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

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).

Want to share your cooking style and get your recipe published in the next version of the Daily Detox Recipe Book?

Keep reading….

First things first, thanks for all the emails regarding the private personal training.  The first three spots were snapped up within about half an hour so there seems to be more of you wanting me to train you one-on-one than I had expected.  With that being said, I am happy to open up two more slots for those of you who couldn’t get in.

If you are interested in online personal training with a completely custom training program designed just for you, by me, then email me right away.  It’s first come first serve, so if you want in, don’t delay.  Make sure to put ‘private training’ in the subject line, and email me at rylan (at) adonisfitness (dot) ca – this is my private personal training company.

Next order of business is last week’s challenge:  Congrats to all who participated.  And an extra special pat on the back to all of you who took the time to encourage your fellow participants and offer support.  This sense of support and community is something I really want to foster here.  Don’t be afraid to post in the comments section, but just know that I have a zero tolerance for any sort of derogatory remarks made to or about another Go Sleeveless reader.  This is a safe and positive place, and I will not let it be brought down by any sort of childish negativity that can sometimes spring up in other blogs and forums.

And lastly, this week’s homework….

This week’s homework comes in the form of a cooking challenge.  When I left home for university I was the world’s worst cook.  I couldn’t make anything that didn’t come out of a box.  And when you are trying to lose fat and keep in shape, eating things from a box is a train wreck.  This changed out of necessity, and now I consider myself pretty well equipped in the kitchen.

Most of you know that I have provided over 50 recipes in the Daily Detox Recipe Book, and I have personally used every single one.  In fact, that’s the reason why I chose many of those recipes – they are my favorites that I refer back to time and time again.

But, variety is the spice of life, and we all have different tastes, so here is what you must do for this week’s challenge…

I want you to post one of your favorite healthy recipes in the comments section below. If you don’t have one, then I want you to look through a few cookbooks, find something that is healthy, and try it out.  Once you have sampled the results, post up the recipe and your review of it.  If it was great, then let is know, and if it was a flop, then that’s important to know too!

I will select one or two of the recipes to include in the newest edition of the Daily Detox Recipe book, and give you author credit in the book.  In order for this to happen though, they must meet my standards for being a healthy recipe (low saturated fat, low sugar, high protein, low or no starch, – basically all the things I talk about in the Daily Detox Diet).

You CANNOT use anything from the Daily Detox Diet, and try to make something you don’t think your fellow readers will know about.  In fact, I encourage you to try and find a new healthy recipe and try it out for the first time.

Each week my wife and I try and use at least one new recipe for dinner each week.  Sometimes more, but at least one each week.  Some we have once and never have again, but sometimes we come across a great new healthy recipe that then becomes part of our usual repertoire.

Eating healthy and losing weight can be incredibly tasty; I don’t know why so many people think they need to starve themselves and sacrifice flavor in order to ‘eat right’.

This will be a great way to have exposure to a variety of tastes, and I am really hoping that we get some recipes of Indian, Spanish, and other ethnic backgrounds to try out.  Thanks Ladies, and keep up the excellent work! Now get cookin!

Coach Rylan

This is such a dirty and misleading marketing ploy – these 100 calorie snacks.

Want to find out why even 100 calories of this stuff can put your fat loss progress to a grinding halt?

Check out this post on 100 calorie snack scams.