I recently found out this “1% rule” for not being in shape from Mike Geary and I wish I had come up with this kind of thinking myself. This makes me realize that most of the reasons people are not in shape or even worse, can not do much effort to be in shape are basically lame and unreasonable
Like I said in my first note, we live in a busy world. So, we often “don’t have time” to plan our meals regularly or to do some workout.
Let me give you different perception on this NUMBER ONE reason. For an effective workout, all you need is basically 30-45 minutes per session. Let’s take the minimum 30 minutes since time is the BIG PROBLEM here. How many times do your workout per week? Probably 3 to 4 times for optimal results (Definitely not more 5. Otherwise this will lead to overtraining, which will be explained in my next note). Again, let’s take the minimum one, 3 times per week for total 90 minutes per week.
If you compare this 90 minutes with the total minutes you have per week (10,080 minutes. That’s right, I calculate it). The total time you spend for your workout per week is LESS THAN 1% of your total minutes per week.
IT TAKES ONLY 1% OF YOUR PRECIOUS TIME TO BE IN SHAPE. You certainly can’t get any better than that. It is now just the matter of how you use that 1% time for exercise. If you use it for intense workout, definitely good body shape will be yours
So now, is time really the problem here? Isn’t it ridiculous now to hear someone say, “I don’t have time for exercise”?
Let me tell you how I utilize my PRECIOUS TIME and “somehow” find time to workout regularly.
I work out 3 times per week. Each session is roughly 45 minutes (even longer than the minimum but “somehow” I still can make it). I do my workout during the evening when I have no appointment with any clients. Here is my schedule on my workout day.
I wake up at 7.00am, eat my breakfast prepared the day before, go to office at 7.45am (I work as an engineer during the day), and reach office at 8.30am (quite hectic isn’t it? Just like your life).
I finish my office work at roughly 5.30pm, reach home around 6.30pm. Cook my dinner and eat it, 1 hour gone. It is 7.30pm now. Relax for a while, do some grocery shopping. START MY WORKOUT AT 8.30pm until around 9.30pm. Take a rest for a while in front of TV/PC while enjoying my post workout meal and also chatting with my flat mates. Around 10pm, I start to prepare my last meal of the day while also preparing my breakfast, healthy snack to eat at the office, and my lunch for the next day. Finish everything around 11pm. Sleep around 11.30pm, which means 8 hours sleep (just nice).
Hectic isn’t it? But I still can make it (even I can maintain my relationship with my girlfriend and other friends). It’s all about commitment, discipline, effort, and determination. If you don’t really want to give the effort, certainly you will NEVER HAVE TIME to workout, which means, YOU WILL NEVER BE IN SHAPE.
Till the next newsletter, be discipline and determined and you will find time to move forward on the road to six pack.
Tobias KG
AMFPT Certified Personal Trainer
AMFPT Certified Sport Nutritionist
Creator of RoadToSixPack.blogspot.com
Friday, September 18, 2009
Fast Food is Healthy?? Give me a break -> The REAL CRIMINAL in our food chain
HEYYY!!! It’s been quite some time, eh? I hope you are still on the RIGHT road to six pack., still pumping up the iron and true to the healthy and natural diet. By the way, have you tried my breakfast recipe? It is simple, easy to prepare, but most importantly, it is DELICIOUS, HEALTHY, and FULFILLING. If you haven’t already, give it a shot and let me know what you think.
Now, here is the story I wanna share with you.
Yesterday, on my way back home from my office (that’s right, I have office work too), I took a public train. It was very crowded, which means so many people closely surrounded me. Among them, there was a couple; talking about the food they took that day for lunch (I was not really listening at first, but because they stood pretty close to me, I could overhear them).
As far as I can recall, this is the conversation:
(They were talking about something else before this but their topic was not really interested to me….until….)
Girl: “What did you eat today for lunch?”
Guy: “I ate Subway” (Subway is a fast food franchise. Sandwich is their main product)
Girl: (shocked) “Wah, you ate subway again??”
Guy: “Yeah, no choice” (I don’t know why. You always have choices for food)
Girl: “Yeah but subway is so unhealthy” (This is where it became more interesting)
Guy: “But it is definitely healthier than KFC or McD” (Gotta agree with this one)
Girl: (insisting) “But still it is unhealthy”
Guy: (stay quiet)
Girl: “Try to eat the normal one tomorrow, ok?” (By “normal” I presume any usual food from Asian-cuisine-loaded food court)
(Their conversation continued but I already had something else in my mind after what the girl said)
Here is what was in my mind. You think subway is unhealthy?? Think again. You might not believe this but I eat Subway (tuna, footlong) like almost 2-3 times per week because that is THE ONLY outside food I find “healthy” enough for me. To be more specific, tuna sandwich is the ONLY ONE HEALTHY enough among other choices they have. That’s right, even the “normal” food in Asian food court is not as healthy as that tuna sandwich.
I can say this because I know what most people don’t or they think they do but they are wrong (just like the girl). Don’t blame yourself. This is partly because of millions of misleading advertisement out there, claiming their products are healthy, etc, etc. (Just for example: Check this article, http://www.truthaboutabs.com/the-canola-oil-deception.html, by Mike Geary, an expert in nutrition, about “Healthy” Canola oil)
Let’s think about it. What do you buy in Asian food court? Fried rice? Deep fried meat/chicken/pork/fish? Chicken/beef sausage? Nuggets?
Let’s take a look. Deep fried? Fried rice? It needs cooking oil. For lower cost, CERTAINLY they use the cheapest available cooking oil in market which means, “normal” hydrogenated oil (that is probably why the girl said normal food, because it uses normal cooking oil). Here is the deal with any normal oil. IT HAS TRANS FAT. Trans fat is the real criminal behind obesity, fat gain, high cholesterol, hypertension, heart attack, and the list goes on. That is the truth. Too bad not so many people know about this truth (just like the girl)
How about chicken/beef sausage and nuggets? They are PROCESSED FOODS. That’s it. You never know what have been added to those sausages and nuggets (most probably, harmful chemicals/ingredients that potentially turn to TRANS FAT). That is why I said not all Subway sandwiches are healthy, depends on your choice (To verify if tuna is healthy, just go to supermarket and check the ingredient of canned tuna chunk in water. It is just tuna, water and salt. What is unhealthy about that??)
I am not saying that you can replace your healthy diet entirely with Subway tuna sandwich. I am just saying, subway tuna sandwich is WAY better than “normal food” with “normal” trans fat (that is why it is “normal” to have obesity, hypertension, heart attack, or high cholesterol in today’s world)
I can go all night talking about this “conflicting” statement I have presented here. You might think, “This guy is a nutritionist? I can’t believe it. He actually recommends fast food over usual food. IT’S INSANE.” I tell you this, because I am a nutritionist, I know what you don’t know and I know what is right/wrong when it comes to food and nutrition.
So here is THE POINT here. The real EVIL ENEMY is not the fast food itself, it is THE TRANS FAT hiding behind the processed foods or the cooking oil used (except extra virgin olive oil).
Finally, SAY NO TO TRANS FAT!
Tobias KG
AMFPT Certified Personal Trainer
AMFPT Certified Sport Nutritionist
Creator of RoadToSixPack.blogspot.com
Now, here is the story I wanna share with you.
Yesterday, on my way back home from my office (that’s right, I have office work too), I took a public train. It was very crowded, which means so many people closely surrounded me. Among them, there was a couple; talking about the food they took that day for lunch (I was not really listening at first, but because they stood pretty close to me, I could overhear them).
As far as I can recall, this is the conversation:
(They were talking about something else before this but their topic was not really interested to me….until….)
Girl: “What did you eat today for lunch?”
Guy: “I ate Subway” (Subway is a fast food franchise. Sandwich is their main product)
Girl: (shocked) “Wah, you ate subway again??”
Guy: “Yeah, no choice” (I don’t know why. You always have choices for food)
Girl: “Yeah but subway is so unhealthy” (This is where it became more interesting)
Guy: “But it is definitely healthier than KFC or McD” (Gotta agree with this one)
Girl: (insisting) “But still it is unhealthy”
Guy: (stay quiet)
Girl: “Try to eat the normal one tomorrow, ok?” (By “normal” I presume any usual food from Asian-cuisine-loaded food court)
(Their conversation continued but I already had something else in my mind after what the girl said)
Here is what was in my mind. You think subway is unhealthy?? Think again. You might not believe this but I eat Subway (tuna, footlong) like almost 2-3 times per week because that is THE ONLY outside food I find “healthy” enough for me. To be more specific, tuna sandwich is the ONLY ONE HEALTHY enough among other choices they have. That’s right, even the “normal” food in Asian food court is not as healthy as that tuna sandwich.
I can say this because I know what most people don’t or they think they do but they are wrong (just like the girl). Don’t blame yourself. This is partly because of millions of misleading advertisement out there, claiming their products are healthy, etc, etc. (Just for example: Check this article, http://www.truthaboutabs.com/the-canola-oil-deception.html, by Mike Geary, an expert in nutrition, about “Healthy” Canola oil)
Let’s think about it. What do you buy in Asian food court? Fried rice? Deep fried meat/chicken/pork/fish? Chicken/beef sausage? Nuggets?
Let’s take a look. Deep fried? Fried rice? It needs cooking oil. For lower cost, CERTAINLY they use the cheapest available cooking oil in market which means, “normal” hydrogenated oil (that is probably why the girl said normal food, because it uses normal cooking oil). Here is the deal with any normal oil. IT HAS TRANS FAT. Trans fat is the real criminal behind obesity, fat gain, high cholesterol, hypertension, heart attack, and the list goes on. That is the truth. Too bad not so many people know about this truth (just like the girl)
How about chicken/beef sausage and nuggets? They are PROCESSED FOODS. That’s it. You never know what have been added to those sausages and nuggets (most probably, harmful chemicals/ingredients that potentially turn to TRANS FAT). That is why I said not all Subway sandwiches are healthy, depends on your choice (To verify if tuna is healthy, just go to supermarket and check the ingredient of canned tuna chunk in water. It is just tuna, water and salt. What is unhealthy about that??)
I am not saying that you can replace your healthy diet entirely with Subway tuna sandwich. I am just saying, subway tuna sandwich is WAY better than “normal food” with “normal” trans fat (that is why it is “normal” to have obesity, hypertension, heart attack, or high cholesterol in today’s world)
I can go all night talking about this “conflicting” statement I have presented here. You might think, “This guy is a nutritionist? I can’t believe it. He actually recommends fast food over usual food. IT’S INSANE.” I tell you this, because I am a nutritionist, I know what you don’t know and I know what is right/wrong when it comes to food and nutrition.
So here is THE POINT here. The real EVIL ENEMY is not the fast food itself, it is THE TRANS FAT hiding behind the processed foods or the cooking oil used (except extra virgin olive oil).
Finally, SAY NO TO TRANS FAT!
Tobias KG
AMFPT Certified Personal Trainer
AMFPT Certified Sport Nutritionist
Creator of RoadToSixPack.blogspot.com
Saturday, September 5, 2009
MY SECRET right from my PERSONAL DIET PLAN (Part I)
I see SO SO SOOOO many people underestimate the power of breakfast (By breakfast I mean a meal taken within one hour after waking up).
On one hand, it is quite understandable because you need to rush to the office, school, or wherever you need to be early in the morning. Or even worse, because you can't prepare the breakfast yourself, you buy your breakfast in fast food stop you find on you way (which is usually INCREDIBLY UNHEALTHY). You might also have mindset, "Breakfast is so small, so I can skip it. I wont feel hungry until lunch time even if I miss it". YOU ARE DEAD WRONG
This kind of excuses has NO PLACE on the ROAD TO SIX PACK. Breakfast is, in my opinion, the MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY. As far as I know the road to six pack, you can't get six pack without taking breakfast EVERYDAY.
You might ask, "Why? Doesn't taking breakfast increase my calorie intake?". Yes it does. BUT, once you take breakfast, your body metabolism will be stimulated. Your body metabolism will be TURNED ON. You can think of breakfast as an ON/OFF Switch of your body metabolism. If you don't take breakfast, your body metabolism will not be as high as you would like to lose fat. By taking breakfast, your metabolism will be at high level the rest of the day (This fact easily outweighs the calorie you take during breakfast)
On top of that, higher metabolism means more muscle building and repairing going on in your body and as I said in the previous note, muscle is a calorie-burning machine. So by skipping breakfast for the reason to reduce calorie intake is definitely COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE. In short, there is NO BENEFIT AT ALL to skip breakfast
SO HAVE YOU TAKEN YOUR BREAKFAST THIS MORNING? If you haven't, start a habit to take it THE VERY NEXT DAY
Alright!! This is the moment you have been waiting for, MY BREAKFAST, taken directly from my PERSONAL DIET PLAN (3270 calories daily)
1 Banana (25.37gr Carbs, 1.12gr Prot, 0.52gr fat, 100cal)
2 Apples (36.6gr Carbs, 0.46gr Prot, 0.86gr fat, 140cal)
2 Whole Eggs (1.23gr Carbs, 12.19gr Prot, 13.5gr fat, 180cal)
1 tbsp 100% NATURAL peanut butter (2gr Carbs, 5gr Prot, 8gr fat, 100 cal)
2 slices of cheddar cheese ( 3gr Carbs, 8.1gr Prot, 5gr fat, 90cal)
Total = 68.2gr carbohydrate, 26.87gr protein, 27.88gr fat, 610cal)
Sounds plenty of food for breakfast, doesn’t it? Believe it or not, this is equal to typical egg and tuna mayo sandwich (3 slices of white bread, one layer of tuna mayo, one layer of scrambled egg and butter). This explains why the reason “you can't prepare your breakfast, so you buy it on your way” SHOULD BE OUT OF THE WINDOW.
So, till the next newsletter, don’t forget to have your breakfast, and stay on the road to six pack
Tobias KG
AMFPT Certified Personal Trainer
AMFPT Certified Sport Nutritionist
Creator of RoadToSixPack.blogspot.com
On one hand, it is quite understandable because you need to rush to the office, school, or wherever you need to be early in the morning. Or even worse, because you can't prepare the breakfast yourself, you buy your breakfast in fast food stop you find on you way (which is usually INCREDIBLY UNHEALTHY). You might also have mindset, "Breakfast is so small, so I can skip it. I wont feel hungry until lunch time even if I miss it". YOU ARE DEAD WRONG
This kind of excuses has NO PLACE on the ROAD TO SIX PACK. Breakfast is, in my opinion, the MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY. As far as I know the road to six pack, you can't get six pack without taking breakfast EVERYDAY.
You might ask, "Why? Doesn't taking breakfast increase my calorie intake?". Yes it does. BUT, once you take breakfast, your body metabolism will be stimulated. Your body metabolism will be TURNED ON. You can think of breakfast as an ON/OFF Switch of your body metabolism. If you don't take breakfast, your body metabolism will not be as high as you would like to lose fat. By taking breakfast, your metabolism will be at high level the rest of the day (This fact easily outweighs the calorie you take during breakfast)
On top of that, higher metabolism means more muscle building and repairing going on in your body and as I said in the previous note, muscle is a calorie-burning machine. So by skipping breakfast for the reason to reduce calorie intake is definitely COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE. In short, there is NO BENEFIT AT ALL to skip breakfast
SO HAVE YOU TAKEN YOUR BREAKFAST THIS MORNING? If you haven't, start a habit to take it THE VERY NEXT DAY
Alright!! This is the moment you have been waiting for, MY BREAKFAST, taken directly from my PERSONAL DIET PLAN (3270 calories daily)
1 Banana (25.37gr Carbs, 1.12gr Prot, 0.52gr fat, 100cal)
2 Apples (36.6gr Carbs, 0.46gr Prot, 0.86gr fat, 140cal)
2 Whole Eggs (1.23gr Carbs, 12.19gr Prot, 13.5gr fat, 180cal)
1 tbsp 100% NATURAL peanut butter (2gr Carbs, 5gr Prot, 8gr fat, 100 cal)
2 slices of cheddar cheese ( 3gr Carbs, 8.1gr Prot, 5gr fat, 90cal)
Total = 68.2gr carbohydrate, 26.87gr protein, 27.88gr fat, 610cal)
Sounds plenty of food for breakfast, doesn’t it? Believe it or not, this is equal to typical egg and tuna mayo sandwich (3 slices of white bread, one layer of tuna mayo, one layer of scrambled egg and butter). This explains why the reason “you can't prepare your breakfast, so you buy it on your way” SHOULD BE OUT OF THE WINDOW.
So, till the next newsletter, don’t forget to have your breakfast, and stay on the road to six pack
Tobias KG
AMFPT Certified Personal Trainer
AMFPT Certified Sport Nutritionist
Creator of RoadToSixPack.blogspot.com
Friday, September 4, 2009
How many crunches per day?? -> NOT IMPORTANT
I have received many, many, MANY questions asking me, “How many crunches/sit-ups per day required to get six pack?” Most of the time, it will be followed by a statement similar like, “I have been doing 50/100/200 sit-ups per day but still I don’t see any result. Still, I don’t see my six-pack. I still have this fat-pocket or beer belly.”
Well, this is not a difficult question. I know exactly what the answer is, but I just don’t know how to answer it. Because I don’t want to discourage the person asking the question, but I also feel that I have to tell the truth (that’s right. I’m not like those in health magazine and supplement industries who simply hide the truth for their benefits)
So, here it is. If you want to lose fat and make your six-pack visible, crunches and sit-ups are the least important thing to do. Instead of asking how many crunches per day required, a better question will be, “How many calories per day or how many weight training sessions/cardio sessions per week required to have six-pack?” BUT, DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED. Whatever crunches/sit-ups you have been doing, how many times you do it per day are NOT USELESS. If you do crunches/sit-ups regularly, you should be certain that your mid-section is well trained, your six-pack lies somewhere beneath your belly fat. More importantly, your back is strong and more immune to injury, which is REQUIRED for the real exercise to show that six-pack.
In most cases, people can’t see their six-pack abs not because they don’t have big enough abs muscles. It is because the belly fat covers the abs-muscles. Now you know where I am going. What you need is not to build up your abs muscles. What you need is to REMOVE THE COVER of your abs muscles, the belly fat. You HAVE TO reduce your overall body fat percentage first before you can see the abs you have been dreaming about.
Now, we have come to the ultimate question which anybody with correct understanding and high desire of six-pack should ask. “How do I reduce my body fat?” Surely you have seen many supplements and “miraculous gadget” advertisements promising XX% reduction in body fat in 2 weeks. Again, this is JUNK. If it is so, why are there still so many people live in obesity today?
To reduce body fat, high intensity and efficiency workout routines combined with proper diet IS REQUIRED. No way around it. In general, high intensity and efficiency workout routines should comprise MOSTLY of high intensity weight training/cardio training, since this will stimulate MASSIVE fat burning in your body by putting yourself in high metabolism mode throughout your workout and also 7-8 HOURS AFTER TRAINING (No typo there, it is really 7-8 hours). Crunches/sit-ups should only take MINORITY of your workout time (believe it or not, I only do 100 crunches/sit-ups…..PER WEEK….it is less than 15 PER DAY)
On top of that, high intensity training will force your muscles to grow. Muscle is, the way I call it, a calorie-burning machine. Our bodies require A LOT and I mean A LOT of calories just to maintain the muscles. So, the more muscles we have, the more calories will be consumed. When our bodies need extra calories, where do they go? YES, YOUR STORED FAT (only as long as your calorie intake from food is not too high). Therefore, focus on high intensity training (cardio/weight). FOR LADIES, do not be afraid of weight training. You WILL NOT become like a HULK with just 2-3 times of weight training per week (More on this in the next newsletter).
Till the next “road sign”, stay on the road to six-pack.
Tobias KG
AMFPT Certified Personal Trainer
AMFPT Certified Sport Nutritionist
Creator of RoadToSixPack.blogspot.com
Well, this is not a difficult question. I know exactly what the answer is, but I just don’t know how to answer it. Because I don’t want to discourage the person asking the question, but I also feel that I have to tell the truth (that’s right. I’m not like those in health magazine and supplement industries who simply hide the truth for their benefits)
So, here it is. If you want to lose fat and make your six-pack visible, crunches and sit-ups are the least important thing to do. Instead of asking how many crunches per day required, a better question will be, “How many calories per day or how many weight training sessions/cardio sessions per week required to have six-pack?” BUT, DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED. Whatever crunches/sit-ups you have been doing, how many times you do it per day are NOT USELESS. If you do crunches/sit-ups regularly, you should be certain that your mid-section is well trained, your six-pack lies somewhere beneath your belly fat. More importantly, your back is strong and more immune to injury, which is REQUIRED for the real exercise to show that six-pack.
In most cases, people can’t see their six-pack abs not because they don’t have big enough abs muscles. It is because the belly fat covers the abs-muscles. Now you know where I am going. What you need is not to build up your abs muscles. What you need is to REMOVE THE COVER of your abs muscles, the belly fat. You HAVE TO reduce your overall body fat percentage first before you can see the abs you have been dreaming about.
Now, we have come to the ultimate question which anybody with correct understanding and high desire of six-pack should ask. “How do I reduce my body fat?” Surely you have seen many supplements and “miraculous gadget” advertisements promising XX% reduction in body fat in 2 weeks. Again, this is JUNK. If it is so, why are there still so many people live in obesity today?
To reduce body fat, high intensity and efficiency workout routines combined with proper diet IS REQUIRED. No way around it. In general, high intensity and efficiency workout routines should comprise MOSTLY of high intensity weight training/cardio training, since this will stimulate MASSIVE fat burning in your body by putting yourself in high metabolism mode throughout your workout and also 7-8 HOURS AFTER TRAINING (No typo there, it is really 7-8 hours). Crunches/sit-ups should only take MINORITY of your workout time (believe it or not, I only do 100 crunches/sit-ups…..PER WEEK….it is less than 15 PER DAY)
On top of that, high intensity training will force your muscles to grow. Muscle is, the way I call it, a calorie-burning machine. Our bodies require A LOT and I mean A LOT of calories just to maintain the muscles. So, the more muscles we have, the more calories will be consumed. When our bodies need extra calories, where do they go? YES, YOUR STORED FAT (only as long as your calorie intake from food is not too high). Therefore, focus on high intensity training (cardio/weight). FOR LADIES, do not be afraid of weight training. You WILL NOT become like a HULK with just 2-3 times of weight training per week (More on this in the next newsletter).
Till the next “road sign”, stay on the road to six-pack.
Tobias KG
AMFPT Certified Personal Trainer
AMFPT Certified Sport Nutritionist
Creator of RoadToSixPack.blogspot.com
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