10 health & Fitness Q&A

1. Are protein shakes good to consume post work-out?

I personally don't take any protein shakes any more! Why? Because I have a very strong view that dairy milk isn't good for grown humans. Only about 2% of the population can digest milk. I have seen some dieticians on T.V shows recommending to keep ingesting milk so our body becomes resistant to it! 

I mean how crazy is that? Why would you force the body to ingest another specie fluid? and not to mention the suffering that the animal goes through so we all have access to its babies fluid!

You might be thinking why is this crazy woman talking about milk on a whey protein subject? well I'll explain you briefly: When milk is being processed its divided into 2 different processes: one to produce milk, one to produce cheese. Once cheese is produced, they are left with this liquid that (before whey protein was popular) they used to just get rid off.

 But one day, they decided to analyse this liquid and realised it was full of protein. They then processed this liquid further and what was left? Whey and casein protein! So they thought to themselves: - How can we sell this instead of wasting it? - A smart person said: "Well, athletes need plenty of protein in their diet, so why don't we process this further add some flavouring and shit, make all athletes drink it and promote it so everyone that wants to look like those athletes basically has to drink it?" - Perfect! boom! millionaires! Now whey proteins companies are a boom in every economic market!

I used to drink it before but I was never so bloated! Also my skin looked terrible. I was at that obsessive stage where I was reducing calories to lose more weight because I wasn't seeing any changes in the scale (I know that scale isn't important but I wasn't seeing a change on how I looked in front of the mirror either). 

I informed myself, stopped drinking it and guess what happened? Started to see changes immediately. This doesn't happen to everyone I know that. I simply can't digest it properly and that was the main reason. But I personally wouldn't recommend to drink this processed powder that claims many "health benefits". It is also proved that in some cases taking it every day for certain amount of time it can cause kidney failures between other things. 

Unless you are competing to be a body builder or training to go to the olympics you certainly DON'T need this processed powder. If you just want to look lean and you train about 1 hour a day or every second day, you DO NOT need this powder! High protein meals will do the job perfectly and you will stay in better health! 

If you are vegetarian or vegan and want or need extra little bit of protein I advise you to go for a natural plant based protein like the Sun warrior one or the Nua natural ones which are made of hemp, rice, pea protein, etc...

If you want to read a very good article about proteins click here: http://nutritionstudies.org/no-whey-man-ill-pass-on-protein-powder/

2. How to start when you have more than 3 stone to lose?

I have lost nearly 5 stones since I started my journey. I really do know how hard it is. I know the mental challenge that we have to go through to lose weight! 

I want to start to start mentioning how hungry I genuinely used to be when gaining weigh/while over weight. I used to wake-up at 3 am and felt a pain in my stomach of hunger. I don't think that everyone understands that feeling of not begin able to stop eating ever! because you are genuinely never full! I think is worth mentioning this in case you are going through the same I did. Understanding the following, is a great start to any weight loss journey!

Since I studied nutrition I think I understood this problem I had. I learned that there is 2 hormones that are called "the hungry hormones": leptin & ghrelin

Leptin is in charge of decreasing your appetite (appetite suppressor). Levels are low when you are thin, high when you are overweight! I learned that some people (generally overweight) have built up a resistance to the appetite-suppresing effects of leptin (affecting many over weight people out there by feeling hungry constantly)

 And not to mention when emotions come in this get worse.

In the other hand we have the other hunger hormone: 'ghrelin' which research suggest that this hormone play a big role in determining how quickly hunger comes back after we eat. Normally gherlin levels go up dramatically before you eat; (this is when you feel hungry). They go down for about three hours after a meal.

Now, you can balance the effects of this hormones by disciplining yourself! following this advice:

1. Eat 6 times a day

2. Those meals have to be carefully planned according to your lifestyle, for example if you work Mon-Fri prepare on Sunday little bags with almonds and fruit for your snacks

3. Eating so often will ease your head. Knowing that a meal or snack is around the corner will make it easy for you to control your appetite

4. It is important not to feel restrictive so make sure you have 1 cheat meal a week  ( a pizza, a burger, take away, etc) and a small one (a little bit of ice-cream, small chocolate, some crisps, some popcorn etc) If you feel like it. This meal has to be schedule and is not a license to pig out. It is here where you have to practice portion, moderation and balance!

5. Alcohol needs to be moderate it. Empty calories will only be sabotaging your progress!

6. Drink plenty of water! Beign hydrated not only helps to flush toxins and keep you feeling full it also helps to don't get the hungry hormones confused with thirst!

EXERCISE WISE:

To the contrary of what a personal trainer would tell you I personally think you don't have to kill yourself in the gym. I mean It obviously does helps. But what those personal trainer don't understand is the mental state that we are on when wanting to lose weight. 

I founded myself feeling restrictive and at the same time, exercising was so hard mentally, so I started by walking in the treadmill to get some type of condition into me. So exercise wise my advice is do it slowly. Build some condition before you get into a fitness plan. So start by walking, maybe jogging and then, find an activity that you like like: Zumba, a DVD, dancing classes and aim to do it at least 3 times a week. 

3. How to deal with muscle soreness after working out

When muscles are required to muscle harder than they're used to, or in a different way, it is believed to cause microscopic damage to the muscle fibres, resulting in muscle soreness.

There is no one simple way to treat the pain, Nothing is proven to be 100% effective but things that generally work are:

- Ice-packs

- Massage

- Foam rolling

- Tender-point acupressure

- Anti-inflammatory drugs such as: aspirin or ibuprofen (which I'm not a fan of)

- Light walk or  a swim 

- Rest

Remember that before exercising warming up your muscles will reduce your chance of injury and improve your performance

4. How do you know when you have lost enough weight and when to stop?

In my personal experience when I was 80kg plus I use to think that I was going to be happy at 70kg. When I got there I was like no maybe at 65, same at 60 and now I have been very happy at 57kilograms. One good way to guide you is the BMI chart. And as this chart is not 100% accurate as it doesn't measure muscle mass is a good way to more or less guide you to be in a healthy weight:

5. Are vitamin C supplements full of sugar?

If your vitamin C contains ingredients such as: corn syrup, sugar, grape juice concentrate, modified corn starch, purple, berry colour, glucose syrup, sucrose, etc. More likely yes it does contains quiet a lot of sugar. 

The ones that have the most sugar are liquid or gummy forms—and the gummies actually stick to your teeth, which can cause cavities.

Tablet forms of vitamins and supplements generally have the least sugar

Don't go for one that has 100 different ingredients. Choose a vitamin without food colouring in it. Most of them will have some sugar in it but make sure this ingredient is at the bottom of the list not in the first ingredients. Last thing you want is to chose one that the first thing listed is sugars or syrups as it would be the main ingredient. 

Also if you see corn syrup, sucralose or aspartame on the list put it down.

6. What nutrients should go into every meal in order to be healthy?

Some people has trouble of how to put a meal together as you read here and there not to eat too much protein or not to have 2 different types of carbohydrates etc. But don't complicate yourself too much.

We have 3 main Macro nutrients (protein, carbohydrates and fats) and the we also have micronutrients that are mainly (vitamins and minerals) found mainly in vegetables, fruits, seeds, etc

So Make sure you have a generous portion of each in a full day. So in a full day you should have included each macro nutrient  in most of your meals and plenty micronutrients. 

Basically choose one of each section in the following table. And your snacks base them on fruits, nuts, seeds, homemade bites etc. 

7. Is it enough to work-out for only 30 minutes in order to burn fat?

Absolutely! The fat-burning process in ongoing throughout the entire day, even when sleeping. However, there are points during exercise when you will burn more fat.

If you exercise 30 minutes efficiently you will burn fat through the whole day. The fitter you are, the more efficient your body becomes at getting you back to a resting metabolism.

Strenght workouts only burn 180-300 calories in an hour. However, strength training exercises also gradually increase the size of your muscles. Each pound of muscle tissue on your body burns through about 35-38 calories every day, and this burning process is not limited to the hours following your exercise session. As the size of your muscles increases, your body burns through even more of your calories reserves every day to meet your ongoing energy needs.

So yes as long as you do a good workout you can be fit, burn enough fay in a 30 minute workout. Remember to at least do it 3 times a week in order to see results.

8. Does muscle weights more than fat?

Muscle does not weight more than fat, any more than lead weights more than feathers. A pound is a pound. A kilo is a kilo. Where misunderstanding often comes in is that muscle is much more dense than fat, so that, by volume, it seems to weight more. that is, a pound os muscle occupies less space than a pound of fat.

9. Are protein bars ok to lose weight?

The truth: it depends! There are healthy protein bars, and then there are some that might as well be a snickers chocolate bar, considering how much sugar and fat they contain! 

Just because there bars are the size of a candy bar, it doesn't mean you should think of them as a snack. A lot of them have as much as 400 calories! If you are eating one as a snack, you should stick to the ones that are around 200-250 calories. At the end of the day, I don't care how "nutrient-packed" your favourite protein bar might be; If you eat too much of it, you're going to gain weight

Many bars sold today contain an insane amount of sugar. Bars that look healthy often have 30 or more grams of sugar which is more than the amount in a candy bar. While you look at the grams of sugar, also review the ingredients. There are some bars that have only 4 to 5 ingredients like almonds, dates, peanut butter, etc.- those are great! On the other hand, there are bars that has more than 56 ingredients. It doesn't matter what health benefits the bar may claim to have. You have to treat a protein bar as you would any other food, and if you see too many unfamiliar words on the ingredients list, just put it back on the shelf!

Also, many bars might not contain sugar as such but they are packed with artificial sweeteners that might be ok calorie wise but they are terrible for your health.

10.  Is it better to do weights first then cardio or the other way around?

 For most women, the right answer is at the weight racks.

See, when it comes to slimming down and shaping up, strength training and cardio work best in that order. Here's why: When you start your workout with weights, by the time you get to the treadmill or bike your anaerobic energy systems will resort to burning fat to keep your aerobic system going strong. That means more calories burned, not just in the gym, but after your cool-down, too. 

This is what is best in science but at the end of the day I always advice anyone to do what is best for them. I know great woman with great physic that does it all the way around and works for them. So do what works best for you but do it!