What should I do when I’m stressed and crave sugary and salty junk food?

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Well I say when you are stressed or craving things become active.  When you are active you less likely to snack on things that you should not eat.  Snacking on junk food when you are stressed or bored is a learned behavior so you need to change your learned behaviors.

When you are stressed or cravings things start to trigger those thoughts with activity.  If you learn to be active when you are stressed or have cravings sooner or later it will be as natural to be active as it is to reach for food.

Other techniques that I have found to be successful is to drink as much water as possible.  If you are craving but yet you know you should not eat simply drink water.  This will calm the craving and give your mouth that oral fixation.

Finally creating positive affirmations is very powerful.  These affirmations can be limitless but anything that elevates who you are and how you do not need the food you are craving can help.  Use all 3, change you learned behaviors and look at the results, these things are practical, realistic and healthy for your brain and mind.

Create A Morning Routine That Helps You Lose Fat!

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If you eat a decent breakfast and lunch, with perhaps a nutritious snack in between, you should be taking in enough calories to function properly throughout the day and feel alert until dinnertime. After dinner, many of us stop eating and do not eat anything at all until morning, while some of us snack once or continuously. However, throughout the evening and night, the body continues to function and burn calories, even when sleeping. After six to eight hours of sleep, we awake with a need to consume more calories to get through the day.

Morning is the time of day when the body is most depleted of calories. This is a great opportunity to burn fat from the body. Instead of the exercising at night to burn excess calories left over from your last meal, experts suggest a morning workout of the same intensity and length will burn three times as many calories as the afternoon or evening workout. This is simply due to the fact the body will expend the existing calories in the body then will dig down to use excess, stored fat to produce energy.

To get the most out of your morning workout, health experts recommend working out for at least thirty to sixty minutes for optimal fat burning results. Prior to working out, avoid consuming calories of any kind, as the body will use these before they begin to burn the body fat available for energy. Do not worry, however, as a good breakfast is part of a fat burning morning routine when consumed after the morning workout. Exercising in the morning kicks the body’s metabolism into high gear, burning many more calories throughout the day than if you wait to exercise until nighttime.

Of course, part of a fat burning ‘morning routine’ is…well… the routine. By consistently working out each morning, your workout for the day is complete, you’ll be better equipped to cope with the day’s stresses, and you’ll enjoy better impulse control over your food choices throughout the day. Choosing healthy breakfast foods, rather than skipping breakfast, and eating after your workout will significantly curb food cravings throughout the morning until lunch time. When that morning donut cart rolls through your office, you’ll be able to smile confidently and say “No thanks.”

Starting the day with a healthy workout and a nutritious breakfast is your best opportunity to commit to burning fat and getting into serious shape. Fitness expert Rob Lagana is available to help you, and will customize a nutritious, fat burning meal plan to help you reach your goals.

Q&A What is core exercise?

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Core exercise are exercises that focus on either the stabilzation, endurance or strengthening of the core muscles. Core exercises focus on the abdomen, the lower abdomen and hips, the obliques, stabilizing muslces, the spine and the back muslces, as well as the butt. Core exercises train these muscles to work together properly to maintain proper balance, agility, posture and movement to help the body move efficiently as well as preventing injury.

Some examples of core exercises are the plank hold, side plank, floor bridge, bicycle crunches, reach throughs, push ups, back extensions and a number other exercises that focus on the trunk of the body.

The point of core exercises is to train the many large and small muscles that help control and stabilize the spinal column and pelvis to build endurance and strength and be better able to control the spine and pelvis when forces are applied to it during daily activities and physical activities. Core exercises can and should be incorporated into every workout you perform each time you exercise. This can be accomplished by performing as many exercises as possible while having your spine and pelvis unsupported by a bench or seat. This will require the core muscles to engage to stabilize the body.

The Absolute Proven Tip to Avoid Pitfalls in your Training

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Training too often and trying to adapt in too many different ways all at once (power, strength, hypertrophy, endurance) will result in overtraining.

A smart approach is to use periodization training, Periodization training is simply a planned training program. You can have weekly, monthly and yearly plans. It has been shown to be an effective form of program design. The primary benefit is to allow for maximum levels of adaption and minimize overtraining.

You can train different forms of strength and control your volume of training. With periodization training you can write down your progress and then reassess your training either on a weekly or monthly basis. This can help you avoid stagnation, training plateaus, overtraining and assist you with reacher your goal faster.

Overtraining is like an overload to your system. The body can’t keep up with the adaptations your trying to meet in your fitness, bodybuilding or sports training. If your using periodization training for sports, you will greatly benefit by progressively adapting to increased levels of volume training and avoid overtraining.

Some symptoms of overtraining are:

Loss of appetite
Headaches
Depression
Decreased Immunity
Sudden drop in performance
General Bitchiness
Insomnia
Gradual Increase in Muscle Soreness

By using the a planned program such as periodization training, Overtraining syndrome is easily preventable. Unfortunately, most athletes avoid periodaztion training because they rely too much on their instincts. By design your instincts tell you to remain comfortable or ignore the the above symptoms because when you start reaching a over trained state, your instincts which are your internal feedback mechanism will not give you an absolute accurate decision to treat and avoid overtraining.

Q&A What can I do for my low blood pressure?

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In my experience, I have had clients with low blood pressure and they have asked me if their low blood pressure would improve with training. The answer is YES.

Anybody with a reading if 90/60 mmHg or lower is regarded as having hypotension (low blood pressure). People with low blood pressure have some protection from factors which raise blood pressure to undesirable levels. However, low blood pressure may be a sign of an underlying problem, and can cause unpleasant symptoms.

Below are the most common symptoms of hypotension:

Blurred vision
Cold, clammy, pale skin
Depression
Dizziness
Fainting
Fatigue
General feeling of weakness
Nausea
Palpitations
Rapid, shallow breathing
Thirst

Two of the main causes that I see more often in clients are:

Dehydration

When your body loses more water than it takes in you eventually become dehydrated. Hydration levels (levels of water in the body) do not have to drop much before you start feeling dizzy and weak – dehydration-induced weight loss of just 1% can lower blood pressure enough to cause symptoms. Dehydration can be caused by severe diarrhea, vomiting, heat, overusing diuretics, and over-exercising. If water or blood levels drop dramatically the patient can go into hypovolemic shock – the severe water/blood drop in volume means the heart cannot pump the blood properly, resulting in life-threatening hypotension.

Endocrine problems (not including diabetes)

The endocrine system is a system of glands involved in the release of hormones – examples include the thyroid gland, and the adrenal gland. The thyroid gland makes and stores hormones that help in the control of the heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and the rate at which food is broken down and converted into energy (part of metabolism). Low blood pressure can be caused by hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) or hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid). If the adrenal glands do not work properly (adrenal insufficiency) there is also a risk of hypotension – the adrenal glands are located just above each kidney and are chiefly responsible for regulating the stress response.

There are 2 critical things to normalize low blood pressure based on the above potential causes:

1. Drink More Water. The average person that exercises for 30 minutes in a neutral climate with no health issues, needs around 3 liters of pure water a day. Start sipping on water throughout the day until you reach 3 liters and any other fluids on top of that is bonus (Alcohol and Coffee is excluded).

2. Use slow, safe exercise progressions to build muscle. Muscle building exercise raises your T3 (active thyroid) raising your core temperature. Muscle building also reduces overall stress in the body, because in order to build muscle, you must attain an anabolic state. An anabolic state can only be achieved by a healthy strong metabolism.

A health strong metabolism, means that your good hormones and enzymes are being built up at a optimal rate.

Serious Warnings about Dieting

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As an expert and someone that has been in the community of fitness and bodybuilding for many years, I’ve seen people start diets and fail after 3 weeks even when they did lose 5 pounds the first week on their diet.

Here are some facts about weight loss that you should know if you dare attempt to start a diet on your own.

* If done incorrectly can cause serious rebound effects.
* First week of initial Weight Loss is all water and glycogen — Not Fat.
*There is a big difference between Fat Loss and Weight Loss
* Second week of Weight Loss is water glycogen and muscle — Not Fat.
* Diets alone are a temporary solution to weight loss.
* Your body adapts to your diet within 3-4 weeks.
* There are different types of metabolisms and the diet that you are currently on might work against your metabolism.
* Healthy Weight Loss on diet alone does NOT work.
* Beware of Diet pills, if it’s not a drug it will NOT work. If it is a drug, it will NOT work without proper nutrition and exercise, however caution must be used as the fat loss will only be temporary once you come off the drug.
* Losing 15 pounds does not mean you lost 15 pounds of fat (adipose tissue).

Fat burning should be part of the weight loss process if done correctly. A nutrition plan and exercise plan work best for ultimate fat loss. Losing fat greatly improves life expectancy, physical and mental well-being. The true goal behind weight loss is FAT LOSS.

You want to lose weight from FAT which is mainly adipose tissue.

Weight Loss is a generic term for losing unwanted scale weight. If your not losing fat, your losing water, glycogen and muscle. These are three of the most important things your body needs to stay healthy and function. No wonder people that go on so called diets feel like crap, see no beneficial results and don’t meet their long term goals.

This can easily be solved by hiring an expert. With an expert, your obstacles and goals will be concretely defined on paper and you are guaranteed a success plan to losing fat for good.

Top 10 Protein Foods and Options

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We’ve all been there… we start a diet or what I like to call a planned nutritional program and days after you get sick of eating the same foods. The chicken or tuna makes you want to gag.

“It doesn’t matter what you cover it with,  it will still taste like chicken and tuna.”

Now, as an expert certified personal trainer, IFBB Nutritionist and champion bodybuilder, I tell all my clients that if you can make it past the first 2 weeks of the same foods, your body will go through a type of detox and your senses will adapt nicely to the same foods that your eating. Chicken will actually taste a lot better.

Most people can’t last 2 weeks on the same type of foods and will make every complaint not to eat them. I’d love to take these people to a poor part of Africa for 2 weeks and let them hunt for food on their own. I bet they would appreciate food a lot more, even if was the same types of all.

Wouldn’t that make a good reality show? Since I don’t have the money to do that right now, I’ll list 10 Protein foods you can add or substitute in a weight loss diet prepared by someone that thinks you might have been able to get past the 2 week hump.

Substitutes for Chicken

1. Turkey
2. Wild Meats (Deer, Bisson etc..)

Substitutes for Tuna

3. Talapia
4. Cod
5. Haddock
6. Orange Roughy

Substitutes for Oatmeal

7. ArrowHead Mills Rice and Shine
8. Cream of Wheat

Substitutes for Egg Whites

9. Whole Eggs
10. Whey Protein Powder

Enjoy these great tasting substitutes and steady as she goes up the road to meet your weight loss goals. Stay tuned for my vegetarian top 10 protein foods and options next !

Low Carb, High Fiber Coconut Blueberry Protein Muffins

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Ingredients:

3 eggs (room temperature – important)
1/3 cup coconut flour
1/3 cup whey protein
¼ cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup sugar substitute equivalent (liquid preferred)
½ teaspoon baking powder
6-8 Tablespoons water (see below)
½ cup raspberries or blueberries

Preparation:
Heat oven to 375° F. Prepare pan with a generous amount of butter. This recipe makes six “regular”-sized muffins.

1) Whisk or beat the eggs until whites and yolks are well-mixed. Stream in the butter while continuing to whisk. Add salt and vanilla and mix until combined. If using liquid sweetener (preferred, as it is zero carb), add at this point.

2) Mix the remaining dry ingredients — coconut flour, baking soda, and sweetener if using powder.

3) Mix the dry and wet ingredients together. Now you will whisk in water, one tablespoon at a time. The coconut flour will absorb the liquid from the wet ingredients like crazy. You want to get it to a consistency that will hold up the berries, but not be too thick. I usually end up using about 4 Tablespoons of water.

4) Gently mix in the berries and divide among 6 muffin cups. Bake for about 15 to 18 minutes, or until just turning golden on top.

Nutritional Information (using raspberries, zero carb sweetener, and an average of three available coconut flours): Each muffin has 2 grams effective carbohydrate plus 3.5 grams fiber, 8 grams protein, and 155 calories.

Rob’s 5 Tips To Help You Lose Weight and Stay On Track On Your Own

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1) Have a mental picture in your mind, and PLAN your weight loss project.
Any successful project starts with a plan, and you should look at losing weight the same way!! Thinking about details such as..where you stand presently, where you want to be, and the steps you will take to get there! And this includes planning your meals and preparing them in advance! This has helped me tremendously!
2) Look at your weight loss project as a whole life changing experience, and not as a diet!
Focus more on the idea that you have now chosen and made a commitment in taking a NEW path of a healthier lifestyle, and you can be certain that just as I you will start to witness as your body changes and becomes new again! Start by promising yourself to only allow nothing but healthy foods in, and watching your portion control,along with also starting to take small steps in making exercise part of your new daily lifestyle! Join a gym if you can, and if money is an issue for you, there is always the local YMCA’s which have a program in place to help with funds as EVERYONE deserves to live a healthier active life!
3) Use all the resources you can to help make this project succeed.
Visit your local library, do some online searches, talk to your family doctor. Get EXCITED about Re-educating yourself basically on how you can change your unhealthy body into a brand new healthier one!! You would be surprised at how much info is actually out there, and how amazing this sort of project becomes! Just remember nothing will be handed to you, its up to you to take charge of your own life, and to act on it!
4) Get mentally prepared by acknowledging the fact that it is not going to be easy.
This might be the BIGGEST challenge that you will ever make for yourself, but remember the self rewards that come with being challenged are 100x better! Being challenged makes you a stronger person both inside and out! Also remember to keep in mind especially if you are having a bad day, that in the end it WILL be all worth it, and that it certainly DOES get easier as times goes on! Just stay strong and don’t let weakness defeat you, and remember you are so much stronger! Have patience and work through it day by day, week by week…don’t focus on the end goal.
5)Set little goals before reaching your end goal.
This will make the time go by faster, and you will be excited when passing these little goals as you reach them and not even realize that you are getting closer to the bigger goal with each passing day! These can be anything from special monthly occasions, weekly weigh ins, monthly pics. Perhaps your doctor can arrange some weekly weigh ins, FREE OF CHARGE!! Whatever it is that will help keep you motivated while working towards you end goal.

Just remember we all deserve to be healthier and happier, so challenge yourself today!