Nutrition “Case Study” #1:

Have you ever said to yourself, “I’ve tried EVERYTHING possible to lose weight and NOTHING works!”? Do you believe that you can’t lose weight because of menopause, a slow metabolism, adrenal fatigue, or all three? If you answered yes to any of these questions, I’m here to respectfully tell you that you are most likely 100% wrong. You can lose weight. I’m sure of it!

For anyone that knows me reasonably well, this may seem like a strong, “in-your-face” stance to take, but I have your best interests at heart.  I have competed in “weight-class” sports for over 20 years, and have been working as a personal trainer for 12 years. I have yet to see a single person who is not capable of losing a significant amount of weight. Below I will go over a quick explanation of how I coach my nutrition clients, followed by a “case study” of two clients whom I am currently in the process of coaching.

Before I get into the meat and potatoes of this article I’d like to preface by explaining two different stream’s of Nutrition Coaching that I implement with my clients:

1) Food Log Analysis and Weekly Coaching – This process involves my clients tracking their food intake by writing it in a journal. I review the journal weekly and make suggested adjustments in order to help them reach their weight loss/gain goal as efficiently as possible. There are no specific foods that are off limits and there are also no specific “must eat” foods that I require clients to eat. This type of coaching is most suitable for a beginner to intermediate level client (a client with either limited dietary knowledge, a significant amount of weight to lose, or both).

2) Flexible Macronutrient Dieting – This process involves me sending my client’s weekly guidelines for the amount of protein/ carbohydrates/ fat  that they are to consume on a daily basis. Weekly adjustments are made to numeric guidelines.  As with the method above, this method does not have any “must eat”, or “cannot eat” foods. Everything is on the table (pun intended).

Case Study:

Kevin and Rosanna are husband and wife nutrition clients of mine. They have been members at The Riverside Club for years and anyone who knows them can attest to how frequently and intensely they workout.

They both began a Flexible Macronutrient Diet with me 5 ½ weeks ago. Kevin’s goals were to lose 20lb’s and have that 6-pack of abdominals start to show through. Rosanna’s goals were to lose 14 lbs and feel leaner and tighter like a tiger.

Previously, on his own, Kevin had been trying carbohydrate cycling (alternating days of low, high, and moderate carbohydrate intake). Rosanna had been eating a diet consisting of very healthy organic and natural foods. Rosanna was also very frustrated (as hell) as she felt that menopause had brought her weight loss to an absolute stand-still. She had resigned herself to accepting that she would not be able to lose weight until the symptoms of menopause had passed.

Our Process:

 Since Kevin and Rosanna had similar weight-loss goals, we adopted the same process for each of them, consisting of 6 days of balanced macronutrient (protein vs. carbs vs. fat) intake, with one extra high carbohydrate day also known as a “cheat day”. We adopted this process for the first 3.5 weeks to establish baselines and to get used to the dieting process.

·    Since then, we have spent the last 2 weeks doing personalized carbohydrate cycling. This involves alternating moderate and higher carbohydrate days. At no point in this process have we (or will we) prescribe a “no-carb” or “don’t eat carbs in the evening” approach. In fact, Kevin and Rosanna have been encouraged to eat a majority of their carbohydrates – ½ to 2/3- in the evening.

·   With 3 ½ weeks left to go in this 8 week process, we will continue to manipulate our carbohydrate cycles and add a little bit more short duration HIIT (interval training) sessions to hit our goals.

After 5 ½ weeks of following my macronutrient guidelines, here are their results:

Kevin:

•   13lbs lost
•  2% decrease in overall Body-Fat Percentage

Rosanna

•  10lbs lost
•  4% decrease in overall Body-Fat Percentage

Prior to writing this article, I asked Kevin and Rosanna a few questions and asked for some feedback about their flexible dieting experience with me.

Below are their answers:

What have you found most challenging about this experience?

·         “It has been challenging to eat all of the food necessary to hit our daily targets.”

What has been most surprising?

·     “We thought that we were eating healthy before, but were surprised to realize that we weren’t eating in such a way to lose weight. Our portion sizes were off.”

What have you learned thus far from this process?

•    “Appropriate portions and macronutrient ratios for weight loss.”
•   “Education – more consumer awareness as it pertains to buying certain types of food.”
•   “How to better “eye-ball” the actual quantity of food you’re eating.”

What advice would you have to someone interested in following this coaching program?

•   “Don’t try and do this on your own, get help!”
•   “Make sure this is what you want and, if so, commit to it 100%.”
•   “Set aside time for your food preparation or else you will be destined to cheat/fail.”

Final Thoughts (from me):  The best advice that I can give anyone who feels that they have exhausted all weight-loss options is this: don’t give up! Arrange to meet with a fitness professional who can accurately analyze your food intake and tell you exactly what you need to do to lose weight. It’s not fair to put in all of the hard work, and not reap the rewards.

If I can help you in any way, drop me a line!

Kristian

innerimagept@gmail.com

www.innerimagept.com

Top Ten Nutrition Myths (Part 2)

Eggs are good, eggs are bad, eggs are good... Well, which is it?

This seems to be a subject that has been debated back-and-forth for years. Finally, we seem to be at a point where the overall consensus in the medical/ nutrition community is that eggs (ESPECIALLY the yolks) are VERY GOOD for you. 

Eggs got a bad reputation for the amount of cholesterol they contain.However, studies have shown that for the majority of people, dietary intake has very little impact on levels of bad (LDL) cholesterol in the blood. In fact, studies have also shown that eggs raise our levels of good cholesterol (HDL), and don't raise our risk or heart disease. 

Within the egg, half of the protein is contained in the white and half is contained in the yolk. All of the fat is contained within the yolk, as are a majority of the high quality nutrients such as your B Vitamins.

If you are being mindful of your calories, consider combining some eggs whites with a whole egg as a scramble...1/2 cup of egg whites scrambled with 1 whole egg provides 20g of high quality protein and 6 grams of high quality fat.

So...whatever you do, don't throw out the yolk! It's wasteful and just plain silly!

I think that most of us know by now that women SHOULD lift weights. Perhaps they should be even more focused on lifting weights than men should (especially as they age). Women are more likely to suffer from osteoporosis, but lifting weights can actually increase a woman’s bone density, even as she ages. The notion that a woman will get too “buff” or “bulky” from weight training is also completely untrue. Unless you are eating a huge surplus of calories, taking a little bit of the old “Vitamin S”, AND utilizing a high volume/ hypertrophy-based program, you will not bulk-up! So…fugget aboudit!

Last point on this topic is this: Women need not just focus on body weight exercises or integrated movements such as a reverse lunge into a step-up , into a hip-hop abs shimmy , then finished with a Jane Fonda leg lift. This notion that women should do “girly” workouts while men do “manly” workouts is silly, and quite frankly, it hurts my feelings :) If you want to tone up your arms, upper-back, glutes, and legs, don’t be afraid to do some bench presses, squats, and deadlifts with reasonably heavy loads. This is how you truly recruit enough muscle fiber to change your body composition by adding lean mass, which will ultimately increase your metabolism. 

The cool thing is, while women are usually at a genetic disadvantage (to men) when it comes to exercises such as chin-ups and the bench press, I have seen some very lean and mean women put men to shame in the squats and deadlifts… 

About 12-15 years ago, the BOSU ball entered the mainstream fitness world in a big way. While working at a big franchise gym in the city, I saw what almost seemed to be a urinating contest to see who could come up with the most creative or challenging exercises that involved the bosu ball, stability ball, or even, a combination of both. I questioned whether or not I was missing something by having clients focus on back squats, push-ups, and planks. With the creation of these unique movements also came the argument that these exercises were more “functional” than your conventional “old school” lifts. I define the term FUNCTIONAL FITNESS as training in a way that best increases your ability to perform daily tasks at work, home, and in sport. So… if we look at the movement pictured above, the term “functional" doesn’t really apply. That is, unless, you often kneel on a pillow with one knee in the air while hanging picture frames overhead. If that’s part of your daily routine, then this is the exercise for you!

If you want to change your body composition or get better at sport, loading up your compound exercises will always take the cake. If you want to be better at lifting your child overhead or carrying your groceries up the stairs to your apartment, keep your feet on the floor and do an overhead press or grab some heavy dumbbells and do a farmers walk.

When should you use the BOSU? The BOSU ball is not completely obsolete, and, to be fair, there are many other modalities that I could have “picked on” to make my point. In Summary, the BOSU certainly has a place in the world of injury rehabilitation, and EMG studies have also shown that a BOSU ball crunch recruits more rectus abdominis fibers (ab muscles) than a standard crunch. It can also help to decrease the likelihood of ankle sprains in athletes who have previously suffered a sprain. On the flip-side (get it? Like flipping over the BOSU ball on the other side, Ha!) one study actually showed that BOSU ball training decreased athletic performance in College Soccer athletes.

Squat, Deadlift, Rotate, Pull, Push, and you will get better at life!

Many people make the shift to eating Gluten- Free and/or Organic and often (perhaps not even consciously) give themselves a license to eat more food, because of the belief that it is healthier for them.

In many instances, the food may actually be healthier than what you were eating before, however, it may also be equally (if not more) dense in calories. If you start making some "super smothies" without measuring the quantities of chia, flax seed, coconut oil, acaiiiiiiieeeeeee berries, and the lot, you just might find you that your pants will start to fit a little tighter.

Also, when it pertains to making the decision to go Gluten-Free, be careful not to get caught up in the "hype". The reality is that less than 1% of the population are actually Celiac (disease which makes one intolerant to digesting gluten). Determining whether or not, you are "gluten intolerant" is a highly subjective exercise which often leads people to completely eliminate gluten from their diet when it may not actually be the culprit of their weight issues and or digestive problems. My two pieces of advice: If you want to try and eat organic and locally sourced food, go for it! Just make sure to be aware of how many calories you are putting into your body each day. Second piece of advice: Before you go on an all or nothing gluten-free diet, first try "cleaning up your diet" and cutting out a bit of crapola here and there. You might find some simple shifts like this will allow you to still eat some gluten while also still feeling and looking good!

This is the final weight loss myth in my ten part series. If you would like to be emailed a document with the top ten and other helpful tips, exercises, and videos, click on the link in my bio.

The Body Mass Index (BMI) is based off of a formula which was developed by Belgian astronomer Adolphe Quetelet in the mid to late 1800's. The major issue with this test as a measure of one's health is that it does not take into account 3 crucial elements of body composition: bone mass, fat mass, and muscle mass. You could have two people of the same age, height, and weight who score the same on the BMI while having two drastically different body compositions in terms of fat mass vs. muscle mass. 

The mesomorph body-type that's highlighted in red in the picture (big bones and big muscles) often scores as obese on the BMI when they are some of the fittest/ healthiest people on the planet. With all of the advances made in medicine, I would love to see us take a step back from the BMI and a step forward towards measuring one's body composition. A 7 point Jackson-Pollock caliper (pinch) test could be done with reasonable accuracy in 4 minutes. I know some people may think this is a bit embarrassing, but seriously, think about all the other exams that our doctor or nurse has performed on us. 

If you're curious, and if you have the resources, I'd strongly suggest getting a body-fat test done. This will give you a clearer picture of your body composition, and also, of your improvements to that composition over time. If you're in the Calgary area, drop me a line and I will pinch you!

Thanks for reading!

Kristian Leach

innerimagept@gmail.com