Mirror, Mirror On The Wall

What if I told you that you could lose 5 or even 10 pounds in ONE day using no pills or magical potions? Would you listen? Hell yeah you would!

Well, the sad news is, is that some of you guys are already doing that. Believe me, I hear it all the time - "I lost 8 pounds last week, but I gained it all back." Or this one, "I gained 2 pounds yesterday, but I lost 3 this morning!"

So what's the deal? Is it some weird mystery pound-dropper bug that's been going around? Well, yes and no. Yes to the fact that you have really no clue as to why you're dropping pounds so frequently. And no considering the fact that it's not uncommon.

Death To The Weight Scale!

There are a couple of reasons why I hate using a scale to measure my weight and why I think it's a bunch of bologna when someone tells me they lost or gained so and so amount of pounds.

"Give me death!"

Reason 1: You cannot lose 3 pounds of FAT in one day or gain 5 pounds of FAT in one day. Body fat just doesn't hop on and off your body whenever it wants. So what is causing these scale weight fluctuations?

Water. You won't ever stay the same weight for a full day. Your body will retain water and drop water if certain practices are taken but for the average person there is no point in doing so. Worrying about scale weight is only important for those competing in events such as bodybuilders, power lifters and boxers where they need to make a certain weight class.

Reason 2: It's just a number. Ok, you've figured out your weight. Now what? What does it mean? Nothing. Exactly. It means nothing. A weight scale doesn't measure your body fat percentage, muscle mass weight or any other measurement. For instance, a person can be the perfect weight for their age, height and sex, but their body composition can be pretty awful. Body composition is much more important than scale weight. What is body composition? Body composition is the percentage of fat, bone and muscle in a human body. That is what you should care about and want to change.

But how do you measure body composition?

Well, there are a few ways . Your pants are the best way, hands down, to measure your body composition. No dirty joke here. If your pants are getting looser, then that means you're headed on the right track. Pants are good because they measure inches, not pounds. And weight loss is the game of inches.

"Hmmm...now where did I put those damn pants?"

A second way to measure progress is to use your mirror. The mirror never lies. What you see is what you get. If you are slimming down in the mirror's eyes, then no weight scale can tell you otherwise.

Another way is through the use of body calipers. It may not be the most convenient way of gauging progress, but if you have access to them, then by all means use them. Body calipers will measure body fat. However, it can sometimes be difficult to find good body calipers and they can be quite expensive.

In the end, getting caught up in scale weight numbers is something that should be last on your list of priorities. If you have to keep buying smaller clothes, then you're definitely headed in the right direction. Now, get in that bathroom and smash the hell out of that scale!

- Juice

The Big Three

This new series that I'll be starting is all about the stuff you probably have no clue about. If you didn't know, macro-nutrients are the three big ones: protein, carbs, and fats. When someone turns a food item around and reads the label or tries to, they'll most likely see those three macros.

The first word of advice that I can give you is to not panic when you see percentages and "based on a 2,000 calorie diet" on the back of a food item. And another thing - never fear any of these macros. You need every single one of them, some more than others but all of them nonetheless. Keeping that in mind, let's actually look at what these macros are and how important they are when planning out a diet. As far as going into specifics about these nutrients, I'll save that for another post.

Protein:

Ah, one of the "dreamiest" words you'll ever hear. If hearing the word "protein" doesn't make you dream nice things, then I don't know what will. Protein is hands down THE most important macro you need. I know you're probably thinking, "Protein! But that's the stuff all those icky bodybuilders eat. I'll never eat one gram of it, ever!"

Well buster, you better get used to eating it and a good bit of it. How much? A good rule of thumb to follow is to eat 1 gram of protein per 1 lb of body mass.

Example: A 180 pound guy would eat 180 grams a day.

Now, for those of you who have doubts about eating this much protein, check this out: many studies have been conducted where athletes eating over 200 grams of protein (and weighing well less than 200 lbs.) every day for long periods of time showed no kidney problems. And besides, are humans not adaptive organisms? If we perform cardio continually in the gym, don't our hearts become stronger than before? Same deal with other organs. Our kidneys will and should adapt to any amount of protein it is given.

So, where can we find protein? We can find it primarily in meat, nuts, and beans. Sure we can find protein in milk as well, but the sugar content is not all that good for us. Not to mention that the cow producing that milk was probably injected with more hormones than Ronnie Coleman, I'd pass it up.

Don't get hormonal on me Ronnie.

Carbohydrate:

Wait, don't run away! It's only a carb! Carbs are probably the most misunderstood macro-nutrient out there. They are so misunderstood in fact that people go on "low carb" and "zero carb" diets. Not only are such diets harmful to your system, they just don't work long-term and they're not conducive to muscle growth. Besides, carbs taste damn good. But how important are they?

Well, that all depends on your activity level. If you're sewed to the seams of your couch then carbs are not in your future. People tolerate them differently. There are those who can eat carbs and tolerate them, while there are others who just at the sight of a spaghetti strand blow up into a balloon and fly away. How well can you tolerate carbs? Well, that's for you to figure out.

Carbs are definitely not for him.

As far as carb sources go, here's another rule you should try to follow: if it ain't whole wheat, then don't eat it. Believe me, the nutritional profiles of white carbs and whole-wheat carbs is huge.

While what type of carb you eat is very important, when you eat it is just as important. A good rule of thumb is to eat the majority of your carbs in the first 2 meals of the day.

Fat:

Meet probably one of the most feared things in the world. No really, people fear fat. They fear putting it on as well as eating it. While not wanting to put on fat is perfectly understandable, it's not understandable to not want to eat fat. Let me come right out and just say it: if you want to lose fat, then you MUST eat fat. Now, of course this doesn't mean that you can just eat all the bacon you desire and expect to see fat melt right off your body. No, no. But why is fat important? Well, it's a must for adequate hormone function. Fat also keeps you full and satisfied, and that's always a nice feeling.

How much fat do you exactly need? Around 80-90 grams will do. Does that mean you can eat 90 grams worth of bacon? No, of course not.

Like carbs, the quality of the source matters. The best source of the fats you need come from fish, nuts, extra virgin olive oil, cheese, and meat.

That's it! Later on I will be going more in depth of the role these macros play in one kick ass diet.

- Juice

Bad Boys, Bad Boys, Whatcha Gonna Do...

Seriously. You seriously need to start. You have been going about it all wrong. They hide it right underneath your nose and you don't even know about it. When you're not looking, they sneak it in. They are literally walking right in front of your face while carrying a bucket load full of the stuff and dumpin' it straight down your throat and you ain't doin' squat about it!

Huh?

Seriously. You seriously don't know? Ok fine, I guess I have to tell you. What is being sneaked into your food are the bad boys - you know, the preservatives, unnecessary sugars, nitrates, nitrites, and other really nasty little buggers.

Where can you find them? In pretty much any popular food item. Are there ways to eat your favorite item without worrying about them? Of course, but you have to start.

So like my Kardashian "sisters" who like to over use the word "seeeriously," let's seriously start reading some nutrition labels.

Seriously Kim. Seriously?

Here are some of the "bad boys" we have to watch out for.

The Wanted List:

• High Fructose Corn Syrup - Sugar
• Fructose - Sugar
• Sucrose - Sugar
• Glucose - Sugar
• Hydrogenated Soybean Oil - Preservative/Trans Fat
• Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil - Preservative/Trans Fat
• Cane Sugar - Sugar
• Evaporated Cane Juice - Sugar
• Nitrates - Preservative
• Nitrites - Preservative
• MSG (Monosodium Glutamate) - Additive
• Dextrose - Sugar
• Maltodextrin - Sugar

Those are just a some of the nasty little suckers in most food. Why do companies put this stuff in your food? Well, because they make food taste better, they make it look more appealing, and they make it cheaper to manufacture.

High Fructose Corn Syrup is a sweetener made from corn. There just so happens to be an abundance of corn growing across the country that companies have found a nice way of making into a sweetener/coloring. Chances are you've seen the commercial where a woman asks a man what's wrong with eating high fructose corn syrup, to which he is unable to respond with an answer.

Well, to answer the woman's question: high fructose corn syrup is a SUGAR. And sugar stimulates insulin in your body at times when it's not needed, leading to Type II diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity.

Oh, and by the way, the company sponsoring that commerical was the Corn Refiners Assocation! Doh!

"Doh! It's in my donut!"

Hydrogenated Soybean Oil is another really bad ingredient found in a lot of foods. Its main goal is to preserve and extend the shelf life of food, not your body's shelf life. It's a trans fat which blocks and builds up plaque in your arteries. In the end, a good rule of thumb when reading labels is: if you can't even pronounce one of the ingredients on a product's label, then just avoid buying it.

So now that you know what to watch out for, start reading some nutrition labels. Seriously.

- Juice

Juicy Mythbustin' Part I

It's about time. People have been suffering way too long listening to the same mumbo jumbo day in and day out. That is why I have come up with my " Juicy Mythbustin' " series. I'll be bustin' some of the craziest, weirdest and most stupid myths known to mankind.

Now without further adieu, let's get juicin'!

Myth 1: Eat And Burn Off Later

Oh, how I wish this were true. I'd be eating tons of pizza and burgers from when I wake up to when I sleep and probably more during the middle of the night. And then I'd "work" it off the next day. The best way to think of this is to picture your body as an engine. If you put in shitty fuel (outside/junk food), you're going to perform shitty. But if you put in what I like to call "high performance" fuel, well then you know. And let's face it - sometimes you're not able to "burn it off later" and so eating well all around is the best way out.

Myth 2: Turn Fat To Muscle

The same person who made this one up probably made the first one up. It just doesn't make sense. A person has fat cells and muscle cells. You CANNOT turn one into the other. You can only SHRINK or EXPAND a fat or muscle cell. But by all means, try it if you don't believe me :)

Myth 3: Women Become "Manly" By Lifting Weights

Whoever told you this has probably never lifted a weight in his/her life. If it were that easy to build muscle, then everyone on earth would be huge, even little kids. Just picking something up and lifting it a couple of times will not make anyone - man or woman - manly. It takes extreme dedication to get your physique somewhat close to the more "elite" level. Trust me ladies, women don't and can't become "butch" over night. Lifting pink dumbbells will most certainly NOT turn you into Marja Lehtonen.

Don't even think about mentionin' pink dumbbells around Marja.

Myth 4: Spot Reduction

Lay down and knock out 1000 crunches. Go ahead, do em'. I'll wait... Done? Ok, where's the six-pack? Oh wait, what!? No six-pack!? Oh that's right, it takes much more to reduce ANY spot on your body than just working it a thousand times. It takes a structured approach of dieting and training. Don't get me wrong here - you could lose SOME fat around any area if you do blast it a million times a day because of the increase of physical activity, but the results are nothin' to tell momma about. The training part should consist of the "big" movements that work the most muscles: squats, deadlifts, rows and presses. Plain and simple. Do those for a few months or years depending on where you are and then you can worry about doing a few crunches.

Oh and by the way, doing crunches are not absolutely necessary to obtain a six-pack. The "big" movements work practically your entire body. Yes...including your abs.

Myth 5: No Pain, No Gain!

The issue of soreness is very debatable. Some like to say that soreness is an indicator of a good workout because the certain body part you intended to work was, in fact, worked. Others say that soreness is just an indication of a new stimulus that you have placed your body under. I think that it's good to experience soreness after changing up your program, but soreness is not something that you should rely on. Truth be told you can become sore from doing anything if you do it enough.

No pain, no gain!

That's enough "juicin" for one day. Are there many more myths that need to be "juiced?" Of course! Stay tuned for Part II!

- Juice