How many times have you been away on business or vacation and thought ” I have not had people think I was crazy yet today and I could really use a workout”  Come on, we have all been there.  No?  Well just in case it ever happens, here is the answer.  A rental car, a parking lot, and no regard for what people think of you is all that is required.  Knock yourself out!  Oh and by the way, it is rude to throw up in a public parking lot.

When people think about cutting calories out of their diets, they look to the usual suspects. Cut the sugar, cut the fat, cut the portions. Although this is a good strategy, when properly planned out and implemented, one of the areas that people forget about is calorie laden liquids. It is very easy to add hundreds, even thousands of calories to your diet from a few beverages that many people consume everyday.

Robert Lunn, a sports blogger and owner of www.thefatwhiteguy.com (he is soon to be the former fat white guy thanks to my help) sent me over an article on the 20 Worst Drinks In America.  It is absolutely shocking the amount of sugar and calories in some of these beverages.  See for yourself here.  I guarantee it will make you think twice about your waistline the next time you hit the Quickie- Mart.

I like to cook but I do not have a lot of extra time to do it.  When I cook I usually make enough for several days. Here is a quick video that shows how I can make meals for several days with about a half hour time investment.  Its not fancy, it may not even be pretty, but it gets the job done, (kinda like me!)  Also i don’t follow recipes or measure stuff when I cook (just like mama) but here is a basic breakdown of what I put in the chili.

1 pound ground turkey

1 pound buffalo

1/2 head garlic

1 large can diced tomatos

2 cans tomato sauce

2 cans mushrooms

1 can chick peas

1 can kidney beans

sea salt, pepper Mrs. Dash, cayenne  pepper, oregano, and hot sauce to taste.

To achieve long term success in any fat loss or muscle building program, regular compliance to the eating plan is essential.  Breakfast seems to be one of the hardest meals for new clients to get their heads around.  The thought of standing over a stove first thing in the morning appeals to very few people.  The result is  quick, convenient , packaged, processed, food like products, that required little or no prep being eaten for the first meal of the day.  The millions of bagels and boxes of cereals have to be eaten by someone I guess, but not by you if you want to see results.  Check out this video I made of me making my own breakfast. By making efficient use of a few appliances, I can make a healthy, muscle friendly breakfast in the time you can pour a bowl of goofy loops. Enjoy.

The marketing of food products is a tough and cut throat business. There must constantly be new and supposedly  improved products or the marketing machine grinds to a halt.  It is no coincidence that nearly every product you can buy has been fortified with the latest miracle nutrient or substance.  As I walked down the aisle of my local grocery store today I had never seen so many products with omega 3s and acia berry.  The funny thing was I was not in the fish aisle or the produce section, but in the dairy.  As far as I know none of these foods naturally contain either one of those other two substances. Anybody ever think that maybe there is a reason for that?  Just by putting something that is suppose to be healthy in a product, this seems to give license to claim that that food now has the same beneficial properties.  I am not convince it works that way, but I am already getting off topic about what I want to talk about and that is natural and organic sweeteners.

The two words “natural” and “organic” are probably some of the biggest marketing buzzwords over the last few years.  If those two words appear anywhere on a label, the consumer has been taught to automatically assume “Healthy”.  So with these two words plastered across cereal boxes and granola bar packages the consumer leads the charge to the cash register confident in the knowledge that the extra money they are doling out is well worth it for their increased health. Most of these products contain 3 or 4 different “natural sweetners” but no actual sugar appears on the label.  If fact the claim “no sugar added” is often emblazoned  across the box.  True, no actual sugar was added. None was needed.  The natural cane extracts and fruit nectars are more than sweet enough, and no less damaging to your waistline than pure white sugar.

One of the latest natural sweeteners to make its appearance  on supposed health food is pure Agave nectar or Agave syrup.  This sweet elixir comes from the blue agave plant, the same plant used to make tequila.  Extracts from the blue agave plant have shown to have anti-inflammatory properties and contain many anti oxidants.  There is no evidence that these health benefits are carried on to the commercially made syrups. Of course that does not stop the syrup from being marketed like it is a proven scientific fact. Since we are speaking of facts, lets look at what we actually know about Agave syrup.

Agave syrup is an amber colored liquid that is thinner than honey and much sweeter than sugar. Many companies promote it as health food because it is gluten free and also is suitable for vegan diets.  The biggest hype about agave is that it scores very low on the glycemic index. This allows it to be marketed as a diabetic friendly sweetener.  This is no small advantage as diabetes is one of the fastest growing diseases in the western world.  Everything here seems to look pretty good.  Like most things, if it looks too good to be true it probably is.

The reason for agave syrups low glycemic index is because it is almost completely fructose (up to 90%). Fructose does not have much effect on blood sugar but  has been shown to have some very metabolically damaging effects on the body when used in high concentrations as a sweetener.  Fructose causes insulin resistance and raises blood triglycerides.  In studies fructose was also linked to increases in belly fat.  All of these factors can lead to the onset of diabetes and heart disease.

If you have read my previous blogs you might be a little confused.  I even wrote a blog titled In defense of fructose. Have I flip flopped on this sweet substance?  No not at all.  As stated in the previous post, fructose in its natural state (fruit) is just fine. The reason for this is the concentration of fructose in fruit is actually quite low. An apple for example is about 7% fructose.  The rest of the apple is made up vitamins, fiber, antioxidants, and probably hundreds of other healthful compounds that we don’t even know about yet.  All of this is put together in perfect combination to make a nutritious healthy food.  When fructose is commercially extracted from fruit (or agave) all of these compounds are stripped away and all that remains in a very high concentration of fructose.  This high concentration is what causes the metabolic problem.  Agave syrup can be up to 90% fructose. Even high fructose corn syrup cannot match that coming in at 55% fructose.

The take home message here is don’t fall for marketing that claims just because something is natural it is healthy.  To be fair a small amount of agave syrup once in a while probably will not do you any harm.  Just don’t convince  yourself that it is healthier than plain old sugar.  if you really want a quilt free sugar fix, grab some fresh fruit.  That is something you can feel good about, no marketing required.

kevin@kevinweiss.com

If you read my last blog you know two things

1) Kevin loves coffee

2) Coffee has no downside

OK I admit it, I am stretching it a little with #2.  Lets revise that statement and say coffee has fewer downsides than many people have been lead to believe by previous studies.  Yes dear reader, I have put coffee in bold letters for a reason. You see many people who swill sweet java by the bucket assume that coffee and caffeine go hand in hand down the merry path to health benefits.  This may not be the case. It seems many of the studies that found positive effects from drinking regular coffee found similar benefit when  decaf was used. To quote Mr. smarty pants professor Rob van Dam from Harvard “Most of the benefits associated with coffee are not attributed to caffeine.” It seems the beverage, regular or decaf, contains antioxidants and quite a number of vitamins and mineral.

So lets review.  Coffee good, caffeine bad.  Well its not quite that black and white.  In my over 25 years of bodybuilding caffeine remains near the top of my list of substances that I believe  actually does something.  Although it will contribute very little to your bulging biceps and six pack abs directly, the mood boosting effects alone make it worth the minuscule price. Muscle is built and fat is lost by long term intensity and effort in the gym.  If a double espresso helps you haul your carcass into the gym at 5 am or after a mind numbing 10 hour day  of  working for the man (I am either too old or too young to know what that even means) I say bottoms up, As long as you are not going to get overly sensitive on me.  Follow me a little further down this rabbit hole Alice.

Some people should never or rarely have caffeine.  I am not talking about the obvious candidates like pregnant women, people with anxiety disorders, or high blood pressure issues. I am talking about normal healthy people who have one cup of coffee in the afternoon and can’t sleep until Halley’s comet makes it next appearance. Even researchers that came out very pro coffee recommended people monitor intake and evaluate how they react to the stimulant.  If you experience symptoms of jitteriness, anxiety, tremor, or difficulty sleeping, even with small amounts, caffeine is not for you. Some people are so sensitive that they can experience migraine like symptoms from the smallest amounts. NO COFFEE FOR YOU!  Unless its decaf of course.

Another group that should limit or avoid caffeine is children and teenagers. Somewhat surprising is the fact that this age group is one of the largest consumers of the stimulant.  With the massive consumption of soft drinks, frappuccinos, and energy drinks among todays younger generation, the amount of caffeine that can be ingested in a day is staggering. Daniel Evatt of the department of psychiatry  at John Hopkins University School of Medicine had this to say about young people high intake of caffeine. “They already have enough ups and downs with emotions as it is; when you add caffeine into the mix, its a problem. Their bodies are just not equipped to handle it.” He also notes that energy drinks are regulated as supplements. This means unlike soft drinks there is no limit on how much caffeine they can contain. Many of these drinks can contain 2-3x the amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee, and because they taste sweet this only ups the consumption. You would think with all this extra energy these drinks are suppose to provide they  would have enough energy to pull their pants ups!  Scene shoots to me, sitting on the porch, shaking my fist at the young whippersnappers in the neighborhood.

OK lets wrap this up.  My stance on coffee has not changed. I sip on one while I write this. I should say, like everything else in life, moderation is key. I am one of those individuals who has really no sensitivity to caffeine. I can drink coffee a couple hour before bed and sleep just fine. Some say this is because I have become immune to the effects of caffeine.  Maybe that is true.  My point is I have no noticeable negative side effects.  Also I almost never drink soda or energy drinks. My caffeine comes from black coffee. No studies have ever found any health benefit from where a large percent of the caffeine is consumed.  So if you enjoy a cup or two in the morning or one before your workout, good for you. Continue on quilt free.  If you are some one who does not tolerate caffeine, its OK.  We can still be friends. I will order you a decaf. If you want a frappaccino I might have to rethink our friendship though.

kevin@kevinweiss.com

Anyone who know me knows I love coffee.  Maybe a little too much. Although everybody knows that C is for “cookie” to a certain blue haired googly eyed friend, C is definitely for “coffee” when it comes to Kevin.

I have always enjoyed dark, strong coffee. I have never drank it any other way but black and the blacker the better.  I believe it is properly referred to as “bold”. I don’t really care what it is called, all I know is I like it, I want it, got to have it.

This type of talk about a substance seems to border almost on obsession or addiction to some and I guess I would have to agree. If you have to have something everyday to be happy you are probably addicted to it.  I can accept that.  I am not sure it warrants a room full of my friends and family telling me how it has negatively affect my relationships with them, but it is an addiction all the same.

Like most addicts I have always been able to justify to myself why I needed coffee and how it was not that big of a deal.  I turned a blind eye to any study that shone a negative light on coffee  or caffeine and always held steadfastly to the belief that it was not a harmful as it was made out to be.  I even preached to people about how coffee was not the problem, it in fact was the sweeteners and coffee whitener or cream that was doing all the harm.  This of course is a very convenient stand for some who only drinks black coffee to take. It was also based on nothing more than my own self serving imagination.

While I pay no heed to any studies that find negative effects from coffee,  I embrace the studies that show the positive.  There has been quite a few of them lately actually so I want to hurry up top my soapbox and shout them to the masses before the new batch of studies comes out that disproves everything the last study established.

It seems all this time coffee has gotten a bad rap because of the crowd it keeps. Regular coffee drinkers generally seemed to be people who did not get enough sleep, smoked cigarettes, drank alcohol, and overall led a less health conscious lifestyle. Rob van Dam, an assistant professor at the Harvard School Of Public Health, claims early studies that linked coffee with such conditions as heart disease and cancer did not take into account these other lifestyle factors. When larger more long term studies were conducted, no evidence was found that coffee had any effect on mortality rates from any cause including cardiovascular disease and cancer. Some of the subjects in the long term studies drank up to 6 cups per day (lightweights).

Van Dams research also found that coffee drinkers had reduced risk of liver disease and Type 2 diabetes. A recent study published in the Archives Of Internal Medicine suggested that 3-4 cups of coffee per day might reduce the chances of Type 2 diabetes by roughly 25 percent.

Harvard researchers found that drinking coffee might lower mens risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer by up to 60%.  The men who drank the most coffee seemed to receive the most benefit. Other studies have also shown coffee consumption can reduce your risk of ailments like Alzheimers, Parkinsons, dementia,colon and endometrial cancer and gallstones. Coffee has also been shown to improve mental and aerobic performance,endurance and mood, while decreasing depressive symptoms.

Sweet vindication!!  This black gold is nothing short of a miracle elixir!  I knew I was right all along and there is only one thing I like more than coffee and thats being right.  Ok back to reality.  Although the benefits of coffee have been well established just like anything else there is two sides to this story.  In my next blog I will discuss the other side to this coin and show why some people should avoid coffee all together, or at least some types of coffee. Until then enjoy that cup of coffee. I know I will.

kevin@kevinweiss.com

Scott Abel and I are doing a exercise library on youtube and we put together this little beauty the other day. If you don’t have an ab wheel or are not ready for this level you can just do the croc walks without the wheel and sub the knee tucks for mountain climbers. Enjoy.

Happy middle of the second week of January everybody.  Hope everybody had a great holiday. This may start out sounding like a belated happy new year  wish but it is not.  Don’t get me wrong I have nothing against new years.  What I do have a problem with is the new years resolution.  This thing that so many people feel obligated to make after tipping a few tall boys on Dec 31, but have no troubling discarding before February 1st.  No guilt, no shame.  I give up, pass the pie please.  I am not sure how I got headed down this path but it leads me to what I really want to talk about. Weight loss marketing in January.

Being in the business of fat loss, this could be a very lucrative time for me.  I know with a little marketing, I could sell dozens of 8 and 12 week “quick and easy” fat loss programs.  I could even put a 100% money back guarantee on it to sweeten the deal.  How could people resist!  ” I can be in shape by spring and if not I get my money back?  How can I lose?  Where do I sign?”

The thing is some people would lose weight.  Some would not.  The only thing I can can guarantee is I would not be giving any money back.  Not because I am a shady SOB but because any short term weight loss program with a 100% money back guarantee has one requirement.  The program must be followed exactly as laid out for as long as specified.  Miss one meal, one workout, eat 2 green beans more than specified, “Sorry  you did not follow the program, thats why you did not lose weight, not my fault”.

The same goes for weight loss supplements.  Many have money back guarantees  but in the fine print you will see that a specific diet and training program must be followed. If not, too bad, your fault not mine. Next please.

This may seem like a very glum message for the beginning of a new year but it is not meant to be.  Here is the brighter side.  You don’t need New Years resolutions to set you on track.  You don’t need quick and easy diet and training programs or magic weight loss supplements.  Everything you need to lose fat, gain muscle, or improve your performance is already in you.  That “secret” ingredient is desire for change.  I am not just talking about wanting to make a change. I am talking about a deep burning desire to change your current physical situation. If you simply would like to make a change, the first slip up or tough situation will surely derail your efforts and put your right back on the path you have already been on for so long.  If you truly desire change, little slip ups and roadblocks still happen, but they become obstacles to overcome, not excuses to fail.

I would like to end with this one simple thought.  Anybody that has ever attempted  a goal or tried to conquered a demon has slipped and fallen.  Success belongs to the ones who keep getting up.

P.S.

Happy New Year Everyone

Kevin

kevin@kevinweiss.com