Our Obsession with Scales

It is around this time of year that ‘weight loss’ becomes the new talking point for most men and women.

The last excuse has disappeared with the kids back to school and there is a nice run into Xmas.

But it is also this time of year that frustration begins to creep in and Seasonal Mood Adjustments mean that ‘beating yourself up’ becomes the norm if the scales begin to creep.

Let’s set the record straight. I do like scales. Do I weigh myself? Yes, once a week. What does it tell me? Not much.

As a quick and easy indicator, the scales are great. I suggest you pick a number you are happy with, say 4lbs, and if the scales creep up 4lbs you know that it is time to pull back and take action rather than wait until the dial looks more like 14.

But let’s not get carried away here. I am aware that most ladies freak out at the sight of the scales shifting in the wrong direction.

So if you do weigh yourself make sure it is a) first thing in the morning b) done naked or as close as possible c) urinate before you weigh yourself

What do the scales tell us? Ultimately they tell us our weight. But weight of what? We are made up of muscle, fat, water, a connective frame that includes bone, tendons ligaments etc etc.

Your hydration levels, glycogen stores (your muscle’s sugar stores), sodium levels, constipation, menstrual cycle and de-hydration (this forces the body to retain water) will all negatively influence the reading.

It is disheartening to see so many of us become hung up on our weight and what the scales say. Your weight can fluctuate throughout the day. Imagine hopping on the scales after a gym session and seeing you lost 2lbs. Great. Later on in the day, the scales creep back up 2lbs. Disappointment sets in. You may even think about quitting.

Lean bodies with good levels of health determined by blood tests will possess 10% of their body weight as fat in males and between 14-18% in females. Visible muscle definition will be evident.

I know plenty of women who carry very little weight but are well outside this range. The ‘skinny fat’ as I call them are seen walking around with their breakfast of skinny latte and a slice of toast before not eating anything until dinner time. By that time, their bodies have cannibalised its own protein source (its muscles) to fuel their bodies.

If you find yourself in this category try to start eating small regular amounts of food throughout the day that include protein, veggies and some healthy fats. Your metabolism will thank you for it.

Try and embrace how much body fat you are carrying over what the scales tell you. A skilled exercise physiologist will be able to measure your body fat levels. Embrace the challenge of burning fat and perform activities that preserve lean muscle mass whilst burning fat such as weight training.

A good measure of your success and progress is your own self-perception, people complimenting you and how your clothes fit.

Is it as easy as drinking your food? No. Is it as easy as relying solely on the scales? No. Keep focused on your body fat levels. Have them accurately taken and then set about meeting the challenge.

We have a good run into Xmas now. Where can you see yourself 8-10 weeks from now? In this time there could be a new you

John Lark is a Fat Loss Specialist combining Exercise, Nutrition and Lifestyle Tools at The Sphere Fitness Studio, Maynooth. Download his 5 Top Tips for Burning Fat at www.spherefitnessstudio.com

Why do I Thank the Japanese for Fat Loss

Why do I Thank the Japanese for Fat Loss

Well, I have to admit that to thank the Japanese for fat loss would be a slight exaggeration.

However, they are responsible for one pleasant, or not so pleasant chap called Professor Tabata who has made working out, training, exercise or whatever you want to label it as an excuse of the past.

The phrase Tabata Interval originated from a study performed by Dr. Izumi Tabata (and colleagues) at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo, Japan.

They found that, to cut it short, that 7-8 sets of exercise on a stationary bike at 170% of your VO2 max (a term used to describe your fitness levels) for 20 seconds followed by 10 seconds rest was effective at improving your fitness levels by as much as 28%.

So let me get this right – 4 minutes for a 28% improvement in fitness.

It is also a great little fat burner. The keys lies not in the amount of calories you burn during the session but the time following the session. This ‘after burn’ or Elevated Post Oxygen Consumption for the nerds out there (and yes I am one) is the result of you elevating your metabolic rate through the roof. You will burn calories whilst sitting at your desk!

Yep. Not a bad investment for your body and the beauty is that it only takes 4 minutes. Imagine if you had all of 8, 12 or 16 minutes what you could achieve.

It is one of the biggest excuses that I hear every day.

‘I don’t have time’

or ‘I HAD to do the washing’

‘Really? What is easier to fix – a pile of dirty clothes or the rolls of fat hanging over your trousers?’

The key lies with the intensity of your exercise during the 20 seconds. If you can hold a conversation then you are not working hard enough or the ‘intent’ is not enough.

The beauty with this principle is that you can apply is to any exercise. The more muscles you involve the better. So curling a bag of sugar for 20 seconds will not yield as much fat burning effect as a press up-squat combination.

If you are out walking then walk briskly for 5-10 minutes ensuring you are warm and ready to launch into some Tabatas. Then up the intensity. For some this may be no more than a fast walk. For others, a jog, a run or even a sprint. Then rest for 10 seconds before going again. Now repeat this session for 7 more sets.

You can also use body weight exercises performed to as many repetitions in the allotted time frame.

Try a squat by placing your feet shoulder width apart, keeping your chest proud and sitting back and down into as deep as position as possible.

Try a lunge by placing your front foot out in front before explosively pushing back to the start position. If you find this tough then keep the front foot where it is and lunge and up and down.

How about the humble press-up? Or chin-up for the more militant about you? A press up is a great foundation movement. Place your hands for beginners against a wall, intermediate against an elevated platform and for the advanced, the floor. Keep your hips and shoulders level and lower to the ground. Push the ground away from you back to the start position.

Running on the spot or skipping is also a great way of performing the dreaded tabatas.

These sessions are short and sweet and yes 4 minutes will yield some results. If you wish to combine blocks of 4 minutes rest for 4 minutes in-between if you are starting out. If you are more advanced then 2 minutes will suffice.

Be sure to combine the above with a well-designed nutrition programme, drink plenty of water, get your sleep and you are sure to be in for the results you want.

John Lark is a fat loss specialist. Go to his web site www.john-lark.com and download his free report on ‘5 Most Effective Ways of Burning Fat’ or call 01-5052131.

How to Power Start Your Day

There was a time when breakfast used to be the time when most of the family were together.

Papa Smurf popped off to work after reading the paper, Mamma Smurf cooked up the eggs and cereals, whilst the kids lamented over their day at school.

Fast-forward 50 years.

Most people are on their way to work before the sun rises. Kids are hurried off one arm in jumper with the other grabbing a bit of toast. Mum in the meantime is grabbing a bit of lippy and providing a gentle but firm kick up the backside to get out of the door.

Yet we all know and rightly so – breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

Skipping it altogether will tee you up nicely for fat gain. Particularly around the mid-rift. Through years of looking at eating habits and body fat distribution patterns I can firmly say that whose who skip breakfast consistently end up looking like a pear.

In same light using a cereal box as your method of starting the day has also had a large part to play in keeping people erring towards the muffin top shape.

Most of us are familiar with the food pyramid?

Well try the reverse food pyramid in the sense that make your breakfast the largest meal of the day and taper off your calorific intake as the day progresses.

Assuming that we all know that 5-6 ‘feedings’ are better than 3 ‘fill-your-boots- type’ meals then your calorific intake at each meal would look like this if you were shooting for 1500 kcal a day:

Breakfast – 400 kcal, Meal 2 – 200 kcal, Meal 3 – 300 kcal Meal 4 – 200 kcal Meal 5 – 200 Meal 6 – 200 kcal

Better blood sugar management, leaner physique, no hunger, better moods, more food to eat (!!) and so on. What is there not to like about this?

You see instead of perpetuating a cycle of sugar cravings by leaving gaps between meals (longer than 2-3 hours) we are actually feeding our bodies regularly.

So what’s the big deal with breakfast?

What you eat first in the day will determine your hormonal and energy levels. Try this practical experiment. For the next five days try meat, salad and nuts breakfast. Think of it as having dinner for breakfast.

See how your energy levels are for the rest of day. Then go back to your cereal based breakfast and compare.

I will guarantee more energy and certainly less sugar cravings. It is unsurprising that your dopamine levels will increase providing you with extra ‘get-up-and-go’ to face the day.

Some other options for breakfast can be leftover dinner, homemade patties with a side salad or chicken breast with salsa or Guacamole.

Typical comments I have received in the past are ‘I felt like gagging’ and ‘where am I going to find the time?’

All I can say to this is – ‘try it, you won’t be disappointed’

So what then do you have for dinner? Try something light like a salad with cold meats or a Vegetable Omelette.

In fact Eggs are quick and easy to knock up alongside the fact that they are rich in choline, a nutrient geared towards optimal brain health. Not a bad food to have on your side if you are in the middle of a feeding frenzy at the zoo.

Most of my female clients have settled into the swing of cooking up their breakfast whilst knocking up dinners.

For the males this is a bit tougher. For most of them, reading the instructions on a Pot Noodle is as far as it goes.

Although one athlete I used to room with at college was caught emptying the contents of one a pot noodle into a saucepan before transferring it back into the pot to eat.

This is the same guy who assembled a flat pack bed downstairs.

So can you see how important your nutrition is to your brain health?

Start your day with a power breakfast, not some dehydrated excuses of fruit with an empty cereal. Prepare your food the night before whilst you cook your dinner. At worst have left-overs. Your brain, waist line and energy levels will thank you with open arms.

John Lark is a personal trainer and fat loss specialist combining nutrition, training and supplementation for tailored results. Download his free report at www.john-lark.com or call 01-5052131 for more information

Ten Minute Health and Fitness Solutions

In a world of quick fixes who can blame us for searching for the quickest and fastest route to sometimes the hardest finishing line?

It is often said that ‘slow and steady wins the race’. When it comes to health and fitness this is certainly the case.

Learning to enjoy the ride and discovering what your body is capable of doing is a crucial learning experience.

However, there are a few quick fixes. There are a few mini tasks that can be performed that take ten minutes tops to perform yet could mean the difference between winning or losing the battle against the bulge.

1. Preparing a shopping list will not only mean saving on the pennies but also saving on your calorie budget. This simple ten minute task will mean that you are far more likely to stay clear of the middle aisles when you make up a list rich in meats, fish, poultry, veggies, fruits and healthy fats. The temptation to sneak in the extra packet of biscuits is dramatically reduced.

2. Haven’t got time to exercise? Try this handy circuit of exercise that requires no equipment to perform. It is based on High Intensity Training (HIT) methods, but in essence that is what you make of it. If your idea of high intensity is not using a remote control then this is not for you.

Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and a chair behind you. Now squat up and down as many times as you can in 20 seconds. Rest for 10 seconds. Go over to a wall and position your hands against the wall around chest level. Keep your body straight and lower yourself as many times as possible in 20 seconds. Rest for 10 seconds. Return back to the squat for another 20 seconds work and 10 seconds rest. You can repeat this eight times for a total of four minutes.

Some of you can just do one four-minute block. Other more experienced can try two with a 2-minute rest in between each set of four minutes.

3. Begin a food diary to really maximise your results. Set aside ten minutes at the end of the day to record what you ate for the day. Research has shown that you are 80% more likely to reach your target weight if you do this simple task. Recording the time that you ate, what you ate and the quantities is a great start. So get that that A5 book handy!

4. Pre-chop your veggie is another valuable time saver and one of those ‘small investments but big reward’ type activities. Getting your veggies out of the packets, chopped and into zip-loc bags will mean preparing omelettes, stir-fries, casseroles and other meals becomes easy! Spend no more than 10 minutes on this after you shop.

5. Cooking food in bulk will mean that you never have to worry about eating dead food again! What do I mean by dead food? Classic examples include the healthy-touted wrap with nothing in it! Have you ever un-wrapped a shop wrap? There is nothing in it except a few washed up pieces of lettuce with a dollop of radiated mayo. Nice.

Dead food takes nourishment from you. It takes more energy to digest, absorb and detoxify the food than the actual amount of energy it provides.

At dinner take ten minutes to prepare a little snack or a meal for the following day. This habit will pay you back ten-fold.

6. Shopping can be a laborious process so why not spend ten minutes shopping for your regular items online. Set up an account and get all your regular items delivered. This normally takes ten minutes. This will allow you more time to visit your local butcher and farmers markets to get some real food.

Our most successful clients are those that understand the link between health and fitness. They have made healthy living an integral part of their lives without it overwhelming them. Take one of these ten-minute habits and perform it religiously for the next 21 days. See what happens!

What is the worst that can happen? That you actually take responsibility for your health and fitness and ditch the excuses that you are simply too busy. No one is too busy. It is just a case of what is important to you. Everyone has ten minutes.

John Lark is a Fat Loss Specialist providing tools to help you get healthier and leaner - faster. He can be contacted at 01-505213. Download your free fat loss report at www.spherefitnessstudio.com

Alcohol

Every year, more money is spent promoting the use of alcohol than any other product. Perhaps through its elaborate and creative marketing, the most basic, yet important fact about alcohol is often overlooked — alcohol is a drug — the most commonly used and widely abused psychoactive drug in the world.

One concept that many people find difficult to accept is that alcoholism and alcohol problems are a disease. Research has shown that alcohol interacts with the body’s systems in predictable ways to lead to physiological addiction.

Alcoholism is a disease — a chronic, progressive, fatal disease if not treated.

Short Term Effects
Even at low doses, alcohol significantly impairs the judgment and coordination required to drive a car or operate machinery safely. Low to moderate doses of alcohol can also increase the incidence of a variety of aggressive acts, including domestic violence and child abuse.

Effects of moderate alcohol intake include dizziness and talkativeness. The immediate effects of a larger amount of alcohol include slurred speech, disturbed sleep, nausea, and vomiting. “Hangovers” are another effect after large amounts of alcohol are consumed — symptoms including headache, nausea, thirst, dizziness, and fatigue.

Long Term Effects
Prolonged, heavy use of alcohol can lead to addiction (alcoholism). Sudden cessation of long term, extensive alcohol intake is likely to produce withdrawal symptoms, including severe anxiety, tremors, hallucinations, and convulsions.

Long-term effects of consuming large quantities of alcohol can lead to:
• permanent damage to vital organs
• several different types of cancer
• gastrointestinal irritations, such as nausea, diarrhea, and ulcers
• malnutrition and nutritional deficiencies
• sexual dysfunctions
• high blood pressure
• lowered resistance to disease

Alcohol and Exercise

Studies have shown that small amounts of alcohol increase muscular endurance and strength output, but, these benefits are very short lived. After around twenty or so minutes, the problems start. All the negative side affects of alcohol fully outweigh any possible benefits it can have to anyone. Alcohol is a toxin (poison) and so a whole host of physical abnormalities can arise.

These can reduce your strength, endurance, recovery capabilities, aerobic capacity, ability to metabolize fat and muscle growth. Alcohol can also affect your nervous system and brain. Long term use can cause severe deterioration of your central nervous system. With short term use, nerve-muscle interaction can be reduced resulting in a loss of strength.

When alcohol reaches the muscle cells, it can cause damage to them. Inflammation of the muscle cells is common among alcohol users. Over the long term, some of these damaged cells can die resulting in less functional muscle contractions. Alcohol will also leave you with more muscle soreness after exercise making recuperation periods longer.