40-30-30 Nutrition Plan Review
The premise of the 40-30-30 Diet is simple: "Your genes have not
changed very much during the past 100,000 years".
Our body is a biochemical machine, and for hundreds of thousands
of years, our digestive system operated correctly when eating
just 2 food groups:
1. Lean Protein
2. Natural Carbohydrates like fruits and vegetables
Evolution works very slowly, and as far as our genes are concerned,
we are still build to eat those 2 food groups. By evolutionary
standards, agriculture is still relatively recent and therefore
our digestive system has not yet adapted to eating large quantities
of dense, highly processed carbohydrates like grains, pasta and bread.
Because we haven't evolved to a stage where we can properly digest
large amounts of high density carbohydrates, our body experiences
adverse biochemical effects like fat gain, diabetes, heart
disease, sluggish feeling, etc. The 40-30-30 Diet is designed to
feed our body according to its genetic makeup.
What you eat and how you eat has a powerful effect on your body
and health. This diet plan treats food as more than just a source
of calories that must be counted and restricted. It views food
as a powerful agent that has significant effects on our body.
For example, certain foods can cause severe surges in insulin
production. Significant swings in insulin levels can negatively
affect mood, endurance, mental focus, and fat. The 40-30-30
Diet Plan was designed to keep our body balanced and performing
at its peak. It does this by incorporating 4 key elements:
The 40-30-30 Nutrition Plan
The use of mono-unsaturated fats
Supplementation with Omega-3 oils
Exercise
40-30-30 Sample Meals and Snacks Diet Menu
Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs Florentine with cheese and grapes
Snack: Yogurt with raspberries and almonds
Lunch: Chicken Salad Pita Sandwich with asparagus salad
Snack: Turkey and Cheddar Lettuce Wrap
Dinner: Zesty Broiled Fish with couscous
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Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Zone Diet Review
The Zone is achieved when each meal is composed of 40% carbohydrates,
30% proteins and 30% fat. This might sound complicated but it is
actually pretty easy when you follow the Zone Food Block System.
With this system different foods are assigned a food block value.
For example a block of protein is equal to 7 grams, which is about
1 ounce of low-fat cheese. Your gender, activity level and current
percentage of body fat will determine your daily food block
requirements.
Examples of Zone Food Block System
1 Protein Food Block = 7 grams of Protein
1 oz of skinless white meat chicken
1 1/2 oz of salmon
1 oz of beef
1 Carbohydrate Food Block = 9 grams of Carbohydrate
1/2 apple
10 cups romaine lettuce
1 cup butternut squash
1 Fat Food Block = 1.5 grams of Fat
1/3 tsp of canola oil
3 olives
1/2 tsp peanut butter
Sample Free Zone Diet Recipe
Baked Fish and Vegetables
Ingredients:
1 tsp olive oil
4 1/2 oz flounder
Onions, sliced
2 cups yellow squash, sliced
2 cups zucchini, sliced
Lemon juice
Thyme and dill, chopped
1 plum
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat bottom of baking dish with oil.
Spread half the vegetables in the dish. Top with fish fillets.
Put the rest of the vegetables on top. Sprinkle lemon juice and
herbs over the mixture plus a couple of grinds of pepper, it
desired. Cover with foil and bake about 45 minutes or until fish
is done and vegetables are tender. Serve with lemon wedges.
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The Zone is achieved when each meal is composed of 40% carbohydrates,
30% proteins and 30% fat. This might sound complicated but it is
actually pretty easy when you follow the Zone Food Block System.
With this system different foods are assigned a food block value.
For example a block of protein is equal to 7 grams, which is about
1 ounce of low-fat cheese. Your gender, activity level and current
percentage of body fat will determine your daily food block
requirements.
Examples of Zone Food Block System
1 Protein Food Block = 7 grams of Protein
1 oz of skinless white meat chicken
1 1/2 oz of salmon
1 oz of beef
1 Carbohydrate Food Block = 9 grams of Carbohydrate
1/2 apple
10 cups romaine lettuce
1 cup butternut squash
1 Fat Food Block = 1.5 grams of Fat
1/3 tsp of canola oil
3 olives
1/2 tsp peanut butter
Sample Free Zone Diet Recipe
Baked Fish and Vegetables
Ingredients:
1 tsp olive oil
4 1/2 oz flounder
Onions, sliced
2 cups yellow squash, sliced
2 cups zucchini, sliced
Lemon juice
Thyme and dill, chopped
1 plum
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat bottom of baking dish with oil.
Spread half the vegetables in the dish. Top with fish fillets.
Put the rest of the vegetables on top. Sprinkle lemon juice and
herbs over the mixture plus a couple of grinds of pepper, it
desired. Cover with foil and bake about 45 minutes or until fish
is done and vegetables are tender. Serve with lemon wedges.
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Fitness and Health Tips Newsletter, and you will be automatically entered
in our monthly drawing to win Free Supplements and other great prizes.
Stay informed, stay motivated, win free stuff, join today!
Click Here To Sign Up Free
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Thursday, December 13, 2007
What happens when I stop exercising?
So you have been working out for a while, seeing great results and
loving the difference you see and feel in your body. But what
happens if, for some reason — injury, holidays, burnout, or
something else — you have to stop for a while.
What happens?
Well first, let me tell you what doesn’t happen. Your muscle does
not turn to fat. That would be like saying if you stop driving
your car, your tires will turn to marshmallows. You may lose
muscle mass and gain some fat, but your muscle does not turn to
fat.
Here is what does happen:
Cardio: You begin to lose aerobic endurance in as little as two weeks.
Muscular Strength: Studies have shown that muscular strength will
return to pre-exercise levels after four to 12 weeks off.
Muscular Size: Muscles will shrink after 4-12 weeks off.
Metablism: As your muscles atrophy, your metabolism will slow. This
means that if you eat the same amount, you will gain weight.
The good news is once you start exercising again is all comes back
fairly fast.
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Fitness and Health Tips Newsletter, and you will be automatically entered
in our monthly drawing to win Free Supplements and other great prizes.
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So you have been working out for a while, seeing great results and
loving the difference you see and feel in your body. But what
happens if, for some reason — injury, holidays, burnout, or
something else — you have to stop for a while.
What happens?
Well first, let me tell you what doesn’t happen. Your muscle does
not turn to fat. That would be like saying if you stop driving
your car, your tires will turn to marshmallows. You may lose
muscle mass and gain some fat, but your muscle does not turn to
fat.
Here is what does happen:
Cardio: You begin to lose aerobic endurance in as little as two weeks.
Muscular Strength: Studies have shown that muscular strength will
return to pre-exercise levels after four to 12 weeks off.
Muscular Size: Muscles will shrink after 4-12 weeks off.
Metablism: As your muscles atrophy, your metabolism will slow. This
means that if you eat the same amount, you will gain weight.
The good news is once you start exercising again is all comes back
fairly fast.
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Fitness and Health Tips Newsletter, and you will be automatically entered
in our monthly drawing to win Free Supplements and other great prizes.
Stay informed, stay motivated, win free stuff, join today!
Click Here To Sign Up Free
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Muscle Building over 40
By Scott Miller
MYTH: A man over 40 years old can no longer build muscle.
Granted, at 40 years old, men usually have less testosterone
in their systems, but we can still build muscle. It just
takes a bit more persistence and hard work.
If you read all the muscle mags and try to follow what they
say, you might make some gains, but typically you will be
over-trained. So, let's throw all of that away and
concentrate on the things that really matter: training,
nutrition and rest.
Whatever your routine, make sure it's working for you and
you're making progress. After 3-4 weeks of your new
routine, if you're not lifting more or doing more reps,
you should re-think your routine. Remember, there is no
"cookie cutter" routine that works perfectly for everyone,
so if this one doesn't work, change it.
One of the biggest things to remember in your routines
for adding muscle mass is to LIFT HARD and HEAVY! I
can't stress this enough. I've talked to too many guys,
young and old, who proclaim that they can't add any size.
If you watch them, they never really push themselves.
You must always push yourself and strive for more reps
or more poundage or you will never make any quality gains.
Lifting hard and heavy leads us right into a few other
points – your joints and using straps and wraps. Being
over 40 and lifting can pose problems with your joints.
Aside from taking glucosamine and chondroitin (not a bad
idea), stretching frequently before, during and after a
training session is important. Even stretching
during your work day can help keep you limber and
actually relieve some of the soreness and help keep the
joints from getting stiff. If you've got a joint
problem that is persistent, don't try to "man through
it", but go see your doctor and have him make sure you're
OK.
Many exercises can be quite taxing on your grip and your
grip will give out before the muscle you're training will.
In those instances, use straps. You don't want to limit
your muscle growth because your grip gives out. BUT,
make sure you include grip/forearm exercises in your routine.
At our age, knee wraps are probably a good idea, just for
the added support they give. I use a wrap on my right
knee and will be starting on my left knee soon. Be smart.
I do not wear a lifting belt. I used to, but I discovered
that my lower back was just, plain weak. I started doing
good mornings, back extensions, dead lifts and rack dead
lifts. Within a few months, I had no need to wear a belt,
with the exception of near 1RM squats.
Whether younger or older, you need to track your progress.
Whether it's a log book or a piece of paper in your pocket
that you then enter into your computer at home, track your
progress. This will let you know where you're at and
where you've been. At the next workout, you won't be
guessing, you'll have the numbers in front of you.
Setting goals goes hand-in-hand with tracking your
progress. Setting both short-term and long-term goals
is very important and will help keep you focused on your
lifting.
If you're really serious about putting on muscle, then
nutrition is probably 70% of the entire package. You need
to be eating clean foods – not fast foods. At least 5
meals a day is necessary to keep your metabolism going.
6-8 meals a day is not unreasonable, if you have the time.
For us "older guys", building muscle isn't quite as easy
as it used to be, so we have to really concentrate on
what we eat and when. Protein, carbs and fats are all
essential, not only in proper nutrition, but for
building muscle.
Make sure you eat enough to support muscle gain. Most
people, older or younger, that call themselves "hard
gainers", just aren't eating enough. How do you know?
An easy way to figure it out is to write down everything
you eat every day for a week. Get a calorie counting
book and put the numbers to it. Then figure out your BMR.
If your BMR is 2200 calories, then you have to eat more
than that each day to gain, and that's not 2210
calories a day, but 2300+. Granted, there's a balance
between eating an excess and pigging out every day. You
can make muscle gains and keep the body fat at a minimum
if you don't over eat and eat clean food.
Last, but not least, REST.
That's right, rest. 7-8 hours of good, steady sleep is
critical. If you're always tired from not sleeping enough,
not only will your workouts suffer, but nearly everything
else can suffer, as well. A nap, if you have the time,
can be wonderful.
So, you're "Over the Hill", huh? Big deal. If you eat
right, train hard and get good sleep, you can still be
on the front side of the hill, instead of the back side.
I'm bigger and stronger now at 45 years old than I have
ever been.
Lose Fat, Gain Muscle, Shape Up. Sign up for our Free Weekly Bodybuilding,
Fitness and Health Tips Newsletter, and you will be automatically entered
in our monthly drawing to win Free Supplements and other great prizes.
Stay informed, stay motivated, win free stuff, join today!
Click Here To Sign Up Free
By Scott Miller
MYTH: A man over 40 years old can no longer build muscle.
Granted, at 40 years old, men usually have less testosterone
in their systems, but we can still build muscle. It just
takes a bit more persistence and hard work.
If you read all the muscle mags and try to follow what they
say, you might make some gains, but typically you will be
over-trained. So, let's throw all of that away and
concentrate on the things that really matter: training,
nutrition and rest.
Whatever your routine, make sure it's working for you and
you're making progress. After 3-4 weeks of your new
routine, if you're not lifting more or doing more reps,
you should re-think your routine. Remember, there is no
"cookie cutter" routine that works perfectly for everyone,
so if this one doesn't work, change it.
One of the biggest things to remember in your routines
for adding muscle mass is to LIFT HARD and HEAVY! I
can't stress this enough. I've talked to too many guys,
young and old, who proclaim that they can't add any size.
If you watch them, they never really push themselves.
You must always push yourself and strive for more reps
or more poundage or you will never make any quality gains.
Lifting hard and heavy leads us right into a few other
points – your joints and using straps and wraps. Being
over 40 and lifting can pose problems with your joints.
Aside from taking glucosamine and chondroitin (not a bad
idea), stretching frequently before, during and after a
training session is important. Even stretching
during your work day can help keep you limber and
actually relieve some of the soreness and help keep the
joints from getting stiff. If you've got a joint
problem that is persistent, don't try to "man through
it", but go see your doctor and have him make sure you're
OK.
Many exercises can be quite taxing on your grip and your
grip will give out before the muscle you're training will.
In those instances, use straps. You don't want to limit
your muscle growth because your grip gives out. BUT,
make sure you include grip/forearm exercises in your routine.
At our age, knee wraps are probably a good idea, just for
the added support they give. I use a wrap on my right
knee and will be starting on my left knee soon. Be smart.
I do not wear a lifting belt. I used to, but I discovered
that my lower back was just, plain weak. I started doing
good mornings, back extensions, dead lifts and rack dead
lifts. Within a few months, I had no need to wear a belt,
with the exception of near 1RM squats.
Whether younger or older, you need to track your progress.
Whether it's a log book or a piece of paper in your pocket
that you then enter into your computer at home, track your
progress. This will let you know where you're at and
where you've been. At the next workout, you won't be
guessing, you'll have the numbers in front of you.
Setting goals goes hand-in-hand with tracking your
progress. Setting both short-term and long-term goals
is very important and will help keep you focused on your
lifting.
If you're really serious about putting on muscle, then
nutrition is probably 70% of the entire package. You need
to be eating clean foods – not fast foods. At least 5
meals a day is necessary to keep your metabolism going.
6-8 meals a day is not unreasonable, if you have the time.
For us "older guys", building muscle isn't quite as easy
as it used to be, so we have to really concentrate on
what we eat and when. Protein, carbs and fats are all
essential, not only in proper nutrition, but for
building muscle.
Make sure you eat enough to support muscle gain. Most
people, older or younger, that call themselves "hard
gainers", just aren't eating enough. How do you know?
An easy way to figure it out is to write down everything
you eat every day for a week. Get a calorie counting
book and put the numbers to it. Then figure out your BMR.
If your BMR is 2200 calories, then you have to eat more
than that each day to gain, and that's not 2210
calories a day, but 2300+. Granted, there's a balance
between eating an excess and pigging out every day. You
can make muscle gains and keep the body fat at a minimum
if you don't over eat and eat clean food.
Last, but not least, REST.
That's right, rest. 7-8 hours of good, steady sleep is
critical. If you're always tired from not sleeping enough,
not only will your workouts suffer, but nearly everything
else can suffer, as well. A nap, if you have the time,
can be wonderful.
So, you're "Over the Hill", huh? Big deal. If you eat
right, train hard and get good sleep, you can still be
on the front side of the hill, instead of the back side.
I'm bigger and stronger now at 45 years old than I have
ever been.
Lose Fat, Gain Muscle, Shape Up. Sign up for our Free Weekly Bodybuilding,
Fitness and Health Tips Newsletter, and you will be automatically entered
in our monthly drawing to win Free Supplements and other great prizes.
Stay informed, stay motivated, win free stuff, join today!
Click Here To Sign Up Free
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