Here’s an important reference tool; the Beachbody article archive that’s indexed by subject. Now instead of trying to track down articles with a search engine you can scroll through a decade of subjects in a matter seconds. The newsletter content has always been about responding to your questions. Over the years we’ve probably covered any subject you’ve ever thought about--well, at least pertaining to Beachbody workout programs and diets. Team Beachbody coaches, especially, should bookmark this page because you’ll use it with almost all of your customers. The more they learn, the less you have to actually teach them!
The Beachbody Newsletter Archive
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Showing posts with label immune system. Show all posts
Showing posts with label immune system. Show all posts
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
When Not To Diet
Over the past month or so Romney and I have been fighting a bug we picked up in Europe. While we’ve been able to perform through it—meaning we’ve been able to work and exercise—it hasn’t allowed us to train and diet with our usual vigor. I’ve written a lot about not training when you’re sick and other times when it’s best to back off of your training, but I don’t think I’ve written much on when you shouldn’t diet. Fighting illness is one of those times.
It probably seems obvious that your need nutrients when you’re sick. Illness is both the opposite and the same thing that exercise is to your body. It’s physical breakdown. So in the same way that your nutrient needs change while you’re training they change while you’re sick.
There is one big difference. Training is—-or should be—-planned and self induced. Illness obviously is not. This means that you can attempt to match your diet to your training. For example, you can both lose weight and gain targeted muscle mass if you eat well and target your nutrient intake properly. When you’re sick, however, you can’t guess exactly what is wrong and, therefore, you can’t be as precise with your diet. Attempting to reduce caloric intake when you’re sick could deprive your body of nutrients needed to fight your illness and end up prolonging it. So during times of illness I always err on the side of eating more.
Of course this is dependant on your daily lifestyle. If you’re over indulgent in general than you may end up eating less when you’re sick. You’re body doesn’t need a six pack, bag of chips, or pint of ice cream when it’s sick. It needs nutrients. If those are part of your daily regimen you can eat healthy foods all day long and still probably be reducing your caloric intake. But if, say, you’re doing Insanity and it’s lean diet plan you’ll, for sure, want to start eating more until you feel better.
Professional athletes during the height of their seasons, especially those in weight dependant sports, are always on the verge of getting sick. This is because they fine tune their bodies to the upmost; watching every calorie and training full bore. When you’re training hard and eating clean, especially if you’re trying to lose weight, you’re body is similar to one of an athlete. The more finely tuned a machine is the easier it is for something to go wrong. When you throw illness into the fray it’s time to stop redlining, throttle back your RPMs, and cruise for a while.
It’s always tough to shed germs picked up on a different continent. Adding a lot of air traveling into the mix makes it harder to shake. We’ve both been on the move since we got home and finally, a month later, we’re ready get our training and diet back on the rivet; eschewing extra calories and burning off the stored body fat we no longer need for protection with some hard training.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Cleansing, Part III
The Shakeology Cleanse has taken off since I originally blogged about it. As promised, here’s the third installment of my cleansing analysis where I go into the differences between a performance cleanse, as I can the Shakeology version (SC), and a traditional cleanse such as the Master Cleanse (MC).
First of all, the SC is not a true cleanse but a calorie restricted nutrient dense eating plan. Traditional cleanses contain very few calories and nutrients. Compared to the much more popular MC, it’s like an all-you-can-eat buffet. Traditional cleansing diets are done to rid your system of toxins and bring it into homeostasis. They also contain a spiritual aspect. This process can take a long time, which is why you may have seen co-workers walking around the office in a zombie-like state for weeks on end swilling a strange concoction of lemons and maple syrup.
The SC is nothing like that. Depending on how you decide to do it you’ll be eating frequently and consuming between 800 and 1200 calories a day, and it could be even more should you feel you need it. The point of the cleanse is not calorie restriction, per se; it’s nutrient efficiency. The aim is to get the most nutrient possible into the fewest number of calories. The goal is to put all of these calories to use as a part of your exercise program, rid your body of undigested foods and toxins, and bring your hydration levels into homeostasis. The result you’re after is not weight loss—though it will likely occur (see my last post)—but that your body is running more efficiently. This should make you feel lighter and more energetic, even though you’re doing an exercise program.
I call it nutrient efficient eating, and not actual cleansing, because you eat a meal with a balance of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and fiber every few hours. And while you’re not eating as much food as you’d normally eat you’re calorie to nutrient ratio is extremely high, meaning that that actual nutrients you’re getting should not be too restricted so activity can continue as it normally would.
A lot of people have asked me how I managed to consume around 1,500 calories a day on the cleanse but it’s not a stretch to do so. You have three Shakeology shakes where you can add fruit, nuts, and seeds. I would usually add various fruits to one shake and fruit and chia seeds to another, then have the third as a snack during a period where I was training. At night you get a salad and I’d pile mine high with veggies, nuts, and seeds and use some good olive oil and balsamic vinegar as a dressing.
This may seem like a lot of food but remember that the goal here is performance. You want to eat enough to fuel your day, including your workout. The foods you’re eating are so high in fiber and nutrients that it’s virtually impossible to overeat. You’ll be consuming so much fiber, along with enzymes and digestive aids that your body’s ability to eliminate will be heightened to where any excess foods will be quickly flushed.
Back to the weight thing; most people will lose some weight during a cleanse but that is not the goal. Those with a lot of undigested gunk in their systems will lose weight as it’s flushed out. Those of you who are properly hydrated and already eat well are less likely to lose. For those of you who need to lose weight take heart; you are setting up your system to use nutrients more efficiently and improving your ability to lose weight through structured diet and exercise. So while you may not lose much on the cleanse you’ll be more prepared to lose weight later. Think of this as a foundation training phase where you’re body might not change a lot but you’re improving you’re capacity for performance, and hence change, during the latter phases of the program.
I should probably address cortisol in another posting but I’ll mention it briefly here. Another reason why we don’t always lose weight on cleanses is due to this stress hormone. Restricting calories is stressful to the body and it reacts by releasing cortisol. Cortisol is performance enhancing in the short term but if you somehow keep you body stressed for long periods it creates havoc in your system and can cause you to doggedly hang onto weight in a type of survival mode. We don’t want this to occur, which is one reason the Shakeology cleanse is short (and the reason many people don’t lose weight on the MC). It’s important not to remain in a highly caloric deficient state for long periods of time, and especially when you are trying to exercise hard.
First of all, the SC is not a true cleanse but a calorie restricted nutrient dense eating plan. Traditional cleanses contain very few calories and nutrients. Compared to the much more popular MC, it’s like an all-you-can-eat buffet. Traditional cleansing diets are done to rid your system of toxins and bring it into homeostasis. They also contain a spiritual aspect. This process can take a long time, which is why you may have seen co-workers walking around the office in a zombie-like state for weeks on end swilling a strange concoction of lemons and maple syrup.
The SC is nothing like that. Depending on how you decide to do it you’ll be eating frequently and consuming between 800 and 1200 calories a day, and it could be even more should you feel you need it. The point of the cleanse is not calorie restriction, per se; it’s nutrient efficiency. The aim is to get the most nutrient possible into the fewest number of calories. The goal is to put all of these calories to use as a part of your exercise program, rid your body of undigested foods and toxins, and bring your hydration levels into homeostasis. The result you’re after is not weight loss—though it will likely occur (see my last post)—but that your body is running more efficiently. This should make you feel lighter and more energetic, even though you’re doing an exercise program.
I call it nutrient efficient eating, and not actual cleansing, because you eat a meal with a balance of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and fiber every few hours. And while you’re not eating as much food as you’d normally eat you’re calorie to nutrient ratio is extremely high, meaning that that actual nutrients you’re getting should not be too restricted so activity can continue as it normally would.
A lot of people have asked me how I managed to consume around 1,500 calories a day on the cleanse but it’s not a stretch to do so. You have three Shakeology shakes where you can add fruit, nuts, and seeds. I would usually add various fruits to one shake and fruit and chia seeds to another, then have the third as a snack during a period where I was training. At night you get a salad and I’d pile mine high with veggies, nuts, and seeds and use some good olive oil and balsamic vinegar as a dressing.
This may seem like a lot of food but remember that the goal here is performance. You want to eat enough to fuel your day, including your workout. The foods you’re eating are so high in fiber and nutrients that it’s virtually impossible to overeat. You’ll be consuming so much fiber, along with enzymes and digestive aids that your body’s ability to eliminate will be heightened to where any excess foods will be quickly flushed.
Back to the weight thing; most people will lose some weight during a cleanse but that is not the goal. Those with a lot of undigested gunk in their systems will lose weight as it’s flushed out. Those of you who are properly hydrated and already eat well are less likely to lose. For those of you who need to lose weight take heart; you are setting up your system to use nutrients more efficiently and improving your ability to lose weight through structured diet and exercise. So while you may not lose much on the cleanse you’ll be more prepared to lose weight later. Think of this as a foundation training phase where you’re body might not change a lot but you’re improving you’re capacity for performance, and hence change, during the latter phases of the program.
I should probably address cortisol in another posting but I’ll mention it briefly here. Another reason why we don’t always lose weight on cleanses is due to this stress hormone. Restricting calories is stressful to the body and it reacts by releasing cortisol. Cortisol is performance enhancing in the short term but if you somehow keep you body stressed for long periods it creates havoc in your system and can cause you to doggedly hang onto weight in a type of survival mode. We don’t want this to occur, which is one reason the Shakeology cleanse is short (and the reason many people don’t lose weight on the MC). It’s important not to remain in a highly caloric deficient state for long periods of time, and especially when you are trying to exercise hard.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Can Cordyceps Really Prevent Cancer?
One of the newsletters I subscribe to came with this headline, Cordyceps prevents cancer, says new research. Now I think this supplement is just great (you'll find it in Shakeology), but the hyperbole of the title caused me to read more in skepticism than anticipation.
Clicking through, I found the title of the actual article was far more toned down, now calling cordyceps an effective cancer treatment, thus lumping it in with more holistic changes like exercise and improving your diet. However, the up shot is that the article was based on a true scientific study. Not only that, it was a study focused on cordycepin, the pharmaceutical version of the plant, meaning that it was probably well funded and meticulous.
“Though the research focused primarily on cordycepin, it ultimately revealed the powerful effects of cordyceps in preventing and treating cancer. The study is set to be published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry and its authors hope that the findings will spark further research into the potential uses for cordyceps as a cancer treatment.”
While the study didn’t validate the usefulness of cordycepin, it did find that “cordyceps inhibits protein development directly, essentially eliminating the ability of cancer cells to function and survive.” Provacative indeed.
For you hard line fans of western medicine I’ll warn that the article was written by a “hippie scientist” who has no lost love for the machine. For example,
“I know many TCM practitioners and several of them can actually read the ancient texts. One book written 2,000 years ago -- yes, that's 1,900 years before Big Pharma even existed -- teaches the healing powers of medicinal mushrooms like cordyceps.
Much of Big Pharma's modern effort has been focused on trying to isolate, pirate and patent ancient Chinese Medicine molecules. This is, of course, a form of "biopiracy" where U.S. corporations steal intellectual property from China and never pay a royalty to anyone. Interestingly, U.S. companies don't even consider this a form of stealing. I guess "our" theft is okay but "their" theft is illegal, huh?”
Regardless, it’s promising research that he’s touting. And the cool thing about eastern traditional medicine is that it is generally 100% safe—although I did see a kung fu movie where the protagonist was given a magic arm, something I would not recommend trying at home. There’s no downside, other than a minimal cost, to experimenting with these remedies to see how they work for you.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Immune Boost
With the swine flu spreading through the west like a wildfire I’m glad I’ve got my Immune Boost. While my job is to evaluate and edit the products we make, or create a component of them, I rarely get to invent a entire product. The desire for an immune boosting formulation came from my bosses, Jon and Carl (mainly Jon on this one), but the formulation came from me. Because of this, I’m not going to have to deal with swine flu!
It’s not really magic, nor is the formulation really mine. As is the case with most things, there are people in the world who know more about herbs than I do. Luckily, I know a lot of these people. I consulted friends in the field, studied some science, and haggled with our lab until we had a formulation that was state-of-the-art. And while it’s not magic, exactly, when I remember to use it prior to times of stress, I never get sick.
Out my window I’m looking at snow. Yesterday I was running in shorts. This is a text book situation for when to start taking this stuff. But that’s just me. I’m not a supplements all the time guy. I’m situational; meaning my supplement intake varies along with my training. At times I take none; at others I practically live on them. I take immune boost during time of stress: flights, changing seasons, when my friends are getting sick, or anytime I feel run down and vulnerable.
This is not the only time to use it. Holistic science shows that it should be useful as a daily tonic. My stance has always been to try and not overdo certain things so that your body doesn’t adapt to them, saving their effects for times of need. It’s a theory based on science but every individual case is different. In this one, I could be wrong. Team Beachbody coach Tamara Kaye claims she hasn’t been sick since she began taking Immune Boost daily, which is now approaching two years. Guadajuko! Or, for those not versed in Tarahumara: cool by me.
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