The Biggest Loser

If you've ever seen the show The Biggest Loser on television you may wonder how those people lose such massive amounts of weight in such a short period of time. The answer diet and exercise. This is an oversimplification but what you really want to know are the specifics, what type and how much.

I was going thru a recent health and fitness magazine and came across an article about the show. Two of the shows contestants were interviewed and they shared some of their secrets to success. According to the article they ate five to six times a day, which has been shown to increase metabolism and shed fat. They coupled that with exercising five times daily which included weight training, hiking and running to burn up a ton of calories. They also ate breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up to get their metabolism revved up to shed calories and controlled portions of the food they ate.

Living on a reality show however, is a little different from the real world we live in. On the show they are there to do one thing, lose weight so they can spend all their time doing that. For a regular person with a full-time job, school or a family; working out six to seven hours a day is not an option. Another thing to keep in mind is the more you weigh the more calories you burn by exercising (that’s why cardio machines always ask you for your weight). The shows contestants are weighing between 250 to over 400 pounds so they can lose a bit more than someone half their size. Don’t be discouraged though there is still hope for you, you just have to make the most of your time and plan ahead to succeed.

What you can do is eat five to six meals per day to get your metabolism working for you. Find out how many calories you eat in a typically day. Track everything (including gravy and butter) for a few days to get an average and start by cutting 200-300 calories from that, then split the total between five to six meals. So if you currently average 2800 calories a day, start by dropping down to 2500 a day. Split that between five meals averaging 500 calories per meal. The goal is to eat more frequently, but less overall. Get an early start by eating breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up in the morning and eat every three to four hours after that. Follow breakfast with a mid-morning snack, lunch, a mid-afternoon snack, dinner and possible a light evening snack. With your busy schedule it may be hard to eat every three hours so be prepared to bring cheese sticks, low fat yogurt, apples, oranges and other whole grain snacks that provide fiber and keep you full. Don’t forget to measure your portions with a food scale to avoid overeating.

Be smart about working out. Because you can’t workout five times a day, you need to work smarter not longer. Resistance training is a must to build muscle which in turn torches fat. Stick to compound exercises that work the large muscle groups, think squats instead of leg extensions. Because interval training helps you burn more calories in less time, choose this option over long low intensity cardio sessions. For more tips or to get a customized exercise program visit our website.

Stop Dieting and Start Losing Weight

Every year millions of adults in the U.S. are starting diets in an attempt to lose weight. Many of these adults are frustrated with the results they are getting, and the difficulty of staying on the diet. Those that find success with diets often find that achievement to be temporary only to regain the weight back. Below we’ve listed some reasons why diets are failing and a better approach to safe weight loss.

Why Diets Fail

1. Diets deprive you of foods you like and nutrients you need

Diets are very difficult to maintain because they control the food you can eat, so you are constantly feeling restricted. Because many diets eliminate certain foods or even entire food groups they can become unhealthy affecting mood, brain function, and activity level.

2. Diets are temporary

Even if you are successful with a diet and lose 20 pounds, when you go back to your original way of eating, you will eventually gain the weight back and probably more.

3. Diets can lower you metabolism

Because your body is smart and adapts to changes you make, when you drastically cut back on calories as many diets do, your metabolism will slow down and your body stores those calories as fat. This was a good thing back in the day of hunters and gatherers because they had to endure days without food and this kept them alive. Today however this isn’t a good weight loss strategy because it leads to fewer calories being burned making the diet inefficient.

How to lose weight safely

1. Eat small frequent meals every 2-3 hours

Plan to eat a meal every 2 -3 hours. When you eat more often, your blood sugar level tends to stabilize, which means you are less likely to experience severe hunger. Since your body only needs so many calories at a given time, excess calories become stored as body fat. The longer you wait between meals, the more likely you are to overeat at your next meal prompting your body to store more body fat.

2. Eat Correct Portion Sizes

Research has shown that Americans often underestimate how many calories they are consuming each day by as much as 25%. Therefore many people think they should be maintaining or losing weight, when they are actually gaining weight. Get a food scale to measure your portions. Drastically cutting calories has adverse effects, but slowly reducing your calories to a normal amount will lead to proper weight loss and maintenance.

3. Exercise to increase metabolism

Research has shown resistance training not only builds muscle but also significantly raises metabolism leading to weight loss. High Intensity Interval Training is another method to elevating your metabolism, burning more calories than traditional steady state cardio in less time.

Equalizing Your Training Volume

When I first started resistance training as a teen I did what a lot of guys my age did: lots of chest, biceps and abdominal exercises. While I was looking to improve my athletic performance, I also wanted to look good; I needed a muscular chest, bulging biceps and a six pack to match. The problem was I was training my ‘mirror muscles’ which are the one’s I could see in the mirror with lots of volume, but paid little attention to the opposing muscles groups. After all people don’t ask you how much you can lat pull, everyone wants to know how much you can bench. While I was getting stronger in all the exercises and building some size I was setting myself up for problems down the road.

Because my workouts lacked balance, eventually I hit plateaus in my lifts and hurt my rotator cuff muscles. Failure to work the muscles that oppose the mirror muscles results in underdevelopment of those muscles, such as the lats, rhomboids, traps, lower back, glutes and hamstrings. These muscles work together to stabilize the spine and come into play in most exercises whether they are the prime movers or just assisting.

In the end I had to take time off from pushing, add more pulling exercises and perform additional exercises to strengthen my weakened rotator cuff muscles. This all added up to recovered shoulders, improved posture and helped me to become stronger across the board.

To avoid this problem yourself make sure to use equal volume for pushing and pulling exercises. Upper body pushing and pulling exercises can be broken down to vertical or horizontal, depending on which way the resistance is moving in relation to your body. A few examples are listed below.

Upper Body Pushing

Vertical – Military press, Dumbbell shoulder press

Horizontal – Bench press, Push up

Upper Body Pulling

Vertical – Lat pull down, Chin up

Horizontal – Seated Cable Row, Bent Barbell Row

Lower Body Pushing

Leg Press, Squats, Lunges

Lower Body Pulling

Deadlift, Leg Curl

To use equal volume, take two opposite movements; for example upper body horizontal push (bench press) and upper body horizontal pull (Bent Barbell Row). Using three sets of eight reps for each will allow equal volume at 24 reps each. However if you are doing three sets of bench press, three sets of push ups and three sets of barbell rows, now you are doing six sets for horizontal pushing and still only three for horizontal pulling.

Be smart and stay healthy. Don’t just choose random exercises and training volumes without thinking about why you are doing it and what harm it may be causing to you down the road.

Strategies for Portion Control

Research has shown that Americans often underestimate how many calories they are consuming each day by as much as 25%. If you've been working out consistently and think you should be maintaining or losing weight but are gaining weight it may be your diet.

Follow the strategies below to get on the right track


At Home
1. Measure your portions on a food scale. Figure out what a real portion is of all your favorite foods and stick to that.
2. Serve food in the appropriate portion amounts and don't go back for seconds.
3. Avoid mindless eating. Never eat out of the bag or carton. Instead put the correct portion in a plate or bowl.
4. Don't keep platters of food on the table; you are more likely to pick at it or have a second serving without even realizing it.

At Restaurants
1. Eat only half of your meal. The portions at most restaurants are enormous, so either share it with a friend or ask for a to-go bag right away and put it away ASAP. The longer it stays in sight you’ll be more tempted to pick at it.
2. Limit consumption of bread sticks, chips and appetizers.
3. Drink water to avoid filling up high calorie beverages.
4. If you have dessert, share.