5 Step Fat Loss Experiment

I really like common sense approaches to things. One thing that always makes sense to me is to use a scientific approach to discovery and problem solving. Rather than letting spontaneous decisions or random occurrences account for the results we achieve it is much more efficient and effective to plan out and have some control over our health. Here are 5 ways you can set up your day-to-day living as a mini experiment to achieve the best health.

Step 1 - Know what the end product is. We have to be really specific here. We can't just say 'lose a few pounds' or 'tone up'. We need to have an exact number in mind and be specific with describing it. For example you might say 'I want to lose 9 pounds by April 1 but lose no muscle mass'. This is very specific, it has a time component and puts restrictions of the type of weight loss

allowed.

Step 2 - Look at what you are currently doing and see if you are the fittest, leanest, healthiest person you know. If you answered yes, find healthier, leaner friends. Only somewhat joking about the last part. But seriously, if you aren't 100% happy with the way you look, feel and perform than you need to identify what it is you are currently doing related to your nutritional plan, your exercise and your rest. And you'll need to change at least one of these three.

Step 3 - Identify the weak link with respect to your nutrition, your training and your rest. If it is your rest aim to get 8-9 hours of sleep a night, be in bed by 10 pm. Go to bed and rise at the same time every day. Likewise if your weak link is your training or nutritional approach then you need to put together a new plan related to these. This I can help you with.

Step 4 - Implement the change for 2 weeks and record the results. In terms of results I mean your tape measures (waist, hips, chest, arms, legs), your photos, your scale weight, your strength, your quality of rest etc. Draw up a list with as many different parameters as possible and track these. After two weeks make note of your observations.

Step 5 - Be very thorough with your observations. I really have to thank HG, my grad school advisor in Regina, for drilling this into me. Log, record, write down everything. You don't know right now what information is useful so record everything. As well, only make one change at a time so it becomes easier to see which change you made gave the best response. For example, if you lose 3 pounds you want to be able to see if that was during the 2 weeks you reduced your carb intake later in the day or when you upped your intake of protein. Don't guess. Let the results guide you.

While my grad school advisor might be proud of me for remembering some of what he drilled into me, my high-school teacher might fail me for my recollection of the scientific method. This approach is meant to be a quick, no-frills approach to allow you to see how your body responds to the various changes you put upon it. In the research a paper may get dismissed if the experiment didn't run for at least 8 weeks to allow for a physiological adaptation. Don't worry about this. You will learn a lot about your health and how to improve it by following these 5 steps.

Learning How to Eat

Nancy Clark, the director of nutrition services at Sports Medicine Associates, offers real-world advice on eating and nutrition.

If diets worked, then everyone who has ever gone on a diet would be thin. That’s not what happens. Most dieters are heavy. Hence, the way to lose weight for the long haul is to learn how to eat healthfully and appropriately. In chapter 1 I talked about using the Food Guide Pyramid to guide healthful food choices. In this chapter I’ll build on that information to help you choose the right portions at the right times so that you can lose weight without feeling denied or deprived. I’ll teach you nutrition skill power, which is more powerful than the willpower you might yearn for. Such was the case with Roberta, a 42-year-old computer programmer, mother of two teenagers, and fitness runner.

“If only I had more willpower, I could lose weight,” Roberta complained. “I’ve been trying to lose these same 8 to 10 pounds for 12, yes 12! years. I’m the diet queen!” Feeling completely helpless, Roberta came to me as a last resort to help her achieve her weight goals.

When reviewing her dieting history, I noticed that Roberta would diet by trying to exist on fruit for breakfast, salads for lunch, yogurt for a snack, and fish with vegetables for dinner. Her intake was spartan, to say the least, and it included a limited variety of food. I asked, “When you are not dieting, what do you eat?” She quickly listed her favorite foods (what she fed her children): cereal for breakfast, peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch, spaghetti for dinner. Every time she went on her diet to lose weight, she denied herself these favorite foods. She went to extremes to keep cereal and peanut butter out of her sight so that she wouldn’t eat them. She deemed them too much temptation for her weak willpower, so she had her kids hide them from her.

I encouraged Roberta to stop looking at food as being fattening and instead enjoy satisfying meals. Eating good food, after all, is one of life’s pleasures. Given that she had liked cereal, breads, and pasta since childhood, she was naive to think she could stop liking them. Instead of trying to keep these foods out of her life, I encouraged her to eat them more often. I pointed out that her standard diet foods (fruit, salad, and fish) had no power over her because she gave herself permission to eat them whenever she wanted. I encouraged her to eat cereal every day for breakfast (and even lunch, dinner, and snacks) to take the power away from that food, and I simultaneously taught her how to manage eating cereal in an appropriate portion.

If you, too, struggle with weight issues, you need to learn how to manage your favorite foods, not how to deny yourself of them. By enjoying appropriate portions of whatever you’d like to eat, as often as you’d like, you no longer need willpower to avoid them. Nutrition skill power, not willpower, enhances permanent weight loss without denial and deprivation.

One skill that enhances your ability to eat appropriate food portions is to eat mindfully (not mindlessly). That is, chew the food s-l-o-w-l-y, taste it, and savor each mouthful. By doing so, you’ll need far less quantity to be satisfied, and you’ll be content to eat a smaller portion. By mindfully eating your favorite foods, you will also diffuse the urge to do last-chance eating. (You know, “Last chance to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before I go back on my diet. I’d better have another one!”) You can enjoy more peanut butter (or whatever) when your body becomes hungry again. Nutrition skill power wins in the end.

A second skill that enhances weight loss is to choose more fruits, vegetables, unrefined grains, and fiber-rich foods that have low glycemic response, that is, that have the smallest effect on blood glucose (see chapter 7). Carbs with a low glycemic index (GI) promote weight loss by promoting satiety and delaying a return of hunger, which contributes to eating less in subsequent meals. High-glycemic carbs (that is, sugary sweets) produce the opposite effect. They trigger the release of more insulin, which can induce hunger and favor storage of fat.

Calorie for calorie, low-glycemic fruits, veggies, and whole grains are more satiating than are high-glycemic sodas, lollipops, and gummy bears. You still need to limit calories, but you can feel fuller on calories from low-glycemic foods. By regularly choosing low-GI carbs, you’ll not only lose weight more easily but also maintain that weight loss more easily. Furthermore, the diet is rich in the foods that can reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease, and hypertension and are consistent with the U.S. dietary guidelines for healthy eating.

Maximal Your Arm Practice

Standing Barbell Curl

You hold the bar with a shoulder-width underhand grip, spaces your feet shoulder-width apart as well, and slightly bends your knees.

Here’s the direction of this exercise:

• The first seven are only the top half of the curl (from half extension to full contraction)
• The second seven are complete curls (from full extension to full contraction)
• The third seven are only the bottom half of the curl (from full extension to half contraction).

Do controlled and nonstop reps. Finish off your set with 4-5 set – 12-15 reps.


One Arm Cable Curl


Here’s the direction of this exercise:

• You grasp a cable handle attached to a low pulley with an underhand grip,
• Then simply curl it straight up - rather than cross-body - until you achieve a peak contraction.
• Moves slowly on the way down, taking advantage of the continuous tension that cables allow.

Do controlled and nonstop reps. Finish off your set with 4-5 set – 12-15 reps.


Triceps Pressdowns


Here’s the direction of this exercise:

• You start with the bar at nipple level, lean into the cable slightly to accentuate the fact that it’s a power movement.
• Then press your arms down until they almost lock out at the bottom.
• You keep continuous tension on the triceps at all times and bring the bar only as high as the starting position.
• If you let the bar come up too high at the top, you release the pressure and let your triceps off the hook.

Do controlled and nonstop reps. Finish off your set with 4-5 set – 12-15 reps.



Cambered Bar Extensions


This pushing-for-power beauty is the second tool used to wedge added mass onto all three heads of each triceps complex.

You can do them seated or lying on a bench with your head down and chin pointing up. It’s harder to do this exercise seated because the angle of resistance places more stress on the muscle

Here’s the direction of this exercise:

• Use a close overhand grip on the bar and press it to lockout at the top.
• Then bending your arms at the elbows.
• Lower the bar in a semicircular arc to a point just behind your head until your forearms are parallel to the ceiling.

Do controlled and nonstop reps. Finish off your set with 4-5 set – 12-15 reps.


One Arm Dumbbell Extensions


Having difficulty adding thickness to the lower part of the triceps? This unilateral blaster is the key to overcoming strength imbalances and bringing every component part of the tris up to speed for the heavy pec-and-delt pushing movements that will make or break your physique.

Here’s the direction of this exercise:

• Bring your right arm overhead to arm’s length.
• Lower the dumbbell behind your head until it touches your neck.
• Keep your upper arm close to your head and still throughout the movement.
• Hold for the contraction, and then raise the dumbbell back up to the top.

Do controlled and nonstop reps. Finish off your set with 4-5 set – 12-15 reps.


Seated Dumbbell Extensions


Here’s the direction of this exercise:

• Let the weights go too low, take the pressure off the triceps.
• End up merely shifting your shoulders backward.

Do controlled and nonstop reps. Finish off your set with 4-5 set – 12-15 reps.

4 Healthy Eating Strategies

Healthy eating strategy # 1: Cut back on booze

If drinking is a big part of your social life, your waistline may suffer. Not only is alcohol loaded with carbs and empty calories, but people tend to make bad food choices when they're buzzed. A couple sugary cocktails can easily add up to a thousand calories (half of the average person's daily need), so avoiding alcohol altogether. If you are going to indulge, opt for a glass of wine or slim down your drink with smart swaps like trading tonic for club soda.


Healthy eating strategy # 2: Just say "no" to fried food

Frying something perfectly healthy, such as chicken, takes away nutrients, while adding fat and calories. Plus, by eating fried foods at restaurants that still use trans fats, you run the risk of raising artery-clogging bad cholesterol and lowering fat-clearing good cholesterol.


Healthy eating strategy # 3: Avoid carbs at night

There's no need to deprive yourself of carbs, but you should be conscious of when you eat them. By consuming high-carb foods (potatoes, rice, pastas and breads) early in the day, you have more time to burn them off. At night, carbs are more likely to go unused and be stored as fat. Smart eating rule of thumb: Stick to lean protein and veggies after 6pm.


Healthy eating strategy # 4: Choose unprocessed foods

We all know that fresh unprocessed foods are better for us, but often reach for processed products out of convenience. While it's challenging to cut out processed foods entirely, there are certain ingredients you steer clear of, including high-fructose corn syrup, MSG, white flour and processed sugar. Your best bet is to shop around the perimeter of the grocery store, where you'll find fresh meats and produce.