RFTBLOG

By Hassan Wicker

Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth.

That bit of wisdom came from Franklin D. Roosevelt during a radio address in 1939, and though he wasn’t talking about fitness, it certainly applies to the following fat loss myths.

Myth #1: Eating Late at Night Makes You Fat

The Facts: Your body doesn’t have an internal timer that causes late night eats to be stored directly as fat. Weight gain happens when you eat too much and exercise too little - you could eat too much in the morning, the afternoon, or late at night and it would all result in weight gain.

* Your Solution: Consider how many calories you eat and burn each day, rather than when you eat.

Myth #2: Snacking Promotes Weight Gain

The Facts: Eating snacks throughout the day is actually a great way to keep your metabolism up and to avoid overeating at meals. However, if you snack on junk food then be prepared to pack on pounds.

* Your Solution: When it comes to snacking it’s all about what you snack on.

Myth #3: You Can Lose Fat Without Exercise

The Facts: Exercise and healthy eating go hand-in-hand when it comes to permanent fat loss. Your body needs exercise just as it needs to be fed a diet filled with fresh produce, whole grains and lean protein.

* Your Solution: Accept exercise as a part of your daily lifestyle.

Myth #4: Fat Free Means ‘All-You-Can-Eat’

The Facts: It’s time to close your eyes and mentally erase everything that the 90’s taught about fat-free dieting. Fat-free foods are not the equivalent of flavored air – they contain plenty of calories and often lots of sugar.

* Your Solution: Be mindful of calories when eating fat-free foods.

Myth #5: Eat as Little as Possible for Maximum Fat Loss

The Facts: Eating too little causes your metabolism to shut down and puts your body into starvation mode, and prone to store fat rather than burn it.

* Your Solution: When it comes to fat loss think burn rather than starve.

Myth #6: Diet Pills Work for Fat Loss

The Facts: The only thing that diet pills are capable of burning is the extra cash in your wallet. Billions of diet pills are sold every year – all to no avail.

* Your Solution: Healthy eating and exercise can never be replaced by a pill.

Myth #7: You Should Never Eat Fast Food

The Facts: It’s all about what you order. Fried, processed and salty foods will cause weight gain - don’t order them. Lean meat, salad, vegetables and beans, on the other hand, are available at many fast food chains - order these instead.

* Your Solution: When eating fast food skip the fried items, stick with lean meats and salads.

Trying to lose weight is often a frustrating experience. In a world filled with quick fixes, lasting weight loss is not something that happens overnight. Remember that it took time to gain the weight, so it will also take some time to lose it.

Permanent weight loss happens as a result of a proper exercise and diet plan - my specialty.

Call or reply to this email and together we will customize a diet and exercise plan designed to help you lose the weight, tone your body and feel fantastic.
Don’t Try

The New Year is still fresh and change is in the air. What do you want to change in your life this year? Whatever your goal, apply this philosophy to it: Do or do not. There is no try. This bit of wisdom didn’t stem from a former president…it came from a little guy named Yoda!
Roasted Citrus Cod

Want fish in a flash? This recipe offers a healthy and delicious serving of cod crusted with breadcrumbs and enhanced with citrus zest.
Yield: 6 servings

Here’s what you need…

* 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted)
* 1/4 up chopped parsley
* 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
* 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
* 1 teaspoon grated lime zest
* 6 (6 oz) skinless cod fillets (1.5 inches thick, with bones removed)
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon pepper

1. Preaheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Combine panko, butter, parsley and citrus zest until evenly mixed. Place the cod fillets on the prepared baking sheet. Season the fillets with salt and pepper. Top with the panko mixture, pressing it onto the fillets.
3. Roast until the breadcrumbs are browned and the cod is fully cooked, about 10 minutes.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 122 calories, 3.5g fat, 10g carbohydrate, .5g fiber, and 12g protein.

Spread the word. Forward this blog to your friends, family and coworkers .

 

Hassan

Please visit Wicked Training

Eating Right – Avoid those extra holiday pounds       By Fitness Anywhere

Acknowledged by Mayuri Mulji

Question:
Every winter I’m bombarded with bad choices. Between trays of mini quiches and holiday travel plans getting to the gym is almost impossible. By New Year’s I’m feeling regret and those extra pounds.  How can I still participate in the festivities without losing all my hard work to stay fit this year?

Answer: 

Here we are… the beginning of November and looming on the horizon are the three biggest consumption holidays of the year. Turkeys are fighting over the best hiding spot in the barnyard and the top button on your pants is bracing itself for the inevitable strain of the holiday season. The challenges of staying fit and trim during this time is confounded further by the outrageous propagation of Christmas parties that overtake the schedule and push caloric intake to startling new highs.

So the big question…How does one enjoy the holiday and avoid the bulge?

Here are some best practice tips that will help you control the holiday madness and stay fit in the process.

Increased social obligations and holiday shopping pressure put a serious squeeze on time.

This is perhaps the biggest culprit. Less time and increased pressure means that the first thing to fall off the wagon is training followed closely by nutrition. Both the holiday parties and last minute insanity of rabid consumerism is enough to derail even the most disciplined exerciser. Rushing around under holiday pressure also leads to poor meal choices. This, coupled with overeating at buffet style Christmas parties is a recipe for disaster. Now we’re not exercising, eating poorly and at volumes that rival that of the NY Giants offensive line.
Let’s face it - When the holidays come around, there simply isn’t the same amount of time but if we plan ahead we can get a long way toward maintaining our form.

The first step is to make a plan. Take some time this week to identify your Christmas schedule. When are the parties, kid’s functions and strategic shopping days? The process will serve to identify the tight spots in the schedule and focus you on them. Going through this process goes a long way toward the prevention of being overwhelmed by the holidays and increasing the chances of you holding together your training schedule.

Adapt your training plan to accommodate your schedule. It’s easy to get frustrated when your expectations are not in line with the reality of the silly season. The realization that it just isn’t possible to fit in a regular routine leads to the tendency to blow it off completely. Now is the time to experiment with super sets, circuits, and integrated all body exercises, making your training as lean and time efficient as possible.  It might be necessary to pare back on the frequency of your training. The important concept here is that some is a lot better than none. Be OK with making some programming changes or concessions to keep your adherence as high as possible.

No matter how you slice it, it’s tough to stay on track when you travel. Evaluate your travel schedule and come up with solutions in advance of when and how you’ll exercise while you’re visiting relative. A little work on the front end of any holiday travel will reap great rewards and as an additional side benefit, might serve to give you an hour of solace from your beloved in-laws, whose company you enjoy but is best sampled in small doses.

Another great plan is to start an active tradition. This is a great way to add loads of fun to the holidays that will become cherished events and also serve to keep the entire family active. An example… what happens between gift opening and Christmas dinner? This is a perfect time to get the entire family together for some fun and fresh air but if you’re not careful, it will become an unadulterated display of gluttony from gift opening to dinner. Go for a cross-country ski or organize the annual family football or hockey game… losing team washes the Christmas dinner dishes.  While this might be a bit extreme for most, this is a great time to do something fun and re-enforce the old adage - “the family that plays together - stays together”.

Along the same vein, commit to some activity on January 1st. Whether it be meeting a friend to cross country ski or signing up for the New Year’s Day 10 K run - having a physical commitment on the 1st will start you off on the right foot and generate some great early momentum to lead into the New Year. Another side benefit of this practice is that it may help to keep consumption in check on New Year’s Eve. It’s amazing how an underlying need for functionality or the risk of great and self-afflicted suffering the next day can lurk in the back of your mind.

While most of the above tips have emphasized the physical side of things, of equal or more importance to the quest to maintain fitness and physique is successfully controlling nutrition. These are excellent practices to observe throughout the year but may be of particular value during the holidays.
Plan your meals for the week and do as much prep as possible ahead of time. Convenience is key to adherence in exercise and the same is true of nutrition. One easy practice to adopt is to chop 1/2 of your veggies when you get back from the grocery store. This promotes much better intake of vegetables, an area where many people are deficient and also makes for fast and convenient snacks which serves the harried shopper very well.

If you know you’re headed to a Christmas party that looks suspiciously like the 7-day feast of feasts, have a small meal several hours prior to the party. This will help you keep your own consumption to a reasonable volume. Along a similar vein, be aware of beverage intake. Keeping yourself well hydrated with water will reduce cravings and help to avoid the surprising volume of empty calories that many pull in via fruit juice, wine or beer.

Finally understand that temptation is everywhere… Just because it’s Christmas doesn’t mean you cut loose and eat like a jackass! Seriously, you haven’t read this far because you’re not interested in keeping it together this holiday season. You do need to apply some personal discipline to make it happen. Stay fit and healthy during the Holiday Season.
By Fitness Anywhere
Acknowledged by Mayuri Mulji
Question:
Every winter I’m bombarded with bad choices. Between trays of mini quiches and holiday travel plans getting to the gym is almost impossible. By New Year’s I’m feeling regret and those extra pounds.  How can I still participate in the festivities without losing all my hard work to stay fit this year?

Answer:
Here we are… the beginning of November and looming on the horizon are the three biggest consumption holidays of the year. Turkeys are fighting over the best hiding spot in the barnyard and the top button on your pants is bracing itself for the inevitable strain of the holiday season. The challenges of staying fit and trim during this time is confounded further by the outrageous propagation of Christmas parties that overtake the schedule and push caloric intake to startling new highs.

So the big question…How does one enjoy the holiday and avoid the bulge?

Here are some best practice tips that will help you control the holiday madness and stay fit in the process.

Increased social obligations and holiday shopping pressure put a serious squeeze on time.

This is perhaps the biggest culprit. Less time and increased pressure means that the first thing to fall off the wagon is training followed closely by nutrition. Both the holiday parties and last minute insanity of rabid consumerism is enough to derail even the most disciplined exerciser. Rushing around under holiday pressure also leads to poor meal choices. This, coupled with overeating at buffet style Christmas parties is a recipe for disaster. Now we’re not exercising, eating poorly and at volumes that rival that of the NY Giants offensive line.
Let’s face it - When the holidays come around, there simply isn’t the same amount of time but if we plan ahead we can get a long way toward maintaining our form.

The first step is to make a plan. Take some time this week to identify your Christmas schedule. When are the parties, kid’s functions and strategic shopping days? The process will serve to identify the tight spots in the schedule and focus you on them. Going through this process goes a long way toward the prevention of being overwhelmed by the holidays and increasing the chances of you holding together your training schedule.

Adapt your training plan to accommodate your schedule. It’s easy to get frustrated when your expectations are not in line with the reality of the silly season. The realization that it just isn’t possible to fit in a regular routine leads to the tendency to blow it off completely. Now is the time to experiment with super sets, circuits, and integrated all body exercises, making your training as lean and time efficient as possible.  It might be necessary to pare back on the frequency of your training. The important concept here is that some is a lot better than none. Be OK with making some programming changes or concessions to keep your adherence as high as possible.

No matter how you slice it, it’s tough to stay on track when you travel. Evaluate your travel schedule and come up with solutions in advance of when and how you’ll exercise while you’re visiting relative. A little work on the front end of any holiday travel will reap great rewards and as an additional side benefit, might serve to give you an hour of solace from your beloved in-laws, whose company you enjoy but is best sampled in small doses.

Another great plan is to start an active tradition. This is a great way to add loads of fun to the holidays that will become cherished events and also serve to keep the entire family active. An example… what happens between gift opening and Christmas dinner? This is a perfect time to get the entire family together for some fun and fresh air but if you’re not careful, it will become an unadulterated display of gluttony from gift opening to dinner. Go for a cross-country ski or organize the annual family football or hockey game… losing team washes the Christmas dinner dishes.  While this might be a bit extreme for most, this is a great time to do something fun and re-enforce the old adage - “the family that plays together - stays together”.

Along the same vein, commit to some activity on January 1st. Whether it be meeting a friend to cross country ski or signing up for the New Year’s Day 10 K run - having a physical commitment on the 1st will start you off on the right foot and generate some great early momentum to lead into the New Year. Another side benefit of this practice is that it may help to keep consumption in check on New Year’s Eve. It’s amazing how an underlying need for functionality or the risk of great and self-afflicted suffering the next day can lurk in the back of your mind.

While most of the above tips have emphasized the physical side of things, of equal or more importance to the quest to maintain fitness and physique is successfully controlling nutrition. These are excellent practices to observe throughout the year but may be of particular value during the holidays.
Plan your meals for the week and do as much prep as possible ahead of time. Convenience is key to adherence in exercise and the same is true of nutrition. One easy practice to adopt is to chop 1/2 of your veggies when you get back from the grocery store. This promotes much better intake of vegetables, an area where many people are deficient and also makes for fast and convenient snacks which serves the harried shopper very well.

If you know you’re headed to a Christmas party that looks suspiciously like the 7-day feast of feasts, have a small meal several hours prior to the party. This will help you keep your own consumption to a reasonable volume. Along a similar vein, be aware of beverage intake. Keeping yourself well hydrated with water will reduce cravings and help to avoid the surprising volume of empty calories that many pull in via fruit juice, wine or beer.

Finally understand that temptation is everywhere… Just because it’s Christmas doesn’t mean you cut loose and eat like a jackass! Seriously, you haven’t read this far because you’re not interested in keeping it together this holiday season. You do need to apply some personal discipline to make it happen. Stay fit and healthy during the Holiday Season.