To lose weight don’t eat after 6:00pm?

I hear this every time some mainstream expert is telling people how to lose weight.  The theory being that if you eat past 6:00 or 7:00pm that you won’t have time to “burn” off those calories because you’ll be going to bed soon.  I’m going to tell you right now for most people this is actually going to create problems with their attempt at losing weight. 

On the surface it seems to make sense, but if we actually look into this in a little more detail it’s actually creating two big issues. 

Problem #1:

When you have gone too long without eating your blood sugar levels will drop too low.  To bring your blood sugar levels up your body will release a hormone called cortisol (this is your stress hormone), one of the things that it signals the body to do is a process called gluconeogenisis.  It’s a really fancy scientific word that means your body will breakdown protein (this means muscle in your body) and converts it into carbohydrates because your body needs to raise blood sugar levels.  This means that your body will actually begin breaking down muscle to give you energy when you go too long without eating.

What happens in most people when you don’t eat after 6:00pm your blood sugar levels usually plummet between 1:00 and 3:00am.  So your body begins release cortisol to get some energy.  The problem with this is that if you’re doing this consistently you’re going to begin losing muscle, which will actually cause your resting metabolism to decrease......which translates into weight loss coming to a quick halt. 

How many people start off losing weight quickly, then hit a quick plateau?  Often times this is a results of losing muscle mass and slowing the metabolism.  A lot of the weight loss they experience isn’t even fat, a lot of it is often muscle.  I’ve measured people’s percent body fat and have seen it not change despite the fact that they have lost 15-25 pounds.  That means you’re losing equal amount of lean mass and fat, which is disaster for long term weight loss.

Problem #2:

So you understand that your body releases cortisol when you go too long without eating, typically this usually happens between 1:00 and 3:00am as we discussed above.  When your body releases the cortisol your brain is signalling that you are under stress, and this triggers your brain to wake you up.  A large number of clients that come to see me wake up between 1:00 and 3:00am almost every single night and don’t know why.  There are a number of potential causes, but typically once they start eating a balanced snack 1-2 hours before bed they stop waking up, because they are no longer getting this release of cortisol.

What to do?

Try to have a small snack 1-2 hours before bed.  Some people even have to have it 30 minutes before bed, we all have different metabolisms.  You will have to play around with the time to see what works with your body.  Try to make sure that the snack has either a strong source of protein (meat) or a strong source of fats such as yogurt (not the low fat crap), nuts, or seeds.  And you can have some veggies with this, such as some cucumber, peppers, celery, etc.  Give this a try and pretty quickly you’ll notice you won’t be waking up in the middle of the night and you’ll be getting your weight loss back on track.

For more free information on losing weight naturally download a free copy of PEAK Fat Loss at http://www.peak-personaltraining.com/freefatlossmanual.html. 

Fitness legend ahead of his time

If people had listened to this message we wouldn't have the problems we have today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBVk071N88M

Hormone and weight loss lesson #2

Today we are going to go through another hormone and how it can impact your ability to lose weight. Even if you’re eating less calories and exercising more hormones can put the brakes on your body’s ability to burn fat. 

Today we’ll talk about cortisol, it is often referred to as the stress hormone because your body releases it anytime that it is under any type of stressful condition.  Here are some of the things that too much cortisol or a cortisol imbalance can cause:

·         Increased fat storage through the stomach and midsection

·         Depress the rate of thyroid hormone production (this can cause a serious slowing of your metabolism.....which makes burning fat almost impossible)

·         Fuels desire for sugary foods

·         Depletes serotonin, which can lead to sugar cravings and depression

·         Blood sugar imbalances, which can cause shakiness, irritability, fatigue and head aches

·         Can cause you to eat more because of appetite suppression

·         It causes a breakdown of muscle tissue

·         Sleep disturbances

·         And finally can cause a decrease in the cells sensitivity to insulin, which causes increase insulin levels in the blood which signals fat storage around the midsection

If you want to learn more about how you can make sure cortisol doesn’t slow or stop you from losing weight check out my free teleseminar on January 25^th at 8:00pm eastern time.  Follow this link http://www.peak-personaltraining.com/weightlossteleseminar.html for more details or send me an email at info@peak-personaltraining.com to register.

Hormones and fat loss 101

Later this month I’m having a free teleseminar on weight loss and hormones, most people that are struggling to lose weight, or struggling to keep weight off long term don’t realize what a huge impact that hormones have on weight loss. 

There are many different hormones that effect if you’re going to lose weight or not.  Today we are going to look at what can happen if you are having an imbalance with one of your hormones, insulin.  Most people seem to think that if they don’t have diabetes they don’t have a problem with insulin.  Besides one or two rare exceptions every client that has come to see me in the last 5 years has very poor insulin control and it’s creating serious issue with their weight loss success.  Here are just a few of the side effects that an insulin imbalance can cause:

·         Excess stores fat (especially around the midsection)

·         It can block the use of fat stores in your body

·         Block signals to the brain that say you’re satisfied by interacting with leptin

·         Spike dopamine which causes reward seeking behaviour that leads to cravings for sugars

·         Poor concentration, anxiety, irritability, energy crashes

·         Water retention

·         In males causes testosterone to be converted to estrogens

·         In females causes estrogens to be converted to testosterone

Insulin has a huge impact on weight loss is a big understatement.  To learn more about how to identify if hormones are stopping you from losing weight and learn how to get on the right track for successful weight loss fast check out my free teleseminar on January 25^th.  For details follow this link.

http://www.peak-personaltraining.com/weightlossteleseminar.html

How to “cheat” eat and lose weight

Everyone still has to enjoy their favourite guilty pleasures, here are six tips to help you avoid the guilt that go along with those pleasures. 

1.       Don’t feel guilty about what you’re eating, select a food that you really like and you will enjoy......and then enjoy it.  No beating yourself up about it afterwards, actually enjoy your treat.

2.       Have these later in the day typically after supper.  Now this is going to sound backwards to some people.  Don’t you want to have your cheat meal earlier in the day so that you “burn” most of it off?  In my experience most people if they have sugary food earlier in the day they will get cravings and probably have another cheat meal later in the day as well.  If you have it later in the day it reduces your chances of having multiple cheats in a day.

3.       Eat good quality, nutrient dense food along with your cheat meal.  Most people will worry about having too many calories at one meal so they replace quality food with their treats.  Don’t do this; it will lead to you missing out on nutrients your body needs to function properly. This will mess around your hormonal balance and lead to issues with weight loss long term.

4.       Try to make healthier versions of your favourite treats.  If you like pizza try making your own pizza, if you want something sweet try using honey or maple syrup as a sweetener.  Usually people worry about the taste, but if you get the right recipes it will actually taste better when you make the food yourself.

5.       Know how much of your treat you’re going to eat before you start eating or order the food.  If you pre-plan how much you’re going to have this will help with success, of course you have to hold yourself to that.  Most people once they have a bit fall into that attitude of “I’ve already had some, there’s no point I might as well have more.”  Do <B>NOT</B> fall into this trap, decide how much you’re having before hand and stick to this amount.

6.       Be mentally present when deciding to have your treats.  Many people stress eat, and most of the time they are “autopilot” when they are having these things.  Try to be mentally present and having a treat because you want to enjoy the taste, not because you’re stressed. 

There you have a 6 tips to help you cheat eat and keep on track for your weight loss goals.  Most people get so worried about the guilty pleasures that make up less than 10% of what you’re eating, really invest your energy into focusing on the other 90% and make sure you’re nailing that!

For more information and tips on how to lose weight check out our free resource section of our website http://www.peak-personaltraining.com/resources.html. 

Are your hormones stopping you from losing weight?

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve talked to trainers who are having problems with clients not losing weight.  Their clients are eating better, exercising more but not seeing results.  A lot of the time their clients are actually getting hormone imbalances that are stopping their weight loss.

Here is the deal, if you have a hormonal imbalance even if you’re eating the “right” amount of calories, or  getting “killer” workouts in you can get zero or next to zero fat loss results.  Most clients that come to see us are actually in stage 2 or 3 of adrenal fatigue.  This basically means there bodies are under too much stress.  When your body is under too much stress it can put an instant stop to any weight loss no matter what you’re doing.

So how can you identify if you’re having any issues with your stress hormones.  I’m going to give you a good place to start.  First I’ll give you a few symptoms of too much cortisol (your main stress hormone):

·         Sleep disturbances, fatigue, weight gain around midsection, loss of muscle mass, issues with thyroid function, feeling tired but wired at the same time

Here are some symptoms of too little cortisol:

·         Fatigue, sugar cravings, allergy symptoms, chemical sensitivities (ie. Smell of gas or perfume bothers you), cold body temperature

If you’re reading that list and thinking almost everyone has some of those symptoms.......yes almost everyone does.  Over half of our population is also overweight, so what’s typical is far from what’s normal. 

If you have too little cortisol or too much both of these imbalances can shut down your ability to lose weight.  If you have symptoms from either of those lists are you’re trying to lose some inches check out our free teleseminar on January 25^th to learn how to take control of your hormones and your weight loss. 

You can find more information by following this link http://www.peak-personaltraining.com/weightlossteleseminar.html. 

Osteoporosis is more calcium really the answer?

Check out the video I did on osteoporosis and calcium consumption.  You'll probably be surprised by what you hear, it goes against what most of the experts out there are telling you about osteoporosis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g6qCIAqeKY

Babies and Fluoride

Here is a video on babies and fluoride.  If you have a baby or know anyone who has/is having a baby please pass this along to them.  It's from Sean Croxton founder of Underground Wellness

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG_yMoNnYRU

Calorie counting what's the point?

Today I'm going to share with you an article from Harvard University Gazette, it talks about a study that compares a low calorie-low fat diet to a higher calorie-low carb diet. 

I want to stress this don't misinterpret what I'm saying and think that I'm telling you to cut out all your carbs.  The big message that you should take away is that a calorie is not a calorie.  Your body has a different response to different types of food.  Investing time and effort into counting calories instead of getting the right food is a serious weight loss mistake.

Check out the article at this link, very interesting stuff.
http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2003/10.23/03-lowcarb.html

What’s the point in setting New Year’s resolutions?

I’m actually being serious when I ask that question.....what’s the point behind your New Year’s resolutions? Have you ever actually stopped and took time to think about this? If you’re reading this article I bet there is a great chance that one of your resolutions is to “lose weight,” “tone up,” or “get fit,” which is usually code for lose some weight. Stop for a second and ask yourself how many times have you set a New Year’s resolution that is similar to the one that you’re going to set this year? Most people who are trying to lose weight every January do the same thing every January setting the same New Year’s resolution and usually they fail to accomplish them. Or they have a vague resolution such as “get fit” that it is very difficult to measure if you’ve actually successfully accomplished this or not.


A lot of trainers I know hate New Year’s resolutions and think that they are pointless because almost no one ever accomplishes them. I actually love them, I start planning mine in the two months leading up to New Years. I think that they can be an incredibly powerful tool if done properly. The biggest problem for most people is that they don’t do them properly, they just think I want to lose weight......so my New Year’s Resolution is to lose weight. This will not lead to success. I’ll walk you through two very important steps to being successful at accomplish your New Year’s resolution this year!

Step 1:
 
Assuming that you’ve got your resolution picked out for 2011 stop and actually ask yourself why it’s important to you. I want you to actually take some time and reflect and ask yourself why this goal you’re setting is important to you. But I don’t want you to simply do a quick thought I want you to actually stop and ask yourself why is that goal important. Most people don’t take the time to get to the real root importance of a goal and this is what causes that fleeting motivation that causes gym attendance rates to drop dramatically in February. I’ll use an example to help illustrate how to get to the real reason your goal is important to you.


Let’s pretend your goal is to lose 3 dress sizes in 2011 (always make sure your goals or resolutions are specific). Most people when I ask them to figure out why this type of goal is important to them they say I want to look better and fit into my old clothes.


So they are basically saying:


“I want to lose 3 dress sizes in 2011 because I’ll look better and I can fit into my old clothes”


This person has only scratched the surface of why their goal is important to them. Read that sentence above. How motivating does that sound, how strong is that reason to lose weight? I’ll give you an example of a client who dug deeper into their importance of their goal. Notice how she takes each answer and continues to figure out why that’s important to her.


I want to accomplish my current goal of losing 3 dress sizes in 2011 because I will like how the new me looks


This is important to me because I will feel more comfortable throughout my days at work, shopping, and in social situations


 
This is important to me because I am constantly worrying about how I look, if my clothes make me look good or bad, what other people are going to say about how I look. And I don’t want to worry anymore


 
This is important to me because all of the worrying is causing me serious anxiety, stress and does not allow me to fully enjoy my life and time with my family


 
This is important to me because I want to go through life feeling relaxed, confident and free without having constant worrying about what others think about how I look.


So her statement about why her New Years Resolution is important to her reads like this


 
“I want to lose 3 dress sizes in 2011 because I will be able to go through life feeling relaxed, confident and free of having to worry about what other people think about the way I look”


Now compare this to the first statement:


“I want to lose 3 dress sizes in 2011 because I’ll look better and I can fit into my old clothes”


 
Notice the huge difference between the two statements. One of the statements is very powerful and gets to the reason why her goal is really important to her and the issues that carrying the extra weight is currently creating in her own life. Take your New Year’s Resolution (make sure it’s specific) and take the time to reflect and figure out why that goal is so important to you and write down your New Year’s Resolution with the “why” behind it.
 

Step 2:


You now have the “why” behind your goal. Now we need to take the next step and actually figure out the “how” behind your New Year’s resolution. Most people are far too vague when going through the “how” behind their goal, especially with weight loss. They usually say I’ll eat better and exercise more, and if this is your plan I will guarantee you that you’re going to eventually gain the weight back.

 
You need to actually figure out all of the different changes that you’re going to have to make to your lifestyle and nutrition to get where you want to go. We will stick to the example above of the woman who wants to lose 3 dress sizes in 2011. Here is a list of some of the changes she has to make to accomplish her New Years resolution.


 
• Only eat food that I recognize all the ingredients on the ingredient list

• Take at least 2 hours every week to have time to myself and relax

• Drink ½ an ounce of water for every pound I weigh

• Eliminate all foods I’m intolerant to


 
These are just a couple examples from her list. If you actually outline all the different changes you have to make this will give you short term goals you can set to make sure you accomplish your New Year’s Resolution. Again it is important to be specific, she didn’t just say drink more water above she was specific about how much she had to drink.


 
The final step is to outline when you’re going to make the changes throughout the year. The easiest way to do this is to write on your calendar when you are going to make the specific changes. You can write down what changes you’re going to make every week.


 
You might be thinking this is a pain to go through all of these steps, but why is your New Year’s resolution important to you? If it’s really important to you and you really do want to accomplish your resolution this really shouldn’t seem like a lot of work. You should be excited about having the tools to know you’re going to accomplish your goal this year. You should be excited about the journey that is ahead of you. Actually take the time to do every single step outlined in this article.


To ensure success in 2011 follow these steps


1) Figure out the “why” behind your resolution.

2) Read your New Year’s resolution and the reason it’s important to you at least once every single day to keep it in the front of your mind.

3) Map out the “how” behind your resolution making sure to outline in detail which changes you have to make and when you’re going to be making them.


If you’re unsure about the “how” and you’re trying to lose weight you can download a FREE copy of “PEAK Fat Loss” a 6 month guide that walks you through every nutrition and lifestyle change you have to make to lose weight and keep it off. Follow this link to download your free copy of P.E.A.K. Fat Loss . Good luck this year!