25 dollars.

Everyday the world tries to get you to spend at least 25 dollars on something. Here are just a few things that cost 25 dollars.

-2 person meal and tip at TGIF’s
-2-3 drinks at a bar with tip
-half a tank of gas in a SUV
-24 pack of paper towels
-plain tank top
-2 packages of gourmet coffee
-The chance to help save someones life and over 800 pages of some of the best training, nutrition, and rehab information you can find.

I bring up the last point because it was recently the anniversary of Liftstrong.  A  product where you get over 800 pages of goodies. The best part is that 100%, not some, but all proceeds go to help aid in research for cancer.

I fucking hate cancer.

Apparently I am more of a loner in this than I thought.

See, I have a emailing list. Any self respectful guru wannabe has a email list.

I try to provide my list with helpful information and updates about what I am doing. I have talked to over 1000+ people personally on that list. I assure you that is not normal. I genuinely care about what I send my list of readers.

I am also signed up on other people’s email lists. You know, to spy. To see what the competition is up to, to find out about the latest crazes, and to check up on what that bastard Mike Robertson is doing. Are you on his list by the way? I would link you but I don’t want to divert your attention just yet, but after you are done with all of this go sign up.

When the anniversary of Liftstrong came up I got asked to  get the word out. I didn’t give it a 2nd thought. I had nothing to gain either. I am not even on the damn thing. You think they would have done a 2nd edition. Just so I could have make an appearance. Maybe a video with me hugging the “fuck cancer” bear or something, but no.

In my humble state I did what anyone else should have done in that situation, I swallowed my pride, and I sent out the word to help fight cancer. You know, cancer, that shit that is killing millions of people we love everyday.

For a brief moment or two, I felt warm, and good about what I had done for the world.  Then I got bitter because I noticed that only me and a few other people had the same enthusiasm to help. It’s funny I kept getting emails about my abs, and flying lessons (because that is relevant to ab training), but no cancer support.

I am not going to jump to any conclusions…yet.

Hopefully they didn’t know about it. So now, this is where YOU are going to help me. I want you to let them know about it. You are going to share how much you would love to know about something like this.

Your assignment

I want to you send a message to all the gurus that you are subscribed to, and let them know that you want their support for Liftstrong. Ask them if they could send an email out or post up a blog.  I have made it even easier on you and am providing you with a pre-written email.

“Dear (enter 6 pack ab toting guru name here)

I have been a member of your email list for a long time now. While I do enjoy all the daily emails about how to look massively sexy, I feel the need for a little more substance today.

Recently, I stumbled over to the Flzine site and read a blog post by the amazing (and might I say highly underrated and talented) Leigh Peele.  It was discussing this great product, Liftstrong, in which all proceeds go to cancer. I hadn’t gotten any emails about that from you, and was wondering if you knew about? I think it would be great for you to send out to your list of readers, and also it will not lump you into a category of douches and vagina’s that shaft cancer research. Wouldn’t want that!

Here is the link to the Liftstrong site.

http://www.liftstrong.com/

Looking forward to seeing the email.

(Your Name Here)”

Don’t assume that someone else is going to do it. Even if you can’t buy the product yourself, take just 3 mins to copy and paste that on a blog you visit, or to email them personally.

I am going to be making the rounds tomorrow and I better see this any and everywhere I look on a blog. Even if you aren’t sure if they mailed it out, do it. Some people might NOT have known, and we really don’t want them lumped in with those others guys now, do we?

After you have spread the word, hop over to the Liftstrong site yourself and get an awesome gift and support the research that might change peoples lives.

To read comments or to leave a comment click here

To read Part 2 click here

by Emma Leigh

Impact on Physique:
A (brief) look at the effects on the STEROIDS and PEPTIDES

THIS is a major topic and I am unsure of where to start and the detail to cover…. But here be a brief overview…. The body is a finally tuned ‘mesh work’ of hormones and chemicals that are aimed at maintaining ‘the status quo’. And if we are generally thinking about what the body sets out to do – humans are, above all, aimed at ‘survival’. We like any other organism, aim to survive in order to ensure procreation for survival of the species. As such – If you decrease energy intake or increase energy output you create a situation which places ‘stress’ on the body, and you ‘rock the boat’.  This is especially the case in females (substantially so) – with even small/ minor changes to energy balance seen to create very large compensatory changes to things such as appetite, reproductive hormones, and metabolism in general.

And some major alterations seen during anorexia and bulimia can be divided into three main areas:

1. Leptin (the major hormone produced/ responding to adipose tissue/ energy stores)
2. Some of the hypothalamic-pituitary hormones
3. Some of the gastro-intestinal hormones

So… Let’s whip through these…

Leptin
-    Made/ expressed mostly in (white) fat/ adipose… But it is also secreted from the hypothalamus & pituitary, skeletal muscle, the stomach, and the placenta and mammary tissue in preggo females
-    It is thought to be secreted proportionally to the amount of energy stored in fat and it acts in the hypothalamus and a variety of peripheral organs to regulate homeostasis and reproduction. This includes thyroid and thyroid hormone conversion rates, cortisol/adrenal hormone secretion, gonadal hormones (sex hormones) and also growth hormone (and IGF-1).
-    When fat stores are low, and Leptin decreases, it acts to decrease energy output and ‘slow down’ the body. It also switches off reproductive capacity
-    Unsurprisingly, Leptin levels are low in those with AN and BN…. specifically:
-    In anorexia: Serum and CNS Leptin concentrations are significantly reduced. Low body fat being the major determinant of the decreased serum Leptin.
-    The ratio of free:bound Leptin changes – where free Leptin (thought to be the biologically active form) is relatively decreased with significantly higher proportions of bound Leptin. Thus, not only do you get decreased levels, but you get proportionally less ACTIVE form of Leptin too.
-    In bulimia: Patients have significantly lower serum Leptin levels compared to weight/age-matched controls, but not as low as in patients with anorexia nervosa (probably related to higher bodyfat/weight). Leptin is also related to chronic binge disorder – being more significantly decreased in those with more chronic/ severe disease.
-    Weight gain and normalization of eating patterns USUALLY leads to increases in serum leptin but may not restore NORMAL levels.

HP Axis Hormones

Thyroid Hormone
-    Thyroid hormone is made in the thyroid gland in response to TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) from the pituatry (which is stimulated by TRH from the hypothalamus)
-    It is mainly released as T4 (mostly inactive) and converted into T3 (the active form) in the tissues
-    It is a key regulator of metabolism in the body – relating to how ‘fast’ the cells of the body function
-    It is seen to change in response to energy intake/ output, disease, stress etc.
-    It is therefore not surprising that TSH, T4 and T3 are seen to decrease in Anorexia, with the low serum levels of T3 thought to be the result of impaired peripheral conversion of T4 to T3.
-    Thyroid changes are thought to be related mostly to Leptin – and some evidence suggests that Leptin, when given to food-deprived healthy volunteers, can restore TSH pulsatility-changes. It should be noted that during refeeding of those suffering from LONG term starvation these changes often persist – with free T3/ T4 levels remaining low for prolonged periods.

Cortisol
-    The ‘evil’ stress hormone – this is a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands in response to ACTH from the pituitary. It is seen to increase in states such as decreased blood glucose/starvation, illness or injury (plus many others).
-    In anorexia the elevated cortisol levels have been suggested to be due to two things – the first is an increased secretion, but also it seems to ‘hang around’ for longer due to the decreased metabolism / excretion rate.
-    Unlike TSH/ Thyroid hormone – Leptin given in replacement doses to food-deprived healthy volunteers does not alter the changes in cortisol (and in the renin-aldosterone system in the adrenals)

Growth Hormone (and IGF-1)
-    Growth hormone is a hormone released from the pituitary and relates to the stimulation of ‘growth’
-    This it does in a few ways: the most important being it’s direct action on the GHR (growth hormone receptor) that is found in a number of different tissues, and the second is via the stimulation of Insulin Like Growth Factor 1 and 2 (IGF-1 and IGF-2) from the liver.
-    Growth hormone levels are seen to rise in many different situations – in those who are growing, low blood glucose/malnutrition, severe illness/catabolic states, malabsorption, liver disease, and diabetes mellitus (insulin dependent or type one), and some forms of physical activity.
-    In Anorexia/ bulimia GH secretion is actually INCREASED – BUT there are two things that are also seen – the first is a reduced IGF-I concentrations and the second is a decrease in the peripheral GHR. This is believed to be a consequence of a malnutrition-induced peripheral GH resistance which alters tissue response, failure of IGF stimulation and an impairment of the negative IGF-I feedback action on GH secretion (circulating IGF-1 passing through the pituitary-hypothalamus usually influences the amount of GH released – but in AN you don’t get this feedback, and GH continues to be secreted).
-    The increased circulating GH and decreased IGF results in negative body composition and metabolic changes which I will go into a little later.
-    Lastly – The GH/IGF-I axis is generally restored by nutrition and weight gain.

Intestinal Hormones:

Insulin / Glucagon
-    The pancreas, found in the upper abdomen, is involved two main functions:
1.    Producing digestive enzymes to break down food; and
2.    Producing the hormones insulin and glucagon to control sugar levels in your body.
-    In a nut shell – when blood glucose goes up, the pancreas secretes insulin to increase uptake into muscles and other cells. When the blood glucose goes down the pancreas secretes glucagon which causes the body to mobilize endogenous fuels to raise blood glucose
-    Although it seems illogical – Patients with anorexia nervosa frequently have impaired glucose tolerance
-    This is associated with insulin resistance and an increased risk of cardiovascular pathology
-    During recovery there is often a ‘reactive hypoglycemia’, which is where the body becomes more insulin sensitive, but  still produces far too much insulin in relation to glucose feeding, and often those recovering will suffer from dips in their blood sugar after eating. This, like many other abnormalities, improves over the course of recovery.

Ghrelin
-    Synthesized predominantly in the stomach and increases food intake
-    Levels rise on fasting (with sharp peaks occurring just before each meal) and fall rapidly on feeding
-    It is thought to cause short term hunger – so called ‘pre-meal hunger’, and leads to meal initiation and stimulation of GH
-    It also plays a role in longer-term appetite and energy balance – with Ghrelin decreasing in response to chronic overfeeding (obesity) and increasing in chronic negative energy balance (exercise or anorexia nervosa). This means obese people usually have high plasma leptin they have low plasma Ghrelin where Anorexics have low Leptin and high Ghrelin.
-    It should be noted that chronic EXOGENOUS administration leads to continuing overeating and weight gain

Peptide YY
-    Secreted from the endocrine L cells of the small and large bowel
-    Released into the circulation after meals
-    Likely to be important in the everyday regulation of food intake and decreases food intake

Glucagon-like-peptide-1
-    Glucagon-like-peptide 1 (GLP-1) is co-secreted with PYY in response to nutrients in the gut
-    GLP-1 plays an additional role in enhancing insulin secretion and suppressing glucagon secretion after a meal
-    It acts to increase plasma insulin levels and inhibits glucagon release
-    It also  decreases food intake, which is thought to be related to a decreased rate of gastric emptying
-    GLP-1 concentrations are significantly higher in AN than in other ‘naturally thin’ individuals and may be related to the increased rate of satiety seen in anorexics

Cholecystokinin
-    Inhibits feeding, stimulates pancreatic enzyme secretion and gallbladder contraction
-    Peripheral CCK has a rapid & short-lived effect on feeding, (~20-30 mins) and mediates satiety
-    CCK may play a role in longer-term energy regulation by synergizing the actions of leptin which may occur by CCK activating brain stem neurons that project to the hypothalamus combined with leptin’s direct hypothalamic actions

So – to put these together:
-    Lower Leptin
-    Decreased thyroid hormone
-    Increased cortisol
-    Increased Growth hormone but GH resistance and decreased IGF-1
-    Decreased insulin response to feeding
-    Higher basal Ghrelin
-    Higher peptide YY and higher CCK

What does this mean in relation to body composition?
In anorexia – your bodyfat goes down initially. However, depending on the state of starvation and the degree of malnutrition, lean mass will eventually decrease and the patient is left with not much of anything.  In Bulemia most people are at normal weight, and can be overweight. This is because sufferers don’t usually ‘restrict’ enough between episodes to make up for energy intake during binges. Additionally – purging doesn’t result in removal of most of the energy intake. But what it DOES to is completely screw with your body’s homeostatic mechanisms (both in terms of health and weight /satiety regulation) and the whole process spirals into a vicious cycle.

As touched on above – the alterations in insulin sensitivity and changes in testosterone, cortisol, insulin, DHEA, GH and IGF leads to changes in the distribution of fat mass.

Firstly – there is an alteration in the visceral to subcutaneous fat ratio – with a relative increased in the metabolically active visceral fat (found in the abdomen). This increase in metabolically active fat leads to further abnormality in glucose and triglyceride levels, and compounds / worsens the insulin resistance and cholesterol profile.

Hormonal changes and insulin resistance also lead to an increased propensity to lay down abdominal fat subcutaneously too. This is due to two major hormones – growth hormone and cortisol. Essentially – although normally GH concentration predicts regional body composition (and favors a redistribution of body fat such that Trunk to Extremity fat ratio decreases), in AN the peripheral GH resistance and low IFG-1, in addition to high cortisol, results in a redistribution of mass such that there is a decreased extremity mass and increased central adiposity.

Lastly – There are a number of other alterations that combine to worsen this ‘Mr Potato Head Phenomenon’ – with the abdomen seen as ‘being out of proportion’ to the rest of the body – lean, skinny limbs with a big abdomen. A loss of lean mass (which will cause your limbs to waste away); the fact the abdomen/ torso will always stay ‘larger’ due to bone structure and the housing of organs; Digestive issues as a result of more food being eaten and an increased faecal load; the delay in digestive efficiency – with the intestines needing a few weeks to ‘catch up’ with requirements, and a resultant abdominal discomfort and bloat….

And to finish…
What can you do if you think you are at risk?

Many people with AN or BN cannot easily “reverse” their illness and even after weight gain and normalized eating patterns, many have physiological, behavioral and psychological effects that persist for extended periods of time.

Treatment is challenging and complicated. Why?  Frequently, the disorder has been present for some time prior to presentation. There is often denial of the seriousness of the illness, both from patients and family, and often the complexities of the psychological aspects of the disease are lost in the ‘physiological’ recovery. Treatment also requires a coordinated ‘multi-disciplinary approach’ – whether it is done as an outpatient or in a hospital in those cases that are severe or those that have medical complications/ severe malnutrition. Treatment involves: Medical Care in order to help to improve the individual physically and prevent death. Sometimes restoring things such as electrolytes will also help to improve some of the altered behaviors and improve mood; nutritional management which is important to restore weight as well as helping with strategies to deal with anxiety/ concerns surrounding eating/ food;  psychological care to help target the root of the issues – with therapy as an individual, or as a family or group, aimed at challenging the abnormal behaviors and ideas; and may require medications (not really all that helpful – however, antidepressants and antipsychotics have been used to varying success and can also help with co morbid depression or anxiety).

So with that – My final word will be this:

If you are experiencing any of these problems, if you think you may have disordered eating, or an eating disorder, the most important thing you can do is go and get help. Although you may THINK you are ‘in control’ – it is very likely you are not. The disease/disorder is. And unless you do something to CHANGE this – Nothing will change.

To read comments or to leave a comment click here

–

References:
The American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision, 1994, American Psychiatric Association

Gropper S.S., Smith J.L., Groff J.L., Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism, 5th Edition, Wadsworth Cengage Learning, Belmont, USA, 2009

Kaye W. Neurobiology of anorexia and bulimia nervosa. Physiol Behav. 2008 Apr 22;94(1):121-35.

Arun CP. Drive for leanness, anorexia nervosa, and overactivity: the missing link., Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2008 Dec;1148:526-9.

Misra M, Katzman DK, Cord J, Manning SJ, Mickley D, Herzog DB, Miller KK, Klibanski A. Percentage extremity fat, but not percentage trunk fat, is lower in adolescent boys with anorexia nervosa than in healthy adolescents. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Dec;88(6):1478-84.

Faris PL, Eckert ED, Kim SW, Meller WH, Pardo JV, Goodale RL, Hartman BK. Evidence for a vagal pathophysiology for bulimia nervosa and the accompanying depressive symptoms. J Affect Disord. 2006 May;92(1):79-90.

Marsh R, Steinglass JE, Gerber AJ, Graziano O’Leary K, Wang Z, Murphy D, Walsh BT, Peterson BS. Deficient activity in the neural systems that mediate self-regulatory control in bulimia nervosa. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2009 Jan;66(1):51-63

Södersten P, Nergårdh R, Bergh C, Zandian M, Scheurink A. Behavioral neuroendocrinology and treatment of anorexia nervosa. Front Neuroendocrinol. 2008 Oct;29(4):445-62.

Misra M, Miller KK, Almazan C, Worley M, Herzog DB, Klibanski A. Hormonal determinants of regional body composition in adolescent girls with anorexia nervosa and controls. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2005 May;90(5):2580-7.

Prince AC, Brooks SJ, Stahl D, Treasure J., Systematic review and meta-analysis of the baseline concentrations and physiologic responses of gut hormones to food in eating disorders. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Jan 28.

Kelly A. Gendall; Cynthia M. Bulik, The Long Term Biological Consequences of Anorexia Nervosa, Current Nutrition & Food Science, Volume 1, Number 1, January 2005 , pp. 87-96(10)

Monteleone P, Martiadis V, Rigamonti AE, Fabrazzo M, Giordani C, Muller EE, Maj M., Investigation of peptide YY and ghrelin responses to a test meal in bulimia nervosa. Biol Psychiatry. 2005 Apr 15;57(8):926-31.

Nedvídková J, Papezová H, Haluzík M, Schreiber V. Interaction between serum leptin levels and hypothalamo-hypophyseal-thyroid axis in patients with anorexia nervosa. : Endocr Res. 2000 May;26(2):219-30.

Owais B. Chaudhri, Benjamin C. T. Field and Stephen R. Bloom, From Gut to Mind—Hormonal Satiety Signals and Anorexia Nervosa J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2006, 91(3),797-798

Monteleone, P., Martiadis, V., Colurcio, B. & Maj, M. (2002) Leptin secretion is related to chronicity and severity of the illness in Bulimia Nervosa. Psychosom. Med. 64:874-879

Natacha Germain, Bogdan Galusca, Carel W Le Roux, Cecile Bossu, Mohammad A Ghatei, Francois Lang, Stephen R Bloom and Bruno Estour, Constitutional thinness and lean anorexia nervosa display opposite concentrations of peptide YY, glucagon-like peptide 1, ghrelin, and leptin, Am J Clin Nut, 2007 April;85(4), 967-971

Gianotti L, Lanfranco F, Ramunni J, Destefanis S, Ghigo E, Arvat E., GH/IGF-I axis in anorexia nervosa., Eat Weight Disord. 2002 Jun;7(2):94-105.

Right off the bat you read that title and you are thinking to yourself, “What is ‘R’ going to stand for this time. Funny how much a letter can evoke pondering. Had I titled this the importance of Rhubarb, who knows what you would be thinking, but likely you would be thinking something about Rhubarb.  Hmm maybe my next post should be about Rhubarb Pie.

Training, no matter what the the method, has one goal. That goal is to Refine.

Be it bulk, strength, fat loss, speed, corrective, etc the goal is to raise you to another level of yourself. It is to perfect and polish your ability to the best level that you can. If you aren’t following the importance of ‘R’ then your efforts are all in vain.

The 4R list of success

Rest-”Freedom from activity (work or strain or responsibility).”
Regeneration-”Renewal or restoration of a body, bodily parts, or biological system (as a forest) after injury or as a normal process.”
Recovery-”Restoration to a former and/or better condition.”
Reality-”The quality or state of being actual or true.”

The key to drive most of those things is balance in training. If you always rest, you aren’t training. If you push too hard all the time, you are never recovering, where is the balance?

Yakovlev's Fig 1

The Pusher

In your training program you have “The Pusher.” The pusher can be any internal or external factor that guides you to excel past comfortable levels of training expression.

The Coach
The Trainer
The Competition
The Inner Montage

All of the above can be leaders of the push towards conditioning and excellence. All above can be leaders towards your demise.

The Stressors

The Stressors can exist in physical training, but they can also exist in the realm of environment and mental. Meaning running long distance in hot polluted air while thinking about the fight you got in last night with your mother, is not helping bring forth the ‘R.’

The Healers

The overall problem is that there isn’t in most cases the factor of “The Healer.” For every push and stress you need an equal ‘R’ reaction.  Time and investment in the former always leads to snubbing of the later.

The Food
The Bed
The Foam Roller
The ART specialist
The Therapist

While some of the above doesn’t have to be literal, it all goes back to investment of your craft. People constantly invest in the wrong parts of progress. You can see this in every area of life.

Example of Investing Wrongly In Progress

-Doing aggressive intervals before having the ability to do progressive increase
-Disposing of rest times before imposing pause in training
-Utilizing superset training before understanding the basics of one move at a time
-Running for endurance before decreasing body mass and reading the body for impact

This kind of training is the equivalent of buying a cell phone on the basis of being able to have 10 people in a network, but you are lucky if your mom still calls and leaves that daily message about her favorite TV show.

You must walk before you run and you must regenerate for optimal recovery. It all ties together and being cheap in the beginning will leave you with half ass results in the end.

The Side Effects of Neglecting “R”

Obviously some things are specifically dependent on goals, but overall you can look for these side effects.

-Decrease in performance
-Decrease in desired body composition
-Decrease in sleep ability
-Decrease in strength
-Decrease in immune system
-Increase in stress
-Increase in sensitivity to mental and environmental factors
-Increase in fatigue
-Increase in stiffness and joint pain vs DOMS

Regulating “R”

A few logical reactions to training and stress will help you implement the “R” factor into your program.

-Higher intensity means higher rest time and a longer need for recovery
-A push is necessary for optimum advancement, but don’t expect such a linear advancement even with a balanced drive.
-Expect your greatest improvements to come after days of recuperation.
-Any decrease in nutrient value will lead in a increase of time need for optimal recovery. Because of this nutrient timing while in a hypercaloric state is crucial to obtaining maximum “R.”
-You can greatly improve the “R” factor with an extra focus on things like longer sleep, foam rolling, and proper warm up and cool down programs.

Tie it all together

When choosing or designing a program make sure that for all your actions you have set in place a recovery reaction. In doing so you will see tremendous improvement in RESULTS.

To read comments or to leave a comment click here

by Emma Leigh

Health Consequences of Eating Disorders

My third take home message:
> Eating disorders are bad for your health<

The degree of harm an eating disorder causes is related to the type of disorder, the duration & life stage over which it develops and the severity of the experience. It goes without saying that the more severe the disease, and the longer the time course, the worse the consequences. With regards to the life stage of the individual – this relates back to the organ system affected. For example, a younger person with AN/BN can have serious consequences for growth, bone mass, and brain development, where someone older may be more at risk for suicide or heart disease. Due to this variability in impact it is hard create a list that fits everyone without reeling out pages worth of material… but I shall attempt to summarize the main points….

Anorexia:

GENERAL STATE OF APPEARANCE AND ENERGY –
Deprive yourself of nutrients and you are going to end up feeling /looking like crud. This includes:
-    Muscle wasting and overall weakness
-    Dry hair, hair loss, dry and discoloured skin
-    Altered thermoregulation resulting in intolerance to cold (especially in the hands and feet) and growth of a layer of hair called lanugo (you know that ‘fluff’ that covers babies) in an attempt to keep the body warm.

CARDIAC -
-    Bradycardia (slow heart rate)
-    Loss of muscle in the heart – caused by your body breaking down the heart muscle for energy. This can damage muscle tissue and alter the ability of it to pump correctly
-    Low blood pressure (due to a combination of dehydration and weak heart muscle)
-    Rhythm disturbance (especially if the person involved is abusing laxatives) due to abnormalities in electrolytes critical for electrical pathways of the heart – this is most notably potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphate.
-    These can result in sudden cardiac death (one of the most common medical cause of death in severe anorexia)
-    Cholesterol levels tend to rise due to alterations in cortisol and thyroid hormones

RENAL -
-    Severe dehydration – which can lead to kidney failure
-    Renal stones
-    Dysregulation of antidiuretic hormone secretion (ADH) and alterations in electrolytes
-    Hypokalaemic nephropathy (kidney disease/damage)

GASTROINTESNTIAL -
-    Slow digestion & constipation caused by decrease energy, decreased bulk in the intestines, and laxative abuse (too much information: can be so severe that people have to ‘manually evacuate’ daily – I’ll leave out the details)
-    Decreased digestive enzymes causing bloating and irritable bowel symptoms
-    Severe and rapid weight loss can result in gall stones

HAEMATOLOGICAL -
-    Anaemia due to malnutrition and lack protein, iron and B-vitamins (at a rate up near 40%) -    Decreased immunity due to decreased white cell production
-    Decreased bone marrow turn over, platelet abnormalities and an increased risk of bleeding

NEUROLOGICAL –
-    Decreased concentration, decreased ability to learn new tasks, decreased reason, altered sleep patterns
-    Neuropathy can also occur in extreme cases. This is due to loss of essential vitamins/minerals, external compression from being too bony
-    Fainting and fitting if a person has electrolyte disturbances and/ or hypoglycaemia
-    Loss of brain tissue due to the stripping of myelin and nutrients from neural tissue (eg: choline).
-    Some of these may also be IRREVERSIBLE changes.

MUSCULOSKELETAL -
-    Muscle loss (obviously)
-    Stunted growth in younger individuals
-    Decreased ability to heal connective tissue, increased rate of injury, and a prolonged recovery when injuries occur
-    Stress fractures are often seen in those who are ‘athletic’ due to repeated trauma to weak bones.
-    The impact of malnutrition and hormone changes (low oestrogen/testosterone, high cortisol, low (active) growth hormone, and changes in DHEA (a adrenal sex hormone)) mean 90% of sufferers end having osteopenia or osteoporosis, and 40-45% having actual osteoporosis.
-    This is most severe in adolescents with up to 60-65% of girls failing to reach peak bone mass.
-    Importantly – weight gain may not reverse these effects – and the longer the disorder lasts, the more likely the loss will be permanent

HORMONAL –
-    There are major changes to many important hormone pathways in the body. I will go into some of these in more detail below… But to touch on them now – the most worrying result from alterations in the HP axis (hypothalamic-pituitary axis) and this includes:
-    Reproductive hormones decrease (decreased FSH and LH) – lowering oestrogen, testosterone, and progesterone – all of which are important for correct growth, bones, heart tissue, joints, vasculature and a myriad of other things
-    High GH & low IGF-1 – resulting in stunted growth, and dysglycaemia and metabolic abnormalities
-    Lower TSH and Free T4/ T3 – which results in lower metabolism and energy conservation
-    High Cortisol – a stress response altering healing, vascular integrity, gastrointestinal function, immunity, glycaemic control and many other things

REPRODUCTIVE –
-    Delayed puberty
-    Low libido and lack of erectile function in males
-    Menstrual abnormalities in females (note: if a person’s hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis is fragile this can lead to years of fertility issues. Up to 25% never regain normal menstruation)
-    Disruption to normal pregnancy > with increased risk of complications such as miscarriage, caesarean, premature birth, low birth weight, & smaller head-circumference

Bulimia:

Some of the specific health issues related to binge/purge activity include:
-    Electrolyte imbalances – which can lead to things like arrhythmia, heart failure and death.
-    Gastrointestinal concerns such as oesophageal tears, gastric rupture, reflux, stomach ulcers
-    Tooth decay and staining from stomach acids released during frequent vomiting.
-    Facial swelling – so called “chipmunk cheeks” due to acids in the salivary glands. You can also get stones in the salivary ducts
-    Pancreatitis
-    Chronic constipation and irritable bowel concerns as a result of laxative abuse
Sounds fun, yes?

Of course, for both of these diseases, there is also: Death… As mentioned above – both diseases have death rates of up to 20%. Causes include heart disease, overwhelming infection, and organ failure. Suicide is also very high. There is a greater risk of death in those with:
-    Younger onset, late diagnosis & severely low weight at the time of starting treatment
-    Having an accompanying severe psychological disorder or personality disorder
-    Previously being obese
-    Being male (may be due to the fact that men tend to be diagnosed with anorexia later than women)
-    Poor social supports (e.g.: poor family/ dysfunctional marriage )
-    Chronic disease (the longer it lasts, the more at risk you are of dying)

Psychological and Social Impacts

Ok… enough with the take home messages… And I am not going to discuss this area in detail – simply because the more I talk, the deeper it will go – and this topic deserves an article in its own right…

As mentioned – There are often associated with other co-existing psychiatric disorders, particularly mood disorders. The role of ‘pre-morbid personality’ has a lot to do with this. For example – Bulimia nervosa, as it is seen more in those with Cluster A traits (impulsivity etc), is particularly associated with alcohol and/or drug abuse problems.  Anorexia, more common in those with ‘cluster B’ traits (perfectionism, dependence etc) often presents with co-morbid anxiety disorders, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Psychological impact cannot be understated – these diseases often results in chronic low mood, feelings of guilt, and frustration, and can go so far as to cause the degradation of an individual’s entire identity. This is especially the case in adolescents – who essentially ‘grow up’ as their ‘eating disorder’ and, as such, they often have significant issues with discovering ‘what they are’ when they are not ‘Anorexia’.

Both diseases will also impact markedly on their global social functioning – Causing issues with interpersonal relationships, and job performance… And although most sufferers tend to be highly functioning – and can ‘maintain’ their social functioning for many years of the disease, there is a gradual deterioration that can often leave them in sudden psychosocial crisis when they do finally ‘hit that wall’.

Impact on Fitness & Performance

So now that the ‘general health’ impacts have been touched on… We can get onto some of the specifics regarding the impact of these things in the athlete (and alter – the impact on those who just want to look athletic).

To start with – it goes without saying that being involved in the athletic industry immediately puts an individual at a significantly higher risk for developing these diseases with both males and females feeling the pressure to achieve ‘perfection’. Some figures quote numbers as high as 60% of those involved in sports being impacted. This is especially for those that need a competitor to ‘hit a weight’ or ‘look a way’ (gymnastics, wrestling, bodybuilding, rowing, and dancers). Interesting to note – there is also a greater risk associated with anaerobic sports rather than aerobic sports.

Females in the industry are at risk of what is known as the ‘Female Athlete Triad’ which is a fancy name for the combination of ‘disordered eating’, osteoporosis and amenorrhea…  It actually used to be the case that in some circles/sports, it was thought a female was not ‘training hard enough’ unless she suffered from amenorrhea. Luckily, this has changed, because we now know that the impact of amenorrhea on bone health is significant and needs to be addressed to prevent consequences such as osteoporosis. The impact on menstruation was originally thought to be related to weight/body fat alone – but it is now recognized that there are many other factors that come into play with more evidence pointing toward the overall ‘energy balance’ of the individual. In fact, some state that no matter how hard a female trains if she is ‘eating enough’ to combat the energy output she *should* remain ‘intact’ in a hormonal sense. The evidence is not convincing either way – many variables and confounders make it difficult to fully assess. And although it is often seen in those not fully ‘categorized’ with AN/BN (disordered eating) it is noted more frequent in Anorexia than Bulimia.

Moving on and getting back to the impact on performance – It is no surprise that those suffering with eating disorders/disordered eating while trying to maintain athletic output will eventually face consequences in regards to their performance. I will not dwell excessively here (it really a ‘no brainer’), but the malnutrition/inadequate energy, and disturbances to hydration and electrolytes that these individuals suffer will eventually results in the following:

1. increased fatigue/ decreased endurance,
2. decreased power/ strength/ speed,
3. decreased co-ordination and reaction time,
4. altered thermoregulation with increased risk of hyperthermia, muscle cramping,
5. increased risk of injury (both due to increased fatigue and decreased judgment but also due to decreased recovery rates and increased propensity to overtraining)

To read comments or to leave a comment click here

To read part 3 click here

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Feature Product: If looking for a program to help aid recovery for AN or Bulimia check out the Metabolic Repair Manual as part of The Fat Loss Troubleshoot program.

Introduction: So….. Way to throw a huge topic my way, Leigh! Anorexia AND bulimia? Sheesh….!! Hmmm…. So – Let’s get my thoughts in order so I can make sense of where I want to go…. I think I will first go over what will I cover (and therefore, what you should ‘take away’ from this rambling) and then I will get into the actual information….

The points I shall cover:

- What are Bulimia (BN) and Anorexia (AN) (the definitions)

- What causes them

-What are the Consequences – including:

• PHYSICAL and HEATH consequences of these things (the ugly issues)
• A brief look at PSYCHOLOGICAL and SOCIAL impacts (which many people ‘forget’ about)
• PHYSIQUE and ‘FITNESS’ consequences (body composition/ neurochemicals/ muscle mass/performance)….

But I am sure there will be random other stuff thrown in to boot… And with that – let’s get on with it so I can finish this before the turn of the century….

Eating disorders: The Definitions

My first take home message:
>Eating disorders are not just odd eating habits or diets… They are – deadly patterns of thinking and behavior that go beyond this…<

Ok, ok… so that is a no-brainer but many people do confuse these things. Regardless – Anorexia and Bulimia, in their ‘true meaning’, are actually forms of ‘mental illness’. They require certain ‘criteria’ to be met for a person to be classed as suffering from the disease. Are these criteria necessarily ‘correct’ (that is – is it right that someone must have ‘x, y and z’ before being classed as anorexic)? Many would argue no (psychiatrists/ medical professionals included) – but just as with other illnesses in mental health, something needs to be given as a guideline to ensure the *majority* with that illness are ‘defined’ and treated.

Adding from this – it means that a person’s eating patterns can be very ‘abnormal’ while not strictly being ‘a disorder’. And going a step further – a person can face a problem of ‘disordered eating’ but *technically* they do not have the diseases.

It must, however, be remembered that how one eats needs to be taken in light of the social context (just like anything).

For example – to someone who is NOT a bodybuilder – eating ‘chicken and rice’ for every meal would be considered slightly abnormal (and in some bb-ing circles it is considered such anyway). Does it mean this person has a ‘disease’? No. Does this person have ‘disordered eating’? No again. Because these two issues eventually come back to the THOUGHTS, COMPULSIONS or RITUALS behind the actions. Sadly, in saying that, there are MANY people in the fitness/ health/ athletic industry that have what would be termed ‘disordered eating’. Rituals/ thinking patterns and ‘food phobia’s’ that create unhealthy relationships with food and ‘eating’.

What is Anorexia Nervosa?

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) (as much as I hate its ‘slots’) -

- Resistance to maintaining body weight at or above the minimum of normal weight for age and height
- An intense and irrational fear of gaining weight or becoming fat
- Disturbance in perception of body weight or shape, or denial of the seriousness of their low body weight (on this note: some feel anorexia should be classed as a ‘psychosis’ of sorts – as these irrational thoughts/ perceptual disturbances could be seen as ‘delusions’)
- Amenorrhoea of > 3 months (in females who have reached puberty) Anorexia is then subclasses into two categories (which blur)

a. Binge Type [which is, as it states, involves periods of binging/ purging associated with the restriction]
b. Restrictive Type [pure starvation]

Anorexia occurs in about 1:100-150 females (mostly in late adolescence and early adulthood) but there are many more sufferers that are sub-threshold (they don’t meet all the criteria) with rates being similar in most developed countries of higher socioeconomic status. Although rates are far higher in females, and 90% of cases are female, Anorexia should not be thought of as a female disease with 1:10 sufferers being male. Length of illness figures varies depending on the source quoted, but average duration of illness is between 5-8 years. Only about 10-20% are thought to recover fully, with 10-20% of the population lifelong sufferers (never fully returning to a healthy weight/ healthy body image). Death rates are 15-20%, and up to 35-40% are also at risk of developing Bulimia.

What about Bulimia?

Again according to DSM-IV this is defined as -
- Recurrent episodes of binge eating, characterized by:

• eating an excessive amount within a discrete period of time
• a sense of lack of control over eating during the episode

- Recurrent (inappropriate) compensatory behaviour to prevent weight gain ( self-induced vomiting, laxatives/ diuretics/ enemas, medications, fasting, or excessive exercise)
- These behaviours both need to occur, on average, at least twice a week for 3 months
- And there needs to be a process of self-evaluation that is unduly influenced by body shape and weight.

Just like Anorexia, Bulimia tends to be a long-term disorder which tends to ‘wax and wane’. Most cases start in adolescence, but the disease tends to last many years beyond this time – with sufferers relapsing at times of crisis. About 90-95% of those affected are females – but adolescent males are also at risk of the disease, especially those who participate in sport/ athletics (which I will discuss later), and also those who have identity issues (eg: bisexual/ homosexual tendencies). Just like anorexia – rates tend to be higher in western society, average length of illness is usually long (with many going up to 8-10 yrs before they are diagnosed), and mortality rates are estimated to be up to 18-20%.

Other Eating Disorders: What else is there?

Other types of eating disorders would be things like ‘eating disorder, not otherwise specified’ – which covers the ‘catchment’ that is not covered by the above. But we are just focusing on these disorders for now – so I can cover those things at a later date if need be….

The Causes of Eating Disorders?

My second take home message:
>Eating disorders are not just related to ‘being skinny’<

NOT just a result of ‘the media’ – eating disorders need to be discussed under the ‘Bio-Psycho-Social’ model of disease development… This means that there are a number of factors that play a role in their development – divided into (surprise, surprise):

1. Biological Factors – eg: neurochemicals and genetic influences. And in this there has been many advancements regarding the various neurobiological vulnerabilities that make substantial contributions to whether or not someone develops AN and BN. Most of this revolves around altered brain serotonin (otherwise known as 5-HT) and dysregulation of appetite, mood, and impulse control.

2. Psychological Factors – eg: personality style, coping mechanisms, robustness/ resilience and a person’s sense of self. In this – individuals with AN and BN are usually characterized by perfectionism, obsessive-compulsiveness, and are usually described as having ‘dysphoric mood’ (that is – an abnormal or incongruent mood). To divide traits further – those with AN tend to have higher constraint/constriction of affect and emotional expressiveness (that is – they control their emotions), ahendonia (they gain little enjoyment from activities) and asceticism (‘barren of emotion’). Individuals with BN tend to be more impulsive /sensation seeking (that is – they are ‘all over the place’ in their emotional experiences). What needs to be stated is that these traits are often seen BEFORE the onset of the eating disorder, and will also persist afterward (which is important in identifying CAUSE v’s EFFECT of disease).

3. Social Factors – eg: home life, education, stress, relationships, and trauma. Unlike many other mental illnesses – rates are not related to things such as ‘broken homes’ or ‘poor backgrounds’… AN is actually seen more in middle class, well educated, ‘high achievers’. With that said some figures suggest up to 40% having also suffered some sort of traumatic experience in the past. As mentioned above, western societies have higher rate of disease. Many people try to blame media influence on the disease and rates seemed to sky rocket after ‘Twiggy’ hit the scene in the 1960-1970’s… and although there is no debate that this probably DID have a role in altering the perception of what is considered ‘beautiful’ for a female – it cannot be seen as the cause/reason for the disease. It is when all these three things place a venerable person in a venerable position that you get ‘the sum’ of their impact…. And the above can also demonstrate this with a pretty diagram: If you then go more deeply into the disorders you can also describe Anorexia and Bulimia in terms of The ‘4 p’ principle of Mental Illness… In this – A gentleman Barker developed a ‘four p-model’ to psychiatric illness where he proposed four ‘categories’ for which people do (or do not) develop/ recover from an illness.

These are:

1. Predisposing Factors
2. Precipitating Factors
3. Perpetuating Factors
4. Protective Factors

Each of these have contributions from all of the three groups above. So – to *quickly* run through the issues:

Some of the predisposing factors you would consider would be venerable personalities (anxiety, obsessive, perfectionist), family history of disease (or family history of mental illness such as depression or anxiety), external locus of control, and poor self-esteem, western society…. That sort of thing…. Things that mean a person has an INCREASED RISK of the disease.

Precipitating factors would be the ‘trigger’ for the development of the disease (as I mentioned – a person can be ‘AT RISK’ of something without developing the problem and it is only when you ‘add water and mix’ – that you create the issue). So these could be things such as family stressors, a conflict or incident, or a relationship breakdown. Going through puberty also seems to be an ‘at risk’ time for many and there are a few different factors that may act to cause this. Going back to neurochemical pathways – gonadal steroids (eg: oestrogen/progesterone/testosterone) are thought to exacerbate 5-HT and dopamine dysregulation (one of the reasons females get PMS and why males going through their teenage years are more at risk of schizophrenia).Second, stress from peer groups/ cultural and societal pressures to ‘fit in’ and even interfamily ‘tension’ about the ‘growing up’ of the individual may contribute to stress – increasing anxiety and further pushing a person into feeling ‘out of control’. So it is thought that the restriction of food causes changes in cortisol and 5-HTP levels, which ‘quell’ this anxious mood, and puts the individual ‘back in control’.

Perpetuating factors are those things that prevent recovery/maintain the disease state – in the case of ED this is a complex area and involves not only things like a person’s personality and social surroundings (obsessionality in itself = resistance to change… and having dysfunctional family relationships such as overbearing parents or neglect will impact), but also the disease state itself. For example – starvation has an impact on the frontal lobe functioning of sufferers. The frontal lobes are the parts of the brain that are responsible for things such as reason, insight, judgment, logic, and planning. Thus people with anorexia lose the ability to ‘think’ properly about the consequences of what is happening, and the disease state is prolonged. The psychological state they are in also maintains ‘thinness’ (hyper-anxious/hyper-aroused state = alterations in energy expenditure). Additionally, there is also this odd mechanism seen in starvation states which causes a paradoxical INCREASE in energy expenditure (the so called ‘frenzy of starvation’). This is thought to be a survival mechanism that flicks on to make people ‘get up and search for food’…. Problem is that those with AN end up getting up and ‘exercising’ instead…..

As mentioned above – disturbances of 5-HT function are common and this, in association with the dysphoric temperament, is thought to lead to food-emotion reward pathways and disturbed appetite behaviours. In Anorexia, as touched on before, there is a cycle where calorie restriction leads to relief from mood abnormalities. The problem in this is that malnutrition eventually alters other neuropeptides/dopamine levels which will create worsening of the dysphoria and the cycle is worsened. In the case of BN there are alterations in satiety hormones. These decrease satiety and causes changes in ‘hunger’ pathways, as well as modifying the neurochemicals involved in mood and reward (serotonin and dopamine). The result is the reinforcement of addictive patterns similar to those seen in those with gambling or drug problems.

And finally – protective factors include things that PREVENT the disease from developing. And it would include a strong sense of self, internal locus of control, robustness/resilience, strong family/social supports and any other number of things…

To read comments or to leave a comment click here

To read part 2 click here
To read part 3 click here

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Feature Product: If looking for a program to help aid recovery for AN or Bulimia check out the Metabolic Repair Manual as part of The Fat Loss Troubleshoot program.

by Leigh Peele

I was linked to a post over at Precision Nutrition forums about the dangers of calorie counting. I find the irony that a large (a quick review and tally of my intro reports lead to 67%) amount of my online clients used PN prior to coming to me. All of them found themselves stuck not losing the weight. For the record, ALL of them lost fat after using my programs versus PN.

Now, I am not knocking PN really. I don’t agree with all of it, and think it promotes nutrition claims not based on research sometimes. However, it sure beats the heck out of most of Oprah’s latest picks. Should that matter? I am still debating that in my mind. Everyday I ask myself, is a little wrong okay for a lot of right? Where is the line drawn and how can you define it? I don’t know yet.

To discuss the issue of caloric counting however, my line is just as blurry on the overall grand scheme, but very clear for the immediate action that needs to take place. I am not blind to the psychology of people, and I see the room for various answers to various problems. Still…

Let me provide you with a common story. By common, I mean the reason why I wrote the Fat Loss Troubleshoot in the first place.

Hi Leigh,

My name is (your name here). I have been following the PN program for about 6 months now and while I am eating healthier and I have gotten better at understand nutrition I haven’t lost any fat. If anything I have gained in pants size and I seem to appear larger in certain areas. I don’t understand what I am doing wrong. I follow the guidelines to the letter of PN, but still no budge. I am doing HIIT 3x a week and lifting 4x a week. Thanks for your help!

Anyone who is familiar with my work can already see the problems. She didn’t mention how much she eats, how much she moves, what her specific training is, and HOW MUCH SHE EATS!

Now, I did a quick search on three forums (one being PN) for the amount of people frustrated and not getting anywhere despite following the program. There are also other programs very similar to PN (I am not just ragging on them, but it was them who brought this up, so take the lumps) and the same problems were coming up. It was as if the same person, the person in my question above, was posting over and over again.

The more the programs try to get around or ignore the importance of CORRECT (or as close as possible) caloric deficit achievement, the more the frustration. Even if it has the best of intentions. The more the “tricks” are not explained, the more the problems. This is why extreme programs almost always work because they are really hard to mess up. Everything else becomes long term body recomp. Great if 10lbs overweight, sucks if 100lbs.

Tell me, what kind of person do you create when you take out the reality of a situation and you allow them to live in denial of that reality? Where can that frustration lead you? How about the reason I wrote Metabolic Repair.

This isn’t a hypothetical…

Sarah was 29 years old. She had dieted since she was age twelve. She ate cottage cheese, fruits, veggies, and meats. She ate healthy portions, she ran track, and she loved being outside. She didn’t count her calories, she just tried to “listen to her body” but she could never lose weight. She started to get frustrated with the fact that she was eating so healthy, but never seeing any change and sometimes worse in the mirror and on the scale.

She died in 2008 from overexercising and dehydration. She never counted a calorie.

She journaled “I don’t understand why I can’t lose the weight! I am eating healthy foods and eating healthy portions. I don’t eat out, I never eat bad foods! I am so tired of worrying about this everyday. I think my friends are starting to think I am crazy, but at least I am not on weight watchers!”

She suffered in misery from the frustration of never getting anywhere and things never changing. She read book after book, and program after program. At no point and time did anyone just explain to her what it was all about. All they did was talk about carbs being bad, fat being bad, meat being bad, milk being bad, sugar being bad, and how counting calories was bad.

What if just one person had said to her “Look, eating healthy is great, but if you are eating too much and not moving enough in your daily life losing fat can be next to impossible. Have you ever tracked for a period of time what you intake is, what you daily movement is like, and figured out if that is the right intake for you?” Tracking is about way more than taking a BMR formula test, and removing a starch from a meal if not losing.

People either love or hate this video, but it goes to how you that even with simple measuring cups you can be off by hundreds of calories a day with the BEST of intentions.

Do I wish that we could walk through life “listening” to our body? Actually I think we do, and I think that is exactly what the problem is.

• The best natural suppression of stress based upon sedentary work? Eating, specifically carbs.
• The best natural suppression of stress based up lack of sleep? Eating, specifically carbs and caffeine.
• The best natural suppression of depression and anxiety? Eating, specifically carbs.
• The best natural suppression for making up for lack of social interaction? Eating, specifically carbs.

Guess what folks, we ARE eating intuitively. We ARE fulfilling the needs our bodies feel that have in this new day and age.

Question: How do you think the body is going to react to the same mental stress that comes from less physical output? We were bred for working physically. When you take that away, and you force lack of mobility but raise adrenaline and stress, what do you think happens? You will respond in the exact same manner that you are naturally led to respond.

In a perfect world we would move more, eat as we needed, have great happiness, have great sex, great sleep, express our feelings, love our families, see the world, and die without regret. In that world you would live life and food would be this “thing” that you ate when you needed it.

We don’t live in that world.

Here is a big lesson for you to learn.

The sooner you realize that your life is the direct result of your actions and decisions, both good and bad, the better that life will be. People get depressed and up in arms because they are made aware of calories? GOOD! Take away denial, take away all the bs talk you have at night with yourself on a pillow when you are coming up with all the reasons of why it isn’t your fault.

Do I have dieting strategies for people which don’t involve calories or weighing your food? Yes. However, if you get stuck without the results you are going to get a big fat slap in the face from me. I am going to tell you “Look, I am sorry, but sadly you don’t have the luxury of winging it. You don’t have the luxury of the tricks, tips, and toys of fat loss that ignore what it is all about in the first place, a deficit. When you get done and you lose the weight I have some great tricks for how to never count a calories again, but until then, until you come to me and say, “I’m done” the last thing I am going to let you do is be in denial and lie to yourself. That is how I get the job done.

Word to the wise, if you are fat loss client for a year, not a regular training client, but a fat loss client for more than a year (unless morbidly obese), then they aren’t doing their job, period. If you have been trying to lose fat that long, pack it up. Pack your old ways up and do what you KNOW works. The gurus can fight with me all they want, but my method always works if you follow exactly what I say (unless ill, which is rare).

The studies in weight loss that are BS, are the ones that never track intake. All studies that have tracked intake in a ward setting, weight is lost, period. No, understand EVERYTIME. I got my no fail system locked down, do you?

Last time I looked we weren’t dying off from illness because of knowing, last time I looked what is killing us is fear and denial. Why do we have adds about the negative effects of smoking and the truth of what it does to you? That is my counting calories.

Why was one of the most popular articles to date of Men’s Health magazine’s the 20 worst foods in America? It hit chain emails world wide with people in shock and awe. At least 3 of those products are no longer available and menus were replaced with healthier item choices. My point is that a lot of good things can come from reality and truth. Sure you have to deal with the bad, but such is life.

The take home point?

I understand counting calories isn’t for everyone, but most of the time at least for a short stint I find it to be a necessary evil.  It can mean the difference between living in denial, living in frustration, and living in reality.

I think this industry needs more reality, not to ignore it.

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To find out more about Leigh Peele or the book The Fat Loss Troubleshoot, visit http://www.fatlosstroubleshoot.com

To read comments or leave a comment click here

This may be a stupid question, but I’m going to ask it anyway:

Should you weigh meat before or after you cook it?

Also, with pasta and veggies, etc.  if you cook it before you weigh (accidentally) how much does the weight vary?

Another measuring question — if you don’t mind…

If you are cooking for your family, do you measure everything before cooking and then just split everything equally, or do you cook your serving separately from everyone elses?  I find that cooking for my family is the hardest part of staying with my diet.  Any suggestion you can send my way will be greatly appreciated. -Kera

It may seem like a silly question or a simple one to pick to answer but it is surprisingly one of the most asked questions I get do to that video. What video?

Over a year ago I posted up a video on You Tube that shows the differences that can occur in caloric intake through just a simple measurement. Just a video that discusses the importance of caloric accuracy has caused quite a stir. It was featured by Hungry Girl.com and some of the biggest health and fitness blogs on the net.

Since this video the questions I get a lot are the above. I will hit at them one-by-one.

1. Do you weigh X (anything) before or after it is cooked?

If you are trying to be as accurate as possible you want to weigh anything before you cook it. Water and some fat can be lost, and overall the change can be small, but for best case scenario before is a good way to go. Pasta weight, veggies, etc it is all the same.

2. Best way to cook for the family, and myself?

There is two ways you can go here.

The first is you can eat separate from your family during the course of fat loss. People make a big deal out of this, but since this isn’t supposed to be going on for life, just a short stint, it really isn’t so bad to step away and make your own food separate from family. You should have their full support and hopefully they will do the best they can to make it as easy on you as possible. If they don’t then you need to stand up for what you want and what you are doing for yourself. If they still whine like babies then you might need to change more than your diet around the household, ya heard?

The other option is to measure out your portion from theirs. The easiest way to do this is either make dishes that are divided easy into the amount that your family needs (think casserole/lasagna) or select meals that are easy to divide item wise. For example, if you make chicken with rice and veggies on the side, then simply measure out the amounts you need as you go. Simply section out your portion and they can dig in and grab their portions.

Remember too, not everything has to be so anal. I know, I know, me the girl with the scale video. The thing is if you are achieving your goals by eyeballing or loosely measuring, great. You won’t have to go that route. However, if you find yourself stuck, then that is the first place to go.

Hope that helps, good luck.

To read comments or to leave a comment click here

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Featured Product for this post: Kitrics Digital Nutrition Scale

By JC-JCD Fitness.com

This article is specifically regarding eating on the cheap given our current economic situation in America and the rest of the world.  The views presented are purely out of my personal experiences over the last year and how I managed to cram in the most food possible while being on a very limited budget.  I have spent most of the past year in a caloric surplus to add some quality weight after a prolonged period of not-so-smart dieting practices.  I know, I know I should have never had this experience, but like everyone else I am human and fail to think objectively at times.

So in regards to building lean body mass, we all know(or should know) that this requires two consistent variables: a surplus of calories and proper training.  Being as frugal as I am I decided to make a list of relatively cheap foods that have a long shelf life that would allow me to save as much money as possible for fresh foods.

Since I have come to be somewhat of a minimalist, here is my list of staples.

Non-Perishable Grocery List

•   Oats – You can buy a 9lb. box of oats from places like Sams Club and Costco for about 8 bucks a pop.  I bought 4 boxes about mid 2008 and still have plenty left to eat.  Oats are really simple to make and provide a good source of energy at the same time.  If you are into the whole grain thing, that is a plus too.
•    White/Bown Rice – I bought a 25lb bag at Sams for probably about 14-15 bucks(I cannot remember).  I have eaten so much rice over this past year and am still not sick of it.  I eat it sweet(milk, honey and brown sugar) and savory(think Chinese cuisine or with red beans).  I would normally eat about 150 to 200 grams of carbs worth of white rice post workout 3-4x per week.
•    Peanut Butter – This varies, but you can usually get a 7lb tub of peanut butter at Wal-Mart for 7-8 dollars I believe(prices seem to fluctuate).  I put peanut butter on everything from oatmeal, chicken, eggs, bread etc.  Peanut butter is very calorie dense and has helped me to stay in positive energy balance on many occasions.  Peanut butter does contain some “healthy” fats as well.
•    Protein Powder – I buy my protein from TrueProtein and last year bought 50lbs of their “recession whey” for about ~$240.  From my calculations, powdered protein is the most economical source of amino’s but not always the most tasty(see steak).  Of course protein powder is very handy and practical for all bodybuilders, fitness models and fitness divas alike.

Perishable Grocery List

•    Eggs – One of the cheapest whole food protein sources you can find.  It is not uncommon for me to polish off a dozen daily.
•    Red Meat – If you shop around you can find specials on the cuts that are going out of date or you can buy dark steaks.  The grocery store usually discounts this stuff to sell it before they have to throw it out.  I normally buy up what they have and freeze it for later consumption.
•    Frozen Chicken – Depending on the brand you buy, there are some good deals to be had if you keep your eyes open.
•    Cottage Cheese – My favorite source of protein.  I usually go through 4-6 tubs per week.  I almost always mix it with some kind of cereal and honey.  I love cottage cheese for the casein content and dairy products are a great source of calcium as well.
•    Fruit – Finding good prices on fruit can vary by the season.  I try to buy what is in season as it’s the most inexpensive.  I can usually buy a 3lb bag of small apples for 3-4 dollars.  I aim to eat a piece or two daily for general Zen-like health reasons.  There are many benefits to be had from eating fruit on a regular basis.  I do not care what those fructose Nazi’s say.  Fruit wont make you fat, only excess kcals will.  Whomever tells you otherwise is wrong.
•    Frozen Vegetables – I usually buy a big bag of broccoli 1-2x per month.  Frozen veggies are always less expensive than fresh.  When I buy fresh, I opt for onions as they are usually inexpensive and I use them a lot in my cooking.  I drop the onions when I cook for dinner dates though.
•    Potatoes – Pricing on potatoes is highly variable.  At times I can find a 20lb bag for 5 dollars and then at other times I can only find 10lb bags for the same price.  Potatoes are great for satiety and I usually eat 1.5-2lbs at one sitting.

Supplements
•    Fish Oil – A must on any diet.  I say take at least 3g per day.  You can pick these up at any grocer or health food store.  I recommend buying the Sams or Costco brand as they tend to be the cheapest.  You have no excuse not to be taking your fish oil.
•    Multivitamin/Mineral – Another cheap supplement that one should be taking just to be sure they are getting essential vitamins and minerals.

Of course this is not an exhaustive list.  These are merely the foods I call my staples.

The Look Great Naked Part

There is no need to give into the misconception that it’s expensive to maintain a healthy diet.  There is no reason to believe you have to consume certain expensive foods or give into the hype plastered all over the Internet and TV.  Whomever is telling you that is most likely misinformed or trying to sell you something you do not need.  I do not call myself a bodybuilder per se as I do not compete, nor do I plan to.  I simply train and eat the way I do because I desire to look great naked, as do most others.

My philosophy: As long as you train in a manner that is congruent with your goals, get enough protein and balance your intake, looking stellar with your clothes off is inevitable.

So the next time you find yourself in a pinch and in need of a cheap source of kcals, just remember to lean on these staple foods and you are sure to spare money for other important events such as training, dating, wedding crashing, couch surfing etc.

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JC is the creator of the fitness resource JCDFitness.com.  If you can appreciate a relaxed, no BS approach to training and diet, then you may find his ideas about the fitness lifestyle to be very practical and applicable.

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