

2. “Front load” and “carbohydrate taper” your day both with regards to total calories and proportion of carbohydrates. In other words, make the first meal the biggest (most caloric) and the most carbohydrate – heavy, and the last meal the smallest and the lowest in carbohydrates. You must eat breakfast. For instance, start your day with a big bowl of oatmeal topped with fresh fruit and nuts, and finish with a salmon steak, a handful of fresh cherry tomatoes, and a big mound of spinach.

3. As an alternative to the “carbohydrate taper” during the day, try “carbohydrate bracketing” your workouts – make the meals before and just after working out the heaviest in carbohydrates, and the other meals lower in carbohydrates. These meals should be eaten within an hour before and 30 minutes after the workout to be effective. This way you assure those carbohydrates either get burned up during your workout or used to replenish your glycogen (fast energy stores) afterward.

4. Don’t over-restrict fats (keep them about 20% -30% of calories), but pay attention to where they come from. Try to get more of your fats from whole foods like nuts and avocados or minimally processed oils like extra virgin olive oil, and less from refined oils such as partially hydrogenated corn oil. Some people do better if they avoid dairy fats or animal fats – experiment to see what works best for you, but stay away from “fat free” or “fat substitute” foods – most of them are loaded with synthesized carbohydrates.

5. Take a “day off” every 3rd day or so. On that day you can skip the carbohydrate taper or the 300 calorie subtraction, or both. You can also indulge in “forbidden” processed foods like ice cream or red wine or dark chocolate, but try to stay completely away from the synthesized foods and added chemicals. This keeps your metabolic rate up, and keeps you from getting “dieted down” or in “starvation mode.” As you continue “eating clean,” cravings for processed or synthesized foods will subside.

Although the nutritional changes outlined above are the most important, you cannot neglect exercise and expect great nutrition alone to magically transform your body. You need to spend some time on this too – no excuses - those advertisements for supreme fitness in 4 or 15 minutes a day are a scam. When doing any physical activity, pay attention to your form and listen to your body. If it hurts (as in sharp pain during), stop, back off, re-assess, and begin again more slowly.

1. Make sure you are weight/resistance training at least three times per week, preferably four. Workouts should be at least 30min in length and should include weight selections or moves that are very difficult after 10-12 repetitions. Start light, but about every three weeks or when it gets easier, increase the weight. If you have a particular problem area such as lumpy hips and thighs or a flabby belly, you absolutely can reshape that area by additional targeted lifting or “supersets” twice a week. Remember to do this targeted “body sculpting” in addition to your usual routine, not in place of it (as my friend says, “You can’t drain the deep end of a swimming pool first”).

2. Alternate resistance days or workouts with cardio workouts. Any activity that is fun and gets your heart rate above 100bpm for a sustained period, such as dancing, biking, running, swimming, or “body combat,” is great. For an added boost to your metabolism, do your cardio in the morning, before that first meal.

If you get stuck, go back to the beginning, start writing things down again and re-evaluate your nutrition. Also – try changing your workout. Most good resistance training programs change the exercise every 6 -12 weeks or so to create a little muscle confusion, and this also works for aerobic routines. Whenever you start to get comfortable, try something new and challenging – if you aren’t at least a little sore and/or tired after a workout, you cheated yourself.