Like A Snail Traveling Up A Slippery Slope

That's what my internet connection is like this morning. Slowww...And I have high speed satellite for criminy! Luckily I compiled a little something ahead of time to slap up today. Below are some links you might want to check out.

One the personal front: Last night's pizza and wine were de-lish-oh-yes-ous! No change in the scale this morning. And I'm so pre-menstrual I have cramps. That should go nicely with the cool pool...I shouldn't complain, at least I have a cool pool.

I'm reading the July 2008 issue of Iron Man Magazine - seeing as my internet reading has been nixed. There's some great stuff in this issue. (There always is, of course). In 'Smart Training' by Charles Poliquin there's information about controlling cortisol including this:

Step 7. Change your perception of your world. How you perceive reality has a lot to do with your cortisol output. If you perceive your world as unsafe, you'll make far more cortisol. ... There are many stress reducing modalities, such as yoga and meditation, that can help drop your cortisol and further your efforts in the gym. One study had Olympic lifters engage in so-called autogenic training, a form of relaxation through mental suggestion, after working out, and their cortisol dropped far more rapidly than those in the control group. That drop correlated with long term improvements in the snatch, clean and jerk, and squat.

I'm going to start meditating after my weight workouts.

Here's those links:

Time For Some Hot & Cool Links

Performance Nutrition Show

Dr. Jose Antonio and Carla Sanchez host the Performance Nutrition Show - a webcast/podcast for fitness enthusiasts interested in nutrition and training.

Dr. Jose also has an excellent article in Iron Man on "How Dieting Can Make You Fat" with research that backs up the importance of plenty of protein especially on a fat loss diet.

Volumize Your Diet-Eat Large, Stay Lean! Chris Shugart

Portion Control Sucks
It used to be low fat. Then it was low carb. Today it's portion control. And guess what? You're still fat. Or at least 66% of Americans are.

It's still junk food, fattie.

Sorry, mainstream media, food manufacturers, diet clinics, and TV weight loss gurus, but portion control — eating smaller amounts of the same ol' foods that made you fat to begin with — doesn't work. As I always say, portion control is about as effective as the "I'll only put it in a little" method of virginity preservation.

Oh don't get me wrong, the idea of portion control sounds great. Eat what you want, just in small quantities. Problem is, like a lot of ideas that sound good on paper — socialism, welfare, a sitcom featuring those Geiko cavemen — it just doesn't work.
It might work if people could actually do it, but most people can't. In fact, daytime portion control is often the catalyst for nighttime binge eating — one of the biggest causes of fat gain.

So why are we, the fitness industry, promoting it?

Telling someone to stop eating before they're satisfied is like telling someone to stop having sex right before they climax. That's not just a crude joke either. Appetite and the pleasure we get from eating are classified as "sensual desires" and fit into the same category as the sex drive.

Appetite and sex drive: different and not so different.
These are core, continuation-of-life drives: innate and powerful and often hard to control. Combine the natural urge to eat until full with abundant, cheap, and calorie-dense foods and it's no surprise people overeat and get fat.

A Better Plan

So if low-fat diets suck, and low-carb diets are often short-sighted, and portion control has a 95% failure rate, then what's the best nutrition plan for shedding excess body fat so you can have sex with the lights on again?

Well, here's a big part of the answer: volumetrics.

Now, I actually don't endorse most "volumetrics" diets because they often ignore the benefits of good fats like omega-3s. And some fat sources, like olive oil and almonds, are healthy and calorie-dense. Chances are if you see a "Volumetrics" book on the shelf, it's mainly just a low-fat diet that encourages you to eat a lot of soup. I'll pass.

However, we can take a page from the volumetrics approach and apply it to our bodybuilding and fat loss goals. We can learn to manipulate recipes and choose foods that get us full without making us fat. In short, we can get ripped and stay ripped with practically no dietary suffering or excessive hunger.

As a side benefit, volumizing your diet will make you healthier and increase longevity since the most filling foods are often the most health-promoting.
Let's take a look at a real life example. Read more.


20 pounds in 20 weeks-Muscle Building Meals by Dr. John M Berardi


If you've read my articles, then you know that the goal of each and every integrated training, nutrition, and supplement program I design is to find the intersection of the habits that lead to optimal body composition, optimal health, and optimal physical performance. I call this the "Sweet Spot."

Dr. John recommends finding the Sweet Spot.

Once I've found it, my next step is to make it practical for everyday use by giving you strategies for making it happen in the framework of 9 to 5 jobs, significant others, weekends at the cottage, tournaments on the road (for yourself or your kids), and any other scenario that presents a challenge to your health and nutritional habits.

To this end, for all of you guys and girls transfixed by big muscles, today I'm gonna get as practical as we can. No fancy science here. Just one real-world eating plan straight out of the nutritional journal of one of my most successful clients. This guy, in 20 weeks, packed on 20 pounds of lean body mass, with more to come.

The Plan

Ok, 20 pounds in 20 weeks is a big friggin' deal. I imagine you're trying to guess what sort of "prescription" ol' Dr. John put this client on. You may even be wondering where you can buy some. Shame on you, my cynical friend. This client simply followed the training and supplement ideas laid out in my muscle-building guide Scrawny to Brawny and the recipes provided in Gourmet Nutrition. Read more.


Can Diets Make You Fat?

I've never been a big fan of diets (see: Reasons to Quit Dieting Forever) and now I've got some support in some new information by Dr. Len Kravitz.

Kravitz evaluated nine data-based research studies to find out what happens to our bodies when we diet. Here's what he found:

* In women who dieted, BMR was lowered up to 20%, even more in very low-calorie diets
* There was an average weight gain of 0-5 kg (0-11 lbs)
* The women in these studies experienced a rebound effect after going off the diets, gaining much of the weight back

Read more.

And if you're after the elusive six pack check this out:

5 Facts You MUST Understand if You Are Ever Going to Lose Your Belly Fat & Get Flat 6-Pack Abs by Mike Geary - Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer (CPT)