mx43 | Posted on Thursday, July 7, 2016 at 3:46PM | Post a Comment | Share Article | Email Article 
When you're looking to get fit and lean, you've got to make every calorie count
By selene yaeger June 27, 2016
There's more to eating well than just cutting calories
You’ve likely heard and read dozens (maybe hundreds) of times that to lose weight, you need to eat fewer calories than you burn and/or burn more calories than you eat—3,500 of them for each pound to be exact. Those numbers are based on the thermodynamics of food when it’s burned with a Bunsen burner in a lab. You are not a Bunsen burner. The food you eat is not incinerated in some coal stove inside your body. What you eat goes through a digestive process that triggers a cascade of metabolic responses that dictate appetite, weight, fat storage, metabolic response and more.
That means the way the human body reacts to 500 calories from Little Debbie Swiss Rolls is dramatically different from how it reacts to 500 calories in the form of roasted chicken with a side of kale. In fact, in one Purdue study where researchers had men and women add 500 calories of peanuts a day to their diet for 8 weeks, they not only didn’t gain weight, but also their triglyceride levels dropped by as much as 24 percent.
How’d that happen? Scientists continue to work on that. But a prevailing theory is that foods rich in healthy fats and protein are more satisfying so you eat less junk that isn’t; protein-rich foods increase your digestive metabolism, so you burn more calories, and foods like nuts are high in fiber, so a fair amount of their caloric energy passes through you unabsorbed.
“One easy way to understand this is to ask yourself what would make you feel more full, 300 calories of apple juice (about 2 ½ cups) or 300 calories of apples (about 4 apples),” says the lead author of that peanut study, Richard D. Mattes, MPH, PhD, RD, director of the Ingestive Behavior Research Center at Purdue University. Metabolically speaking, getting calories from whole fruits like apples and berries protects you from weight gain and diseases like diabetes, while juice raises your risk for both.
This is all really important to understand when you’re looking at weight loss as well as overall health and certainly for cycling performance. If you want to count calories for health and weight loss, you need to make your calories count. Here’s 15 ways to slash the empty ones and get more of the ones you need most.
Eat Your Juice
One cup of orange juice contains 110 calories, 23 grams of sugar, and zero fiber. One orange comes in at just 62 calories, 12 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of fiber, the latter of which slows the sugar flow into your bloodstream and means you absorb fewer calories. Eating fruit instead of juice also slashes your risk for diabetes by up to 26 percent while drinking juice raises it 8 percent, according to a study of 187,382 people published in the British Medical Journal. Making the switch can save you hundreds of sugary calories a week.
Have Nuttier Snacks
Instead of eating that snack bag of chips, pour yourself a palmful of nuts. At 160 to 200 calories (the amount in those chips or pretzels) an ounce, nuts are calorie dense. But unlike those processed snack foods, they help you lose weight. One study published in the Journal of Nutrition found an inverse association between regular nut consumption and body mass index, while another published in the same journal found that people who ate nuts two or more times a week had less risk for weight gain and obesity over an 8 year period than their peers who rarely ate them. They’re also rich in muscle-building protein and inflammation-reducing healthy fatty acids as well as essential vitamins and minerals cyclists need.
Choose to Chew
You already know that the closer food is to its natural form, the better it is for your health. Well, whole foods are also better for your waistline. In a study of 450 students published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Japanese researchers found that those who regularly ate foods that required work to chew and eat had significantly leaner waistlines than those who generally consumed processed, easy to chew foods. Those findings were echoed in an animal study where mice eating softened feed actually became obese over the course of 5 ½ months, while those eating their usual hard feed saw no weight gains. Simple swaps like a steak over a burger, whole fruits and veggies rather than smoothies and trail mix over chips can add up to hundreds of calories burned and saved over time.
Show up Late to Happy Hour
Long-term studies have found that those who drink moderately—about a drink a day—gain less weight overtime than those who abstain. But it’s easy to swing too far in the other direction and pack on pounds with too much booze consumption. Alcohol not only has more calories (7) per gram compared to carbs and protein, which have 4 calories per gram, but also the body burns it first. So if you flood your system with a fishbowl margarita, you won’t be burning anything else for hours. With your inhibitions blunted with booze, you’ll also likely toss down a few hundred more in the form of bar food. Stick to one or two weight-healthy drinks a day by being the last to show up at the bar and the first to leave.
Stream Your Own Soda
Half the people in the US get at least 200 calories a day from sugary soft drinks. Not surprising when you consider that a 20-ounce soda contains 240 calories in the form of 15 teaspoons of sugar. It’s flat-out awful for you and packs on pounds and raises your risk for diabetes the more you drink. In a review of 30 studies, researchers found a link between soda consumption and weight gain and obesity in both children and adults. If you like bubbly flavored beverages, buy a Sodastream water carbonator, bubble up some plain water, squeeze in a lemon and lime and save yourself hundreds of calories a day. And don’t fall for the diet soda trap—it’s no better than the sugary stuff for your metabolic health and has been linked to weight gain.
Eat in
Cooking your own meals can easily save you several-hundred calories per meal and increase the nutritional quality of your diet exponentially. Restaurants not only serve larger portions than what you’d typically eat at home, but also fill their meals with hidden fats and sugars that ramp up the calorie content. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that the average chain restaurant meal delivered a whopping 1,128 calories—nearly half a day’s worth. Even lunches tipped the caloric scales at over 1,000. You can make an abundance of healthy, delicious lunches for 600 calories or less at home.
Slow Your Roll
Inhaling your food like an alpha wolf defending his kill from the pack isn’t just impolite (especially if you are indeed eating with others), but can also cause you to eat hundreds of extra calories throughout the day. A study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that quick eaters not only consumed more than 10 percent more calories, but also felt less satisfied when the meal was done—and hence more likely to keep snacking afterward. The slow eaters also drank about a half-cup more water during the meal, which helps increase metabolism and keep calorie intake in check. Take smaller bites, chew each bite twice as long as you usually do, and put down your utensils between bites.
Aim For 8 Hours of Sleep a Night
Regularly shortchanging your sleep packs on pounds as your stress hormones like cortisol rise and your body goes into fat-storage mode—and that’s just half of the double-whammy too little sleep delivers to your waistline. You’re also likely to eat more—like 300 calories a day more. When a team of researchers took a group of men and women who regularly slept a healthy 7 to 9 hours a night and had them cut their shut eye time in half for five days, the sleep deprived volunteers responded by increasing their calorie consumption from 2518 calories a day to 2814 calories, much of it in the form of fat. Keep your calories and cortisol in check by getting at least 7 hours of quality sleep a night.
Exercise before Breakfast
Delay breakfast until after your ride or workout. You’ll fire up your fat burning and ultimately become a better fat burner not just while you exercise, but all day long. In a study published in EBioMedicine, Japanese researchers found that when you exercise before breakfast you can burn between 260 and 280 more calories throughout the day than when you exercise at other times.
Make It Mushroom Monday, Any Day
Meaty mushrooms like shitakes, portobellos, and white buttons make good substitutes for beef in pasta dishes, soups and even sandwiches and burgers. They also save a ton of calories without leaving you hungry. In a study published in Appetite, Johns Hopkins researchers found that men and women who chose mushroom-based lunches over beef-based afternoon meals ate 444 fewer calories while still feeling just as satisfied.
Eat Mindfully and Purposefully
Mindful eating sounds new agey, but it’s more important than ever in our modern-day distracted lives, where we are eating over our cell phones while inadvertently bingeing on a block of cheese while binge-watching the latest dish from Netflix. Asking yourself questions like why you’re eating (are you just bored?), what you’re eating (is it the best choice to fuel your active body?) and how much you should eat (do you need three slices of Sicilian or will 2 or even 1 do?) and then tuning into the taste of your meal. It can help you slash hundreds of calories a day. In one study, people with binge-eating disorders were actually able to reduce their weekly binge episodes from more than 4 per week to 1 ½ through mindful eating practices. Even if you don’t chronically binge eat, chances are you mindlessly toss back more than you intend to at least now and then.
Quench Your Thirst before You Eat
Pour yourself a pint (of water) and drink it before your next meal, and you may eat about 90 fewer calories by the time you push away from the table, according to a study by researchers at Virginia Tech. Practice it three times a day and you may not only spare yourself close to 300 calories, but also will automatically get the fluid you need to stay well hydrated. Find plain water kind of blah? Spice it up with these tricks.
Eat Ancient Grains
When most Americans think grain, they think wheat, rice and corn. But there are some rising stars like amaranth, kamut, freekeh, farro, teff, millet, and, of course, quinoa that are blasting out of the past and nudging their way onto mainstream supermarket shelves. These so called ancient grains are well worth a try because they tend to be higher in fiber and protein—both of which fill you up faster and stoke your metabolism higher—than the typical wheat and rice staples in our diet. Research shows that eating the recommended amount of daily fiber—38 grams a day for men, 25 grams a day for women—significantly reduces the risk of gaining weight over time.
Cook Rice Like This
Resistant starch is a type of starch your body doesn’t absorb from foods like rice, beans, pasta, bananas (and their peels), and other starchy foods. You can actually manipulate the amount of this calorie-saver in your rice dishes with a simple cooking trick: Just add a teaspoon of coconut oil to the boiling water. Then add a half a cup of rice. Simmer for 40 minutes or boil for 25. Then—and this is key—refrigerate it overnight (or 12 hours). You reduce the calories in a given serving by up to 60 percent, which means you get just 100 calories versus 200 calories per cup for white rice.
Eat More (Yes, More) Eggs
Now that the USDA recommended dietary restrictions on these nutrition-packed portable orbs is over, you can—and should—eat them more often, especially if you’re looking to lose weight. In a study published in the International Journal of Obesity, researchers from Louisiana State University found that men and women who ate two eggs for breakfast lost 65 percent more weight after two months than their peers who ate a bagel breakfast that contained the same number of calories. That’s likely because as other research points out, eggs improve satiety, so you’re likely to eat fewer calories the rest of the day. They’re also a lower-calorie option than many breakfast foods. Two large eggs contain just 150 calories, while one large blueberry muffin comes in at 385—twice as much.
mx43 | Posted on Wednesday, June 29, 2016 at 4:40PM | Post a Comment | Share Article | Email Article
Some people say that certain foods can melt your spare tire. But the legitimacy of those claims is largely inflated.
BY CHRIS MOHR
PHOTOGRAPH BY SHUTTERSTOCK
The idea is a compelling one: If you eat the right foods, your metabolism switches into overdrive and your body magically starts depleting its fat stores.
So, the theory goes, if you’d just eat more egg whites, or garlic, or grapefruit, you’d lose the weight you’d want.
Unfortunately, your body just doesn’t work this way.
Yes, carbohydrates, dietary fat, and protein can increase your metabolism (your body’s ability to convert food to energy) slightly, but it’s still a relatively small increase in the long run.
The fact is that when you eat any food, your metabolism increases to digest and use the food’s calories for various functions. This is called the “thermic effect” of food—and the effect is always temporary. No one food can elevate your metabolism for extended periods.
Green tea, hot peppers, celery—they’ve all been touted as “fat-burning” foods, but research has repeatedly shown that none of them cause any measurable increase in metabolism.
Interestingly, though, some recent data suggests that while certain foods may not “burn” fat, you may not absorb as many calories from them as once thought.
For example, David Baer, MD, out of the US Department of Agriculture, studied the measured energy value of pistachios in the human diet.
Baer’s team found that the amount of calories study participants absorbed from pistachios was actually 5-percent less than the number of calories on the nutrition facts panel for the pistachios.
No, that’s not a substantial amount you should obsess over, but know this: Your body doesn’t absorb every calorie from the food you eat (some just pass through you undigested), particularly if that food contains fiber and/or protein.
Does this mean that eating pistachios will burn fat? Of course not.
But it lends evidence to the concept that the amount of calories you think you’re eating may not actually be what you’re eating.
Other foods have followed suit with the pistachio study: Apples, carrots, sweet potatoes, and beef are some examples. Scientists are still sorting out exactly what role protein and fiber play in non-absorbable calories.
What does this all mean for you?
1. Don’t believe the hype about certain foods possessing “fat-melting” properties.
2. This is just another reason to add more fiber- and protein-rich foods to your diet.
Try to include meat or seafood, vegetables and fruit, as well as complex carbohydrates at each meal. Though this won’t turn you into a metabolic machine, it will fuel your body and help you consume fewer calories from those foods you eat.
And it’s no coincidence that those exact same foods help to fuel muscle growth, fight disease, and keep you fuller for longer so you eat fewer calories over the course of a day. Bonus!
This article originally appeared on Men's Health.
mx43 | Posted on Friday, April 22, 2016 at 1:27PM | Post a Comment | Share Article | Email Article
Here’s how to use your bike to shed that dangerous spare tire
BY SELENE YEAGER APRIL 13, 2016
Grab a friend and try these weight-loss strategies on your next ride. PHOTOGRAPH BY BRADLEY P JOHNSON
Belly fat is bad news. While researchers debate the real health risks of a higher body mass index (BMI) or carrying a few extra pounds, everyone agrees that wearing too much weight around your waist is largely detrimental to your health.
Research shows that a waistline over 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women puts you at risk for heart disease even if you’re not technically overweight and otherwise in good health. Belly fat has also been linked to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar and diabetes. Again, bad news.
The good news is that you already own the best tool for shedding that bad-news belly fat: your bike. The key is performing a variety of workoutsthat build your fat-burning engine, rev your metabolism and the production of fat-burning hormones, suppress your appetite, and help you burn more fat and calories all day long. Yep, your bike can do all that. Here’s how. (Read Bike Your Butt Off! for a fully guided weight-loss plan for cyclists.)
Go hard. Do interval training once or twice a week (no need for more; stick to one day if you race or go hard on weekends). Numerous studies have found that high-intensity training significantly reduces total abdominal fat, including dangerous visceral (belly) fat more effectively than lower-intensity exercise. There are endless ways to do interval training. One simple example:
•Warm up: 10 to 15 minutes
•Pick up your effort so you’re working hard (a nine on a One-to-10 scale; you’re breathing hard, but not gasping) for 30 seconds to one minute.
•Go easy for one minute.
•Repeat a total of five times.
•Cool down for two to three minutes.
Research shows your body also unleashes human growth hormone, which helps you burn fat and maintain muscle, after just 10 to 30 seconds of high-intensity exercise. High-intensity exercise also appears to help curb your appetite and trigger hormones that regulate feelings of hunger and fullness better than lower-intensity exercise, so you’re less likely to overeat.
Keep it controlled and comfortable. Yes. We just told you to go hard to burn off unwanted belly fat—but don’t overdo it. Going hard all the time stresses your body and leaves you chronically inflamed, which can backfire by contributing to belly-fat storage. Cap the intensity to a couple times a week and take the rest of your weekly rides at a controlled, comfortable pace.
“Most recreational cyclists are doing too much high intensity training and they’re not getting leaner or faster,” says Iñigo San Millán, PhD, the director of the Exercise Physiology and Human Performance Lab at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. “Many of your rides should be in Zone 2,” he says. That’s an intensity where you can talk the whole time—about a five to six on that One-to-10 scale. “This is usually the intensity that elicits the highest fat oxidation for energy purposes,” says San Millán. These rides are not only good for burning fat, but also for building your slow-twitch, endurance muscle fibers; increasing capillary development; improving your ability to use lactate for energy; and making you a better fat-burner all the way around.
Aim for about 80/20. A number of coaches prescribe what is known as the “80/20 rule,” also called polarized training, for balancing training intensity. It’s definitely worth a try for burning off belly fat as well as for getting fitter and faster. The goal is to spend 80 percent of riding time at low intensity and 20 percent at moderate to hard intensity. That way, when it’s time to go hard, you have the freshness and energy reserves to go hard enough to maximize those interval efforts.
Hitting both intensities actually improves your abilities all around: Your slow-twitch muscle fibers do the work of recycling the lactate your high-intensity, fast-twitch fibers produce. so when you spend time building them, the payoff is being able to work harder at high intensity—which in turn stimulates more fat burning. Research shows this intensity combo also makes you faster. In a 2013 study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, researchers found that when cyclists performed six weeks of 80/20-style training, they more than doubled their power and performance gains, such as lactate threshold, compared to when they spent more time in moderate training zones.
mx43 | Posted on Monday, April 18, 2016 at 2:46PM | Post a Comment | Share Article | Email Article
9 Healthy Reasons to Drink Beer
Justify that post-ride pint with any of these nine health benefits of beer
BY CAITLIN GIDDINGS MARCH 25, 2016
PHOTOGRAPH BY ADAM BARHAN/FLICKR
There may only be one National Beer Day (April 7), but don't let that keep you from celebrating this beverage year-round.
Think of all the reasons we ride for beer. There’s the obvious—after a hard ride, it tastes like the liquid equivalent of a high-five—and the less proven—it functions as a PED for previously untested dance moves. But those aren’t the only justifications for ending your group ride at the nearest craft brewery. Here's our list of nine completely defensible reasons to (responsibly) enjoy this treat.
Beer can help reduce your risk of heart disease.
According to Harvard University, more than 100 studies show an inverse association between moderate drinking and risk of heart attack or death from cardiovascular disease. Across all the studies, a 25- to 40-percent reduction in risk has been found.
Beer can lower your risk of Type 2 Diabetes.
In a meta-analysis of 15 studies on moderate alcohol consumption andType 2 Diabetes risk, the American Diabetes Association found “a U-shaped relationship with a highly significant ∼30-percent reduced risk of type 2 diabetes in alcohol consumers of 6 to 48 g/day compared with heavier consumers or abstainers.” It’s important to note that a standard 12-ounce beer contains about 14 grams of alcohol—so drink responsibly if you want these health benefits.
Beer can increase your bone density.
Studies have found that beers—particularly darker, hoppier ales—have a high amount of silicon, which contributes to bone and connective-tissue health. The Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture reports that this suggests a moderate intake helps fight osteoporosis.
Beer can prevent Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.
Drinking in moderation can actually help you stay at the top of yourmental game. Researchers at Lanzhou University recently found that a compound found in beer hops, xanthohumol, can guard against oxidative stress and might fight the onset of dementia or cognitive decline.
Beer can reduce your cholesterol.
Good news: A study recently found that moderate beer consumption can increase HDL, or healthy cholesterol, even more markedly for women. The American Heart Association recommends you don’t get carried away, though, and recommends no more than one drink per day for women and one to two for men.
Beer can prevent kidney stones.
A toast to never finding out how miserable it feels to pass a kidney stone! Beer intake has been shown to have an inverse relationship with this painful ailment, with each bottle consumed per day estimated to reduce risk by 40 percent.
Beer can support bike advocacy.
Sometimes supporting breweries not only means supporting local business that can make a place more livable and rideable, but also directly supporting bikes. Plenty of beer brands, like New Belgium, Flying Bison Beer Co., and Squatters, support bike advocacy organizations and events for cyclists. Turns out beer and bikes just go well together.
Beer might be able to fight cancer.
Researchers in Germany discovered that the xanthohumol in beer hops—the same stuff that helps prevent dementia— can block excessive testosterone and estrogen and thus reduce the chance of prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women. They’re further studying xanthohumol for potential use as a cancer-fighting drug, but in the meantime you can get your dose from a nice IPA.
Beer is a great post-ride reward!
In the last 10 miles of a hard grind, it’s nice to have a post-ride beer to fantasize about for added cycling motivation. You can end your ride at the local brewery with your crew and enjoy the social lubrication and relaxation benefits beer can offer—or you can ride straight home and indulge in one of life’s supreme pleasures, the shower beer. Either way, nothing will taste better when you’re tired and sweaty.
mx43 | Posted on Thursday, April 14, 2016 at 3:46PM | Comments Off | Share Article | Email Article 
