Cytosport Muscle Milk Bottles *Review*

As most of you probably know by now, I'm a HUGE connoisseur of protein supplements.  Whenever I get the chance, I try out something new on the shelf and see how it compares to what I've already had.  The other day I ran out of Combat Powder, and needed a quick, single day replacement for post workout nutrition.  I drove over to Walgreens, walked up to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of Chocolate Muscle Milk by Cytosport.  After my workout, I chugged that sucker down, and well.....here's my review of the stuff:

Taste:  The chocolate version tasted great!  Sure, it wasn't the best protein I've ever had, but it wasn't far off, especially for a single dosage.  It's very thick and filling, and tastes like a real and substantially chocolatey shake.  Not hard to drink at all, and honestly it tasted good enough that I wished I had more.  The chocolate flavor is very potent, and doesn't taste very "chemical" at all (as some other proteins do.)  Reminded me of a brownie, even though it's been years since I've had one of those.  I will say though that I'm not a very picky person, and can appreciate most forms of chocolate flavor.  You may be a little more discerning, but I can say that I'm quite confident you'd enjoy the beverage.

8/10 

Protein Content:  As far as the protein factor goes, the profile definitely isn't bad.  Is it the greatest protein source out there?  No.  But it's a good blend of many different proteins, including milk protein and a few types of whey.  The whey isn't amazingly refined, so I assume it won't absorb quite as quickly as a heavily filtered whey isolate or hydrolyzed whey.  Still, unless you're splitting hairs, it's not a huge deal, in fact I think it's good to have a blend so that the protein will feed your muscles over a longer period of time.  One bottle has a total of 25 grams of protein, which isn't huge, but is enough.  Just to compare though, most powdered proteins will give you about 50 grams of protein for the same number of calories as in a bottle of Muscle Milk.  So you're not getting a super concentrated dose, but the amount of protein your body can absorb in one sitting isn't that impressive anyway, so it's not a big deal.  Overall, the protein is of medium to medium high quality, and there's a decent amount of it.

7/10

Other Nutritional Profile:  One thing I noticed right away about Muscle Milk is that it has an interestingly large fat dosage.  Cytosport calls in "functional fat," which I assume means that their marketing it as healthy fat.  One bottle has a total of 9 g of fat, 1.5 g of which is saturated.  I'm not completely sure, but I think the fat mostly comes from the milk, as well as the oil used in the ingredients.  I can't vouch for exactly how high quality the fats are, but let's just say they don't raise any red flags or scare me away.  

A 14 oz bottle of Muscle Milk has only 3 grams of sugar, which is quite low considering the very sweet taste.  There are artificial sweeteners used, but I have no problem with those, though some people might.  The ingredient list is quite long, which I usually don't like, but expected in this case because most protein shakes have quite a bit that goes into them.  

Here's the nutritional information right off of Cytosport's website (click to enlarge):

7/10

Price:  Not the cheapest stuff out there, but definitely not the most expensive.  One bottle is around 3 bucks, not a killer investment if you need some quick protein.  I'd only use it as a temporary replacement for powder though, because you generally get a LOT more bang for your buck with powder.

8/10

Name:  SUPER COOL!  I mean seriously, "Muscle Milk"?  That's AWESOME!  Wish I'd thought of it.  Sure beats "whey protein isolate," or "mass gainer."  It's like, 

"Hey George, whatcha drinking?"

"Oh, nothing special, just MUSCLE MILK!!!"

Love it!

10/10

Overall, would I recommend the ready to drink Muscle Milk 14 oz bottles?  As far as the chocolate goes, yes I definitely would.  It's a great replacement for a powder for a day or two, and is a viable post workout protein source.  It's got a good blend of protein types, tastes great, and won't break the bank.  If you get a chance, try a bottle!  Let me know what you think!

Lift hard, lift heavy, refuel, and as always, good luck!!!

When To Shovel It In

Today, my coach put the hammer down.  He watched me in my last set of squats, and told me bluntly something I already knew in the back of my head:

"Seth, your form looks great.  Your speed is good, your depth is great, and as far as technique goes everything is fine.  But there needs to be about 50kg more on that bar, and the only way that's going to happen is YOU HAVE TO EAT MORE!"

(imagine all that with a thick spanish accent, even though he's like half Chilean and half eastern European.)

Now, I was repping 110kg.  That's about 245lbs, and I was squatting it so deep my butt was basically touching the ground.  My max is around 140kg, or 310lbs, to the same depth.  For skinny little me, that's not bad, and others might be happy with those numbers.  But when it comes down to it, I really should be cleaning 110, easily.  My leg strength is lacking, and in all honesty it's really ticking me off.

Squats and food go hand in hand.  When people Olympic lifters diet down, their squat is usually the first thing to go.  Then the clean, and finally the snatch.  The more leg dominant the movement, the more it will suffer from calorie cutting.  I've been stuck at around 163lbs of body weight, and I knew I needed to bump up my calories (from 3200), but hearing it so aggressively from my coach put me in high gear.  I shoveled down about 4 grand today, and will try to hit close to that with each successive training day.

But enough about me.  How can I relate this back to you?  Well, I'd like to let you in on the little hints your body might be giving you that it's about time to increase caloric intake.  They're pretty easy to spot, but not necessarily isolate as a diet issue.  And let me tell you, I experienced ALL of them, without any real clue as to why for the longest time.  DON'T make the same mistake I did:

Constant Fatigue (despite adequate sleep):  Sure, this could be a bunch of things.  But if you know you're getting AT LEAST 8 hours per night, are healthy without disease, and haven't changed much in your training recently, you can probably guess that your body is running on fumes.  Increase caloric intake by a few hundred calories, and see where that takes you.  I can almost guarantee you'll INSTANTLY feel better.

Strength Decrease:  If your lifts aren't going up  (and again, you know that other factors aren't to blame), it's time to put a little more food on your plate.  Don't be afraid of another sweet potato, or another helping of chicken and rice.  You'll thank yourself for it when the very next day your bench feels better than ever.

Injuries Won't Heal:  OK, this one could be for several reasons, and you shouldn't immediately attribute it to malnutrition. That being said though, eating too little will definitely not aid in healing.  It's very likely that a muscle tear, strain, or general aches and pains will get worse the more undernourished you are.  I noticed recently I've been having more and more strange pains in my legs that were never there before and appeared for no apparent reason.  Every day I've increased caloric intake, they've been barely noticeable.  I'm not sure what the details are on this one, but running low on food can show itself in strange places.

ALWAYS HUNGRY:  Well this one seems obvious, however many people fail to eat more even when their body is screaming for more food.  Listen, if you're getting a clean diet of complex carbs, lean proteins, and healthy fats, and are still hungry at the end of the day, don't be afraid to eat more.  If your food is nothing but quality, then your hunger pangs are definitely not false/fake.  Feed your body when you need to.  It's as simple as that.

Name Calling:  Yeah...I'm constantly getting called "skinny" by my coach.  Pretty obvious incentive to eat more.

Eating more can be daunting, but like I've said before, as long as you're eating clean, and training hard as hell, you will NOT be disappointed with the results.  Your body won't be able to afford to put on much weight as fat, and the little that does show up will live in the shadow of massive muscles.  I can't wait for that day, believe me.

Good Luck!

Food Worship #14: The Kidney Bean

Sorry folks, I know it's been a while since you've heard from the Food Guru.  I've been quite busy, but finally have a little time to sit down and discuss with all of you another of my favorite foods.  As you may or may not know, I'm a huge fan of beans.  They're a fantastic source of carbohydrates, and are absolutely DELICIOUS.  They come in all shapes and sizes, and I could honestly go for a few days rambling on about each one regarding its benefits, nutritional value, and why YOU should be eating them.  But today, I must choose only one.  And so I've made it my second favorite, as I've already written about my number one (the chickpea, or garbanzo bean.)  Today's bean of choice is....*drum roll*.....the humble kidney bean.

These medium sized beans are a little bit funny looking, being shaped like, well, kidneys.  But I assure you, they're one of the best foods you could ever put in that ever improving body of yours.  Not only are they delicious, but they have a whole host of powerful health benefits that will without a doubt make you feel (and look) absolutely amazing.  As per the usual routine, I'll now provide several bulleted categories of beneficial aspects of the bean, as any professional blogger would (despite me not actually being professional...yet.)  Let's get started, shall we?

Fiber:  First and foremost, as with a LOT of beans, kidney beans are very rich in fiber.  Fiber can help lower cholesterol and greatly improves digestive health.  It also makes your body more efficient at digesting the other foods in your diet and utilizing the nutrients in each one.  In all honesty, you want to get as much fiber in your diet as you can, ESPECIALLY if you have a high protein diet (as any muscle-head would.)  Fiber is your friend.  One cup of kidney beans will have about 220 calories and a whopping 16 grams of fiber!  That is a LOT of fiber, and will do your body a LOT of good.

Complex Carbs:  If you're looking to build muscle and have long lasting, powerful energy throughout the entire day, you need a lot of good quality, slow digesting complex carbs. In terms of carbohydrates, you can't get much higher quality than kidney beans.  They'll provide your body with exactly the energy you need, and will promote muscle growth and glycogen replenishment.  Unlike sugary carbs, complex carbs will NOT provoke as aggressive insulin response by your body and therefore will allow you to avoid unnecessary fat gain.  Kidney beans are like high octane, awesome quality fuel for your body, so eat up!

Stabilize Blood Sugar:  Not only are fiber and high quantity of complex carbs an excellent source of digestive health and long lasting energy, they also both help stabilize blood sugar, leading to less fat gain (if you're bulking up), or easier fat loss (if you're slimming down.)  Low and stable blood sugar levels are crucial to a healthy diet and trim figure, especially as you age.  

Protein Packed:  Kidney beans are absolutely LOADED with protein.  One cup has about 14 grams of protein, and while the beans themselves don't provide a complete amino acid profile (the protein in the beans isn't immediately available to your body for muscle building), when the beans are combined with a good whole grain, the amino acid profile can be completed and you'll get all the benefits of that hearty, protein packed legume.  Want the guns to impress the ladies?  Grab yourself a can of kidney beans and dig in.  

Nutritional Profile:  To wrap the rest up into one little section, kidney beans have a great nutritional profile overall.  They're very low in saturated fat, very low in sugar, and of course, if you buy the right ones, are all natural.  I love the canned beans, which have all the same nutritional benefits, but unfortunately with a bunch of added sodium.  If you get canned beans (which again, is completely FINE), make sure to rinse them thoroughly before consumption to wash the majority of that salt right down the drain.  Easy enough, right?

Here's the nutritional information for canned kidney beans:

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 cup
Amount Per Serving
Calories from Fat 8 Calories 218
% Daily Values*
Total Fat 0.87g		1%
	Saturated Fat 0.128g	1%
	Polyunsaturated Fat 0.484g
	Monounsaturated Fat 0.069g
Cholesterol 0mg		0%
Sodium 873mg		36%
Potassium 658mg
Total Carbohydrate 39.91g		13%
	Dietary Fiber 16.4g	66%
	Sugars 0.56g
Protein 13.44g
Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 5%
Calcium 6% Iron 18%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs. Nutrition Values are based on USDA Nutrient Database SR18

(Lots of sodium if left un-rinsed, so make sure to remember that step.)

All in all, kidney beans are a must-eat if you're at all concerned with health, fitness, or general well being.  They're absolutely delicious, and go well in all sorts of recipes.  Personally though, I love just eating them plain with some good spicy seasoning next to a piece of tilapia and some natural almonds.  YUMMY!  They're cheap, accessible, and ridiculously healthy.  Pick some up ASAP!

Love the kidney bean, a magical fruit, and as always, GOOD LUCK!

References:

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=87

http://fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/usda/red-kidney-beans-(canned)?portionid=37577&portionamount=1.000

Lots of Protein, Little Gains

This is kind of a fun thing to think about, at least in my opinion.  All you muscle heads out there: have you ever really stopped to consider all those supplements you're taking, the ones that claim to be super effective, and contain recovery formulas so advanced that they're basically GUARANTEED to make you bigger, stronger, faster, more quickly than anything else on the market?  Well I've got a picture for you:

That there is two 13 gallon bags filled with containers of protein, representing about 8 months worth of supplements.  Contained inside are five Combat Powder tubs (4lbs of protein each), two tubs of Wheybolic Extreme 60 (2lbs of protein each), and two generic brand protein tubs (I believe one was a Six Star whey protein tub, and a Body Fortress protein tub, each again containing 2lbs.)  I've also had a couple more tubs of the Body Fortress protein that were thrown out previous to this instance.  That's a total of at least 32lbs of whey protein, not to mention a couple other supplement bottles in there like Amplified N.O. Loaded pre-workout and Purple Wraath (a branch chain amino acid blend.)

Let's think about this for a second.  Do I have more muscle mass than I did at the beginning of this year?  I sure do!  But do I have an extra 32 lbs of solid muscle packed onto my frame?  NOT...EVEN...CLOSE.  If I've gained 4 lbs of muscle this year, I'd be quite pleased.  And believe me, it didn't all come from the supplements (I've been eating like a horse.)

So what does this mean?  Are supplements worthless?  Are they placebos?  Are the supplement companies screwing you out of your money?

The answer is no.....and a little bit of yes at the same time.

Sure, you can bet those companies make their products for a LOT less money than they charge you.  But are they selling you worthless powder in a plastic jug?  NO!  Supplements have come an extremely long way since their introduction in the 70's, and they ARE very advanced blends of fast digesting proteins that your body has a much easier time using to build muscle. Believe me, I wouldn't be able to work out nearly as often or as hard as I do without supplementation.  They greatly assist with recovery, and keep me feeling tip top in order to hit it heavy as often as possible.

But supplements AREN'T miracle workers.  The muscle building process is a slow and tedious one, and despite the quality of that powder you're putting into your body, at the end of the day only a tiny fraction of it will be used to build the solid muscle you so desperately desire.  It's a depressing fact, but it's one you should know before you go scooping loads and loads of the latest whey protein blend into your shaker bottle.

In my opinion, you should obviously keep supplementing with proteins, pre-workouts, and stuff like that.  They work.  But don't go overboard on the dosage, because you'll just be wasting the stuff.  Your body  can only use so much, and as the picture above shows quite clearly, it adds up after a while.

Oh, and if you're looking for a way to cut down on supplement cost, how about eating some more real food?

Lift hard, eat big, and get strong.  Good Luck!

Confessions Toward Getting Bigger

I've been wanting to write more opinionated, personal articles for quite some time.  Sure I love bringing you guys all sorts of healthy foods to try out, but rambling off nutrition facts gets old after a while.  So I'll bring this post to the other side of the blogging spectrum and give you an inside look on some of the struggles I've had with dieting, weight goals, and how they affect the big picture.  Sit back and grab a bowl of air popped popcorn, this is about to get deep.

So as you may or may not know, I'm a weightlifter.  No, that's not what you think, I don't just go to the gym and lift weights like everyone else, trying to target specific muscles and get the "big guns."  A weightlifter is technically someone who lifts weight in the Olympic style, focusing on two main lifts, the clean and jerk, and the snatch.  I won't go nuts trying to explain those two lifts, look them up on youtube if you're curious.  Let me just tell you that they're far different and far more total body intensive than your traditional bicep curl.  Anyway, being a competitive weightlifter means I'm in the gym 9 times a week, squatting, snatching, cleaning, and jerking as much weight as possible for high volume.  Because this sport is judged solely on how much weight is lifted successfully, I need as much muscle as possible packed into as little space as possible.  I need dense, explosive, muscle tissue that's very flexible and ready to work at a moment's notice.  Sounds easy to get, right? Just load up the steaks on the grill, mix a few protein shakes, and train hard as hell.

But there's a catch.

This sport is also judged in weight classes.  What this means is that everyone who competes falls into a class depending on their body weight, which more accurately pits athletes against each other and can really determine who is stronger, has better technique, or in general a better combination of both.  It wouldn't really be fair to pit the scrawny, short, 63 kg dude against Mr. big and brutish weighing in at 150 kg, would it?  This means weightlifters, while being able to eat a LOT depending on their training, need to watch their diet and make sure it's the most effective combination of foods that will give them both enough energy to complete workouts, and enough excess calories to rebuild torn muscle fiber.  Diet is extremely important in Olympic weightlifting.

And there's one more catch too.  Every lifter has an optimal weight to lift at, usually based on their height and build.  To lift optimally at a body weight of 77 kg, you should be about 5'7".  And here's where my struggle comes in.  I'm 5'11", which means I should weight around 200-230 lbs to lift at my optimal capacity.  I currently weight 162 lbs, which puts me in the lower end of the 77 kg class.  I knew I needed to gain weight, and believe me, my coach has been yelling that fact in my face for the longest time.

Maybe you're thinking "so what the heck are you waiting for!?! You get to EAT A LOT OF FOOD!  NICE!!!!"  But not so fast.  I'm not too keen to get big and fat quickly, as I considered myself pretty fit and trim at 158-160 lbs.  I had visible abs, pretty decent build, and felt good.  Purposely trying to gain weight, no matter how cleanly, might mean I need to sacrifice a good looking build for the sake of added muscle.  This, to me, was a little bit depressing (and honestly, it still is.)  Sure, putting on weight by eating a lot of clean food and training your butt off ensures that MOST of the weight you put on will be muscle, especially if you're not in a huge caloric excess.  But there's absolutely zero percent chance of gaining weight and having it be 100% muscle.  In fact, no matter how clean you do it, the percentage usually isn't even close to that number.  And purposely putting on fat, to me, didn't sound like fun.

But I changed my diet anyway.  I added about 500 calories more initially, and when I plateaued around 161 for a week or two, I added a couple hundred more.  I eat all the clean food I can, and don't pay attention to calories quite as much as I used to when I was merely trying to maintain my weight.  Roughly I'm around 3200-3300 calories a day now, but when I get up to above 170 lbs, I'm sure this figure will have to increase by another 20% at least.  My training is hard enough that I need to eat a LOT of food to maintain my weight.  And, resembling more the ectomorph build, I have a pretty fast metabolism as it is.

Honestly, while I love food like no one else, it makes my heart sink a little to know that I have to keep shoveling in the food to the point where I force my body to gain weight one way or another.  I don't like seeing the little bits of fat showing up around my midsection (though at this point they're very very small, and I doubt anyone would really notice), but I do like looking in the mirror and seeing a more full, muscular, stronger me.  So how do I get through it?  How do I keep a positive spin on the weight gain process?

Well, firstly, the way you look can depend a lot on the clothes you wear, the amount of water you're retaining, and the mirror you're looking in, not to mention a million other variables.  What I know in my head is that when I see myself in my dorm room mirror, and I think quietly that I look big enough as it is, and maybe I should stop trying to gain, I remind myself that this view is skewed.  I'm close to the mirror, and have my own mental image of myself that warps reality a bit.  Anyone around me would tell me I look like a rail.  I know that.  I don't look big to others, and therefore I tell myself I shouldn't look big to my own eyes either.  I only weigh 162 for goodness sake.  162 lbs ISN'T big, especially if you're 5'11".

I also keep looking at pictures of my weightlifting idols.  Klokov, Chigishev, Ilin, Dolega, all 105 kg or 105+kg lifters.  They are huge, with ginormous amounts of USEFUL muscle.  I tell myself I need to look and perform like them, and I won't stop training or eating until I do.  I tell myself every bite and every squat will bring me one step closer to glory, and when I achieve that, I won't look half bad regardless.  How could I?  Tons of healthy food, tons of exercise, what could go wrong?  So what if my abs aren't quite visible.  When I throw 230 kg over my head, I don't think anyone will care, and I don't think I will either.

Dmitry Klokov, probably my favorite lifter (my height too)

Evgeny Chigishev, the pure essence of POWER

So my friends, if you're on a journey to get bigger, and are second guessing the weight gain, remember to take a deep breath, realize that abs aren't all that matters in the world, and grab a sweet potato.  Train hard, eat big, get strong, grab glory.  I won't stop until I do...that's for sure.

The Ultimate Tilapia Sandwich

A foodguru802 original recipe!  This sandwich is extremely healthy in almost every way, and it will not only taste remarkably delicious, but will help support lean muscle mass, as well as fit into your daily caloric intake quite effortlessly.  You can also make it as spicy as you'd like (as I show you)  Check out the video!

Remember, this sandwich has over 40 grams of protein, and less than 320 calories!  It also has great complex carbohydrates that will keep you energized all day.

I mean seriously, what else could you ask for?

The War Against Catabolism

Here's something fun to try:  Go up to the biggest, most shredded, most muscular dude you know, and say nothing to him but "catabolic."  Then proceed to watch him run and hide in the corner, frantically trying to mix up a protein shake and down it in as little time as possible.  There, see?  No need to be afraid of bigger guys anymore.

OK, so maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but to any sort of fitness pro, catabolic can be a scary word.  In its simplest form, catabolism means nothing but the breakdown of molecules into simpler forms, and releasing energy in the process.  This happens all the time in your body, and actually is what digestion is defined as.  During exercise, your body is in a state of catabolism, breaking down nutrients and releasing energy to fuel those hard working muscles.  But once all those glucose/glycogen energy stores are depleted, your body has no choice but to start breaking down muscle in an attempt to find more energy to use.  When your muscles break down, you start to feel a burn, usually caused by the combination of lactate buildup and tears in your muscle fibers.  This isn't a completely bad thing, because after your workout, your body makes it a priority to build back your muscle bigger and stronger than it was previously in hopes to avoid future states of the same "injury."   And if you have a post workout meal (WHICH YOU SHOULD), you can very rapidly throw your body from a catabolic, muscle eating state, to an anabolic, or growth state.

So catabolism isn't always a bad thing, however there are definitely times when you DON'T want to be catabolic.  Remember, basically any time your body is catabolic, you can't get bigger and stronger.  It simply won't happen, as your body is eating muscle instead of building it.  Therefore, it's pretty safe to say that other than intense exercise, you want your body in a purely anabolic state of muscle growth and repair.  Remember, your muscles don't grow while working out, they grow while resting.

So how do you avoid a catabolic state throughout your day?  Well, the good news for you is that it's pretty hard to enter a catabolic state if you're getting proper nutrition and calorie intake.  But remember the two main causes of catabolism:  Working out intensely, and fasting.  If you're fasting for hours on end, you might be depriving your body of the anabolic state it needs to rebuild muscle after a workout.  In order to assure that you don't enter a catabolic state throughout your day, try these tips:

Eat Frequently And Consistently:  Most fitness enthusiasts will tell you to have 5-6 medium sized meals a day, and this is very good advice if you're looking to promote an anabolic state.  If you're always eating, your body is almost never waiting for food, and will always have new nutrients coming in to rebuild what you've broken down.  However, do you HAVE to eat 5-6 meals a day to keep anabolic?  Well, people used to think that was really the only way to do it, but for the most part, it's been disproven.  So no, 3 meals a day should suffice, and if you're into intermediate fasting, that has been shown to keep people in anabolic states as well.  I guess I'm still on the old train though, and I'd say if you can, eat more frequently than not.  Better safe than sorry, right?

Eat After Your Workout:  I've already mentioned this one above, but post workout nutrition is EXTREMELY important to prevent continued catabolism after an intense workout.  Your body is already pretty beaten up after you've racked the weights or stopped the treadmill, and is already in the process of breaking down your muscle to very weakened levels.  It's quite advisable to get out of this catabolic state ASAP, in order to see the best gains.  So have a good amount of protein, and a few carbohydrates (about a quarter of your daily intake) to get your body building instead of breaking.  A protein shake and a banana or some oats are a couple of great choices.

Eat Before Bed:  Tell me something; when's the longest period of time you will have to go without food?  Night time of course!  Or more accurately, when you're sleeping, whenever that may be for you.  Unfortunately, that's also the time your body is doing the most muscle repair, and therefore it's crucial to have nutrients available for your body to use when it's repairing muscle.  There's this stupid thought that a couple hours before bed is a time when you should avoid food at all costs because your body won't get a chance to use the nutrients it provides before you go to sleep, and therefore it'll just get stored as fat.  That's ridiculous.  If you're eating within your calorie range, you won't store fat no matter when you eat.  And believe me, your body will thank you for the food you give it before you hit the hay.  I can promise you'll see big muscle gains too, because this is the largest time of muscle growth in the day.

So what should you eat before bed?  The general rule is to have a food rich in healthy fats, which will help to slow digestion, and a slower acting protein (casein.)  Probably one of the most famous pre-bedtime meals is some natural peanut butter and some cottage cheese.  This will provide you with a whole bunch of healthy unsaturated fats, as well as a ton of casein protein.  The amount of each you consume will depend entirely on your goals and your calorie requirements, so study up!

Catabolic states are a natural occurrence, and shouldn't be considered bad, but if you're looking to get as fit and lean as you can be, you want to make sure your body can build up muscle in the most efficient way possible.  I've given you a few tips, so now you know what to do and what to watch out for.  If you have any questions, just post a comment, I'm guaranteed to respond.

GOOD LUCK!

Sources:
http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/body-building/what-is-a-catabolic-state.html 
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/david7.htm 

Caveman Eats: The Paleo Diet

At some point along the line of human evolution, we must've done something wrong when it came to nutrition.  Or maybe, we did a whole BUNCH of things wrong.  I'm not exactly sure when wild meats and raw vegetables were replaced with processed, starchy foods, but I can promise you it was a dark day for health and fitness.  Sure, it's pretty obvious to see that we didn't mean to stray away from nature and all its goodness, and that new age processed food was seen as an advancement and modern convinience instead of a silent killer.  But wouldn't it be nice to get back to how things were, when all food was natural, and natural was good?

That ideal is exactly what the Paleolithic Diet tries to cater toward.  The "paleo diet," or "caveman diet" is basically a diet consisting of only foods that were available to the earliest of humans (alive in the paleolithic era, surprise surprise).  It's an interesting diet, and one that has quite a bit of potential in terms of health.  It also has quite the following in the health and fitness community, especially with crossfit athletes.  Some swear by it, saying that our bodies were never meant to consume more than what the paleo diet has to offer, and therefore filling your belly with paleo food is like filling your car with high octane gas.  Our body knows it, loves it, and runs with peak efficiency off of it.  But is it true?  And what foods exactly are in this caveman's buffet?

Meat:  Caveman say "ugh ugh me like meat!"  Seriously, this diet definitely encourages the consumption of lean meats from almost any source, such as beef, pork, chicken, buffalo, alligator, rabbit, and pretty much anything else you can think of.  Personally, I don't really know about paleolithic humans and if they had cows or not, but I do really like this aspect of the diet.  Lean meat is completely essential for the body as far as nutrients go, and the strong suggestion of lean meat consumption really helps to place this diet as a more favorable one for avid gym-goers.

Fish:  The paleo diet is packed with fish and shellfish too, which I LOVE.  Salmon, shrimp, crab, tuna, lobster, mackeral, you name it, you can probably eat it on the paleo diet.  These fish are not only an incredibly dense protein source, they're also very low calorie and packed with heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids.  Awesome!

Vegetables:  The paleo diet says you can eat pretty much any vegetable, as long as it's not starchy (like potatoes, yams, etc).  The diet pushes more for the raw consumption of these veggies, though obviously with modern commodities like ovens, microwaves, stovetops, etc, it's easy to make some pretty awesome recipes from the veggies and meats allowed on the diet.  Again, I'm very supportive of this part of the diet.  VEGETABLES RULE!

Fruits:  Any fruit you can think of is allowed on the caveman diet.  Early humans were supposedly able to easily pick off of trees and bushes, and therefore wouldn't be limited in what they could eat in terms of fruits.  Sounds great to me, I love fruit!  It's an incredible energy source and tastes absolutely delicious.  Who doesn't love a little natural sugar?

Nuts and Seeds:  According to the paleo diet, early humans were large consumers of many different nuts and seeds, and therefore foods like chestnuts, cashews, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, macadamia nuts, pine nuts, and sesame seeds are all encouraged on the paleo diet.  However, make sure to note that peanuts are NOT a nut, but actually a legume, which aren't allowed on the paleo diet.

Foods that AREN'T allowed on the paleo diet include:

Dairy foods: Again, according to the paleo diet (I'm not going off any sort of history source here other than what the diet claims), early humans wouldn't have been able to harvest or produce any sort of dairy products such as milk, cheese, or cream.  Because of widespread lactose intolerance, it's easy for paleo dieters to claim that our bodies haven't fully adapted to dairy products as an energy source.  I personally don't like this aspect of the diet, as I do believe that dairy has very large health benefits in the average individual.

Grains:  That's right, you heard me clearly, NO GRAINS on the paleo diet.  This means no oats, no amaranth, no quinoa, no rye, no rice, and no WHEAT.  That may sound strange to any sort of health nut, but paleo dieters claim early humans wouldn't have been able to create processed grains through any sort of method, and therefore we shouldn't consume them for an energy source.  I strongly disagree with this part of the diet. Oats and grains have extreme health benefits, and are an absolutely excellent source of long lasting, slow burning, complex carbohydrates.


Legumes:  This means beans.  No beans.  No peanuts, no chicpeas, no black beans, no green beans, no red beans, and no peas of any sort.  I don't like this part of the diet either, beans are an excellent source of plant protein and other important macro nutrients.

Starchy vegetables:  This means no potatoes or yams, or sweet potatoes, or tubers.  This basically kicks all bodybuilders out of the equation, because sweet potatoes are probably the main muscle building carb of choice, along with brown rice (which also isn't allowed).

Fatty meats: Bacon, fatty beef, fatty pork, etc.  Get the picture?

Also not allowed on the paleo diet are any sort of sweets or soft drinks, as they contain TONS of refined sugars and chemicals that cavemen certainly would NOT have had access to.  This aspect of the diet is quite useful in my honest opinion, as is any excuse to eliminate sweets from a diet.  Your body will perform much more efficiently with lower amounts of refined sugar, not to mention you'll be a MUCH more healthy person as a whole.

Here is a complete list of foods that are and aren't allowed in the paleo diet:  http://altmed.creighton.edu/Paleodiet/Foodlist.html

So here's the question, is the paleo diet a good choice, or a bad choice?  Personally, I give it a split decision.  There are aspects I REALLY like, and aspects I REALLY don't like.  It's great to focus on lean meats, vegetables, and seeds, but not so great to kick out dairy and grains.  Now let me be the first to say that their reasoning for doing so is deep and study-riddled, and wasn't just for the hell of it, so I'm not going to say they have no idea what they're doing.  Clearly they do, at least to a certain degree.  But I believe keeping grains and dairy in a diet is a much better choice for the average individual.  But hey, I guess don't knock it till you try it, right?  Many people have claimed PHENOMENAL body performance off of the paleo diet, and therefore for some people, it works.  Everybody's different, and everyone will respond differently to various food patterns.

The paleo diet is truly a unique approach to dieting, and in some ways it's a refreshing attempt to bring back the days when food was much simpler.  Give it a shot if you like, it definitely won't hurt you.  See how your body responds.  You never know, a caveman's life may be the life for you.

Eat clean, live simply, and as always, GOOD LUCK!

The Banana: A Fruit For The Gym

When it comes to lifting, running, jumping, swimming, climbing, biking, or any other gym/workout related activity, all carbs are NOT created equal.  It's common knowledge that our body needs carbs to fuel it during intense activity, and carbs to refuel it after that intense activity has been completed.  Your body is like a high performance engine, which runs on carbohydrates.  Without that fuel, you're not going to get very far.  And with low quality fuel, you may be able to function, but just barely.  You'll end up misfiring and running rough more than making all the power you could, if you want to continue with the engine analogy.  There are many great sources of carbohydrates out there, most of which are natural and delicious.  You might think of oats, whole wheat bread, vegetables, or brown rice, just to name a few.  But all these are complex carbs, and while they'll fuel your body extremely efficiently in the long run, sometimes you need a faster digesting carbohydrate to really give you that kick in the seat of your pants.  I'm talking about sugar.  That's right, that dangerous thing that so many fitness enthusiasts avoid like the plague.  I'm here to tell you that not all sugar is bad, especially right before and right after your workout.  And where's a great source of healthy, natural sugar?  Why...fruit, of course!

But guess what, when it comes to working out, not all fruits are created equal, either.  Most fruits are comprised mainly of the sugar called fructose, which isn't bad for you, but isn't optimal for muscle glycogen fueling/replenishment.  In fact, fructose can only be used toward refueling liver glycogen, not muscle glycogen.  There are, however, a few fruits that are higher in glucose rather than fructose.  Glucose can easily be used by the body to refill muscle glycogen stores, so these fruits would be a much better choice pre and post workout.  And what's the most optimal choice as far as fruits go?  Why, it's America's favorite fruit, the banana!

I personally love bananas.  I recently added one per meal into my diet, just to increase carbohydrate intake.  They're delicious, nutritious, and do wonders for your body.  As mentioned above, a banana pre-workout can really give you an added energy boost as all the simple sugars are converted into immediate muscle energy, and post workout a banana is an excellent way to refill muscle glycogen.  The glucose in bananas both spikes your blood insulin to encourage muscles to "suck up" all the nutrients you're giving them, and replenishes muscle glycogen levels at the same time so you'll be ready and willing to hit the weights even harder tomorrow.  A good insulin spike after a workout is exactly what you want, which is why a banana paired with a whey protein shake is an excellent way to ensure proper recovery after a hard workout session.

And if you're already a fruit lover, and perhaps been curious as to their effects on your workout and recovery, but didn't really know which kind to pick, just know that a banana is probably your best bet if you want great results!

But good, natural glucose isn't the only thing bananas have going for them, oh no.  In fact, they're absolutely loaded with all sorts of other nutrients that will do you a world of good:

-Bananas contain a decent amount of your daily vitamin C intake, about 11%.


-They also have a large amount of dietary fiber, about 3.5 grams for one large banana


-Bananas have no fat or cholesterol, and therefore are an extremely healthy snack choice, especially if you're looking for a little energy boost.


-Bananas are rich with potassium (16% of daily intake), which is the forgotten electrolyte.  A balance of sodium and potassium can help your body remain adequately hydrated and energized, as well as ensure proper neural function (clear thinking.)  Many people consume an excess of sodium, but not nearly enough potassium.  Cut out the table salt, add a banana, and see how good you feel!  

Potassium replenishment is also extremely important after a workout, as you've usually drained a good amount of electrolytes from your body.


Here are the nutritional facts for a large banana:

Nutrition Facts
Calories 121	(506 kJ)
% Daily Value 1
Total Fat	0.4g	< 1%
Sat. Fat	0.2g	< 1%
Cholesterol	0mg	0%
Sodium	1mg	< 1%
Total Carbs.	31g	10%
Dietary Fiber	3.5g	14%
Sugars	16.6g
Protein	1.5g
Calcium	6.8mg
Potassium	486.9mg

There it is, a little overview of my favorite workout fruit.  If your workout diet is lacking, add one or two bananas, as I did.  I can bet you'll see a huge improvement in your strength, stamina, and recovery.  Plus, they taste amazing, why wouldn't you want to have one?  And if you were merely confused on which fruit to choose for your workout goals, you can now feel secure in the fact that a banana will always be a better choice than an apple, a pear, an orange, etc, just because of its glucose-fructose ratio.  Cool stuff, right?

Keep on eating that magic yellow powerhouse!  GOOD LUCK!