JC Training and Nutrition

With the end of summer, I've had some morning slots open up.
If you're interested in training in the mornings, get in touch with me here or via email at [email protected] .

Low calorie ≠ nutritious.

I cannot stress this enough. Do not base your decision to eat or not to eat something upon how many calories it has. Look at what IS in it, not what is not. THAT is what matters.

Cellulite

Many of my female clients are worried about cellulite. When asked, I've often told them that there is no "treatment" for cellulite, but that the dimples they see get smaller as they lose bodyfat. Even so, there is no guarantee it will go away completely.
It turns out this is because cellulite is a secondary sexual characteristic, just like breasts or p***c hair. It is not a disease or disorder, and, as such, needs no "treatment."

This is a great article on this subject.
http://voices.yahoo.com/cellulite-womens-disease-doesnt-exist-10921465.html

Cellulite: The Women's Disease That Doesn't Exist The skin condition known as "cellulite" was actually invented by fashion magazines in the 1960s.

Excellent article on why the scale isn't the best guide to progress:
http://www.themissfits.com/meltdown/

Meltdown The scale sucks. It is capable of inducing emotions from elation to self-loathing all in the blink of an eye with one stupid number

If you're trying to lose bodyfat, remember, the scale is only one measure.
I have a client who has only lost just under 10 pounds in the past 3 months, but, measuring from 5 points, she has lost 16 inches. That 16 inches is a much better indicator of how much bodyfat she has lost than the number of the scale.

I don't know that it's possible for me to agree more with this.

What happens when the pursuits of "skinny" and "strong" collide? By now I'm sure most of you are familiar with the saying "Strong is the new skinny." It shows up fairly regularly on fitspo images and in fitness circles as a way of promoting a new standard of fe...

Another excellent article from LBEB.
One of the best lines in the article: "... the body is not a vessel of sickness that can only be fixed by drinking a lot of fruits and vegetables. "
I have often explained to people that the entire idea of detoxifying our bodies through some kind of "cleanse," whatever form that takes, is not only not backed up in research, but it is completely contrary to our understanding of how the body takes care of such things. "Detox" diets and cleanses are scams, and because they require you to dramatically cut your calories for an extended period of time, to starve yourself, they are explicitly harmful.

Lift Big Eat Big: Juicing Cleanses and Eating Disorders

This isn't the best written article, but its points are very important, especially #2.

You have a finite amount of time to spend on your goals, and using that time on things that have little effect eats into the time you could spend on things that have a large effect. In that way, you're actually doing damage to your goal as your insistence on doing things that are only slightly productive uses up your resources so that you never achieve your goal at all.

http://www.fitocracy.com/knowledge/every-little-bit-doesnt-really-count/

Every little bit doesn’t really count Bryan Chung of Evidence Based Fitness tells us why ‘every little bit’ isn't always the best approach to health and fitness.

An excellent, short article on things that should set off alarm bells if your trainer/nutritionist says them.

Lift Big Eat Big: 20 Ways To Identify a Bad Nutritionist Dan, sorry, you're wrong there. You have to look at the metabolic response to carbohydrates to understand how carbs increase insulin levels, which in turn cause the fat cells to store more fat. No so with calories derived from protein and fat sources.

Yesterday I made the point that what marketing tells us, what our friends tell us, and even what our own gut feeling tells us just cannot be trusted in terms of nutritional content. I want to make that point stronger.
An extra large ice cream sandwich, something almost no one would think of as a "healthy" snack, has less sugar than a cup of regular yogurt with fruit in it, something I hear all the time listed as a "good" choice for someone trying to lose bodyfat.

You must read labels. You just must if you want to know what you're eating.

A common issue my clients face is relying on what they believe is helpful for their goals without actually checking. Often they neglect to read nutrition labels. I've repeatedly used this example to make my point. Yoplait original blueberry yogurt has over 150% more sugar than Lucky Charms, a children's cereal filled with marshmallows.

Don't believe marketing. Read labels.

In an interesting bit of synchronicity, this article was published Tuesday the 16th. It has a message similar to the one I presented Monday night in a lecture at my gym. There is one curse word in it as it is written in an informal tone, but it's worth your time.
From the article: "Think about it this way: Your body is a responsive, adaptive machine that has evolved for survival. If you’re running on a regular basis, your body senses this excessive energy expenditure, and adjusts to compensate. Remember, no matter which way we hope the body works, its endgame is always survival. If you waste energy running, your body will react by slowing your metabolism to conserve energy. Decreasing energy output is biologically savvy for your body. Your body wants to survive longer while you do what it views as a stressful, useless activity. Decreasing T3 production increases efficiency and adjusts your metabolism to preserve energy immediately."

http://www.dangerouslyhardcore.com/5343/why-women-should-not-run/

Why Women Should Not Run Here’s another article re-edit/rerelease. This one was originally published on EliteFTS.com, and we’re presenting this updated and polished-up version today