“My weight loss has slowed should I start cycling my carbs?”

“If I eat 6% of my fat in the form of coconut oil is that okay?”

These are some  questions that I have been asked over the  past couple weeks regarding nutrition. But in some cases these people don’t have the right to ask these questions because they don’t know what stage they are at in their nutrition. They are trying to tweak the specifics but haven’t mastered the basics.

What am I talking about? See the picture below.

This graph represents what I call the Stages of Nutrition. Your diet (like many things) consists of a progression and you need to master one step before you move to the next. I’m going to steal my buddy Alwyn Cosgrove’s martial arts metaphor to illustrate my point.

If you want to learn Karate you can’t start out training with Jet Li. You need to know how a certain number of basic moves, master those, and progress from there to more advance tactics.

Your diet is no different. If you can’t master certain basic components then you have now business progressing to more complicated nutritional approaches.

The Stages of Nutrition:

• Nutritional Freestyling: You eat whatever you want whenever you want.
• Proper Food Choices Varying Compliance: You try to eat the right stuff but you just don’t do it consistently.
• Proper Food Choices 90% Compliance: You eat the right stuff and you rarely falter (this is the target stage for most people).
• Calorie/Portion Counting, Proper Food Choices 90% Compliance: You need to fine tune your diet more for a specific purpose (weight loss, health, performance) so you start counting calories or portions and you stay on your plan just about all the time.

If you are currently nutritional freestyling then you can’t jump straight to counting calories. That is just a recipe for failure as if you aren’t currently making consistent proper food choices (in line with the 6 Pillars of Nutrition) then what makes you think that you will be able to consistently eat portioned, weighted, and calculated meals?

Making proper food choices and sticking to your plan requires a discipline and behavioral skill  set that will be mastered as you progress through the Stages of Nutrition. Jumping ahead to a more ‘advanced’ stage will not get you better results faster. Instead it will lead to a pattern of brief results, diet relapse, and frustration.

My Question to You

What stage are you in?

What do you need to do to move to the next stage?

Be honest with yourself – do what is needed to move to the next stage and you will be rewarded with consistent and long term weight loss success.

A couple months ago a gave an entire presentation on the Stages of Nutrition, how to move from one stage to the next, and how to identify the best stage for your goals. The entire presentation is free to watch and download for members of the Faster Fat Loss Zone. If you’re not a member you can join today for only $19.95 and you’ll get the Stages of Nutrition presentation plus access to another 100+ fat loss workouts, articles, and videos.

Have a good one,

Mike

P.S. Thanks to all the Warp Speed Fat Loss and Faster Fat Loss Zone members that join Alwyn, Bill, and Myself on the fat loss teleconference last night – I had a great time.

These are all very common questions that I get from people regarding their diet and nutrition. Fortunately what you ‘count’ – portions, grams, calories – when you are dieting is NOT a guessing game. Instead it is best when your diet specificity is chosen depending on what you are currently doing with your diet and then you progress from there.

Diet progression is the single most overlook aspect of fat loss nutrition.

I cover it in great detail in this video showing you exactly how to progress on your diet.

This concept is central to the Naked Nutrition Approach. In fact it is the Naked Nutrition Approach. A couple months ago I spoke on this topic for the first time and revealed the secrets and keys that will allow you to stop banging your head against the wall when dieting.

I have formatted the video in two different ways for you.

You can click the image below and watch it online (a new window will open)

Or you can download it below. It is in an iPod friendly format so you watch it on your computer or on your iPod/iPhone.

The one problem with the video is that the audio quality is not the best. I am very sorry about this.

Stevia – Okay so this one probably isn’t new to you as stevia is arguably the most popular natural sweetener. Stevia is extremely sweet almost 3x sweeter than sugar. Some people love it, some people hate it. Personally I don’t really like the taste.

Agave Nectar – Agave nectar isn’t calorie free (60cals/tbsp). It comes from the same plant that tequila comes from (cool fact huh?). It can be hard to find.

Erythritol – Erythritol is a sugar alcohol commonly derived from cane juice. I’m not a huge fan of sugar alcohols as they can cause GI destress (i.e. stomach aches and diarrhea) but if used in small amounts (to sweeten coffee, oatmeal, etc) then you should be fine.

Oligofructose – I saved the best for last. Oligofructose is really cool. It is a sweet fiber. I have had trouble finding it in State College but if you find some then definately pick it up. Here is a place where you can get it online (thanks to MH for the good online detective work).

Download Sign 1

Download Sign 2

Also don’t forget to check out our new BMI Calculator and research update regarding low carb diets and brain cancer.

What percentage of your fat loss success hinges on eating breakfast?

Honestly, I don’t know anyone that has gotten lean and didn’t eat breakfast (with the exception of a few wrestlers). So I would say it reduces their risk of success by almost 100%. I remember reading an interview with world famous nutritionist and author Marion Nestle (Food Politics and What to Eat) says that eating breakfast ISN’T that important and that she don’t alway eats breakfast because she’s not hungry in the morning.

While if you really got down to the nitty gritty the physiological consequences of not eating breakfast won’t destroy your body and reduce your chance of success 100% – it won’t help you for sure. But more importantly I think that there is a mindset associated with eating breakfast (even if you don’t like eating in the morning). It is that shift in mindset from “I don’t eat breakfast” to “I’m going to do everything I can to succeed and that includes eating breakfast”. That shift is the key determinant for success.

So DID you eat breakfast today?

I did.

Here’s what I had.

(click the image to enlarge it)

Now my calories (especially carbs) are much lower than normal so don’t put too much stock in only the 1/2 cup of blueberries. Instead look at the make-up of this meal.

Walnuts – A blend of fatty acids including monounsaturated, omega-6, and short chain omega-3s.

Fish Oil - EPA/DHA (long chain omega-3s) for heart health, brain function, joint health, and fat loss

Emerald Balance – A greens supplement (it has a nice hint of cinnamon) to boost the antioxidant, and alkaline status of my diet.

Metabolic Drive – A great tasting blend of milk proteins

Blueberries – Low impact carbs and life extending antioxidants

Not a bad way to start your day huh?

Let’s recap so far.

1. People eat away from their homes more than ever.

2. People are terrible at estimating the caloric value of foods.

How does that make you being overweight not your fault?

….you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out

Many of you may be wondering where I’m going with this. Here we go.

Restaurants and other foods serving places (those are places that call themselves restaurants but their food is so bad they shouldn’t fall into the “restaurant” category) have begun to do something very sneaky. In an effort to boost taste, flavor, and perceived value they have figured out ways to cram inordinate amounts of calories into “normal” looking foods.

This results in our inability of judge caloric value of foods even MORE detrimental to our health especially when you couple this with the fact that people eat out more than ever. Here are some really good examples (courtesy of Men’s Health):

Ruby Tuesday’s Turkey Bella Burger - Turkey burger. Must be healthy right? It even has portabella mushrooms. It also has almost 1200 calories! 1200 calories!!!! Are they serious? when should a burger ever have 1200 calories? Seriously, give me an example, Ruby?

Massive Burritos – There is a whole crop (crop or crap?) of Franchises popping up that serve massive burritos. I recently spoke with a friend of mine who opted for the lower calorie version (no rice or beans). It still ended up being ~800 calories!!!

Here’s another one

Boston Market Rotisserie Chicken (Dark Meat), Sweet Potato Casserole, and Market Chopped Side Salad - Good? Only to the tune of 1400 calories.

While I know that one would not call these items low calorie but I doubt anyone would guess that they are such high calorie. Also, I am not about giving people excuses for carrying around overweight. Poor eating and lack of exercises are the two main reasons and you have control over those things. But you may not have known about the insane caloric inflation that is going on at restaurants across the country.

But now you know.

You have not excuse for the extra fat around your midsection anymore (well you never did but it made a good title).

Have a great weekend (and be skeptical about caloric values when you eat out)

-Mike

I got an email from Tom Venuto last week and I’ve probably read it 5 times. Tom is dead on with these “predictions” I’ve bolded the ones that I think are very important (I could have bolded all of them but tried to pick the real important ones)

On that basis, here are my 20 fitness predictions for 2008:

I PREDICT that if you can reach into your pocket on any day in 2008 and pull out a card or piece of paper with all your body and fitness goals written on it in vivid detail, the odds are 95 to 1 in favor of you achieving every one of those goals before the year is out.

I PREDICT that if you focus your thoughts on your goals and how you are going to achieve them, all day long, you will reach your goals so fast this year, it will make your head spin.

I PREDICT that if you focus your thoughts on health woes and body fat problems and if you think about what you don’t want, all day long, your problems will get worse than ever this year.

I PREDICT that if you made a new year’s resolution, but you didn’t turn it into a specific, written goal with a deadline and a strong reason why you must achieve it, you will freely abandon it the moment the going gets tough.

I PREDICT that if you can tell me all the reasons why achieving your health and fitness goals are important to you, you will be motivated from within to stick with it when the going gets tough

I PREDICT that at times, the going is going to get tough.

I PREDICT that if you can tell me today what is your life purpose and what is your lifelong vision for your body and your health, you will still be as motivated and driven at the end of the year as you were at the beginning.

I PREDICT that if you don’t have long term goals and a “big picture” vision for your life that you will lose your New Year’s enthusiasm and motivation in a matter of months or even weeks.<–I’m not sure if Tom has read Your Naked Nutrition Guide but this is a HUGE focus of the 1st Section of the book

I PREDICT that the way you see yourself in your mind’s eye today will be an exact reflection of what you see in the mirror at the end of the year.

I PREDICT that if you have a setback that seems to get in the way of you reaching your health and fitness goals and you tell yourself “this just is temporary; this too shall pass,”
then it won’t set you back and it will pass.

I PREDICT that if you believe the way your body looks today is out of your control and you feel helpless or powerless to change, you won’t even make much of an effort this year.

I PREDICT that if you accept complete responsibility for the way your body looks today and you believe that you have the power to change, that you will take action and keep taking action, even through the tough times.

I PREDICT that if you’re unhappy with your physical condition and you say,”it’s not my fault” or you blame it on genetics, hormones or age, then your body will look pretty much the same at the end of 2008 as it did on New Year’s day.

I PREDICT that the more you have patience, a long term perspective and the ability to postpone immediate gratification, the more likely you are to be a success one year from now.

I PREDICT that the more you seek “miracle pills” or “quick fixes,”
the more likely you are to be a failure one year from now.

I PREDICT that you will be tempted by many quick fixes in 2008.

I PREDICT that if you hang out with losers and negative people this year, you will become just like them.

I PREDICT that if you hang out with winners and positive people this year, you will become just like them.

I PREDICT that you will run into more negative people and losers this year than positive people and winners.

I PREDICT that if you recruit just one friend or support partner that stands behind you and the lifestyle changes you want to make in 2008, you will double your chances for success. If you surround yourself with numerous support partners, you will become virtually unstoppable.

If you aren’t familiar with Tom Venuto – where have your been! – just kidding. Seriously, if you aren’t familiar with Tom and his work then I highly recommend that you check out his site, or his blog. He is a “I practice what I preach” kind of guy and I read his stuff whenever possible.

Have a good one.

Day in and day out.

Chicken, Spinach, broccoli, almonds, fish….

Day in and day out.

STOP. I am constantly preaching dietary variety – not for just sanity but to ensure adequate amounts of a variety of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.

One thing that many people are guilty of is eating the same kind of nuts everyday. You know what I’m talking about…almonds.

Almonds are a great snack food but don’t limit yourself to them. Let’s look as some other good options:

Pecans – Pecans have a buttery taste and are packed with antioxidants and monounsaturated fats

Pistachios - Pistachios can often be oversalted and this can detract from their flavor. Pistachios are a great choice as they to two contain high levels of monounsaturated fat and have been shown by the lab I work in to reduce the oxidation of LDL cholesterol (oxidized LDL cholesterol is essentially the bad getting badder).

Walnuts – Walnuts are a well rounded nut with significant levels of monounsaturated, omega-6 polyunsaturated, and omega-3 polyunsaturated fats. they have 2.5grams of omega-3s per 1oz serving. EAT ‘EM UP. Walnuts are my nut of choice when making a shake.

This week when you go shopping, if you have been married to almonds add some variety and pick up pecans, pistachios, or walnuts instead.