Everyone has questions as to what the BEST workout might be or the MOST EFFECTIVE diet has been. I started this blog to provide a civilized exchange of ideas. It is meant to be a fun and informative exchange of ideas. We are not doctors and no one should expect the comments to be anything other than “A Fun Exchange Of Training Tips”. One of the very few things we might all agree on is that anyone starting a workout or diet plan should go see a doctor and discuss the plan to get an educated and authoritative “OK”. No one here will give you that and if they do…consider the source.
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February 23, 2009 at 6:00 pm |
Let’s begin with something nearly everyone knows too little about. I think most everyone “gets it” when it comes to protein and carbohydrates. Things start going wrong when FAT is discussed. It’s too bad because FATS are what determine the success of any eating plan. Well, I am here to try to take some of the confusion and fear out of dieting and increase your chances of success. Fat is important and essential. You can’t live without fat. Fat is important to losing weight correctly. Eat fat! Having said that, now let me put fat into perspective for you. Saturated Fat and Trans Fat are the fats you’ll need to stay away from. Saturated fat is 4 times more available, from the foods we eat, than Trans Fat but Trans Fat is far worse for you. Saturated Fat increases your LDL cholesterol and your HDL (Bad and Good cholesterol) but Trans Fat increases only the LDL (Bad cholesterol). Everyone needs to cut back on both of these fats. Trans Fat is created when manufacturers turn liquid oils into more solid fats like shortening and margarine. Saturated Fat occurs naturally in nearly all fatty foods, but mostly in meats, dairy products and tropical oils like palm and coconut oils. Okay, now for the good stuff…OMEGA 3 FATTY ACIDS and OLIVE OIL. Olive oil is pure fat but it also has important muscle building properties to it. Phenols appear to protect the heart and cardio vascular system by reducing inflammation. It also boasts a high amount of antioxidants and might prevent blood clots. By reducing inflammation however, it might actually help in your workouts by allowing you to go hard in the gym with the need for less recuperation time. Olive oil contains a high proportion of monoUNsaturated fats, which are important to improving cardiac health and ARE NOT OFTEN STORED AS FAT. So using olive oil instead of butter or margarine is a great way to reduce Saturated and Trans fats and reduce your waistline at the same time. There!!! Not so hard after all is it? Look! Losing weight is as easy as making a few substitutions. DO NOT let this freak you out and get you crazy…just be systematic and mechanical and you’ll see the differences taking shape. Don’t be so oriented to watching the scales… watch what you eat, make wise choices and love the new and empowered you. Let the fat come off as it will, sometimes quicker than other times…it vacillates, and just stay with it. YOU WILL WIN. Just don’t let it make you nuts…though you CAN EAT NUTS…especially walnuts and almonds! Enjoy…Coach
February 23, 2009 at 7:59 pm |
So, what foods have good fats in them? Well, just a couple of the best are peanut butter…YES peanut butter! Not only does it contain the monounsaturated fat that your body needs but it also has a decent amount of protein in it. It’s a great bodybuilding food that’s also good for your heart and waistline. Salmon is full of more healthy Omega 3 fatty acids. Get this! In addition to helping you recover after a workout, Omega 3 Fatty Acids increase your metabolism and help with fat burning. So, though a nice piece of Salmon contains 23grams of fatty acids, it’s okay because it’s the right fat and your body knows not to store it on the hips but rather uses it in the joints, skin and other needed areas of the body. Walnuts are one of the few plants that possess alpha-linolenic acid, an Omega 3 Fatty Acid, which, as I said before, helps burn fat. Walnuts are also full of protein which makes it a great bodybuilding snack food. Tuna is one of the best and most convenient protein sources. Keep a can in your gym bag for that time when you would otherwise miss a meal. Tuna is full of protein and Omega 3 Fatty Acids. Cottage Cheese is a great before bedtime meal. It contains casein protein, a slow digesting protein, that works to build the muscles all through the night while you sleep. Couple this with its conjugated linolenic acid (CLA) which helps burn fat and what could be better? Some studies have shown CLA to reduce belly fat. So I think I’ll go make myself a peanut butter sandwich, apple slices and have a nice glass of cold water. Coach
March 6, 2009 at 6:10 am |
One of the most wonderful things about the body is its ability to monitor the environments that it lives in. Both the internal and the external environments affect its ability to sustain a balance by secreting different chemicals. If someone jumps out of the bushes as you walk up to your door at night and screams “BOO!” your body instantly secretes adrenaline. That adrenaline allows you to see better, think and move more quickly and some have found super human strength from the process. Then, once the brain has made sense of the supposed danger your body begins to tremble which is again an involuntary process begun by the brain to burn off the adrenaline and return the body to a balance. Amazing! Insulin is a chemical that the body uses to rid the blood of excess sugar. Again, as a result of the body’s desire for balance. Unfortunately, sugar is carried off and converted into fatty tissue. Simple sugars and carbohydrates pass through the small intestine quite easily and quickly. This can throw a lot of sugar into the blood causing it to spike and throw the body out of balance. As I said earlier, insulin is the body’s defense against this. The body stores fat when insulin is present in the blood. It is a stimulus/response reaction to unwise eating. Now, for the help I promised you. Blood sugar is less likely to spike if you make a few easy substitutions. If we can slow down the process of digestion which slows the sugar as it passes through the small intestine into the blood stream there is no need for the body to secrete insulin. The trick is to eat complex carbs and sugars. Eating more fibrous foods slows the digestive process and keeps us feeling full longer and keeps the foods we eat from being converted into fat. Instead of eating a white potato try a sweet potato. Eat natural brown rice instead of white rice, whole grain bread not white bread. In my book “Coach Without A Whistle”, available by order through my website…just click on the bookstore icon of your choice and it will be delivered to your door…I recommend you learn to eat a low glycemic diet and I provide a list of foods and their corresponding index numbers. Learn as much as you can about which foods are okay to eat and make your own eating plan using the foods you enjoy. The trick is to keep the blood sugar from spiking. I often watch the choices people make when I go out to eat with my wife and friends. We all make smart choices for our entrees. We choose grilled chicken, broccoli, and sweet potato over white potato or white potato instead of fries. But then some follow with a desert or an after dinner drink. SUGAR!!! That’s just the transport system the body needs to expedite the digestion and kicks off the insulin production. All of those wise choices down the drain. Now, to be fair…the fiber in those wiser choices slows the sugar down somewhat, but the simple sugar also speeds up the digestion too and might spike the sugar, which defeats the goal of eating leaner. Stop the insanity!!! If you want to drop a few pounds to look great in those summer clothes then stop eating and drinking the simple sugars. Just eat and drink with some discipline. Make the wise choices and pat yourself on the back for them instead of feeling deprived. Many bodybuilders and super models find that if they truly eat clean for a week it is possible to have a cheat meal. Now, if you choose to go this route you have to understand that the cheat meal has to be on the same day and the same meal in that day every week. For instance, when I diet hard after a week I enjoy taking my wife out for breakfast on Saturday mornings. I eat as much of anything I want. After several weeks my desire for the bad foods subsides and I find that I eat less and less of the “crap” foods.
April 6, 2009 at 6:39 pm |
Is everyone pretty much a close knit family at Nascar? I picture them as such, but as with any family a few little tiffs will occur. I would imagine when it comes down to it they have to watch each others back. It is a very dangerous sport and I really don’t think that people realize that. They just don’t think about it I guess. I always hold my breath until I know everyone is ok.
April 6, 2009 at 8:40 pm |
Kathy,
What a great question. While we desparately want to win and to do that, we must beat all the other teams…by the way, in any other sport you have to beat 1 other team…but in ours we come prepared to battle 42 others nearly EVERY week…anyway, to win is to beat everyone else. It ends there however, we are all friends and neighbors. It is a small community of players so the guy you play against today might be your teammate tomorrow. The battle begins when the green drops and ends when the checkers fall. Other than that we talk, laugh, have lunch or meet up after work most days each week. There have even been times when a team will actually help another team DURING a race. It pays to make friends…you may need them down the road. When the day begins and ends we are all setting up and tearing down The GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH…and we’ll do it again some where else in this wonderful country of ours for the greatest fans on earth, next week.
Thanks for your question. I hope that’s what you wanted to know.
By the way…GoKennyEdwards.Com does a PodCast each week and often I am asked to respond to questions just like this…please go there and check it out…and YES!!! Kenny Edwards IS Carl’s little brother. So sign on as a fan and tell them who sent ya!
Coach
May 18, 2009 at 7:04 pm |
Is there a manuel for the indivdaul jobs for each pit crew member that goes over the wall? The right way for them to be the quickest they can be? Tecknique manuel??
May 19, 2009 at 1:37 am |
Wally,
There is actually…and I wrote it in 2001 while I was the Head Coach and Trainer at PPI Motorsports with the #32 Tide and #96 McDonalds Fords. I attempted a rewrite when NASCAR changed the way we do pit stops as the COT was invented and now the rumor is that NASCAR might try limiting Cup teams to one tire carrier, so I am waiting to see what they do. If they limit us to one tire carrier it will mean more than a rewrite of the manual…it will mean a rewrite of the entire dance! It might make it more exciting!!!