The Fad Diet Solution

Hello, readers!

With another holiday weekend now behind us, we have to ask:  Did you make poor food selections?  And, more importantly, did you overconsume calories?

It's times like these that people start considering any of the number of fad diets out there...

Low carb, high carb, low fat, no fat, cookie diet, pure liquid, and one of the recent worst -- the “egg, vinegar, and water diet” -- all have some potential for weight loss over a moderate amount of time, but with unhealthy physiological risks.  It is important to remember that weight loss shouldn't carry risky side effects.  Low carb diets, for example, are especially dangerous because the dieter is cutting out the body’s main energy source.  As another example, low fat diets are dangerous because they minimize the body's ability to absorb and utilize vitamins.  Trading one health problem for another is no way to get things done. And, if you are doing some unhealthy for your body, the symptoms won't be obvious.  While you may feel just fine during a fad diet, there may be some dangerous underlying issues that you are not aware of.
So, before considering one of these fad diets at any point in the future, we suggest that you rely on tried-and-true science, using the labels' serving sizes as helpful quantity guides. Below is a list of foods and their respective serving sizes from The American Heart Association and the government's food pyrimid.  These suggestions are recommended for their cardiovascular health benefits as well as their ability to help maintain adequate body fat.  Not only will you be on the road to heart attack prevention, but these will help you to maintain energy levels while minimizing your body fat!  Have a look and compare to your current diet diary...

Below are the recommended daily number of servings for a 150-180 lb person:

Vegetable Servings Per Day:  3-7 Servings
Examples of a serving:

• ½ cup of cooked vegetable
• ½ cup raw vegetable
• 6 ounces or ¾ cup of vegetable juice

Fruit Servings Per Day:  2-3 Servings
Examples of a serving:

• 1 medium fruit (apple, orange, banana)
• ¼ cup of dried fruit (raisins, prunes, etc.)
• 6 ounces or ¾ cup of fruit juice
• ½ cup canned, frozen, or cooked fruit
• ½ cup raw fruit

Whole Grain Servings Per Day:  6-11 Servings
Examples of a serving:

• 1 slice of bread
• About 1 cup of ready-to-eat cereal flakes
• ½ cup of cooked cereal, rice or pasta

Dairy Servings Per Day:  3 Servings
Examples of a serving:

• 1 cup of milk or yogurt
• 1-½ ounces of natural cheese (cheddar)
• 2 ounces of processed cheese (such as American)

Legumes Per Day:  4-5 Servings
Examples of a serving:

• ½ cup of cooked, dry beans
• ½ cup of tofu or 1 ½ -ounce soy burger
• 2 tablespoons of peanut butter
• 1/3 cup of nuts

These are important considerations when meal planning.  As you can see, a "serving" is pre-determined, not necessarily the amount you can comfortably have in a sitting. 

We, at Perfect Personal Training, hope this helps as you plan your meals each day!  For more nutritional information, please comment below or send an email to info@perfectpersonaltraining.com.  Our staff of highly trained exercise specialists and nutritionists are always eager to help with your personalized lifestyle change.


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A Frenzy of Fitness Products

Happy holidays, readers!

Reaching your New Year fitness goals means a combination of nutrition, lifestyle modification, and exercise aimed at improving muscular and cardiorespiratory abilities. And, while the wide variety of available fitness products can all be helpful tools, it is important to remember that they are just that -- helpful tools, and nothing more. Achieving fitness and wellness is not about the products that you select, but about your strategy and its careful execution.

Advertisements for the Bowflex home gyms all claim to bring incredible results to their users. But, the Bowflex itself does not have the ability to do that. It is your ability to successfully target all of your muscles with appropriate intensity and duration, combined with your caloric intake and cardiorespiratory training, that will or won't lead to successful change. Don't be fooled -- nothing about the Bowflex will make your work out any more beneficial than training with free weights, bands, tubing, or other forms of resistive training. In fact, given the Bowflex's inability to properly accompany many body types, users of this product may be far better off relying on other (and cheaper) methods of getting fit.

The stability ball, and many Ab Rollers, Ab Crunchers, and similar devices that are aimed at targeting the "belly area" are even more guilty of misrepresenting their value. While these devices can be used to effectively develop more core musculature and balance, training the midsection's muscles has nothing to do with burning body fat.

This is also a good time to reference the dumbbell collections that are aimed at womens' fitness. Usually sold as a case of dumbbells of varying resistances under ten pounds each, these sets are sometimes promoted as being all that is needed for a body sculpting, muscular work out. In truth, these dumbbells won't take most women very far in their pursuits. After the first few weeks or so of regular use, it is rare that these dumbbells will be heavy enough to progressively train the major muscles of a woman's body.

Keep the following information in mind when planning your exercise sessions: First, be sure that you are selecting complimentary modalities. Then, concern yourself with the frequency, intensity, and duration of everything you do. When these factors are properly addressed, it won't matter what devices you select, but how well you stick to your progressive regimen.

Questions? Feel free to call (877)698-DO-IT (3648) or leave us a comment below!