Well, due to the feedback I got from my Look Great at the Lake Boot Campers and other readers, I’ve asked Janell to be a regular contributor to the Look Great Blog.  She loves doing it and loves to talk about nutrition so she’s all for it.

Post-workout Nutrition

I will argue that the MOST IMPORTANT meal of the day is the one that follows your workout.

WHY?

When exercising whether it be an aerobic workout or a strength training sessions we are ultimately depleting our muscles of stored glycogen as well as tearing down muscle fibers that need nutrients to build back up leaner and stronger.  Quick note for those who don’t “want to add muscle.” – remember, more muscle means more metabolism.  In other words, you want to add at least some muscle, and certainly maintain what you have, to maximize fat burning to get that tight and toned, sexy body that looks great naked!

The Window of Opportunity

“The Window of Opportunity” is very important when we refer to the post-workout meal.  Ideally your post-workout meal will happen within 45 minutes of completing your workout.  During this time your muscles are very sensitive to certain nutrients and hormones that aid in effective muscle recovery.
Benefits of refueling within 45 minutes include: 

• recover more effectively
• increase muscle mass
• burn more body fat
• enhance physical adaptations that are happening when you exercise
• see results more rapidly

All benefits we want to achieve from our workouts.

You Snooze, You Lose

Beyond 45 minutes your muscles become less sensitive and efficient at replenishing glycogen stores (our bodies’ stored form of carbohydrate, or “quick energy”).  If you miss your opportunity for replenishing your muscles the next opportunity doesn’t happen until after your next workout.  Having a good supply of quick energy stored in your muscles will allow for harder, more effective workouts.  Missing this critical window of opportunity can and will dramatically slow results making it more difficult to reap the benefits of your workout.

Refueling- For glycogen replenishment carbohydrates are key and protein is necessary for muscle repair and recovery.  An ideal ratio of carbs to protein is 3:1.  Simple carbs and high quality protein sources are your best choices for quick quality replenishment and recovery.

Quality Choices- The best choice is liquid in the form of a shake.  This will be the fastest absorbing into your system.  Other quality choices include:  yogurt/milk and fruit, juice and cottage cheese, Gatorade and whey protein, or a quality ready to go drink.

Prograde Workout is an awesome choice for your post-workout meal.  It’s pre-stacked to give you a 2:1 ration.  When you add a cup of skim milk and a banana you get a delicios 3:1 post-workout shake.

Note: this mixture gives you 400 calories so you may need to cut the serving in half to get the desired calories.

Believe & Achieve!

Janell Monson

P.S. – Please let me know what types of nutrition posts you would like to see in the future by posting a comment below.  Thanks!

Janell Monson (my wonderful girlfriend, fellow personal trainer and nutrition specialist) is back for the final installment in her Nutrition Facts Label Decoded series. So far, her posts have rocked!  If you haven’t seen them, get caught up by clicking the following links:  Nutrition Facts Label Decoded – Part 1; Nutrition Facts Label Decoded – Part 2.

Here again is Janell:

Have you ever looked at an ingredient list and not known how to pronounce the majority of the ingredients?

I think we all have been there at one time or another.

Ya think this may be a sign that we should not put those “foreign” substances into our bodies?  I mean, you don’t need a degree in chemistry to understand that a carrot is good for you, but what the heck is sodium acid pyrophosphate or polysorbate 60?  I don’t know about you, but if it’s got a number in it, I’m thinking it’s not so natural.

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Janell Monson (my wonderful girlfriend, fellow personal trainer and nutrition specialist) is back again this week for our Thursday Nutrition Post.  Last weeks post, Nutrition Labels Decoded was awesome!  Part 2 takes the information to the next level!  Here again is Janell:

Last week we took a high-level view of the Nutrition Facts Label.  We broke down the nutrition facts label into its key parts and talked about what to look for.  See Nutrition Labels Decoded – Part 1 to review.

Today, we’re going to take a deeper dive into the nutrient information.  Then, next week we’ll examine the ingredient list.

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Nutrition labels can be so damn confusing and unfortunately quite deceptive; remember, food manufacturers’ number one concern is sales.  To help decode those confusing nutrition labels, I’ve enlisted the help of a very special guest blogger (my girlfriend, fellow personal trainer and nutrition specialist) Janell Monson.  She’s put together a great two-part series on reading and understanding nutrition labels.  Check it out:

Do you know what to look for on a nutrition label or are you just focused on the number of calories and forget about the rest?

The Food and Drug Administration now has regulations for food labels so that from a consumer’s perspective everyone is similar.  The question then becomes what do you look for?  The first place our eyes always go is to how many calories there are, BUT does that tell us everything we need to know about the product? 

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Today’s Ask J post comes from a question I received from one of my die hard Look Great at the Lake Boot Camp members, and one I’ve heard from so many clients before.

“Hey Justin, I have a question for you….. I am going to the city fair this weekend, so would it be horrible to have some of that yummy, but very bad for you fair food….. if it is only one day of it?  How do you control the urge to not eat there….. its not like they have a healthy section;-)”

Great question.  Here’s the harsh answer – I’m really good at that by the way – YES, it’s horrible!

If you’re kid asked you if it would be horrible if they smoked crack just once in a while what would you say?

Now, that may seem a little over the top, but hear me out for a minute.

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OK, Friday is supposed to be dedicated to Ask J.  In other words, I post answers to questions you submit.  This week I’m going to do it a little differently.

I’m going to give you Tips and Tricks to Lose Weight and Keep it Off; which I’m sure is a question of so many of you.  The difference this week is these tips and tricks come from one of my Look Great at the Lake Boot Camp members!  I love this because it’s coming from someone other than me who has struggled with weight and has been successful losing it and keeping it off.

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Before I get into today’s post about “healthy fast food” I want to share something that both frustrates and saddens me.

As I mentioned in Sunday’s blog post, Chaska, MN River City Days, I had a great time at my town’s annual celebration.  However, it was so frustating and sad to see all the overweight and obese folks walking around eating corn dogs and nachos.  My feelings were taken to an even higher level when people would pass by my Look Great at the Lake Boot Camp booth eating that crap and make comments like, “I could never do that” or “My knees (or back, or whatever) would never last.”

“Why the hell do you think that is?!,” I wanted to shout out loud.

People, if you’re having knee, back or whatever else kind of issues because you’re overweight or obese, it’s time to do something about it.  If nothing changes, nothing changes.  You can’t “do it” because you don’t do it.  You have to start off slow and build your way up.  I’ve got all kinds of people in my Look Great at the Lake Boot Camp, many who are overweight or obese and have various joint issues.  We make adjustments so they can get a great workout, and guess what – they’ve all seen positive improvements.

OK.  I’m done ranting on that subject.  Now let’s get into the discussion on healthy fast food…

We all know that fast food will put you on the fast track to being overweight or obese, not too mention all the healthy complications that go along with being overweight or obese – like high blood pressure, heart disease and, oh yeah, death.  Because of this, we’re starting to see fast food resteraunts jump on the healhty fast food bandwagon.

Is it legit?

No doubt by now, you’ve seen the commercials about KFC’s new Kentucky GRILLED Chicken.  After all, they’re on ALL THE TIME!

Maybe you’ve even tried it.  It tastes pretty damn good, doesn’t it?

Congratulations! You are eating “grilled” chicken with a bunch of garbage on the side. Lord knows that mac and cheese and biscuits aren’t going help you look any better at the lake!

KFC says the grilled chicken has significantly fewer calories and fat, plus much less sodium, than its Original Recipe fried chicken that launched the brand more than a half-century ago.

What we so easily forget to pay attention to is all those super-high calorie side dishes that come with “the meal.”  They’ve got just as much, if not more, fat and calories than the fried chicken itself, PLUS all the refined starches and sugars.

To me it’s like covering crap with a newspaper- it still stinks!

For too long now the fast food industry has made a killing on misinforming consumers about what is and isn’t healthy.

KFC claimed that it recently did switch cooking oils to eliminate all trans fats from their products- a noble effort indeed.

But upon further review, this does not look to be the case…

Here are the ingredients directly from their website:

KFC ® Grilled Chicken

Fresh Chicken Marinated with: Salt, Sodium Phosphate, and Monosodium Glutamate Seasoned with: Maltodextrin, Salt, Bleached Wheat lour, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed Oil, Monosodium Glutamate, Spices, Palm Oil, Natural Flavor, Garlic Powder, Soy Sauce (Soybean, Wheat, Salt), Chicken Fat, Chicken Broth, Autolyzed Yeast, Beef Powder, Rendered Beef Fat, Extractives of Turmeric, Dehydrated Carrot, Onion Powder, and mot more than 2% Each of Calcium Silicate and Silicon Dioxide Added as Anticaking Agents.

Contains Wheat and Soy

I don’t know about you, but this certainly doesn’t sound like a nutritional powerhouse.  First of all, “Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed Oil” is not good for you and is a form of trans fat.

Trans fats are synthetic fats that are essentially foreign agents in our bodies.  There is truly no room for them in a healthy diet.

Plus, there are a few other funky named ingredients on that list that don’t look you want them in your body.

Fast food and convenience store marketing campaigns make it very hard for us trainers to do our jobs.

Companies love to package their foods with sayings like:

“Our _____ (name of product) is good for you because it’s low in fat or fat-free”

OR

“Our _____ (name of product) is good for you because it’s got no sugar”

OR

“Our _____ (name of product) is the perfect snack because it’s only 100 calories.”

In general, here are some great user-friendly guidelines to cut through all of the BS these money-hungry SOB’s are sending our way:

Beware of “Fat-Free or Low Fat” Foods:

These food choices are often high in sugar or contain added sugar to make up for taste lost which wreak havoc on your energy levels and prevent fat loss.

Look Out for “Sugar-Free” Products:

These food choices are typically made with artificial ingredients and sweeteners and/or are sometimes higher in fat to make up for taste lost and/or often contains sugar-alcohols that tear up your digestive system.

Stay Away From “100 Calorie” Items:

These low calorie bags contain ZERO nutritional value with little to no protein and are low in fiber and natural, healthy fats. Plus, these weight-gainers by another name do not fill you up between meals.

Probably the most infamous “healthy” marketing campaign is 100-CALORIE SNACK PACKS.

I know personally I could easily eat 10 of these packs without getting stuffed- I guess that would be a 1,000-CALORIE SNACK PACK

Unfortunately, we live in a calorie-conscious society, and marketers truly know how to play on this.

But you don’t need to be a dope like the rest of them.

Educate yourself.

Educate your friends.

Educate your family.

Remember, the market determines the direction companies will go.  If we choose not to put this garbage in our bellies anymore, they will make less of it

P.S.- I just know you have got something to say about this hot button issue.  Please make a comment to this blog post about what pisses you off the most about this KFC Grilled Chicken, or any other fast food marketing campaign for that matter!

I’ve got a quick post for you today, but if you follow these simple summer weight loss tips you’ll be sure to see progress in your quest for a healthy, fit, tight & toned, damn-sexy body that looks great naked!

Losing weight this summer can be easy.  In all seriosness, anyone that follows these summer weight loss tips will be losing inches in no time.

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I’m often asked How to Eat Healthy on a Tight Budget

Too many people think they can’t afford to eat healthy, especially during this “Economic Crisis.”

OK, don’t get me started on the “economic crisis.”  Personally, I think it’s up to each of us to make our own economy, but that’s an entirely different post.  Alright, I’ll go off on just a quick tangent

Look, we love in the greatest country in the world where opportunity is everywhere.  The problem is, so many people prefer to bitch and moan about circumstances rather than seizing the day and making their own way.

With every problem there is a solution.

With every challenge there is an opportunity.

These aren’t just sayings, they’re TRUE!

Get motivated!  Get fired up!!  Get in the right vibration!!!

Ever heard of the Law of Attraction?  Of course, you have!

Have you ever actually paid attention to it?  Hmmm.

I’m supposed to be giving you healthy eating tips so let me get going with that.  If you want more on success and personal development be sure to read my Tuesday posts.  In the meantime, check out two of my Trusted Resources on the right hand side of the page:

1. Daily Inspiration
2. Daily Success Tips

On with How to Eat Healthy on a Tight Budget:

Eating healthy is often determined to be too expensive for the average person.  Fast food and foods loaded with fat and sugar tend to be inexpensive and always at hand.

Of course, nobody stops and thinks about the long-term healtcare costs and lost work productivity of eating unhealthy, but I digress…

Here are a few tips for healthy and affordable eating to help you lose weight during this “Economic Crisis.”  Think of it as a Nutritional Bailout Plan

1. Choose seasonal fruits to save on grocery bill costs.  Out of season fruits can add a good chunk of change to any food bill.  Plus, it’s nice to have the variety and try new things.
2. Buy in bulk and freeze what isn’t needed.  This is easy to do with lean meats, which are always more expensive.  When buying 10 chicken breasts it lowers the cost per pound of chicken.  Freeze the rest of the chicken that isn’t going to be eaten in the next few days and then thaw what is needed for the next meal when necessary.  Same idea works for beef, pork, veal, etc.
3. Pay attention to sales.  Many times, eating healthy can be easily accomplished by just focusing on special offers and coupons.  Stock up when the prices are low!

Well, there you have it.  An easy to follow Nutritional Bailout Plan.

I know there are tons more ideas.  Please share them by posting a comment to this blog.  Everyone would really appreciate it.

Have Faith & Take Action!

Justin Yule, B.S., CPT

Your friendly neighborhood Chaska boot camp instructor and online personal trainer

Burn 9x more fat at a fraction of the cost of other personal training programs.

Well, we’re just over half-way through 2009; can you believe it?!  Today, I’m going to give you my mid-year review on the fitness industry and share 3 biggest weight loss & fitness trends that we’re seeing.

Sadly, it appears as though the fitness industry as a whole has again failed to produce any significant results on a broad scale to effectively reverse the scary obesity epidemic that is plaguing our society. More specifically, the sickening fact that American adults keep getting fatter, more lethargic, and less healthy has mirrored the unabated deterioration in the health and fitness of our youth population.

However, on a positive note, we have seen some growing fitness trends that will provide the long-term answers to solve this ever-growing problem:

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