I was in GNC a few days ago and heard some 18 year old, thug looking guys talking to each other. One was telling the other about how when his cousin was in prison, all he did was eat fish oil pills all day and he “got huge.”
I believe it. I’m sure he ate a ton of fish oil pills, but I doubt that’s what caused him to “get huge.” I’m sure the fear of prison and everything that goes with that might have had something to do with his motivation to workout the way he did. Prisoners have nothing else to do but workout, eat, sleep, and swallow fish oil pills. If we could do those things all day, we would “get huge” too.
I don’t want to take all of the credit from fish oil, I just want to make it clear that no supplement is fully responsible for muscle gains. The truth is that fish oil is a very important supplement. It’s one of the most anti-inflammatory substances on earth.
Omega 3 fatty acid found in fish oil protects your joints, your heart, and your brain. Studies show that they might even help improve you mood and increase metabolism.
One problem with fish oil supplements, is that they might leave a fishy aftertaste. You could try putting the pills in the freezer for an hour and then swallowing them frozen. Being frozen slows the oil’s breakdown in the body. Also, take them with food. That seems to reduce the fishy, burping aftermath. If that doesn’t work, just upgrade to a higher quality product. The better, usually more expensive supplements, are more fresh and less likely to have a bad aftertaste.
Filed under Supplements by on Apr 13th, 2010. Comment. 
January 1st, I Start A New Diet, So For Christmas I Can Eat Whatever I Want, Right?
Right.
Actually, you can eat anything you want 365 days a year. You heard it here first.
You can eat cookies, cake, brownies, fudge, fruit salad, anything you want.
That’s right, you can eat all of those “bad” things, but there’s just one catch.
You can’t eat very much of it.
Yay, that’s good news right? You can eat anything you want, just in moderation. The problem is, most of the stuff we want to eat, is stuff we shouldn’t eat. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that we all go out and stuff ourselves will all sorts of sugary delights, I’m just saying that we can have a taste of these sugary delights without contributing to the weight we will want to lose come January 1st.
So, How Much Can I Have?
Well, let’s look at sugar like alcohol. In Texas, if you are caught driving with a Blood Alcohol (BA) level of .08% you are considered intoxicated, or over the limit. Anything leading up to that is not over the limit, but you still have the substance in your body.
Now, depending on your size, it doesn’t take much to have a BA level of .08. It only takes a few drinks. Studies suggest that and average sized person can have one alcoholic drink per hour, and stay under the limit. The reason is because the alcohol is metabolized in the body over time.
Alcohol is basically sugar, and cookies, cake, brownies, fudge… are almost completely carbohydrates, and those carbs are almost all sugar. So, generally more than one drink per hour puts you over the limit, how many bites of sugary goodness can we have?
This might be depressing, but don’t let it cause you to drink. You can have about two bites of these delights without going over your limit.
So What Happens When I Go Over The Limit?
You won’t get arrested for eating too much sugar, but you probably won’t be happy with yourself over the long run. What actually happens is when you get a shot of roughly 20grams or more of sugar, your insulin spikes. To keep this very plain and simple, when you eat a certain amount of sugar or carbohydrates, your insulin spikes. The more sugar you consume at one time, the more dramatic the spike.
This insulin carries the sugar throughout your bloodstream and it makes two stops. It first stops at the body’s muscles. If you’ve been working out, your muscles’ glycogen stores are being used up, and the insulin carries the sugar to restore it. That’s a good thing, but how many of us are working out and consuming cookies and other holiday treats at the same time?
If our muscles don’t need the sugar, and they don’t if we aren’t doing any strenuous activity, then it goes on to it’s second stop. The second stop is FAT stores. That’s right, eat, or drink too much sugar at one time and it’s probably going straight to your problem areas. Think about that the next time you clean your dessert plate.
The Solution:
Eat only a few bites of the goodies. A few bites will keep your sugar level low enough that it doesn’t cause a spike, and the sugar is more likely to be used as energy rather than stored as fat. Just like above, you can eat a few bites per hour, but any more, and you go over the limit.
The Reality:
Who can really eat just a few bite? We all can. We don’t really like to eat all of these goodies; we just like the taste of them. New research has come out saying that on average, on the third bite of something, our taste buds become rapidly insensitive to a food. That means that only the first few bites really taste that great. Try this for yourself. I was personally surprised to find that this was the case with my favorite ice cream.
So, have a merry Christmas and eat what you want, just keep it to a bite or two per hour. Remember, the new year is only a week away, it’s much easier to not eat it than to burn it off after January 1st.
Filed under Fat Loss by on Dec 8th, 2009. 2 Comments.
