DIET TIPS

A GOOD RULE OF THUMB - Don't expect too much too soon. You should always keep in mind that no matter what advertisement you come across, there are no quick fixes or miracle pills for weight loss or muscle gain. There are supplements that can aid you in attaining your goals, but hard work and discipline are essential. The adage "eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly" is exactly right. If you want to check the makeup of any food try this website - http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/. Just type the food in the search bar, select the specific type and quantity and it will show you the calories, fat, protein, carbs., etc.  

WEIGHT LOSS

HIGH PROTEIN/LOW CARB DIET - Sean and I did this diet for over 5 months. It took about a month before I saw good results, but it worked well for both of us. Sean lost 60 pounds and went from 22% to 11.5% body fat, and I lost 15 pounds and dropped from 16.5% to 12% body fat.  Of course not all of it's the diet, we changed our style of training to a much more cardiovascular one and we workout 6 days a week.The reasoning behind this style of diet ... is that taking in a high quantity of protein will prevent muscle loss while repairing muscle tissue after training. It is low in carbohydrates to force your body to use fat as its energy source instead of carbs.  Carbohydrates, when digested by the body, are broken down into glucose for fuel. At this time your blood sugar level begins to rise. This is distributed by the bloodstream to the body for fuel. Then your pancreas detects the rise of blood sugar and releases insulin into the blood. Insulin helps the body absorb the glucose from the blood. The glucose, if not used immediately by the body for energy, is stored in the form of glycogen and triglycerides (fat) to use for energy later. Overconsuming carbohydrates can result in your body's insulin release working less effectively, diminishing blood sugar levels. This will leave you feeling hungry again very soon. Taking in a limited amount of carbs prevents this from happening and also facilitates the bodies use of its stored energy sources (fat). The following is a list of foods that we use.  Breakfast foods - whey + milk or water, grapefruit (unsweetened), eggs, turkey/chicken bacon. Snack foods - whey + milk or water, low fat/carb yogurt, celery, carrots, low fat cottage cheese, almonds, peanuts, cheese Lunch and/or Supper foods - chicken, fish, horse meat, green beans, wax beans, carrots, celery, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, bean sprouts, zucchini, cucumbers, green salad, mushrooms, onions, eggs, turkey/chicken bacon Pre-Workout - banana, apple, protein bar Post-Workout - whey + milk or water, low fat cottage cheese, amino recovery drinkYou can mix and match foods however you like as long as you follow a format similar to the example below.  When possible have your larger meal (meat and vegetables) during the day rather than the evening. The post workout snack is very important for muscle repair and shouldn't be skipped. We recommend having ONE "cheat" day a week where you can eat whatever you like. Don't go crazy and overeat but enjoy yourself.  Having a cheat day is supposed to help keep your metabolism up. Research shows that if you stay on a low calorie diet without cheating your body will try to compensate for this by lowering your metabolism.  Sample Day on this diet: Servings are for one person. Protein intake depends on your lean body mass. Recommended intake is around 1gram of protein per pound of body weight per day. If you want to count grams I saw a simple chart in a magazine you can use:

BREAKFAST - one scoop of whey protein in 8 ounces of skim milk, one grapefruit

SNACK - celery and carrots with small amount of low calorie dressing

LUNCH - low fat cottage cheese

PRE-WORKOUT SNACK (only use this snack if you are lacking energy for your workout) - one banana

POST-WORKOUT - one scoop of whey protein in 8 ounces of skim milk

SUPPER - one medium grilled chicken breast, stir fry vegetables (you can buy these frozen in a bag ready to cook, also we found some "Carb Options" Asian sauce that tastes great with it)

 WEIGHT GAINING

The key to putting on weight is taking in more calories than you use on a daily basis (Steve says "LOTS OF DAIRY QUEEN"). The first thing to do is to make sure you are getting enough protein. On a mass gaining diet take in 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight. The rest of your caloric intake should consist of approximately 15% fat and 50-70% carbohydrates.  You should increase your carb intake by approximately 500 calories a day more than you expend (this should be a gradual trial and error process where you will have to figure out how many calories you're burning on a daily basis). This will insure that you gain a pound a week (3500 calories = one pound). In choosing foods, make sure you pick foods that not only have the increased calories you need, but are good quality and high in nutrients.  This will insure that you have maximum energy levels to carry you through a tough mass building training program and the weight you put on is lean mass not just fat (i.e. try oatmeal or potatoes instead of dairy queen).     

HIGH PROTEIN DIETS AND KIDNEY FUNCTION - I did a little research on high protein diets and their effect on kidney function. All of the studies I read showed there to be no negative effects on kidney function if the person did not have any preexisting kidney problems. If there is a history of kidney damage a high protein diet is associated with accelerated decline in kidney function.  Until recently people with kidney damage were pretty much stuck on dieting options. More recent and thorough research hypothesized that the key to the problem might be in reducing carbohydrates and iron rather than restricting protein. 

"The researchers proceeded to place patients with diabetic kidney damage on a diet in which chicken and fish were substituted for red meat, the former being lower in iron than the latter. The patients were also advised to increase their intake of iron-binding foods, such as dairy and eggs, and polyphenol-rich items such as olive oil, tea, red wine (a maximum of 300ml daily, with meals). The only other beverage permitted besides red wine and tea was water. Finally, the patients were instructed to halve their total carbohydrate intake. The composition of the white meat-based diet was 25-30% protein, 30% fat, 35% carbohydrate, and 5-10% alcohol. A control group of kidney-impaired diabetics consumed a low-protein diet comprised of 10% protein, 25% fat, and 65% carbohydrate - a similar macronutrient profile to that recommended to kidney patients - and to the general population by mainstream health authorities. The results confirmed the findings of previous short-term studies showing improvements in kidney function on white-meat based diets. The chicken regimen produced superior improvements in clinical tests of kidney function than either the low protein or normal diets (Anthony Colpo, December 21, 2003, retrieved from, http://www.theomnivore.com/Low%20Carb%20Benefits%20Kidney%20Patients.html)."

The article also suggest some natural diuretics, which are good for the kidneys: Celery, dandelion leaves, parsley seeds, hydrangea and uva ursi. Cranberries are also good for preventing and fighting off urinary infections, but make sure to buy pure unsweetened cranberry juice or just the cranberry pills. Cranberry juice cocktails are full of sugar.

  LOW CARB. COOKING TIPS   - In searching for a low carb replacement for flour I discovered that the main ingredient in many of the expensive low carb muffin and pancake mixes is soy flour. It is made from ground roasted soybeans. This is the basic nutritional makeup according to the Indiana Soybean Board:

per 3.5 ounces

(http://soyfoods.com/soyfoodsdescriptions/soyflour.html) - The "Carb Options" brand I mentioned in our diet makes some really good marinades and salad dressings. We use the marinade to grill chicken and bake fish and also mix it with stir fry vegetables. -  If you are like me and don't care for the taste of plain tuna try making it into a tuna salad. I mix mine with a bit of low fat miracle whip, dijon mustard, chopped dill pickles (don't use sweet pickles, too much sugar), a boiled egg and some onion. And you can eat it on a bed of lettuce if you like.  - There are quite a few websites out there with free recipes and tips. If you have time to cook you will find this worthwhile. Here are a few I found helpful:     

http://forum.lowcarber.org/

http://www.carb-lite.au.com/

http://lowcarbluxury.com/lowcarb-recipes.html