The Fitness Guru

As many of you may have heard by now, Paula Deen, the celebrity chef known for her Southern menu of high-fat cooking, has come forward to announce that, not only does she have Type 2 Diabetes, also known as “adult onset” diabetes, but that she is also partnering up with Novo Nordisk in a campaign to promote their diabetes drug, Victoza.

Hmmm…..where to begin?……

We could begin with the fact that Ms. Deen has kept her condition quiet for a few years. Certainly, it is a personal issue and need not be discussed publicly. That is, until it is time to collect a check from a major pharmaceutical company.

We could begin with the fact that she continued pitching her brand of cooking– high-fat and high-sugar– when her condition could have prompted her to come forward and help create a change in the way many people view their plates and indulge their palates.

We could start by saying that she is the victim here and that the diet does not necessarily cause diabetes, that there is a genetic factor that must be taken into account.

Here’s where I’ll start: yes, there is a genetic factor and it is unfortunate when people develop this illness later in life. But serving up a menu of buttermilk fried chicken is beyond irresponsible. If there are individuals, Ms. Deen included, who are genetically predisposed to type 2 diabetes, then her manner of culinary expertise is the equivalent of a loaded cross bow– may not kill ya, could kill ya but maybe not. And her response to the accusations of irresponsibility? “I always preach moderation, y’all!” As if adding her li’l southern “y’all” is just going to make it so damn cute, well, hell, let’s just drop the whole thing. We’re talking about high fat and sugar contents. Moderation is pretty tough with these substances that our brains crave. And once our taste buds become trained to seek these foods, it becomes even harder. So the idea of a great frisee salad with a side of buttermilk fried chicken is pretty amusing.

No, this irresponsible individual decided to keep right on serving up her Southern cuisine, avoiding the high road and the ability to initiate change. That is until she is given the opportunity to make some money pitching Victoza. Hey, anybody mention that FDA has warned about possible thyroid cancer in animal studies? I know, I know– the animals were probably going to get thyroid cancer anyway so a little bit of the old drug, in moderation y’all, ain’t going to do all that bad, will it?

Anthony Bourdain, another celebrity chef with no shortage of opinions, went off the deep end about Deen. “I would think twice before telling an already obese nation that it’s okay to eat food that is killing us,” he told TV Guide in an interview, calling her “the worst, most dangerous person to America.” I love Anthony Bourdain. But it’s a bit much. I don’t think she is the worst. In an age of ponzi schemes, it seems like she has stumbled onto a culinary cash cow– selling the poison and the cure.

But what do you think? Time for a poll…..

In a new study authored by two researchers at American University, there is a link drawn between the growing obesity epidemic and increased stress and a sense of powerlessness and insecurity. The authors, Jon D. Wisman and Kevin W. Capehart, point out that on the calorie intake side, economic progress and technological dynamism have increased incomes and lowered the price of food, prompting greater consumption. And on the calorie expenditure side, economic progress and technological dynamism have reduced energy expenditure doing physical labor, while also decreasing the need to expend calories to move about (automobiles, remote controls, etc.).

But, simultaneous with this growth, is the growth of greater societal stress. Many of the economic safety nets developed in the 1960′s have started to erode in the past 30 years, leading to a greater feeling of instability and economic unease.

And all this stress leads us to our foe, cortisol. I have written about this hormone many times. Often, I feel like cortisol is the Professor Moriarty to my Holmes. Cortisol is one of those great Darwinian developments. Thousands of years ago, when we were hunting antelope on the open plains, cortisol was a fantastic gift. In the event we were unable to find food, our bodies would release cortisol, which in turn, would trigger our bodies to hold onto fat. This fantastic chain would help prevent starvation during those times when the antelope proved just a little smarter than the hunters.

Over the centuries, we have outsmarted the antelope: first we developed bows, then guns, then Quickie Marts on every corner where we could buy blueberry muffins and Super Large Slushies 24 hours a day. Success! Hunger slowly becomes a thing of the past. Unfortunately, no one bothered to tell cortisol. So in periods of high stress, our bodies STILL release the hormone, taking those muffins and converting them to fat which the body then fights to hold onto. High stress + high fat/sugar foods= obesity epidemic. And epidemic it is, with 7 out of 10 adults in the United States now overweight or obese.

So whacha gonna do? In the midst of creating that super fitness routine and rigorous eating plan that are going to help you shed the pounds, you must also develop that third part of the magic triangle: some form of stress reduction. Some people find that going for a run helps combat their stress. Others find that sitting and meditating is the best form of stress reduction. It may take some experimentation, but finding that means of stress reduction is going to be key to your successful weight loss.

Here’s a great place to start. Check out the Fitness Guru Relaxation podcast. Yes, it may drive you nuts. You will actually have to sit and breathe and relax. But, hey, it’s a starting point. And from that starting point you can start to experiment with what works for you.

Relax and rock on!!

The Fitness Guru

 

www.fitnessgurunyc.com

Four years ago, only one state had an obesity rate over 30%. Now, in a new study just published, twelve states top 30%.

The obesity epidemic continues to be most dramatic in the South, which includes nine of the 10 states with the highest adult obesity rates. States in the Northeast and West tend to have lower rates. Mississippi maintained the highest adult obesity rate for the seventh year in a row, and Colorado has the lowest obesity rate and is the only state with a rate under 20 percent.

Here is the state-by-state ranking:

STATE-BY-STATE ADULT OBESITY RANKINGS
Note: 1 = Highest rate of adult obesity, 51 = lowest rate of adult obesity. Rankings are based on combining three years of data (2007-2009) from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to “stabilize” data for comparison purposes. This methodology, recommended by the CDC, compensates for any potential anomalies or usual changes due to the specific sample in any given year in any given state. States with statistically significant (p<0.05) increases for one year are noted with an asterisk (*), states with statistically significant increases for two years in a row are noted with two asterisks (**), states with statistically significant increases for three years in a row are noted with three asterisks (***). Additional information about methodologies and confidence intervals is available in the report. Individuals with a body mass index (BMI) (a calculation based on weight and height ratios) of 30 or higher are considered obese.
1. Mississippi (34.4%); 2. Alabama (32.3%); 3. West Virginia* (32.2%); 4. Tennessee (31.9%); 5. Louisiana (31.6%); 6. Kentucky** (31.5%); 7. Oklahoma** (31.4%); 8. South Carolina* (30.9%); 9. Arkansas (30.6%); 10. Michigan* (30.5%); 11. Missouri* (30.3%); 12. Texas** (30.1%); 13. Ohio (29.6%); 14. North Carolina (29.4%); 15. Indiana* (29.1%); 16. Kansas** (29.0%); 17. (tie) Georgia (28.7%); and South Dakota (28.7%); 19. Pennsylvania (28.5%); 20. Iowa (28.1%); 21. (tie) Delaware (28.0%); and North Dakota (28.0%); 23. Illinois** (27.7%); 24. Nebraska (27.6%); 25. Wisconsin (27.4%); 26. Maryland (27.1%); 27. Maine** (26.5%); 28. Washington (26.4%); 29. Florida** (26.1%); 30. (tie) Alaska (25.9%); and Virginia (25.9%); 32. Idaho (25.7%); 33. (tie) New Hampshire (25.6%); and New Mexico (25.6%); 35. (tie) Arizona (25.4%); Oregon (25.4%); and Wyoming (25.4%); 38. Minnesota (25.3%); 39. Nevada (25.0%); 40. California (24.8%); 41. New York (24.7%); 42. Rhode Island** (24.3%); 43. New Jersey (24.1%); 44. Montana (23.8%); 45. Vermont** (23.5%); 46. Utah (23.4%); 47. Hawaii (23.1%); 48. Massachusetts** (22.3%); 49. Connecticut (21.8%); 50. District of Columbia (21.7%); 51. Colorado* (19.8%).

To read more about the study, click HERE

There was an article in New York Magazine a couple of years ago title “Does Exercise Really Make Us Thinner?” The article got under my skin– enough so that a couple of years later, I still use it as an example of ineffective, linear thinking. The premise of the article was that, despite what many might think, exercise can’t help us lose weight. It quotes several studies, including ones where people training for marathons wouldn’t have changes in body composition, despite several months of training. Exercise, the article states, increases our apetites, and therefore we consume more calories and don’t lose weight.

Idiots. (article continued below)

The first problem in developing a moronic argument like this is that it is going to be read by any number of heavy, sedentary people who are looking to exercise to help them lose weight and feel healthier. They read this article and throw in the towel because exercise is no longer worth it. The second, and far more intricate problem, is that the thesis examines only half the battle of the bulge.

Yes, exercise does increase the appetite. Increased fuel burn is going to increase the demand for fuel. All that fuel is summed up in that almighty word: calorie.

No matter how you slice it, weight loss can summed up by taking in fewer calories than you’re expending. With that deficit, the body has to burn up fuel stores, and that is primarily held as fat. Flip side: if you consume more calories than you expend, you pack on that extra fuel, again, usually as fat.

Now when we exercise, we burn extra calories. Exercise is necessary in this day and age, not only to keep our hearts, lungs and minds in tip top shape, but because, aside from actively seeking time to be active, we are, for the most part, completely inactive– trapped at the desk, driving from one point to another, crashed out on a sofa at the end of a long day.

Exercise will increase the appetite. But how we serve that appetite is the key point. Where are we finding those extra calories? If you eat 100 calories of broccoli and 100 calories of a Twinkie, your body is going to burn calories to breakdown that food. But your body is going to burn more calories burning 100 calories of broccoli than it will burning 100 calories of Twinkie– or any processed food, for that matter. On top of that, any of the sugar from the Twinkie NOT used immediately by the body will be stored….as fat.

So when you stumble home from the Spin class and feel like you should give yourself a little treat– a cookie, some Ben and Jerry’s, some chocolate– because of how hard you worked, remember the greater goal. That little treat may be a bigger obstacle than you think.

Whole foods are not just the healthy choice because of all the nutritional benefits, but because, in the grander scheme of turning your body into a calorie burning SUPER MACHINE, they are adding even more fire power.

If you have any questions regarding calories and healthy eating, shoot me an email at michael@fitnessgurunyc.com.

Rock on!!!

The other day I was reading an article in the New York Times Magazine titled “Is Sugar Toxic?” Great article, but nothing really outside the box. We’ve all seen those alarmist articles about the dangers of sugar. One thing struck me though: the author comments that in the early ’80′s, companies started to make the switch from sugar to high fructose corn syrup as a sweetener in their products. Hold the phone, I thought! I had just seen a brilliant 40-second video that captured the spread of the obesity epidemic in the US in the past 25 years. The video was as amazing as it was terrifying: using a color key you can actually watch as the entire country gets heavier and heavier. (article continued below)

Most of the people that I see on a daily basis come to me because they want to live a healthier lifestyle. And, for almost all of them, that lifestyle includes some degree of weight loss. When we take a good, hard look at what they are eating, time and time again, they will find that there is sugar in their diets that they weren’t even aware they were consuming. And, as soon as we ween them from these sugary elements, they find the weight comes off. I ran a quick poll on the Fitness Guru Facebook page and found that many people who felt energized and powerful throughout the day were also the ones starting the day with less sugar and more protein and fiber.

I say “ween” because sugar is like a drug, and our use of sugar on a day-to-day basis is akin to an addiction. Don’t think that’s true? Go cold turkey on all sugar and see what happens: you’ll become cranky, tired, irritable and unfocused.

So to lose weight, one of the key elements will be ridding yourself of sugar. So what should you do? Here we go:

1. Keep a food journal: write down what you eat, when you eat it and, as close as possible exactly how much. If you don’t write it down, it doesn’t exist and you will never take responsibility for it. What are you looking for?
2. Find the sugar. It’s kinda like Where’s Waldo? We’re looking for foods that will spike your blood sugar and the fastest, easiest way to do that is with the Glycemic Index. The GI will help gauge just how “sugary” your foods are. 100 is the highest, so, for example, a banana would be a 52, an apple 38 and a grapefruit a 25. Instead of starting the day with a banana, try starting with a grapefruit. Which brings us to…….
3. Unless you are one of those people who is really capable of “all or nothing”, begin a strategy for weening yourself off of sugar. If you have a banana every morning, have half a banana and half a grapefruit. If you eat sugary breakfast cereals, buy a healthier non-sugary cereal and add your own teaspoon. In a few days, make it half a teaspoon and slowly, over time, you will gradually remove the sugar from your system.

The benefits of getting out of the addictive sugar cycle are SO many: more energy, healthier moods, healthier skin, greater focus and, yes, the pounds will start to come off.

There are other elements to healthy weight loss and we will get to those. But this is a brilliant place to start. And start you should. Be gentle with yourself if necessary, but the sooner, the better. Your body and mind will thank you.

To paraphrase: ask not what your diet can do for you, but what you can do for your diet.

Questions? Comments? Shoot me an email at michael@fitnessgurunyc.com

Rock on!!

The snows have ended (finally!) and it’s time to start looking forward to beach season. And with that shift, many of us are starting to pay a little more attention to our mid-sections, working hard to get rid of that Winter Waist and attain that Holy Grail of fitness, the Summer Stomach.

Now, you can do crunches until the cows come home and that’s not necessarily going to get you where you want to go. The first problem is technique: most people bully through crunches the way they were taught in fourth grade gym class. Poor technique will not only frustrate you with a lack of result; it could possibly lead to pain and irritation in your lower back— perhaps next week, we’ll tackle technique.

But this week, I want you to focus on the Five Favorites for a Summer Stomach. Check it out………….

It’s tough to eat healthy when there are so many things out there to tempt us. But if you think it’s tough for us, imagine what it’s like for kids!

In this episode, Elle searches for the healthy breakfast option and Michael kinda helps. They stumble upon a healthy recipe for everybody’s favorite: pancakes!!

Enjoy!!

(see blow for the recipe)

Pancake Recipe: Makes one serving (3-6 pancakes)

• 1/4 cup Oatmeal (feel free to use more oatmeal to make a thicker pancake)

• 6 Egg Whites

• 1 tbsp of ground Flax

• 1/4 teaspoon of Baking Soda

• 1/2 teaspoon of Cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon of Stevia (I use Truvia)

Nutritional Facts

(Per Serving)

• Calories: 259

• Protein: 30g

• Carbohydrates: 26g

• Fat: 4g

Mix all ingredients in a blender.  Drop by spoonful onto a heated skillet that you have lightly greased with olive oil.

By gum! You’re making pancakes!!

Rock on!!

Really?!? As if we don’t have enough to worry about, Denny’s has decided to celebrate all things bacon with a Baconalia menu. Not since Festivus……..

I’m not a tyrant, but really…..A MAPLE BACON SUNDAE!?! We, the People, need that in our lives?

Shame on you, Denny. I don’t expect the best but, really, can it get much worse?

In an attempt to overwhelm the American public with their incredible self-motivation to become healthier, a number of the new Republican congress are stepping up their workouts. Smaller government, yes, but hey! bigger guns. And the means of achieve this overhaul? No, not “Sweating to the Oldies.” That was a the old Republican guard. According to the Wall Street Journal, some members of Congress are jumping on the p90X bandwagon.

In the event you have been living under a rock, or simply don’t watch 2am infomercials, let me educate you. P90X
is a workout regimen designed by Hollywood trainer, Tony Horton. Tony’s winning presentation, along with his own rippling abs (made more special by the fact the guy is 52 years old) make p90X a huge commercial hit.

“I thought it looked like some kind of Jane Fonda video,” says Rep. Aaron Schock (R., Ill.), 29, a former recreational weightlifter, but “it kicked my butt.” Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy, a newly elected Republican, bought the DVDs after Mr. Ryan appraised his colleague’s election-season spare tire. “On the campaign trail, you just turn to flab,” Mr. Duffy says. “It was a helluva workout…I couldn’t move the next day.”

The congressmen gather every morning at 6:30 am in a corner of the Congressional basketball court (just to the side of the Congressional ping pong tables and the Senate-only pool table) and sweat their tails off. Though the group does not discriminate and does occasionally cross the aisles, the core group tends toward the Party of Lincoln.

So my friends, if you feel your elected officials aren’t quite in shape, write a note to your local office and get them to sign up for this group.

Fit and trim government. How exciting!

Rock on!!

I’m always a little disappointed when I hear young actresses talk about diet as they parade around their rail-thin frames for the papparazzi to capture.

That’s why I was so satisfied to see that Robert Pattinson was fighting the good fight as the role model for young men. The Twilight star has admitted that he is a compulsive eater, enjoying Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal and pink cotton candy as well as eating a 40-ounce bag of pretzel M&M’s in one sitting while reading a book of essays by David Foster Wallace (no, he’s not name dropping….).

“I’m, like, a compulsive eater,” Pattinson, 24, says in the April 2011 issue of Vanity Fair. “I’m going to be so fat when I’m older, it’s ridiculous,” laughs the 6’1″ actor.

Fantastic, Rob! Shoot for the stars. Is it that the fat 40′s seem like a distant Never-Land for the Hollywood 24-year old? Should be an interesting learning curve…….

At least he’s not making headlines for his tiger’s blood……