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Are artificial sweeteners really the better option?

A recently published study from Purdue University may have discovered a shocking truth.  This study examined the response of rats after eating an artificially-sweetened yogurt compared to a sugar-sweetened yogurt. 

The astonishing thing about this study was that the rats which were fed a yogurt sweetened with saccharin went on to consume more calories, put on more weight, gained more body fat, and didn't show signs of decreasing the amount of calories consumes over time, compared to the rats that were fed the yogurt sweetened with sugar. 

The reasoning ... the body is wired to associate consuming sweet foods with a lot of calories about to be consumed.  What happens when an artificially-sweetened food is eaten is that the body is prepared for a lot of calories, but zero calories result from eating this type of food.  This causes the body to become very confused, and it leads to eating even more calories and burning off less energy. 

When the body eats, its calorie-burning engine is revved up.  In the case of zero calories being associated with a sweet, artificially-sweetened food, the body's engine doesn't feel it ate anything, it doesn't rev up, and as a result, the body ends up eating more and burning off less.

Since these findings were discovered in rats, researchers are still to figure out if the same response would occur in humans.  They also aren't sure if this is specific to saccharin, or if all artificial sweeteners would evoke a similar response.

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I’ve started working out; why am I still gaining weight?!

Here’s a question I hear all the time, and to be honest, even though I know why it happens, it can still be disheartening to see your client so disappointed because after a few weeks of working out very hard, he hasn’t lost any weight but has actually gained weight instead!  This may have even happened to you and left you standing on the scale with a confused look on your face.  I think this is a big contributor to why so many people aren’t successful at weight loss programs.  Sure, some are just plain lazy and don’t exercise with enough intensity, but some become so discouraged with the scales that they simply just give up.  Whatever you do, don’t give up!  Here’s why.

I hope by now that we all know that losing fat takes time and effort.  For many, simply hopping onto a treadmill and walking for 20 to 30 minutes isn’t going to cut it; for a very small number of people yes, but for many no.  Most of us have to have a very structured and intense program to be successful at dropping the fat.

Here’s the first step to success.  Are you ready?  Ignore the scale.  That’s right.  Don’t even step onto a scale for the first month of your exercise program.  I know it’ll be hard, but don’t do it. I know some of you are scale addicts; well, consider this Day 1 of your scale detox program.  Remember, a successful “weight” loss program is based on the number of lbs. of fat burned off, not the number of overall lbs. burned off.  This is why you see programs out there that guarantee 6 lbs. lost in 6 days.  You know what they’re guaranteeing?  They’re guaranteeing an eventual 6-10, or more, lbs. being put back on.

The “yo-yo” effect, I’m sure a lot of you have heard of it before.  The “yo-yo” effect is when your body loses weight, then gains weight, then loses weight, and so on.  That’s what these types of guarantees are.  Sure, some overly obese individuals can lose more than 2 lbs. of fat in a week, but the majority can’t.  Losing 6 lbs. is mostly muscle and water, which is a horrible thing. Muscle is vital to your body, so when it loses it, it wants to get it right back, and a lot of times, it’ll put muscle back on and bring excess fat storage with it.  This can leave you having more body fat than when you originally started a “weight” loss program.

Alright, so we’ve established that all weight is not the same.  Losing a pound of muscle isn’t good for the body, while losing a pound of fat is (in most cases).  Also, hopefully it’s clear why scales aren’t always the best indicator of fat loss.  When I evaluate a client’s success, figuring out her body fat percentage is a lot more meaningful to me than seeing the number on the scale.  If her body fat stays the same, but she’s smaller on the scale, then that tells me she’s either lost muscle or water.  If her body fat is the same, but she’s bigger on the scale, then that tells me that she most likely is retaining water.  When both her body fat percentage and weight on the scale drop, then I know that she’s actually losing body fat and achieving success.

For those of you who can’t seem to shake your scale addiction, here’s why you need to be prepared for what you’ll see at the start of your weight loss program.

Like I said earlier, it can be very discouraging when you step onto the scale and see that you haven’t lost any weight and may have evened gained weight.  As long as you don’t give up and are doing the right things with eating right and working out hard enough, your body fat will slowly start to come off.  You just need to be patient.  Don’t give up.

When you first start an exercise program, your body is basically thrown a curve ball.  Your body is used to having to use a certain amount of energy throughout the day, but now that you’re exercising, your body figures out that it needs a greater energy supply.  So what happens?

If you remember, your body’s source of energy comes from glucose.  Carbohydrates are broken down into glucose, the glucose is used to make energy, and your body performs how it needs to.  Well, your body also has a “reserve tank” for excess glucose. Instead of storing all the excess glucose as fat, your body stores some of the excess glucose in an easier form to break down for energy; it’s called glycogen.  Glycogen is long chains of glucose molecules that are stored in our muscles and liver.

Your body adapts to how much glycogen it needs to store in order to have enough “energy” on stand-by for when your blood sugar starts to drop because there isn’t enough glucose in the bloodstream from the food you last ate.  When we start to exercise, our bodies require more energy and become more efficient at getting that energy, so as a result, our bodies start to store more glycogen.  Here’s the kicker.  For every gram of glycogen stored, approximately 3 grams of water are stored with it.  This means that now your body has a larger amount of water and glycogen stored in the muscles and liver, and as a result, your body weight can go up by a few lbs.

Picture a piece of bread or pasta noodle.  What happens when you put them in water?  They’re like sponges.  They soak up the water and expand.  The same can be said with glycogen.  Glycogen is a carb, and it sucks up water just like any other carb.

Here’s another culprit.  If you go from not working out to working out very hard, your muscles will most likely be sore for the next 2 or 3 days.  This is because when you work out, you essentially create mini-tears in your muscles.  Working out too intensely can cause these tears to become overly inflamed to the point where the mini-tears start to swell with fluid.  This excess fluid in the muscles can cause an initial, excess weight gain.  By starting out an exercise program slowly and working your way up, you reduce the likelihood of tearing your muscles too much.  To some extent, though, muscle soreness will occur when you first start exercising, but the amount of soreness and inflammation can be controlled by gradually working into a fitness program.

If you continue to stick to your weight loss program and don’t become discouraged by the initial weight gain that may result, you’ll slowly start to see the weight come off for good.  Rest assured, even though you may be retaining water during that first month of working out, your body is still burning off fat.  After a month’s time, that excess water weight and glycogen will still be there, but your body will have started to burn off enough fat to overcome the water weight gains, and you’ll start to see a difference on the scale.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the individuals who are the most successful with permanent weight loss are those who don’t see results in the first month.  One thing I’ve noticed about my most successful clients, the majority of them actually gained a pound or two during the first month of exercising.  My clients who weren’t very successful were those that maintained the same weight during the first month, the second month, and so on.  Why?  I’d have to say it’s because my most successful clients were working so intensely that they experienced extra glycogen and water storage.  My clients who wouldn’t put in the effort didn’t need extra glycogen stored, so they didn’t see any initial weight gains.

You see, my successful clients saw an extra pound or two on the scale during the first month, but as the program went on, that extra glycogen storage meant their bodies had the extra fuel to stay revved up and burning off excess calories.  It also meant that of the food they ate, less was going into fat storage and more was going into “high-octane” glycogen storage.  Less fat storage equals faster weight loss.

So here’s my advice.  Don’t be scared of delayed results within the first month.  Your body is going through an adaptation process, and it requires some time to prepare itself for its new lifestyle.  Keep your exercise intensity up, your eating habits right, and you’ll slowly start to see your fat loss results overcome your new glycogen and water storage results.  You’ll slowly start to see that success you set out to achieve.

Achieve six-pack abs with the Russian Twist

Our radio spot

We just got done recording our radio spot with 104.9 the River.  I have to say, I really like how it turned out.  We offered a fitness tip of the month for the radio listeners, and just listening to it gets me pumped up and in a great mood.

It's pretty exciting because this is our first time recording something to be broadcasted out over the radio, and let me tell you, when you're driving around and you hear your own spot on the radio, it kinda gives you goosebumps. 

We (when I say "we", I mean Your Live Trainers) are really trying to target stay-at-home moms with our training because we feel it's so convenient for them to be able to workout in their home because they don't have to take their kids to the gym in order to work out.  When I used to be a trainer for a gym, I noticed that a lot of my stay-at-home moms would bring their kids, drop them off in the playroom, and then work out with me.  A day later, they'd be calling me having to cancel because their child was sick from being in the playroom.  It just didn't seem very productive; that's why I created Your Live Trainers. 

Anyway, like I said, this is an exciting month because we're really targeting stay-at-home moms through this radio station and also a parenting expo at the Columbus Zoo that we'll be at.  I hope this month and next month turn out to be great.  If you get a chance, check out our spot on the radio, and let me know what you think.

The glycemic index, whole wheat conundrum

Now that we kind of have an understanding about the glycemic index, I’m going to throw a curve ball at you.  Even though I’ve already talked about this, I think the “whole wheat” concept needs to be explained some more because it can be very confusing when trying to decide what to eat.

As you know, the words “white bread” can send chills up dieters’ backs.  Why is that?  It’s because everyone knows that the “whites” are bad for you.  Just like I said earlier, “whites” raise your blood sugar; white bread, white flour, white rice, white potatoes, white sugar, they all send your blood sugar soaring.  Get this, though.  Whole wheat bread really isn’t much better.  In fact, whole wheat bread actually has a glycemic index rating that’s the same if not slightly higher than white bread!  Then why have we been taught to choose whole wheat over white bread?  What’s that all about?

The answer is because slice for slice, whole wheat bread has way more nutrients than white bread.  Basically, it’s like dipping a piece of paper into some apple juice, and then eating it.  Yeah, you’ll get some of the benefits of eating an apple by eating the apple juice-soaked paper, but why not just eat the apple instead?  OK, maybe that was an unbelievable exaggeration, but you get my point.

When making white bread, it’s stripped of a lot of the nutrients that are in a grain of wheat, but to compensate for the loss of nutrients during the milling process, an attempt is made to put the missing nutrients back into the bread before it hits store shelves.  (I explain all this in better detail here.)  White bread can never regain the all the nutrients that left it, just like apple juice-soaked paper can’t regain all the nutrients of an apple itself.

Here’s another thing, whole wheat bread is more filling than white bread.  Since whole wheat bread has more fiber in it, it’ll leave your appetite suppressed for a longer period of time.

To sum it all up, whole wheat bread and white bread have about the same glycemic index rating, so they’ll spike your blood sugar just as fast, but whole wheat bread has a lot of other benefits to compensate for this.

Here’s a neat fact, although a little off topic.  The blood sugar spikes that come from eating bread result from the body converting starch into glucose.  The good news is, when our bodies break down starch into glucose, we can actually pull stored sunlight energy out of starch’s chemical bonds and use it for ourselves.  Pretty cool, huh? 

Anyway, so whole wheat and white bread result in about the same rate of blood sugar spiking.  Like I said, though, to offset the blood sugar spike of whole wheat bread, there’s actually more fiber in whole wheat bread compared to white bread.  This means that even though the rate of blood sugar spikes might be the same, with whole wheat bread, you’re going to feel full longer and less likely to succumb to eating more junk food as a result of the blood sugar drop after the initial spike.

This is why whole wheat bread can be considered a better choice than white bread.  Even though their glycemic index ratings are about the same, there is more fiber and other nutrients in whole wheat compared to white bread.  This fact means that you can combat the bad effects of a whole wheat blood sugar spike with a suppressed appetite and more nutritious meal, meaning less “useless” calories consumed throughout the day and less excess fat stored in the body.

That’s not to say that you can eat as much whole wheat bread as you want; it’s still high on the glycemic index, so you want to eat it in moderation.  At least it's a better choice, though, than the less nutritive white bread option.

Featured on Reuters!

Please think before you speak

That's what I was thinking the other day when my wife and I were coming out of Wal-mart.  Yes, I grocery shop with my wife.  There, I said it.

My wife and I were loading up our groceries into our car when we see this car start to come down the aisle, looking for a spot to park in.  We thought she was going to sit there and wait for us to load our car up.  (I can't stand when people do that.)  Instead of parking a little farther back, they choose to wait 5 minutes for a spot that is 5 spots closer to the store; doesn't make much sense to me. 

Anyway, luckily a person was starting to pull out on the other side of us.  So this car back ups and get ready to turn into this spot where the other car is pulling out of. 

Here's where it gets really good.  Picture this:  On the side of the aisle we're on, there's an old lady getting into her car. (You probably already know where this is going.)  On the other side of the aisle is the car that is pulling out of its spot, and in the middle of the aisle is this car waiting to claim whatever spot opens up first.

Here's how it plays out: The car trying to find a spot drives past the old lady getting into her car; decides to stop for a bit and wait for my wife and me to finish loading up our groceries; sees this other car, on the opposite side of the aisle, trying to pull out; decides to back up and wait for this other car to pull out; and in the meantime, backs up and stops right behind this old lady's car. 

So this poor old lady, knowing that she already saw this car drive past her once, starts backing out of her spot, not even thinking that the original car that passed her could have decided to back up and stop right behind her.  The next thing my wife and I hear, "Crunch!"  The old lady backs right into the right side of this other car's front bumper.  The car blares its horn, scares the old lady half to death, and out jumps this other lady from her car.  She starts screaming her heart out at this old lady, calls her a stupid (expletive name), and then realizes who she's mad at.

That made me so mad to think that this woman didn't have enough self-control to keep her mouth shut instead of making a scene for everybody in the parking lot to see.  Why is that?  Sure she was mad; I would've been mad too if someone backed into me, but that's no reason to treat a person like a pile of dirt.

The ironic thing was that since the old lady was backing out, she wasn't even going fast at all.  The lady's bumper popped in because it was plastic, and two minutes later, it popped right back out as if nothing had happened. 

I hope the lady felt bad for the scene she made; I just wish our society could learn to treat each other with more respect.  It's sad seeing how some people deal with conflict. 

Are we crazy?

We're running this super, awesome, spectacular special at Your Live Trainers.  Right now, when you refer 3 friends to Your Live Trainers, and they sign up for  a fitness membership, we'll refund YOUR ENTIRE 1 month, fitness membership! 

Basically, we want to show our appreciation for those that are out telling their friends about how cool we are.  I don't know; I think it's pretty cool because you can now try us out for free, while at the same time, help your friends become more active and healthier.

Alright, that's all I have for now.  Stay active.

Let’s dig deep into the glycemic index

I’ve touched on this topic before, but after listening to a former national spokesperson for the American Diabetes Association talk about this topic the other night, I really think it’s important to go more in depth with the importance of glycemic index and its role in weight loss, diabetes, and better health.  If you haven’ already done so, make sure you read my article on simple sugars.

So to review, glycemic index refers to the rate at which carbohydrates are broken down into glucose and absorbed into our blood stream.  The higher the glycemic index number, the faster this process happens, and the faster our blood sugar is raised.

For example, glucose (the sugar that’s the body’s source of energy) is considered a perfect 100 on the glycemic index scale.  No surprise there since carbs are broken down into glucose.  Now if you were to eat pure glucose, your blood sugar would spike very quickly.  For a non-diabetic, this isn’t the smartest thing.  Sometimes though, when blood sugar levels of individuals, such as diabetics, drop so low, they need to eat a food with a lot of glucose in order to get their blood sugar levels back to normal.

So why do we want to stay away from high glycemic foods?  First, let’s picture your energy level throughout the day.  As I’ve talked about before, your energy level can be seen as a rollercoaster throughout the day.  When you eat, your metabolism increases.  As a result of the breakdown of food, your blood sugar also increases.  The problem is, if you eat too much at one time, your blood sugar spikes and this leads to the inevitable drop in blood sugar.  When your blood sugar drops, you get hungry, you eat again, and the whole process starts over.  This is why it’s suggested that eating every 2-3 hours is best because you reduce the blood sugar spikes of a big meal by not eating too many calories at one time; your calorie eating is spread throughout the entire day instead.

So what does glycemic index have to do with spiking blood sugar levels?  Well first off, since higher glycemic index foods lead to faster spikes in blood sugar and the resulting drops, this means that you’ll start craving more calories than your body actually needs, and you’ll end up eating too much throughout the day.  That’s the first reason: high glycemic foods lead to more calories being eaten throughout the day.  The more excess calories eaten, the more body fat is stored, and the faster those pants, from college, won’t fit anymore.

Unfortunately, this reason is the better of the other reasons.  To better understand the next reason, let’s look at insulin and its role with blood sugar.

Hopefully you’ve read the simple sugars article, but if you haven’t, I want to review what insulin does.  In the most basic explanation possible, insulin helps deliver food to our cells.  It takes the glucose in our blood stream (the blood sugar) and transports it into our cells for energy.

Here’s the problem.  According to the former national spokesperson for the American Diabetes Association, high glycemic meals have been shown to cause the capillaries walls to constrict for up to 4 hours.  She says that when high glycemic meals are eaten too much, there is a lot of stress put on the capillary walls to the point where they become inflamed.  In turn, the insulin that’s normally carrying the glucose out of the bloodstream, through the capillary walls, and into the body’s cells can’t efficiently make it through the inflamed walls anymore.  Because of the difficulty getting through the capillary walls, a lot of the insulin takes the easy way out and decides to take a detour to the waist, thighs, and stomach.  All the excess glucose that this detouring insulin takes out of the bloodstream is converted and deposited as body fat in these areas; definitely a bad thing. 

It gets worse.  This problem of constantly eating high glycemic foods not only inflames the capillary walls and causes weight gain, it can also get so bad to the point that there’s so much insulin running around in your body that your body essentially gives up.  Just like the stressed capillary walls, your cells will start to resist letting insulin deposit glucose into them.  (This can also result from eating too many sugary foods.)   Cells’ resistance to insulin, along with other factors such as genetics, obesity, and insulin not even being released anymore can contribute to your blood sugar levels rising out of control, and the risk for your body to develop diabetes can result!

Diabetes is a very scaring disease; it’s not something to mess around with.  Diabetes can result in blindness, cardiovascular disease, kidney failure, nerve damage, infections, and amputations just to name a few. 

This is why a diabetic has to really watch the amount of high glycemic foods he eats.  If he doesn’t, his blood sugar will spike, and without medication or an insulin pump, it’ll be very hard to bring it back down. The good news, something as simple as making smart eating choices can help prevent all of this from happening. 

Now I’m not saying we should never eat high glycemic foods or carbohydrates again.  First off, carbs are essential for your body.  Those that say carbs are bad for the body need to have their heads examined.  Carbs are to the body as gas is to a car.  Both are necessary to run the “engine”, but if abused, they can lead to bad consequences.  Second, moderation is key for high glycemic foods.  A dessert now and then isn’t going to kill you; we all need to have a little fun, but continual eating patterns of high glycemic foods can lead to the awful results of weight gain and diabetes.  Plus, many types of candies aren’t high glycemic.  Does that mean they’re okay to eat?  No.  It means you need to pay attention to the effects the foods you eat have on your blood sugar.  High glycemic and high sugar foods both cause a blood sugar spike, and that’s what really needs to be controlled.  (Can you see why it’s about a combination of smart food choices?)  Though limiting the amount of high glycemic foods is a good idea, there’s more to watching what you eat than just the glycemic index of a food.  We’ve already learned about sugar, and later on, we’ll learn about other food choices to be aware of.

The biggest tip when it comes to high glycemic foods, and I know you’ve heard it before, stay away from continual eating of the whites: white bread, white rice, white sugar, white flour, and white potatoes.

If you’re wondering what’s considered a high glycemic food, just Google “high glycemic foods”, and you’ll find all kinds of cool stuff.  I know more and more continues to be found out about high glycemic foods, but I really feel that consciously making an effort to stick with low to low-moderate glycemic foods is extremely important for weight loss and better health in general.

Hopefully now you can see the importance of making smart choices when it comes to eating.  Remember, moderation is key.  As long as you keep the frequency of eating high glycemic foods down, you’ll help keep your body healthier, keep your weight more controlled, and decrease your risk for diabetes.

Featured on Reuters!

Burn off the fat with dirty dogs (the exercise, not the hotdog)

Just like I said

I called it right, and it's great!  Like I said a few weeks ago, I love when the weather warms up because so many people get outside and become active.

Well guess what?  Yesterday, here in Ohio, it was 70 degrees and sunny.  I tried to go mountain biking with a friend, but the trail was closed ... bummer for that.  We ended up just going on an 18 mile bike ride instead.  And let me tell you what ... there were people out everywhere!

Runner, bikers, tennis players, people throwing a Frisbee, people playing basketball, they were everywhere.  It was so awesome!  This one biker was on this type of bike that reclines and the pedals are actually at the front of the bike.  This bike was unbelievable.  My friend and I decided we should try and catch up to this guy, so there we go, pedaling our hearts out on our mountain bikes. 

So this guy ends up stopping on a bike path that was next to the one we were on.  My friend and I were joking around that we caught up to him and our bikes were faster than his.  The funny thing was I think he might have heard us joking around.  The next thing we know, he comes flying up from behind us and passes us as if it was nothing.  We couldn't help but laugh because here we are giving all it takes to stay ahead of this guy, thinking we actually are faster, and then he passes us as to say, "You guys got nothing."  Before we knew it, he disappeared around the curve on the path ahead, and when we got to the curve, he was completely gone.  Unbelievable!  It made me want to get one of those bikes; they're super slick.

Hope the weather is as nice as it is here!  Get out and play!