Less is More When Eating Food

One of the most important keys to losing body fat, building muscle, and feeling energetic throughout the day is controlling your body's metabolism. Metabolism is a highly technical process and requires
a lot of education to understand all of the processes and systems involved. I like Phil Kaplan's definition where he defines metabolism very simply as "the speed at which the body burns through food".

The end result is that the nutrients in the food we eat will be either absorbed and become part of the body, absorbed and be used for energy, or be eliminated through waste.

It's not that difficult to positively influence your body's metabolism. Making a few minor changes can have a great impact. One of the key components is to eat protein with every meal. Other components are to eat foods that have a thermogenic effect on the body. In short, many whole foods make the body work harder to digest them completely. This process uses a lot of energy (calories). By eating certain foods in combination, we can increase the thermogenic effect on the body even further.

Ultimately we want to build and maintain lean muscle. The more muscle, the more calories you'll burn at rest. If you can get your body to efficiently use most of the protein you eat every day, you'll have a better chance of "packing-on" more muscle over time. It's also important to eat protein from quality sources.

The human body's "survival mode mechanism" (what it does to avoid dying in the event there's a long period of time without food) is to hold onto some body fat and keep it as a safety reserve at all times. If you begin to eat to "support" metabolism, you will then begin to successfully influence the efficiency of your metabolism. In so doing your body will start getting conditioned to hold onto less body fat which in essence is "stored energy". If you feed your body correctly, over time it will adapt
to the frequency of meals coming in (nutrition) and literally release stored fat. It's as if it realizes that it doesn't need the stored fat any more.

Depending on how you eat, your body will either speed up its metabolism or slow it down to conserve the energy it has left . If your body isn't supplied with a steady stream of nutrients that it can easily convert into energy, it will start slowing itself down. As such, your body will give you less energy to work with. But what happens is that the body borrows from one area to give to another. For example, if you perform too much aerobic exercise, there's a high probability that the body will break down lean muscle to use for energy.

Why would the body break down it's own vital lean mass?

If the body "perceives" that there is less nutrition coming in, or a high demand of energy going out as in "over aerobicising", the body can begin to cannibalize it's own lean mass so that it has less mass to maintain. This makes perfect sense when you understand that muscle is "metabolically active tissue". It is literally the physical place where fat is burned. So if there is less muscle to maintain, there are fewer calories needed.

Eating smaller, more frequent meals is a great way to control your metabolism. The idea of smaller, more frequent meals is a sound nutritional strategy that can help you build muscle, lose body fat, and keep your energy levels high. Consuming five or six smaller meals spread evenly throughout the day (that totals 2,000 calories, let's say), is much more efficient than eating only two meals equaling the same amount.

I often use the analogy of a campfire to help people understand how the body uses energy. If you've ever been camping, you've probably had a camp fire to cook with or keep warm. If not, picture a ring of rocks with a fire made of wood from the forest in the middle of the rocks. We've got small twigs called "kindling" which literally means "to start a fire", slightly larger pieces called "tinder", and finally logs called "fuel".

To start a fire we start with kindling. Kindling is small twigs, crumpled dry leaves, dry grass, or anything that will ignite easily. This is analagous to starting our day with breakfast. It really doesn't matter what meal you are eating, it is always best to eat small amounts. A fire that burns for a time develops a hot bed of coals. Think of this coal bed as muscle. If you have enough coals the fire can handle a large log and burn it up. So if you have a fair amount of muscle and energy expending activity, your body can handle a large meal by using the energy from the meal efficiently.

The camp fire needs a large bed of coals and a little air to handle the "fuel". Our general problem is that we have too little muscle and eat too many big meals that our metabolisms can't handle. If a camp fire isn't hot enough to burn a big log thrown on it, the fire will dwindle and the log will remain partially burned. A similar thing happens with food.

The worst part is the body will digest most of the food and store more of it as fat than we want it to. This is simply because the body didn't need the food as energy because the body's energy stores are full and the body's energy demands are low.

Back to the camp fire for a minute. By feeding the camp fire with smaller pieces of wood (tinder) on a hot (and growing) bed of coals, the fire consumes the wood effortlessly. The energy in the wood
combined with oxygen ignite the fire's intensity. Our bodies can work this way too. By eating smaller meals, we don't tax our systems and our bodies literally begin to "burn through food" like Phil Kaplan says. This is how we eat to "support metabolism".

The Proof

A study conducted at St. Michael's Hospital in Ontario, Canada, observed two groups of individuals. One was subjected to a common three-meals-a-day diet while another was asked to consume over a dozen small ones throughout the day. At the end of the study, the "nibblers" showed considerably lower levels of low-density-lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (the bad kind of cholesterol that sticks to the arteries).

Another study conducted at the University of Limburg in the Netherlands revealed that individuals who consume mini-meals had more stable carbohydrate and fat oxidization levels, while "gorgers" didn't, making them more prone to weight gain.

A study from Johannesburg, South Africa, demonstrated that frequent meals reduced appetite by 27%. Scandinavian researchers reported the competitive boxers who tried to lose weight by reducing their calorie intake. But it was mostly lean body mass loss in those who had their ration in two square meals compared with those who had 6 meals a day.

The Benefits

As stated above, eating smaller meals more frequently stabilizes nutrient oxidization levels, making the body more efficient at burning food, so anybody who wants to lose weight should adopt this eating principle. Eating smaller meals is also believed to lower blood cholesterol.

Furthermore, "nibbling or grazing" throughout the day prevents long stretches of starvation. Going from noon to 6:00pm without eating usually ends with one overeating at supper. This is a very bad eating habit seeing as our metabolism can only handle a certain amount of calories, carbs, fat, and protein in one sitting.

When you eat less carbohydrates at one time, you have more glucose and insulin control. Since diabetes is the fastest growing disease in the U.S., as well as the rest of the world, small meals make more sense for carbohydrate control.

It certainly seems wise to eat more small meals if you want to lose weight and improve your health.

Yours in health and fitness,
Larry Wasserman

Fit Tips-Organic Foods Health Benefits

There's been a lot of debate in the media lately regarding organic foods. Specifically, are they worth it? And are they really that much healthier for you? It's a personal choice we each have to make. It's important to do your own research and find good sources of foods. Personally, I favor organic foods, if they are labeled "certified organic". Be careful of manufacturer's misuse of the words organic, whole, and natural.

My best to you in health and fitness,

Larry Wasserman

Fit Tips
Organic Foods- Health Benefits
Submitted by AOA Dryland Director Sarah Applegarth

WHICH FOODS ARE WORTH BUYING ORGANIC?

Strawberries, the most heavily contaminated crop, often have high levels of methyl bromide and hormone- affecting pesticides. Leafy greens, such as spinach and lettuces, along with grapes, rice, almonds and sunflower seed, tomatoes sweet peppers and imported fruits also routinely contain high levels of organophosphates and other toxins.

Even after washing, many fruits and vegetables consistently carry much higher levels of pesticide residue than others. Based on an analysis of more than 100,000 U.S government pesticide test results, researchers at the Environmental Working Group have developed the "dirty dozen fruits and vegetables". They recommend consumers should always buy these organic to avoid heavy doses of pesticides:

Apples
Bell Peppers
Celery
Imported grapes
Nectarines
Peaches
Pears
Potatoes
Red Raspberries
Spinach
Strawberries

Reference: Fitness Trainer Canada October 2006

Sarah Applegarth MSc, PFLC, CSCS AOA
Fitness Director, Active Life Conditioning Inc.

Fit Tips DOMS- Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness

Dealing With Muscle Pain After Exercise

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) after exercise is not uncommon, particularly if you are just beginning exercise program or changing activities. For those starting a new exercise routine or learning a new sport, some muscle soreness may be felt from 12-48 hours following the activity. You may also experience muscle stiffness, fatigue and weakness.

Rest assured, this is a normal response to unusual exertion as the muscles adapt to the new stress. Over time this adaptation leads to greater muscle strength and endurance and the same activity will no longer result in soreness. Delayed onset muscle soreness is generally the worst within the first 2 days following the activity and subsides over the next few days.

Causes of DOMS

It is thought that delayed onset muscle soreness is the result of microscopic tearing of the muscle fibers. The amount of tearing (and soreness) depends on the activity, the intensity and the time ofthe activity.

Any movement you aren't used to can lead to DOMS, but eccentric muscle contraction (movements that cause muscle to contract while it lengthens) seem to cause the most soreness. Examples of eccentric muscle contractions include going down stairs, running downhill, lowering weights and the downward motion of squats and push-ups. In addition to small muscle tears there can be associated swelling in a muscle which may contribute to soreness.

Preventing DOMS

While DOMS is common and annoying, it is not a necessary part of getting into shape.
There are many things you can do to prevent, avoid and shorten DOMS.

Here are a few tips:
* Warm up thoroughly before activity and cool down completely afterward.
* Perform easy stretching after exercise.
* When beginning a new activity gradually build up your time and intensity.
* Avoid making sudden major changes in the type of exercise you do.
* Avoid making sudden major changes in the amount of time that you exercise.

Too Late! You Are Already Sore.

Here are some tips for treating delayed soreness:

* Wait. Soreness will go away in 3 to 7 days with no special treatment.
* Avoid any vigorous activity that increases pain.
* Do some easy low-impact aerobic exercise - this will increase blood flow to the affected muscles, which may help diminish soreness.
* Use the RICE method of treating injuries. (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation)
* Use gentle stretching of the affected area.
* Gently massage the affected muscles.
* Try using a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication (aspirin or ibuprofen)
to reduce the soreness temporarily, though they won't actually speed healing.
* There is some evidence that vitamin C may decrease soreness.
* Allow the soreness to subside thoroughly before performing any vigorous exercise.
* Don't forget to warm up completely before your next exercise session.

Some pain can be a sign of a serious injury. If your muscle soreness does not get better within a week consult your physician.

Yours in health and fitness,
Larry Wasserman