Rapid Weight Loss Diet Questions About Carbohydrates

I received a couple questions in response to my rapid weight loss post specifically related to the diet and carbohydrate section. Here they are with my answers. Make sure to read this post first and the QnA will make more sense:

Rapid Weight Loss – A Complete Guide

Q: What do you mean by removing starches except during and after my workout?

A: Basically what I mean by this is that you should abstain from eating starchy carbohydrates during the day except for as part of your workout nutrition. You then only use fruits and vegetables (mainly vegetables) as your carbohydrate source for the rest of the day.

Q: What do you mean by having starchy carbohydrates during your workout’?

A: Initially we thought that having a sugary carbohydrate drink after exercise was the best way to improve recovery from your workouts. Then more research came out showing the benefits of adding protein to your workout shake, as when you add protein or amino acids to your shake you get improvements in preventing muscle loss and increases in protein synthesis. More recently studies have shown even more benefit to starting your ‘workout nutrition’ before your workout, continuing it during, and then finishing your shake when your workout completes.

So it is no longer just about post workout nutrition.

Starting to drink your workout shake 20-30 minutes prior to your workout sets the stage hormonally so that you can maximize performance and recovery. Most people sip on water during their workouts so I usually recommend that instead of water they sip on their workout shake.

The ‘during’ workout nutrition becomes increasing important the longer your workouts are; but if you are doing 20-30 or even 40 minute workouts having half your shake before and the second half after your training session works as well. Many people don’t like to drink during their training sessions as it can make them nauseous so the pre-post approach works well here. This is really fine tuning nutrition but it doesn’t take much effort so why not do it right?

Q: Are starches faster acting carbohydrates? If so, how?

Yes, by ‘fast acting’ I was referring to their glycemic response. Starchy carbohydrates, as a general rule, are higher glycemic and thus get into your blood stream faster. Controlling insulin levels is a key component of a rapid fat loss diet (or any weight loss diet for that matter) and the slower we can release carbohydrates into your system the better we can control insulin levels. We can control the rate in which carbohydrates enter our blood stream via 4 main ways – add protein, add fiber, add fat, and/or change the type of carbohydrates. So during the day it is important to have higher fiber carbohydrates with a piece of protein and some fats to slow digestion and the release of sugars into your blood stream which during the surrounding your workout and during the 3 hours following it is better to opt for faster digesting, starchy, carbohydrate to help replenish and refuel your system.

For your complete guide to rapid weight loss check out the new Warp Speed Fat Loss 2.0 program.

Rapid Weight Loss – Your Complete Guide

There are many questions and misconceptions about rapid weight loss that I wanted to clear up in this article such as safety, limits, and ways to go about it. When people commonly talk about rapid weight loss they may be talking about just losing a lot of weight in a short period of time via the use of diuretics. For the most part this is a waste of time and moving forward we’ll just be talking about rapid weight loss programs that target fat loss and not diuretic based programs that will only cause you to temporarily lose a large amount of water weight. It is during these types of programs where you run the risk of dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, and other complications to your health. Plus you gain all the weight you lost back in a couple days.

Let’s get started with the real stuff.

How Fast Can I Safely Lose The Weight?

There are plenty of myths surrounding how fast someone can lose weight. I was recently checking out an online food/exercise tracking program for some of my clients and the program would not allow you to set a weight loss goal that was greater than 1.7lbs/week.

A couple weeks ago I was talking with a weight loss researcher about an upcoming weight loss study and she mentioned that they had set the limit on weight loss for the participants to be 2lbs/week – set a limit? Why? Upon further questioning this scientist did not have any good reason for the 2lbs per week limit. In fact the ‘rule’ that you can only safely lose up to 2lbs per week seems to be completely made up! See the video below for more:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RHEnz0KnLw[/youtube]

As I mention in the video the key is the correct use of a fat loss diet and exercise program. Don’t set limits on yourself and you will be able to safely lose more than 2lbs per week.

Now let’s move into your rapid weight loss diet plan.

Rapid Weight Loss Diet

In order to rapidly lose a lot of fat you need a tightly controlled diet. The key principles of this diet are similar to that of any effective weight loss diet; they will just need to be tweaked a little bit so that your fat loss can be accelerated.

What you will find is that you don’t need any magical meal replacement shakes or weight loss pills to accelerate your weight loss. These changes that you will make with you diet will have the biggest impact on how rapidly you lose the weight.

Watch this video to learn about the foundational principles of your rapid weight loss diet and then we will look further into adjusting it for maximum weight loss.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mkAQGr8sAE[/youtube]

So to quickly recap the information from the video, the 6 Pillars of Nutrition are as follows:

1. Eat five to six times a day.
2. Limit your consumption of sugars and processed foods.
3. Eat fruits and vegetables throughout the day.
4. Drink more water and cut out calorie-containing beverages (beer, soda, etc.).
5. Focus on consuming lean proteins throughout the day.
6. Save starch containing foods until after a workout or for breakfast.

How do we tweak these steps for faster weight loss? In order to lose weight fast you need to reduce the amount of carbohydrates and the amount of calories that you eat. For many people the simplest way to do this is to remove starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, and grains, and replace them with vegetables. See the video below for more about reducing your carbohydrate intake for faster fat loss and not your fat intake.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2BUD4swXtM[/youtube]

For rapid weight loss diets I recommend that you remove all starches from your diet completely, with the exception of during and after your workout, and only eat vegetables (mainly green) and fruits (apples, berries, etc). The reason you still have faster acting carbohydrates during/after you workout is that these kinds of carbohydrates at this specific time will help you better recover from your workouts (so you can train harder again) and research shows that it does not hinder your fat loss.

So you know what foods you need to eat now right? Green vegetables, apples, berries, a variety of protein sources (chicken, beef, tuna, etc) and fats at every meal. Remember, don’t skimp out on the fats. When you cut your carbohydrate intake your body will turn to start using fat as its primary fuel source. You body will use stored body fat but you also need to provide it with fats from your diet.

One mistake that people commonly make with this kind of diet is eating too much protein and not enough fat. You acutally don’t need to be eating more protein than you would on a normal weight loss diet (about 30-35% of your total calorie intake), instead you make the calorie difference, that you created from removing carbohydrates, by adding more fats.

Putting this type of diet into action is more effective than any sort of rapid weight loss pill you can find (the impact of weight loss pill and supplements is greatly overrated and they truly don’t work unless you are putting these diet principles into action).

Your Rapid Weight Loss Exercise Plan

It is really unfortunately that the role of exercise in weight loss has been bashed by the media due to a handful of studies showing a limited effect of exercise on weight loss. Many people will argue that your diet is all that matters when it comes to losing weight. But I have just not found this to be the case. A proper metabolic exercise program will put you leaps and bounds ahead of anyone you know that is trying to lose weight by diet alone or through traditional aerobic cardio based programs. Here’s what an effective rapid weight loss exercise program looks like:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArOgb9kxENs[/youtube]

Now, depending on your current level of fitness, that video might have scared you. Jumping one-legged lunges?!

As you can see I’m not talking about your average fat loss training program. Metabolic fat loss training is intense, it burns a lot of calories during and after the training session, and it builds and protects muscle (which is your calorie burning powerhouse). Let’s look at a couple of these points in more depth.

Calorie Burning For Rapid Weight Loss

There are two schools of thought when it comes to calorie burning and exercise.

1. You should focus on the amount of calories from fat that your burn during your workout.
2. You should focus on the total amount of calories your burn during your workout and over the 24-36 hours.

Which to you think is more important? The goal is to burn as many extra calories as possible correct? So why would you just focus on the calories from fat that your burn during your training session? As my friend (can Warp Speed Fat Loss co-creator) Alwyn Cosgrove says

“If you just focused on what happened during your training session in regards to building muscle, you would conclude that weight training is bad for building muscle as it does the opposite. During your training session you are breaking down and destroying muscle. It is only after your training session that you repair, rebuild, and your muscles grow. So why do we look at the effectiveness of a fat loss training program based on what happens during the actual training session?”

Do you see his point? Traditional aerobic based exercises (i.e. getting on the exercise bike and riding for 30-40 minutes at a low to moderate pace) burns more calories from fat during the session but metabolic resistance training and exercise (like you saw in the video) burns a lot of total calories and continues to burn calories for 36 hours after you finish. This is due to a phenomenon called EPOC (Excess Postexercise Oxygen Consumption). EPOC is basically your body trying to play metabolic catch-up from the training session; it burns calories during this process. The level of EPOC that you generate is directly related to the intensity of your workout. The more EPOC, the more extra calories you burn.

How can you increase the intensity of your workouts? Two simple ways. First is to focus on exercises that use a lot of big muscle groups:

• Squats
• Deadlifts
• Push Press
• Lunges

Second it to reduce the rest periods between your sets and focus on getting more work done in a shorter period of time. Metabolic Fat Loss training is about improving your overall fitness level, doing more work, and burning more calories. It is not about making sure you are fully rested between sets.

Here is an example of a killer metabolic workout from the Warp Speed Fat Loss 2.0 Program

As you can see this is not your typical workout. It requires that you work hard; but it is through these types of intense training sessions and the reduced carbohydrate diet that I also outlined above that you will achieve rapid weight loss. This is by far the safest and more effective way to rapidly lose weight. No pills, detox plans, or wild diets involving maple syrup and lemon juice will give you these kind of results.

You can learn more about the most effective, scientifically based, rapid weigh loss program  by clicking here.

Junkfood- terrible excuse for a comfort food

Some people smoke cigarettes and some people drink alcohol- others choose comfort food and overeating as their way to cope with the negative things of life in general. Well junkfood seems to be what makes them feel better. That such as chocolate, ice cream, and salty foods that are known to make a person feel better. This is a great misconception- they do not make you feel better and it is a proven fact as mentioned  in an article on precision nutrition.

Most people already know that it is not a healthy food alternative to opt for something that is unhealthy, contains fat, and most likely more calories that they actually need. However besides gaining weight and overindulging in foods that will eventually cause your health to deteriorate, it is a temporary solution and may even cause you mental anguish later. This is where an individual begins to feed their depression and becomes counter-productive to their own intent.

It was proven in a study that depression and overeating was linked. Depressed individuals tend to eat more and tip the scales at a higher weight. Then yet again another fact about junkfoods- they contain preservatives and chemicals that can cause depression so the two go hand in hand. Next time your feeling a bit blue consider what the long term affects are of over indulging on the wrong foods, and think of the future and how much healthier and better you will feel for not eating out of control.

Hypnosis- Viable medical treatment?

For centuries history has told the tale of how hypnosis can work for many medical purposes. Hypnosis is known for many things it could be the ultimate power  such as mind over body, a mere suggestion, inner absorbtion and mind over matter. It could be looked at in many perspectives. Hypnosis is a relaxation technique, and with this being a relaxing state the power of relaxation and persuasion can evolve. There was an interesting explanation ran on the Mayo clinic  site about hypnosis that targets it’s many facets of use.

Hypnosis can be quite a powerfull and enlightening experience. It has been known to enable people to quit bad habits such as smoking, drinking, and overeating. It is oftyen utilized to alter negative behaviors within many realms of being. This aspect drives deep into emotions, feelings, sensations,  behaviors, and perceptions.

Among the many things that hypnosis does it is helps people to alleviate pain this can be from chemotherapy and disabling illnesses as well as things that have a very negative effect on ones health such as smoking. Hypnosis can even break into the psyche of individuals who have addictions. Not only for some ailments has hypnosis been known to produce positive results but it can be used safely in many other situations. Women in labor can choose this as a natural birth alternative to drugs and pain management techniques. It can aid in people who suffer terrible allergies and from asthma attacks.

Hypnosis is intended to help you gain more control over undesired behaviors or emotions or to help you cope better with a wide range of medical conditions. Hypnosis isn’t considered a treatment or a type of psychotherapy. Rather, it’s a procedure typically used along with certain treatments and therapies to help a wide variety of conditions.

Lower your cholesterol with a biblical herb

The Middle Eastern tree resin, myrrh, a plant forever linked to the New Testament, may lower cholesterol according to a study performed on rats.  This article on the evidence performed was published on Nutri ingredients last year and contends to be very informative and fascinating. The rats were albino and they were given the myrrh resin and when studies concluded they had noticed that the bad cholesterol was significantly diminished and the levels of good cholesterol were elevated. Does this mean that the future of pharmacueticals may evolve to utilize this unique substance to assist people to gain better heart and cardiovascular health?

We are yet to say but this could be a major breakthrough that can identify these unique findings and use them for a resource to develop safer and more effective treatments for cholesterol problems. This biblical element was linked to the testament when with gold and frankincense, myrrh was one of the gifts of the Magi were described. Boosting heart health by this biblical herb could be revolutionary for the world of medicine. However this herb was once used medicianlly for other purposes such as sore throats, burns, cuts, and sinus congestion. Only time and more research will tell- but it is certainly an interesting medical finding.

Eye Health- Greens and Fruits

Everyone associates that consuming carrots can improve eyesight, however new studies indicate that there are many other fruits and vegetable that can contribute to vision improvements in people. This was mentioned in a very interesting article on Web MD health and it refers to a study that was performed recently by the University of Georgia. Somehow the association to vision improvement and health has been linked with that of colors of various fruits and vegetables. The conclusion was made that green leafy vegetables are significant and so are some fruits.

The key component in these foods is termed carotenoids, they are elements that are proven topositively impact the retina and enhance vision performance, prevent diseases that can affect vision, and help with such things as reduction in glare and increase the range that one can see clearly. This is strictly biological with the given zeaxanthin and lutein that are present in veggies and fruits that contain carotenoids.

The pigments that are present in vividly green veggies such as spinach, greens, and kale are what are tied to improvements in vision. In addition, perhaps this is the reason that carrots (with their very vivid orange color) are known and have always been known to help an individual keep and maintain their visual health.

Losing Abdominal Fat Reduces Stress

I once read a statistic that stated that at any given time up to 44% of American are dieting. Combine that with the fact that over 2/3rds of the U.S. population is overweight or obese and you get a huge problem. We’re fat and can’t seem to do anything about it. Another major problem facing our population is stress. We are always connected via laptops, smartphones, cable TV, email, skype, etc. Working more hours, being pushed to do more work, fighting more distractions and the end result is we are stress and actually getting LESS done.

What if I told you that these two issues stress and body fat were linked and that your body fat, specifically if you have increased visceral fat was inhibiting your ability to deal with stress. You would be surprised?

Here’s how it works. Increased levels of visceral fat – not the stomach fat you can pinch, but the fat sitting around your organs (i.e. stomach, liver, pancreas, intestines) leads to increased level of the stress hormone Cortisol. That’s right your visceral fat isn’t just sitting there is it actively doing damage to your system. Cortisol is a stress hormone that has been shown to decrease mental performance. The scientific theory should good but does this actually happen in the real world?

Recently I came across an interesting study which examined the relationship between body fat and one’s ability to handle emotional stress. The results were not good if you have extra belly fat. The researchers found that the people whom had the lowest body fat percentage of body fat had the greatest ability to rebound from bouts of emotional stress (in the study they used sky diving to stimulate emotional stress).

So the connection is this:

More Stomach Fat –> More Cortisol –> Decreased Brain Power and Ability to Cope with Emotional Stress.

I’m sure that some of you may question whether body fat is the cause or not but I don’t think that whether or not body fat is truly the direct cause really matters.

The people with lower body fat percentages are probably more active and athletic thus their bodies were accustomed to dealing with different types of stress. They probably had better nutrition which could also help them cope better with stress. Better nutrition and more exercise are important factors that allow them to have lower body fat levels and deal with stress better.

The key point is that you need to get rid of the extra body fat hanging off your body. It is literally stressing you out. Many people’s lives today are high pressure and always on the move. This makes it essential that we are able to function at the top of our game. When you are put in stressful situations whether it is at work or at home you want to know that you are going to be able to function at your best.

To be at your best under stress you can’t have extra body fat slowing your down and metabolically contaminating your success by decreasing your body’s ability to cope and respond to daily stressors.

Lose the weight – you will feel and perform better. Aside from the scientific evidence that shows extra body fat decreases our ability to properly respond to stress, think about it for a minute. When you are lean, don’t you feel better about yourself? Don’t you have more energy? I’m guessing that you answer yes to both of those questions right?

How to you lose weight? The fastest way to do this is metabolic resistance training and a solid fat loss diet rich in protein, fibrous vegetables, fish oil, and a variety of different fats (olive oil, butter, walnuts, flax, coconut oil, etc). Combine these things, lose the weight, and you’ll brush stress off your shoulders – no problem.

CLA Side Effects and Weight Loss

Does Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) have any bad side effects? Does it work for weight loss? CLA has been sold for many years as a fat loss supplement based on the weight loss and body composition (i.e. losing fat and gaining muscle) changes seen in studies using mice and rats. Does is work in humans? More recently research in humans has shown that it can be used to increase fat loss. In this article we’ll look at some of the benefits of CLA as well as some of the potential side effects. In addition to weight loss studies there have been (and are currently) countless studies looking at the effects of this fatty acid on reducing inflammation, fighting cancer, and in the treatment of other conditions.

Ever since 2007, there has been an increase in use of CLA as a fat burner. This is due to the release of a meta-analysis (basically a review of several scientific studies) published in the May 2007 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition which concluded that 3.2g/d of CLA can induce moderate weight loss in humans. CLA is an attractive weight loss supplement and many people use conjugated linoleic acid as part of a fat loss supplement stack (i.e. a group of compounds and herbs taken together to maximize effects) because unlike many other weight loss supplements it is not a stimulant and you don’t suffer the nasty side effects of getting the jitters, increased heart rate, or worse – increased blood pressure. This is especially as there are not many effective options for non-stimulant fat burners on the market.

Let’s now look at two more studies that involve people taking supplemental CLA. The first study was again published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The researchers found that when people supplemented with 3.2 g/d of CLA (this is generally the recommended dosage for weight loss purposes) they burned more fat and more specifically they burned more fat when they slept!

This is true.

Not only did the subjects that took CLA burned more fat when they slept, the fat they burned was NOT fat they had recently eaten; it was actually stored body fat that they were burning. This study gets even better as the researchers reported that the individuals that took CLA had decreased urinary protein losses. In other words the CLA group had improved protein retention when they slept. These are really interesting findings. If I owned a supplement company that sold large dosages of CLA – my new headline would be “CLA – Scientifically Proven to Burn More Body Fat and Build Muscle while you SLEEP.”

So CLA can work for weight loss but are there any side effects? Again in 2007, another study was published that looked at the effects of CLA on weight loss, this time in obese people. In this study, the participants were given CLA dosages of 0, 3.2, or 6.4 grams/day. At the end of the study the group that received the 6.4 g/d of CLA experienced a significant increase in a compound called C – reactive protein or CRP for short. C – reactive protein is a protein that is released from your liver. It is commonly used in the medical field as a general marker of the level of inflammation in your body – higher CRP means more inflammation.

While there was an increase in CRP, it was truly not clinically significant as CRP levels remained below what is considered normal (Normal CRP levels are 3mg/dL). It is also important to see realize that the people in the study that had increased CRP as a result of taking a CLA supplement were taking 2x the ‘recommended’ dose for weight loss and also that people that obese normally have higher CRP levels (this might have come into play here as well). The group that only took 3.2 grams per day did not have any increase in their CRP levels.
Based on the findings in the studies that I’ve mentioned above and the review of studies from article in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition is seems that 3.2 g/d of CLA can be safely taken to boost weight loss.

The next question that you should ask is…

What do you do with these findings? At the moment not a whole lot… CLA is a nice add-on to a fat loss program but “add-on” is the key word. CLA is perfect for nutrient stacking as combing these effects with a supplement like green tea extract (which has also been shown to boost weight loss), increased non-exercise physical activity, and multiple meals throughout the day will surely boost your fat loss. If you aren’t spot on with your nutrition, training with weights 3x per week, and doing 3 interval sessions per week then don’t waste your time with CLA and focus on the more important things.

Glycemic Index Food Lists – You Don’t Need Them

One essential component to weight loss that I stress again and again in my writing is making proper carbohydrate choices. While nutritional recommendations and guidelines in the United States completely disregard the effect of when you eat food (i.e. the time of day), making decisions about what type of carbohydrates depending on what time of day it is is a simple concept that can reap big rewards in regards to weight loss.

A lot of the nutrient timing information with respects to carbohydrates has to do with the glycemic index of the carbohydrates. The glycemic index is basically a rating system that rates how fast a carbohydrates causes a rise in your blood sugar levels. However, the glycemic index in itself has several flaws. This is why for the past 25 years (ever since the glycemic index came about) there hasn’t been a convincing amount of scientific literature extolling its benefits. The problem is that glycemic index only takes in to account type of carbohydrates. This is really why glycemic index food lists are pretty much a waste. Instead I wouldl like to you focus on a different rating that takes into account both type and amount of carbohydrates.

Glycemic Load is a different story. Glycemic Load is determined by multiplying the glycemic index of a carbohydrate by the amount of the carbohydrate that is consumed. Glycemic load takes into account both type and amount. Fortunately just about all fruits and vegetables are low glycemic load carbohydrates (they have a low glycemic index and it is hard to eat a large amount of them). The low glycemic nature of fruits and vegetables is one of the reasons that they need to be the staple source of carbohydrates in your weight loss diet.

The “glycemic story” has started to really get interesting over the past several years as there is a growing body of scientific evidence that has shown that overweight people with insulin resistance respond better to a lower glycemic load diet but people without insulin resistance do just as well with a higher glycemic load/carbohydrates diet. This is the beginning of the ‘next big thing’ in nutritional science – diet individualization.

So how does this translate in to real world application? How is this relevant to you? Here are some rough generalizations that will serve you pretty well in applying the concepts I’ve described above.

Insulin Resistance = overweight. Especially with increased fat distribution around the abdominal region

Low Glycemic Load = vegetables and fruits. Especially green vegetables

High Glycemic Load = starches – pasta, potato, rice, etc

How to Apply this information: If you are overweight (especially with abdominal fat) then eat mainly (if not completely) vegetables (lots of greens) and fruit. If you are leaner then your body will respond better to larger amounts of starches but still follow Naked Nutrition Pillar #6 (“Save starch containing foods until after a workout or for breakfast”)

These simple rules will help you lose weight without having to worry about the glycemic index of foods or which types of carbohydrates you should be eating.

How to Cope with Holiday Temptations

The Holiday’s can bring on the hardest temptation to resist, especially with all the food that the season is centered around. This can mean that your bound to gain some weight and vary from your course even if you are a very rigid individual at staying on focus of your long-term goals. However this can still be difficult when peer pressure and the association with food around the holidays is so influencing. Furthermore, there have been numerous article published in regards to this topic, and just recently posted on feedthesoul.org there was a very helpful article that named 8 strategies to help you overcome the obstacles that may present temptations for even the strongest willed person. Here are those briefly explained:

1. Do not stop your exercise regimen
2. Eat light when you know you will be eating festively late-evening
3. Watch high-calorie beverages
4. Steer away from lingering around the food tables
5. Eat less and socialize
6. Make Healthy choices when possible
7. Keep occupied and distracted from food obsessing
8. Pick something you really want to eat and avoid other foods

These few tips should assist you to fight off the few pounds that you may gain before the New Year, and instead of losing weight for your resolution you can do more important things.