My younger brother, Evan,  is a Journalism major at the University of British Columbia.  He is in the thick with exams and finishing up projects for the end of term, so he asked me to guest author a post on his blog and provide some tips to students who are struggling with their nutrition and health during this stressfull time.

I know all-to-well how hectic life can be during exams.  I remember in my first year anatomy class as the students (some 450 of us) lined up outside the exam hall before entering to take the test:  We were a solmen bunch, malnourished, sleep deprived, and desperateley hoping that everything we crammed into our heads the night before would stick just a little longer – at least until we could get it down onto the page.

A friend who was a medical student and took the same class as an elective for extra study commented that the med-school anatomy class was far easier than what we faced.  Yeeesh!

So I’ve put togeher a quick article with some tips to help any of you who are stuggling with high stress at school or at work, and feel that your nutrition might be slipping, and your performance suffering.

You can check out my high stress nutrition tips at www.evanduggan.com

Coach Rylan

Artificial sweeteners are a topic that has come up a lot lateley, so instead of answering the same questions over and over again in email, I figured this was a great opportunity to address this one through and Ask Coach Rylan segment.  In this clip, I reveal the truth about artificial sweeteners, and give you the best options for natural sweeteners.

Coach Rylan

There has to me more fitness gadgets and gizmos for the abs than any other body part, period.

And that’s because everybody wants a slimmer waist line.

The trouble is, EVERYBODY is going about this wrong.

Even most personal trainers I’ve witnessed are giving their clients bad advice, and having them spend waaay too much time on targeted ab exercises.

I’ve been there, and I’ve done that, and it simply DOESN’T WORK!

My client’s know that, I rarely give out a lot of ab exercises to do.  In this case however,  I am talking about my own personal experience.

I was able to go from a 38 inch waist, to a 31 inch waist and dramatically increase the muscle definition in my abs, without even doing a single crunch!

How is this possible?

Well, I came to my senses and realized it my problem wasn’t my abs.  It was the stuff covering my abs.

BODY FAT!

I literally said ‘To Hell with Ab Exercises!” and instead focused on tightening up my diet (which I later fine tuned and turned into the Daily Detox Diet), and exercises designed to burn fat and increase my metabolism.

As the fat began to come off, the abs started to show up.

I kept ignoring my abs, and continued to focus on fat loss, and it only got better.  Definition increased by the week, and now I am finally pleased with the end results.

And I still don’t do crunches.

So aren’t I neglecting a very important muscle group?

Hardly.

The exercises that I do (and if you are familiar with the Go Sleeveless Program, you will know exactly what I am talking about) still work my abs and my core to a tremendous level, just not in the way you would think of traditional ab exercises.

For example, when you Squat, your abs and core are getting an incredible workout.

And a Plank, holly crap!  Do that exercise and tell me your abs aren’t getting worked!

And what about a Cable or Band Rotation?  You might not be crunching but your entire stomach gets an amazing workout.

All these exercises are ‘full body’ exercises that work many muscles groups, burn fat, and increase your metabolism, but they also hit your abs at the same time.

So forget spending hours crunching away, you’ve got better and more productive things to do.  Once you have eliminated the body fat from on top of your stomach, you abs will show through.  I guarantee it!  So tighten up the diet, and get started on a workout that incorporates full body fat burning exercises with metabolism boosting interval cardio.

Coach Rylan

PS.  For those of you who have the Go Sleeveless Elite Package, you should know that the combination of the Muffin Top Blaster, and the Total Body Sculptor programs are designed to work together for just this purpose.

These programs work synergistically to melt body fat, boost metabolism, and then sculpt your midsection at the same time, using the principels I just mentioned.  If you haven’t looked at those lateley, and you want the Ultimate Belly Slimming Plan, then you might want to dig those out and get to work on that sexy midsection before summer is over.

I know I am bossy.

I tell you what to do all the time.

Realistically, that is just the nature of my line of work.

As a Coach, I am responsible for helping you achieve your goals, and that responsibility comes part in parcel with me telling you what to do and how to do it.

But too often in this work, us coaches don’t stop and listen to what YOU, the client and customer, really wants.

So this is my turn to switch things around and listen to what you have to say.

What do YOU want?

What do you need to help you reach your goals?

Do you want daily emails to encourage you and motivate you?

Do you want me to email you once a month or less?

Do you want step-by-step exercise videos that you can watch on your computer or at home?

Do you want photos that you can print out and take with you?

Do you want a done-for-you eating plan and exercise regime that you don’t have to think about at all, just pick up an go?

Let me know, and then tell me how much it’s worth to you.

For example, maybe this is what you want:

• You want a program that will help you lose 30 pounds in 30 days.
• You want me to email you each day and tell you exactly what to eat.
• You want a new exercise program each week so you don’t get bored.
• You want a video demonstration of every single exercise in the program.
• You want me to tell you exactly how many reps to do, and how many sets to do each and every day.
• You also want the exercises to require no equipment.

How much would you pay for all of that?

It’s up to you.

Maybe losing 30 pounds, getting a new body, and not having to think about one single thing while you do it is worth $1000 to you.

Maybe it’s only worth $100.

Be reasonable, and tell me what it’s really worth to you.  If I think I can do it for that price, then I will.  Obviously I can’t devote all my time to a program that you want for free, I have to make a living too.  But I will seriously consider any reasonable offers.

The point is, I want to provide products and services that you really want, instead of me trying to guess what you want and then putting my price tag on it.

I will be starting my next big Go Sleeveless revision soon, so I want to hear what you have to say.

Tell me in the comments below.  I will read every single one and take all of your opinions into account.  This new updated program could very well see the light of day in a few weeks.

Coach Rylan

To work off the calories in this burger, it will take him at least two week's worth of workouts...think he's up to the task?

HOMEWORK ALERT!! – SEE BELOW

Have you ever played this dialogue in your head when confronted with pizza or birthday cake at the office, or picking up take-out on the way home for dinner?

“…well, I have to mow the lawn tonight so that I guess that will take care of the calories from this pizza”

or

“….I’m going walking with my best friend later so I can have a piece of cake and it won’t wreck my diet”

or

“…I’m going to get a good workout in tomorrow morning, so McDonald’s for dinner tonight is fine”

Sorry to break it to you, but if this is the type of logic you are following, you could be eating yourself into increased jean sizes, flabby arms, and a bulging stomach faster than you think.

Here’s why….

You can never out-run a burger.

Now, you might be thinking…”huh?…out-run a burger???”

Here’s what I mean.

How long does it take to consume the average ‘combo’ meal from any fast food joint?  Well, rather than have you go test this out for yourself, I will just tell you…it’s about 8 minutes or less.

In those 8 minutes, you could have easily consumed over 1000 calories.

Now, if I were to ask you to run full-out, as fast as you possibly could, how many calories do you think that you could burn in 8 minutes?  Assuming that you could actually run full-out for 8 minutes (and nobody I know can do that), you would be lucky to burn 100 calories.

For a more reasonable example, the average moderate intensity one-hour workout will burn about 500 calories.

To burn 500 calories, you would also have to mow the lawn for about 2 hours, or walk for about two and a half hours.

So in order to work-off the calories in that happy-meal you downed in 8 minutes, you would need to run full-blast for well over an hour, mow the lawn for the better part of an afternoon, or take a very, very, long walk.

As you can see, you can never outrun a burger, it will win every time, hands down.

So if you have ever been in the position where you are wondering why you aren’t seeing results, but you are still eating things that you know you shouldn’t, now you know why your body isn’t changing.

Exercise alone will never compensate for a horrible diet, NEVER.  You would have to workout all day long in order to lose fat, tone your flabby arms, and look great in a bathing suit.  And unless you actually enjoy marathon workouts, and you have the time to spend all day in the gym, then it’s about time to really start paying attention to what you are putting in your mouth.

The good news is, this doesn’t mean you have to go hungry.

If you’ve been following a lot of the recent posts and comments, you will notice that the women using the Daily Detox Diet aren’t hungry.  In fact, on this program you will actually be eating more.  The difference is WHAT you are eating.

When you chose the foods that are very high in nutrients, but very low in calories, you can eat so much more of them!  You’ll never be hungry, and you’ll keep your body burning fat all day long.  This is an inherent flaw with diet plans that suck you in by telling you ‘on our diet you can eat pizza and chocolate!’.  They have to resort to such tiny portions that you will feel like you are ALWAYS hungry.  Bad foods are often very calorie dense, so you can only eat a very small amount of them and continue to lose weight.

There are many other flaws with that type of system, but for now, just realize that you are better off eating more, but making better choices.

But as I am sure you know, eating well is, by itself, not good enough if you really want to sculpt and tone your arms.

I’ll talk more about that later.

Until then, stop trying to rationalize your dietary indiscretions.  Make better choices, allow yourself to eat lots of healthy foods, and keep those workouts short and sweet.

Coach Rylan

Your Homework For This Week

Calculate your nutrition data for one day, and post it in the comments section below.

This week I want you to actually sit down and calculate how many calories you are taking in in a day.  This is going to serve a few purposes.  1)  You’ll suddenly become aware of every single thing you eat in a day.  Most people realize that once they start keeping track of what they are eating, they are eating waaay more than they thought they were – a real eye opener.  2)  You’ll learn how bad some foods really are for you.  Though that Denny’s Grand Slam wasn’t too bad once in a while?  Wait until you find out it has over 1000 calories and 40 grams of fat!  3)  You’ll be able to learn the nutritional content of many of your favorite foods, and this will help you make healthier decisions later.  You will find out that some foods that are very filling and tasty, don’t have many calories.  You’ll also find out that some foods that are incredibly calorie dense, don’t fill you up at all.  Once you find out what these are, you’ll know exactly how to plan your meals to ensure you are never hungry, while still allowing yourself to lose weight.

Here’s how to do it.

1)  Record everything you eat, in their exact quantities for one day.

2)  Dig out the ‘Diet and Nutrition Tracker’ program in your Go Sleeveless package.  The instructions included in this program will take you step-by-step through how to calculate and record your nutritional intake.  It also has a pre-made spreadsheet all set-up for you to log everything and do your calculations.

3)  Post the following in the comments below for one day’s worth of eating:  Total calories consumed, total fat consumed (in grams), total protein consumed (in grams), and total carbs consumed (in grams).  For those who really want to go the extra mile, tell us how many grams of sugar, fiber, and saturated fat you consumed as well.

For everyone who posts this info I will personally check out your nutrition summary, and offer some guidance on your diet (but you must include your age and weight for me to be able to do this properly).