Tips to get "Shredded" for summer

[jah7_fsu1]

"Beach season" is near. Here highlights from a paper I wrote a while back on how to trim down. It's basically little nuggets that are great for "getting ripped." It's a collection of ideas I got from other people off the internet, from fitness clinics, magazines, or stuff I researched on in college. Just copying and pasting the good stuff, not the some of the scientific links I had to have. on half of them. This was an unedited version without those links (and maybe without proper grammar in a lot of places!) Some of it you may have known, but maybe some people will get some useful nuggest for "beach season!"


***Brush away cravings: Dieting and need a Hershey's? Brushing your teeth seems to take the cravings away. The higher the peroxide content usually the better. It's part psychological, but it really works!

***No starvation diets: When the body is in a hypocaloric state it tends to hang onto bodyfat. This is due to the body’s survival mode where if it considers itself as starving. It will do what is necessary to avoid this! Eat small meals frequently because...

***Thermic Effect of Food: Anytime you eat you burn more calories, this keeps your metabolic rate high. Go longer between meals and your metabolism slows down.

***Glug, glug, glug: Drink water all day every day. 56-72 ounces at least, depending on exercise and heat. The actual amount isn't as important as just doing it a lot. Thirst can trigger hunger, and water has been shown to keep your metabolic rate consistent.

***Eat breakfast, and a big one: "Not eating breakfast may reduce your metabolic rate by 10 percent." Studies have suggessted that people who eat more in the morning consume less later in the day. Your body has been in a long fast, refuel it!

***Build around protein: People consume to many carbs, and to little protein. Eat more complete protein sources which has been shown to have numerous thermogenic effects. Minimize sugar and flour which cause blood sugar to rise quickly. This rise signals your body to stop burning fat (See insulin graph). Increased protein can reduce declines in IGF-1 from training and calorie restriction.

***Get groupies: The BJSM shows an increase in walking distance with a group as compared to solo efforts. Partners provide motivation, accountability, and competition. Make a bet to see who can lose more fat faster!

***BCAA'S: Adequate circulating levels of BCAA's and glutamine in the bloodstream appear to signal your body to lay off the muscle tissue as a fuel source. This causes increased levels of lean body mass witholding, paramount to the success of any bodyfat regimen.

***Increase "little" things for big results: Do mini-calf raises at your desk. Park far away from the office. Take the stairs at all times. Do pushups at commercials of TV shows. Play with your kids outside instead of in a confined space. Chew gum. It may not seem like much, but it will add up big time!

***Have Sex: Encourage your partner to help your fat loss goals. Sexual intercourse has a myriad of health benefits and burns quite a bit of calories so get busy!

***Make a list: Don't say I want to lose 20 pounds. Make a list of things you want to do to lose those pounds. Put it where you see it everyday. Examples include eat more frequent small meals, drink more water, exercise more, etc.

***Run hard!: High intensity interval training is the way to go to get lean faster. EPOC which is fueled by fat oxidation is higher in these intervals than steady-state cardio.

***Get hot: One study shows increases in body oxygen consumption and muscle oxygen consumption after red pepper ingestion. Red peppers may be a useful way to shed some excess lard.

***Go fishing: Small decreases in fat mass, small increases in lean mass, and an increase in metabolic rate were seen with fish oil supplements.

***Prime the perimeter: The perimeter of a supermarket has all the healthy foods! Your meats, dairy, veggies, and other great for you items are usually found on the outside of the aisles! Keep most of your shopping out here.


***Keep your liquid 0: Soda pop, juices, alcohol, and other liquids are empty calories. Try to get the majority of your calories from foods and not liquids such as pop. Note: Protein shakes or meal replacements are exceptions.

***Just lift baby!: What increases when we lift weights? Just about everything that we want to! Testosterone, growth hormone, muscle strength, muscle size, bone density, and fat free mass. What decreases? Cortisol and % of bodyfat mainly. You will have to do some cardio most likely to lose bodyfat, but don't underestimate the need for proper strength training!

***Don't last long: Working out for over an hour has shown to increase the stress hormone cortisol. Keep your time in the gym to around an hour or less. Don't be afraid to go multiple times in a day however.

***Eat more veggies: What can I say, the benefits of most vegetables are to long to list. If your cutting carbs, still get the good ones from veggies.

***Cheat a bit: Give yourself one to two cheat meals a week for sanity's sake. Don't overindulge, but a metabolic shift has been shown to take place that might actually be advantageous.

***Train large muscle groups: In the gym keep it heavy, keep it compound. If your looking for a type of fat burning program try something which stimulates the release of lactate.

[Jym Newbie]

Wow, I learned a ton from this. Thank you, I'm trying to lose fat before I get half naked.

Questions: What are BCAA's? And how do we stimulate the release of lactate in your last post?

[J.Brown]

jah,

all really really good advice.

i have given this out in similar fashion to a ton of people and it always amazes me that so many don't "know" any of these "secrets" to weight management/loss.

not drinking calories, lifting, doing interval training, and burning off extra calories with daily activities are 4 things that are PURE GOLD when it comes to the average person or athlete getting shredded for summer.

please keep posting, you are a value (to say the least) to this forum and really know what you are talking about.

later. J.

[KaiserSose]

Just wanted to say awesome post.

[jah7_fsu1]

Thanks for the kind words Kaiser and J. Brown.

Jym Newbie: Check your PM for detailed articles and answers.

[calmB4storm]

[ QUOTE ]
***Keep your liquid 0: Soda pop, juices, alcohol, and other liquids are empty calories. Try to get the majority of your calories from foods and not liquids such as pop. Note: Protein shakes or meal replacements are exceptions.


[/ QUOTE ]

Milk / soy milk? Yay or nay for weight loss?

[jah7_fsu1]

CBS: Hoping someone wouldn't ask me that. First off, I would try to limit the consumption of soy protein. I can give you a ton of research on this if you'd like in the forms of studies. I can also give you some positive research...but I'd limit it. The negative research is winning out at this moment.

Milk's...a tough thing to talk about. Many top nutritionists really fight over this. Where to start...

Milk has been shown to be a useful tool in studies for weight loss. It's also been shown to have estrogen, prolactin, BGH, increase insulin big time, etc (all negative things for the most part).

I could go on and on...people are on both sides of the fence. Since this is get "shredded" for the summer I'd lean toward avoiding it as much as possible. It's definitely not going to make or break you in moderation. Keep this in mind though, when dieting the less calories you drink the more you can eat.

[calmB4storm]

Interesting you mention staying away from soy protein as much as possible. I just started eating vegetarian this year, so a good portion of the protein in my diet has been soy. Are you saying it's not effective for gaining muscle mass? Or are there negative side effects associated with it? Could you link to some of the research that you mentioned? If I stay away from soy protein, what should I look to eat instead? More dairy? More of other types of beans? I appreciate the great advice you've given already, and thanks in advance for helping me out...

[deadcat3x]

soy protein is overated recent studies have linked the over produced soy products that many westerners eat as having strong links to cancer stick with the more natural proteins

[Thremp]

calm,

Soy has chemicals that act as weak estrogens in the body and bind to receptors (not displacing real estrogen), which isn't good.

Omnivore >>>> Vegan

And its not close as all.