Private Training Gets Results

Gimmicks Don't

December 28th 2009

Brookfield 262-780-6350 | Delafield 262-646-5444 | Wauwatosa 414-453-9800| Woodbury, MN 651-436-8137

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Brookfield

Delafield

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Portion Control Made Easy

Portion control, or consciously limiting the size of your meals and snacks, is one of the most effective and reliable ways to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. A study published in Obesity Research found that portion control produced more weight loss in a pool of obese subjects than reduced fat intake, increased fruit and vegetable consumption, and increased exercise.

It’s not just obese men and women who can benefit from eating smaller portions. Most of us, regardless of our size, eat more food than our grandparents did. In fact, research suggests that the average American male eats seven percent more calories per day now than he did in 1980, while the average American woman consumes 17 percent more calories daily.
Practicing portion control can be difficult, however. A study by Barbara Rolls, Ph.D., the author of Volumetrics, found that when subjects were served larger-than-normal portions for 11 days, they not only ate more during those 11 days, but they continued to eat more afterwards, on their own. It seems we get accustomed to overeating, and as a result we may feel hungry and deprived when we try to switch from excessive portions to normal-size portions.

Based on these facts, nutrition researchers have lately focused on developing strategies to enable people to eat smaller portions without feeling hungry and deprived. One very promising strategy that has emerged from these investigations is that of the hunger-spoiling appetizer. To understand how this strategy works, you must first understand something about how the body produces the feeling of satiety, or fullness.

Most people know intuitively that feelings of fullness are generated from the stomach. When you eat, your stomach distends, or stretches. The distension of your stomach stimulates the release of a protein called cholecystokinin, or CCK. When CCK is released, the first thing it does is to close down the valve from the stomach into the GI tract. This slows the movement of food from the stomach. The longer food stays in your stomach, the more full you feel. Because of its effects, CCK is sometimes referred to as the “feel-full” protein.

Not all foods are equal when it comes to stimulating CCK and thus producing fullness. Researchers such as Tanya Little, Ph.D., at the Department of Medicine at Hope Hospital in Manchester, United Kingdom, have found that particular types of proteins, protein fractions, fats and fibers have an especially powerful hunger-killing effect compared to other nutrients. “Our studies have demonstrated that a nutritional formulation containing these ingredients, marketed as Satiatrim, dramatically slows the movement of food through the stomach, acting as a sort of natural gastric pacemaker” says Little. “It achieves this effect by stimulating the release of a number of gut peptides, including cholecystokinin (CCK). The end result is that it enhances and extends satiety and reduces the amount of food consumed in a subsequent meal.”

You can achieve a similar effect, although somewhat less efficiently, says Little, using regular foods. Just eat a small appetizer comprising foods that are rich in one or more of these filling nutrients before you eat a full meal. The appetizer will stimulate CCK, which will start to close the valve between your stomach and intestine before you dig into your main meal, causing food to stay in your stomach longer so you fill up faster. You could always force yourself to eat a normal-size meal after consuming such an appetizer, but the idea is to take advantage of your reduced hunger by practicing portion control.

So what are the best hunger-spoiling appetizers? They include low-fat dairy foods, which contain hunger-spoiling whey protein; soy-based foods, which contain hunger-spoiling protease enzymes; olive oil, avocados and macadamia nuts, which have high levels of hunger-spoiling oleic acid; and wheat, tomatoes and asparagus, which are rich in hunger-spoiling oligofructose (a type of fiber).

Here are a few suggested hunger-spoiling appetizers to help you practice portion control without hunger and feelings of deprivation:
Whole-wheat crackers with reduced-fat cheddar cheese

Edamame (steamed soy beans)
Garden salad with tomatoes, avocado and olive oil dressing
Miso soup
Glass of skim milk
Tomato soup
Steamed asparagus with olive oil dressing

Active Expert Matt Fitzgerald is a certified sports nutritionist and the author of several books on triathlon and running, including Runner's World Performance Nutrition for Runners (Rodale, 2005).

Recipe of the Week

Shrimp Arrabbiata

This dish's name--arrabbiata--comes from the Italian word for "angry" because of the spicy tomato and red pepper sauce. If you want, double the tomato sauce and freeze half for a jump start on a future meal.
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 1 cup shrimp mixture and 1 cup pasta)

Ingredients

6 ounces fresh linguine
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup prechopped onion
2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

Cook pasta according to the package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain and keep warm.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle shrimp with salt; add shrimp to pan. Cook 2 minutes on each side or until shrimp are done. Transfer shrimp to a bowl. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in pan. Add onion, minced garlic, basil, and crushed red pepper to pan; sauté 1 minute. Add tomato paste and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cook 3 minutes or just until sauce begins to thicken. Return shrimp to pan; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Add parsley to the pan, stirring well to combine. Serve over pasta.

Quotes of The Week!
	Don’t count the days – make the days count. – author unknown

Better Together: Training + Nutrition:
Introducing Nutrition Together. Now, in addition to one-on-one personal training, your Fitness Together program inculdes personalized nutritional counseling to help you eat right and support your fitness goals.

Alist

Milwaukee's Best Personal Trainers 2009

Passport to Health and Fitness
Don't Let A Friend Fly Solo

Collect Your Gifts: When we receive your referrals, we'll send you a thank you gift to let you know how much we sincerely appreciate the trust you have placed in us by referring a friend, associate or family member. With every referral you will also be entered into a drawing for our Monthly, Quarterly and Yearly travel get away prizes.

Simply click here or log on to www.ftpassport.com to enter your friends and family members to receive a complimentary introductory session and free gift when they com in for their session. Passports are also available in the studio, for you convenience.

Top 6 Reasons To Lift Weights

If you’re one of those people who constantly sticks to the cardio machines, I think its important you take a look at this. I’ve compiled a list of my top 6 best reasons to workout using weights. This means using things like dumbbells, barbells, hammer strength machines and cable machines for strength training.

Fat Loss - This is the #1 reason to lift weights in my opinion. Most people set their man goal as fat loss so they spend hours on the treadmill. Besides being boring and a sure fire way to get sick of going to the gym, limiting yourself to only doing cardio is also limiting your fat loss results. Countless times I have said “The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn…even when you are just sitting at your desk.” So its easy to understand why weight training is beneficial to fat loss.

Strength – Everyone wants to be stronger! If they don’t, they should. Being strong can be beneficial EVERYDAY not just in the gym. Lets say you are moving from one house or apartment to another. Don’t you think someone who does weight training regularly will have an easier time lifting heavy boxes compared to someone who never touched a dumbbell in their life? Lift your weights, build your muscle and get strong!

Results – If you haven’t been seeing results in the gym nothing is going to boost progress like a good solid weight training routine.

Athletic Performance - Those professional football players you see on ESPN. Yeah, they workout… its not just an illusion. Those guys wouldn’t be the athletes they are today if they stuck solely to a good diet and cardio. Its important for them to hit the weights.

Happiness - When you workout, you release endorphins. Endorphins are chemical released by your brain that contribute to stress relief and an overall feeling of happiness. If you’ve had a crummy day, go pick up a set up dumbbells and take it out on the gym equipment.

Reduced Risk of Disease – According to several studies weight training can reduce the risk of heart disease by improving your overall cardiovascular health and lowering your bad cholesterol. Also weight training can reduce the risk of diabetes by improving the way your body processes sugar.

Brookfield 262.780.6350 | Delafield 262.646.5444 | Wauwatosa 414.453.9800 | Woodbury, MN 651.436.8137