Nutrition and Cardio 101

Calorie Goal:
There are many websites out there for you to find a basic calorie need, just Google “Calories Needs”. But, to get an accurate measure of your specific needs, you should consult a professional. Once you have your calorie needs, take away 500 calories to lose one pound per week and that is your daily goal. Try to split your goal up into 4-6 sittings. When I say sittings, this means times that you eat. This includes snacks. The object is to never be hungry and to fool your body into thinking you’re eating all the time while actually you are eating less than you would normally. This is term Grazing. Just eat enough to not be hungry any more. Nothing More! This is what speeds up your metabolism along with exercise.

Journal:
What you must do for as long as it takes, to know portion sizes, is to journal your meal as you consume them. Make note of the calories mainly, but also try to keep track of your carbs, protein, and fat. Keep them close to 60, 20, and 20. Log each meal and before your last meal add up the total calories consumed so far. What are remaining from your goal are the calories you have for this meal.

Rounded Meals:
Remember to have a little of carbs, protein, and fat in each meal. Try to eat a range of different vegetables so that you get nutrients. Breakfast is very important, that is why it is called Break-fast. You are breaking a Fast from when you were sleeping. It will help kick start your metabolism and give you energy.

Last Meal of the Day:
Your last meal of the day should be eaten as early as possible before you go to bed. Try to each 3-4 hours before bed time so that it has time to digest and doesn’t sit in your stomach all night turning to fat. Also, your last meal should the “cleanest” meal of the day! What I mean is that it should be the healthiest. That way you don’t have a bunch of useless calories being storied in your body at night. Try to eat meat such as chicken or fish and have a lot of vegetables with it. Stay away from carbs like rice, pasta, or potatoes. Try eating just vegetables with your meat at night and don’t snack after. If you do snack, eat something with protein such as a protein shake (NOT a meal replacement), low fat cottage cheese, or yogurt.

Cheat Day:
Reward yourself one day of the week if you have stayed within your caloric intake goal all week. Eat whatever it is that you crave, BUT, I’ll say it again BUT, DO NOT STUFF YOURSELF! Enjoy the foods by eating slowly and savoring each bite and stop when you feel no hunger. If you eat until you are full, then the food is going to expand and you will be stuffed and that is a BAD! Try ordering a To-Go Box when they bring you your meal or when you order. Then cut the meal in half and take it home to eat for lunch or share with another person at the table. By sharing meals you can cost your bill drastically!

Eating Out:
Try to order Chicken, Fish, or Lean cuts of Pork or Beef. Order a salad with Nothing other than vegetables and eat this before the entre to fill up on good stuff first. Have you salad dressing on the side or you can also bring your own low fat dressings. Also Don’t order sides that are prepared like mash potatoes. Instead have steamed vegetables with no butter, sweet potatoes no butter, or baked potato with just salt and pepper. Remember, try ordering a To-Go Box when they bring you your meal or when you order. Then cut the meal in half and take it home to eat for lunch or share with another person at the table.

One important thing to change is your mindset! Eat for Health, not Pleasure! If you can do that 6 days out of the week, then you can enjoy that reward at the end of your week!

Cardio:
Why should you do it? Well, cardio does a few things. It creates a caloric deficit, strengthens the heart, increases lung capacity, stimulates your metabolism, increases your endurance, and makes you feel great by releasing endorphins! Cardio should be performed at an intensity to where you’re pushing yourself to the point to where you just want to stop. Cardio is not taking a walk down the street. Now don’t get me wrong, going for walks isn’t wrong, it’s just not what you need to burn fat and increase your metabolism. When you perform a low intensity cardio or aerobic exercise you are just consuming calories from carbohydrates stored in your body. Again, this is not bad, you want to burn calories to create a deficit, but you want to burn fat as well. To burn fat, you must perform a high intensity for at least 25 minutes until you even start to burn fat! That means reading while doing cardio is not intense enough. Studies show that performing Interval Training is the best to burn fat. I have been doing this for years and can say that it’s definitely the way to go. For one, you can burn a lot more calories in a short amount of time, and second, it helps to break up the monotony of being on a piece of cardio equipment for 20mins to an hour because you’re constantly changing the speed and level of resistance.

What is Interval Training?
Interval Training is when you perform a high intensity of work (90% of you Max effort) for 30 seconds to a minute followed by a lower intensity (termed active resting because you are resting from the higher intensity but you are still active). This type of training is also a good way for those that are just beginning an exercise program and can’t perform a high intensity bout of cardio exercise for duration (30 to an hour). By walking for a period of 1-2 minutes and then jogging for 30 seconds you will be able to increase your endurance and lung capacity. Every time you perform activity you should try to increase the duration of high intensity by some measure. Even if it is only 5-10 seconds! After you’re able to perform a minute of high intensity you should start lowering your rest time from 2-3 minutes by some measure. Again, 5-10 seconds is all you need. By doing this every time that you perform your cardio activity, you will soon be jogging or running for 30 minutes to an hour in no time. This is what you need to burn fat and sees the best results. Like my father always told me “If you’re going to do something, you might as well do it right!” So, if you’re going to do cardio, HIT IT HARD TO SEE RESULTS!

What if you can’t run?
Interval training can be done on any type of cardio equipment. Adjust the speed and resistance on whatever it is. Also, you should change the type of cardio equipment you use to keep your body from adapting. Mix it up! Runners should cross-train with an elliptical or bike and bikers should cross-train with either running or elliptical.

FITT Principal:
What is the FITT principle?

• Frequency
• Intensity
• Time
• Type

This is the 4 variables you change to keep your body from adapting to exercise. Change it up! This is nothing new! It has been labeled and package by the Industry in many ways. Everyone knows about that D80x whatever you call it.  Well, they are not onto anything new, it has been around for years.

I hope this helps you out! Remember, you should always consult a Physician before starting any exercise or nutrition program and this information is just to give guidance. It is not to be used as a sole source of exercise and nutritional guidance. Also, everyone should have a trainer! Even trainers themselves need them.

Good Luck!
If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me! PLEASE ask questions and be open with your trainer so that they can help you. No one knows your body and lifestyle better than you do! Right?

Remember that I have a Referral Program! Each person that you send to me that purchases Private Training, You will receive two Sessions in addition to any you may have.

Warmest Regards,

Jeff Johnson
Fitness Fulfillment

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