Sadly, there are no “secret” approaches for building a better body. However, with even a basic understanding of human physiology you can figure out a pretty rock solid plan to keep the pounds away. Of course, this presupposes you have long since given up the charade of fat loss being a math equation (calories in = calories out) and accepted that excess body fat is predominantly a biochemistry/hormonal problem.

This guy knows a thing or two about weight loss

Once you accept that in order to create sustainable fat loss, you have to manipulate metabolism, diet and hormones to create the proper internal environment, you have a fighting chance of being successful with your body transformation efforts.

When I work with a new client, I like to tell them that weight loss requires a multi-factorial approach. In other words, to have success we have to address:

1. diet
2. exercise/physical activity
3. recovery

Most people have an appreciation that losing fat will require adjustments to diet and exercise, but very few understand how important proper recovery is in all this. So today I thought I’d write about the forgotten fat buster: sleep.

Yeah, yeah, yeah… everyone knows they should get more sleep. But I bet you didn’t realize how stupid skipping sleep is if you are serious about positively transforming your body.

Let’s imagine you a busy individual who only sleeps 4-5 hours a night. Any idea of what that can do to your hormones? Thankfully I do and I’m going to share it with you right now! Below are the results of a neat little study that looked into the hormone changes (leptin and ghrelin) that are produced by just 2 consecutive nights of limited sleep:

• When leptin decreases: you experience a decrease in metabolic rate and increase appetite.
• When ghrelin increases: you experience increased hunger and appetite.

Wow… knowing that, those numbers look even worse than before! As you can clearly see, even a couple of nights of shoddy sleep will send our hunger control hormones (leptin and ghrelin) out of control!

Now imagine the real-world significance of these hormonal changes. If you were to act on a 30% increase in appetite for high carbohydrate foods, you might find yourself mowing down on a 300-400 kcal muffin or bagel, which would send insulin levels skyrocketing then plummeting, then a vicious cycle of hunger would begin…

See where I am going with this?

Making matters worse, if you only sleep for 4 hours, you’ve got a whole 20 hours to fall prey to those cravings. Needless to say, if you are not making sleep a priority, then you are seriously jeopardizing your body composition efforts.

Here’s some “secret” weight loss advice: turn off the television, email or your Blackberry and get to bed at a reasonable hour. It doesn’t cost you anything that the long-term benefits are priceless.

Seriously – you aren’t that important.

Just something to think for anyone looking for the “magic pill” that will cure your weight loss woes.

Till next time, train hard and eat clean!

Fat Head

Regardless of whether you are a low-carber or not, taking a few minutes to watch this video will serve you well:

Click here to view the embedded video.

I love this video because it provides a nice, easy to understand summary of how insulin controls blood sugar and by extension, body fat. Admittedly, the hormonal interplay that governs body fat regulation is infinitely more complicated than what the video suggests, however, insulin is definitely one of the key players in the creation of excess body fat.

The video also helps us see why proper insulin management is central to any diet. Although some lucky individuals have such a great innate tolerance for carbohydrates that they can, and must, eat a large percentage of total calories as carbohydrates; the majority of us must regulate our insulin through the diet and exercise.

Another aspect of this video I love is the suggestion that people don’t necessarily get fat because they eat too much. Rather, people eat too much because they are fat. This an incredibly powerful idea and one that helps explain why so many of our current diet theories fail miserably.

Basically, we continue to treat obesity all wrong. We need to let go of the belief that fat is just a storehouse of calories and instead accept fat as a metabolically active endocrine tissue. Only once we accept the role fat plays in endocrine dysfunction, will be be able to remove elements from the environment that negatively impact our hormonal status.

I know delving into the nutritional science can be daunting for the uninitiated, however, Gary Taubes is quite an accomplished science writer who has penned a number of brilliant essays. Here are two pieces of work that are a great place to start:

1. What if It’s All Been a Big Fat Lie?
2. The Soft Science of Dietary Fat

I’ll be back next week with a look at some of the fat producing hormones in greater detail. Until then, train hard and eat clean!

It’s imperative to remember than when you read a nutrition facts label on a package of meat, the nutrition facts are representative of an uncooked portion of protein. Does this make much difference on a low-fat piece of chicken breast or pork tenderloin? Not really. But when it comes to fattier meat, it becomes truly significant.

Take ground beef for as an example. Many people insist on exclusively purchasing “extra lean” ground beef because it’s the lowest in fat. But is purchasing extra lean ground beef your best bet?

Not necessarily. Admittedly, I don’t think there is anything wrong with extra lean ground beef; however, the fact of the matter is that when you brown lean ground beef and drain the excess fat… what you are left with is virtually identical to browned extra lean ground beef.

In other words, opting for lean ground beef and draining the fat before eating can save you a few dollars, while still providing all the same nutrition you’d get in extra lean ground beef. Just something to think about the next time you hit the grocery store.

Another perfect example of a misleading nutrition facts label is bacon. If we analyze the nutrition facts for uncooked bacon we get:

Bacon, raw (3 slices)

Calories: 260 kcal
Fat: 24 g
– saturated 9 g
Carbohydrates: 0 g
Protein: 10 g

Obviously, the incredibly large amount of fat in bacon jumps off the page. But if we stop for a second and use common sense… who actually sucks back the fat from the pan after cooking their bacon? Assuming a steaming cup of bacon fat isn’t your idea of a breakfast beverage, then the nutrition facts for bacon actually looks a lot more like…

Not how you should dispose of bacon grease.

Bacon, cooked (3 slices)

Calories: 130 kcal
Fat: 10 g
– saturated 3 g
Carbohydrates: 0 g
Protein: 9 g

Admittedly, bacon can never be considered a fat free food. But at 10 grams of fat and 9 grams of protein per serving, bacon can’t really claim to be a heart stopper. In fact, when we consider that almost 50% of the fat in pork fat is oleic acid, the same “heart healthy” fat found in olives and almonds, bacon likely carries a minimal cardiovascular disease risk at best. But that’s a discussion for another day.

For now, just remember that you can’t take everything you read off a nutrition facts label at face value. Use common sense when preparing foods and watch your health and physique take dramatic steps forward.

Till next time, train hard and eat clean.

Without any further ado, here we go!

1. The only way to lose body fat is through diet.

Before anyone argues that their 3rd cousin twice removed once lost 50 lbs strictly from walking 30 minutes a day… realize that when you are academically inclined, you tend to disregard exceptions and follow the rule.

Sure a couple of lucky individuals can get lean just by exercising, but for the vast majority of individuals, making significant dietary changes is the only way to go.

2. Squats are the best exercise for body recomposition.

Learning to squat properly is the most important training investment you can make. Really bad squatting form leads to injuries, good form leads to spectacular gains.

Squats may be hard, but the world’s best bodies are built on a foundation of squats and lots of ‘em.

3. The bench press is the most overrated exercise there is.

Don’t get me wrong, I love bench press as much as the next guy. However, the bench press just isn’t that great for body composition. If you want to build a great chest, use dumbbells.

4. If you are training 3 of fewer times per week, steady state cardio will not improve your physique.

At low volumes of training, the intensity needs to be high. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

5. Sleep is the most underrated component of body transformation.

Once you get passed the age of 25, trying to build muscle or lose fat with poor sleep habits is as counterproductive as trying to empty the Atlantic ocean with a spoon.

Sleep is free, improve your sleep habits before you blow hundreds of dollars on training or nutrition supplements.

6. The food most responsible for weight loss struggles: bread.

Who doesn’t love bread? This is the problem. Almost without fail, removing bread from someone’s diet makes them feel and look better. Just my observation… but gluten is not a friendly protein for many individuals.

I was tempted to put high fructose corn syrup here, but that deserves its own special column.

7. If your personal trainer never has you squat, deadlift or perform chin-ups, fire them.

Excluding the olympic lifts, these three exercises give you the biggest bang for your buck. Whether you want to lose weight or gain muscle, these 3 lifts (or some variant thereof) need to be the cornerstones of your program.

8. Avoiding dietary cholesterol diet is idiotic if you are serious about training.

Our body makes many of our most anabolic hormones from cholesterol. Remove cholesterol from your diet and say goodbye to your gains.

9. Too much is made about the “speed” of absorption of various proteins in workout shakes.

Funny – millions of awesome physiques were built back in the day before designers workout shakes. I have nothing against supplementation and I am a firm believer in nutrient timing, as I feel it enhances results. However, the real focus needs to be on total nutrient quality and quantity, rather than how quickly your post-workout shake is absorbed.

Most of these studies that show markedly greater gains using fast absorbing proteins suffer from serious methodological flaws (like studying fasted individuals, using novice exercisers, etc). If you are serious about gaining muscle, your diet as a whole must provide the proper building blocks.

10. “Everything is ok in moderation” is terrible advice.

Does moderation mean once a day, once a week or once a month? Nowadays, moderation is just used to justify terrible food choices.

I wouldn’t recommend you drink a cup of cyanide even once.

11. If you insist on doing steady state cardio, opt for the step mill.

For best results, don’t hold onto the railings and decrease the resistance so you actually have to pump your legs at a good clip.

Just you against gravity. Good luck.

12. If you could only take 1 supplement, it should be vitamin D.

I’m going to call vitamin D even more important than omega 3 and protein powders. In the supplement world, this is as close to a magic pill as we’ve got.

Obviously, if you live in year-round sunshine, this advice does not apply.

13. The real magic pill: avoiding added sugars.

People are always looking for what they need to add to their diets to make them healthy. This is totally the wrong mindset. Eliminating added sugars is hands down the biggest thing you can do to improve your health.

14. Fruit and berries are health promoting.

The last statement applied to added sugars. Natural sugars IN THEIR WHOLE, UNPROCESSED FORM can be health promoting. Fruit still contains the fiber to slow absorption, as well as the complete vitamin and enzymatic complement required to properly process the sugar it contains.

Highly processed “natural” sugars like agave nectar or Demerara sugar are still junk.

15. Many vegetable oils are trash (including their by-products).

Speaking of junk, most bulk vegetable oils are more appropriate for your car than your body. A few of the oils of vegetable origin you should use are:

• Olive
• Coconut
• Walnut/hazelnut/almond/macademia
• Avocado
• Flax

16. Natural saturated fats do not cause heart disease.

The paranoia surrounding saturated fats is based on terrible science. Literally, it’s laughable. Saturated fats were an integral part of our diets for millenia, to think they somehow became deadly starting in the 1950s is crazy.

17. Milk is the ultimate double-edged sword food source.

Milk is highly anabolic. Used properly, it contributes to significant muscle gain. Used incorrectly, it just prompts the formation of body fat and a whole host of food allergies.

18. No one ever got fat eating vegetables.

It doesn’t matter how many you are currently eating, you should be eating more. Lots more.

19. Sprinting is the best activity for stripping body fat.

Ever seen a fat sprinter? Nuff said.

20. Green tea may be even better for you than water.

An essentially calorie-free beverage that increases metabolic rate and decreases your risk for various chronic disease? If you aren’t already drinking this stuff, you need to be. And trust me… the loose leaf tea tastes vastly superior to the stuff you get in tea bags. You can thank me later.

21. Red meat isn’t endangering our health, how we treat red meat sure is.

Let me get this straight, we feed cows corn, which they can’t digest. As a result, they get fat and sick and we give them antibiotics and hormones to keep them “healthy”. We then wind up ingesting unnatural amounts of fats and chemicals… and somehow it’s the cow that is the problem?

Does deep frying broccoli and smothering it with CheeseWhiz make broccoli fundamentally unhealthy?

Do yourself a favour, opt for grass fed meat or befriend a farmer who practices sustainable agriculture and livestock practices. Your health and the environment will thank you.

22. Even a bogus workout supplement will produce results for newbies.

The placebo effect coupled with even basic nutrient timing can be a very, very powerful thing.

23. Fish oil helps everyone.

The laundry list of positive health outcomes associated with omega-3 fats gets longer by the day. If you aren’t taking some, stop reading this article, run to the store and pick some up. I’ll wait.

24. We don’t appreciate or understand stress, and it’s killing us.

Nothing ruins physiques or your health faster than poorly regulated stress. There isn’t a trainer or nutritionist alive who can design an effective program for someone with poorly regulated stress levels.

A good rule of thumb is to learn to not sweat the small stuff… and it’s all small stuff.

25. The idea of “eating right for your type” is 100% correct.

However, the notion that it’s simply a product of your blood type or lectin content of food is not.

Correct typing involves looking at family history, hormone levels, activity levels, age, gender, medications…

26. Training the abdominals with repeated flexion (e.g. situps or crunches) makes no sense.

The primary function of the abdominals is stabilization of the torso and spine, as such abdominal training should always start and end with planks.

27. Everybody needs to stretch more.

Flexibility training isn’t glamorous, but it’s necessary. Think of it like going to work.

28. Distance running causes more injuries than all other forms of training combined.

Slight exaggeration, but it’s probably not far off the truth. This isn’t to say distance running is bad, because it’s not. It’s just that too many of us don’t have the body structure or running mechanics to run long distances. At the very least, humans weren’t designed to run on asphalt and pavement.

29. There is no one perfect diet or approach to training.

People who spend their time claiming to have invented the “perfect” approach to anything are morons. Inter-individual variability is too great for universal recommendations. Lots of dietary and exercise approaches work; the key is finding one that satisfies your moral, religious and health parameters and stick with it.

30. Success doesn’t happen by accident, planning is paramount.

The only people who experience success long term are those who are following a plan. Workouts… diet… life, you need to have an objective measure of whether you are progressing towards your goals. Otherwise, it’s too easy to find excuses for failing.

Where there you go: 30 lessons from the past 30 years and I feel like I was just getting started!

I guess I’ll have to hold some of them back until I hit my next milestone birthday. Of course, by that time my feelings on most of this list will probably have changed 180°. Such are the joys of nutrition science.

Till next time: train hard and eat clean!

Jaime Oliver is the British chef who was instrumental in leading the reform of the Brit's school lunch program and now he is attempting to do the same thing in the US. His new show takes place in Huntington, West Virginia, a city recently named America's unhealthiest.

If you haven't caught the show yet or seen a promo, here's a short clip:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Amazing, isn't it? Out of an entire class of 25 kids, not one of them could recognize a tomato. This is obviously quite sad, but what is more depressing are the attitudes of the "powers that be" that have allowed this to happen. Considering the town in question boasts an obesity rate of over 50%, a perverse attitude towards food is clearly not the exception, but the norm.

This backassward relationship with food is really highlighted in another preview clip where Jamie is seen asking a group of lunch ladies if they have a problem with serving pizza to the kids for breakfast; they don't. Or if they can even recognize half the ingredients found on a box of chicken nuggets; they can't. Needless to say these lunch ladies are just the tip of the iceberg. 

If you are interested, here's the clip in question. 

Click here to view the embedded video.

Until we as consumers or food providers start demanding higher quality food, there won't be any long-lasting or meaningful change. How can we expect children to develop good eating habits if most adults themselves have no concept about makes "good nutrition"?

Obviously the show sensationalizes the situation a little, but it does highlight a situation that is becoming far too commonplace. We have increasingly moved away from real food, and the widespread incidence of chronic diseases (ie. cancers, obesity, diabetes, depression) are just some of the horrible side effects.

What I love about Jaime Oliver is that he's trying to make a difference on the food preparation and supply side. I think we can agree that the simple "knowledge is power" approach hasn't yielded the kind of results we are looking for.

Far too many health experts have spent years debating what is "best". Although I'm all for discovering the optimal ways to do something, the reality is we are still failing with convincing the masses to do even the bare minimum.

Take for instance our vegetable and fruit consumption. How long have we had ad campaigns preaching the virtues of "5-10 servings per day" or "eat the rainbow"? And how successful have those campaigns been? At last check, a good 55% of adult Canadians still don't even consume 5 servings of vegetables and fruit… combined!

Starkey et al. (2001). Can J Diet Pract Res.62(2):61-9

Now I don't think people avoid eating vegetables and fruit because they haven't heard about the importance of at least 5 servings a day. Rather, the situation is grim because we (the health industry) haven't made eating vegetables and fruits an attractive option.

Instead of clinging to our self-righteous ideals and continuing to harp on people that they should eat vegetables, "because it's the right thing to do", we need to accept that most people will only eat vegetables when vegetables are more convenient and tastier than the alternatives.

Enter one solution: better tasting vegetable recipes.

If, when someone mentions "vegetables", you instantly think of iceburg lettuce or carrots boiled into oblivion, you need to expand your palate. One great way is to get started with more vegetables is with a couple of recipes I posted earlier:

1. Peanut butter stir fry
2. Spinach berry smoothies

As an added bonus, I'll be back later on this week and next with even more unique ways to sneak more veggies into your diet.

Till next time, train hard and eat clean!