My Blog

I had my first Personal Training session as a client yesterday and my buttocks are sore today. The soreness is that nice soreness that speaks "Hey Matt, you put in a good effort yesterday and your muscles are now getting stronger."

Thanks Sarah from www.focusfit.com.au in Baulkham Hills, Sdyney.

The experience made me think of some really good reasons why you should have  Personal Trainer:

• You'll surprise yourself at what you can do physically
• You'll complete 30 minutes of exercise in what seems like a blink
• You'll get some new exercises to do (Sarah didn't make me do step-ups)
• You'll have a weekly committment to someone who is committed to you  

There are more good reasons, I'm sure but I have to have lunch now... please comment below and tell me why a Personal Trainer is a good idea. I want to add to the list and share it with you. Cheers - Matt

 

I bang on about the importance of muscle for weight management all the time, so it's not surprise that the first episode of my weekly Metabolic Jumpstart TV (MJTV) is about how many calories just half a kilogram of muscle burns up each day.

 And I'm not talking about moving the muscle around during exercise. I'm talking about it just sitting on your body giving you a calorie-burning-bonus. 

 

 

I hope yo enjoy my weekly MJTV episodes. I'll present a new metabolism-related topic with a punchy message each week as part of Mission Metabolism.

Subscribe for alerts and feel free to comment on the videos or my YouTube channel.  

Would you expect a bank to take your money as a deposit and keep it for themselves, never letting you get your money back?

 Of course you wouldn't... and you don't have to worry because the banks are regulated, just as advertising is and other businesses are to protect consumers from being ripped off.  

Why then is the weight loss industry essentially unregulated and operating like the wild west with so much lawlessness. Some programs work, many are useless and some others are downright harmful.  

With this in mind, yesterday's Daily Telegraph's front-page story "Blitz on fad diets" is warmly welcomed to give the Federal Government a firm nudge that they need to step in and become the Sherrif to protect us all from weight loss pills, potions, lotions, gadgets and gizmos that don't deliver on their promises.

Since my early days at the Australian Consumers' Association (Choice Magazine) I've been a vocal advocate for much stronger consumer protection. Read my 2001 article, Regulatory Diet Failure.

 Last September I gave evidence at the House of Representatives Inquiry into Obesity telling the politicians that consumers deserve much better. See Chapter 4 of the Report for what I said.

At the same time, I decided not to wait for action and committed to putting the Metabolic Jumpstart program together so people would have a scientifically sound and psychologically energising program option. This is when Mission Metabolism became my firm focus.

A blitz on fad diets is long overdue and essential if we are to crack the obesity problem. Let's hope the Federal Government listens. It's time for Health Minister Nicola Roxin, to jump in the saddle, don the Sherrif's badge and ride into Dodgy Diet City.

In the meantime, if you know someone who is just about to part with their hard-earned money for a suspect diet product, please send them my way. I'd love to give them a Metabolic Jumpstart.

On my Morning Show TV segment today: 

It's a common rule of Hollywood diets that you can't eat after 6pm because your digestion slows down at night. The idea is that you'll gain weight because you don't digest food as well at night.

But the idea is flawed.If your digestion did slow down, become sluggish or you couldn't digest food as well at night it would in fact be an advantage for weight loss. Not digesting your food properly would mean that you wouldn't absorb calories as well. So a bunch of Hollywood diets have got the science wrong, but does this mean its OK to eat after 6pm?

It is OK if you are still under your recommended energy level or calorie cap for the day (incuding dinner). But if you've already blown your calorie budget before dinner then the food and calories you consume at dinner will get stored as body fat.

So, just watch your calorie budget throughout the day. If you are doing well, then you can eat more at dinner. On days you don't do so well you'll need to eat less at dinner. 

Watch my Morning Show segment on Hollywood diet tips & myths (12 July 2009)

On my Morning Show TV segment last week: Almost forgot to share this one... 

20's  - Don't forget your veggies now mum's not cooking for you. Women, keep your iron levels up with with lean beef and try not to skip too many meals. Have a healthy frozen meal on the chiller at home for nights that you genuinely would have ordered takeaway.

30's - Learn to eat less as your metabolism slows. Choose healthy oil foods including salmon, seeds and nuts for omega-3's and vitamin E which wil look after your skin. Women, focus on folate if you are planning a family. Breakfast cereals that are fortified with folic acid are a good choice  because you can absorb more folate in the form of folic acid than you do from naturally occuring folate in fresh produce like avacoado, asparagus and dark green leafy vegetables.

40's + - Focus on nutrient-rich foods (not that you weren't anyway) because you are not immortal. Lots of coloured veggies and soy for women, especially as 3 serves a day (glass of soy milk, 2 slices of soy-linseed bread and 100g tofu) may help reduce hot flushes. Lastly, hit for calcium targets to keep your bones strong.

 Living a long and strong life is another great excuse to eat nutrient-rich at every age.

Watch my Morning Show segment on Eating though the decades (29 June 2009)

It can be hard to get your family to listen when you want them to eat well and be active. Well, mine have listened and they have also lost over 50kg since beginning their Metabolic Jumpstart in March.

I'd like to give them a huge cheer!

At a family dinner last night, we all knew we could enjoy and get back into our usual healthy eating pattern the day after. The dinner table conversation was supportive and encouraging. It looks like a few family memnbers will now never go back to their higher weights. They just don't see themselves as being bigger people any more.

The tell-tale sign of heatheier eating habits was that a big pile of teaspoons were left on the table after coffee. No-one it seemed needed to add sugar to thir coffee anymore. Taste buds have changed and are now playing on the home team.

Metabolic Jumpstart is a program I put together to help people eat well, move more and maintain a healthy metabolism. It's helped my family, so I hope you may share it with your family.

 

On my Sunrise TV segment today: Nutrient-rich whole foods are essential for successful long-term weight management.

They are also powerful immunity boosters. Here's the list to check off for your next supermarket shop:

1. Yoghurt - probiotic culture to fight bad bacteria in your digestive tract.

2. Avacado - folate an antioxidant, plus other goodies like vitamin C & E to increase antibody production.

3. Kiwi fruit - for vitamin C as an antioxidant to boost cellular defense.

4. Beef - for iron for defense against infection.

5. Eggs - vitamin A to reduce damage to immune cells.

6. Oysters - for zinc to boost immune lymphacyte function.

7. Garlic - for allicin to reduce infections.

8. Brazil nuts - selenium an antioxidant for cellular defence against free radicals.

9. Chilli - for capsciacin that heats you up and clears the sinuses.

10. Chicken soup - hot broth opens up the airways and breathing.

Watch my Sunrise segment on Top 10 Foods this Winter (24 June 2009)

Last night's Channel 9 What's Good for You featured a segment on Detoxing where they road-tested the Lemon Detox Diet with a group of healthy, young adults. 

The results showed abnormal liver function and and raised cholesterol which surprised the detoxers.  The experts interviewed also said you would lose muscle mass. This is something I've been warning people about detoxing for years. 

The sort of outcome shown last night from a week-long detox would justify a warning label on detox products due to the negetaive effects on your metabolic function.

 Watch the story here:

http://health.ninemsn.com.au/video/?videoid=adc73765-e189-483b-81ee-550164a4ef72&tab=2

Yesterday, I received an advertisement for Herbalslim which according to the flyer involves taking a sachet of concentrated artichoke powder in water or on food every day (62 sachets for $AUD129).

The testimonial from Kat Gerrald said, "... I lost 42 kg in 3 months..."

Has your jaw dropped yet? That's 3 1/2 kilograms every week for 12 weeks!

Apart from losing muscle mass and reducing your metabolic rate, this huge weight loss will also stuff up your bone metabolism.

Last week (10 June 2009), Reuters reported Fracture risk doubled after obesity surgery suggesting that rapid and sustained large weight loss causes loss of calcium from bones.

In the study by a team at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, subjects who had undergone obesity surgery (90% gastric bypass - 10% lap banding) experienced double the bone fracture rate of the normal population. And the risk of breaking bones in the hands and feet was 3-4 times greater in obesity surgery patients.

The Mayo researchers are not totally clear on why fracture risk increases with obesity surgery. "Although aggressive calcium and vitamin D supplementation after (bariatric) surgery may well help, it may still be insufficient to prevent the increased risk of fracture", said Dr Jackie Clowes. 

My take on this is if you break a foot, you can't walk and if you can't walk you can't burn calories. If you can't burn calories, you'll regain weight.

So, am I a fan of Herbalslim, surgery or any obesity treatment that causes weight losses of more than 1kg a week and increases the risk of bone mineral losses? No way, because I want people to lose weight AND keep their bones healthy.

This is another good reason to look after your metabolism by reducing body fat slowly, eating dairy foods for calcium and going out for walk to get a dose of vitamin D.

 

OK, holding on when you really need to go to the toilet won't make a difference to how much body fat you burn but there is a point to me writing this.

We are used to holding on, distracting ourselves or putting up with the sensation to pee and waiting to go the bathroom, but all too often we grab something to eat at the first sensation of hunger in our belly.

If you need to eat less, the next time you feel a little hunger just know that you can deal with the sensation, distract yourself and hang on until your next meal or snack. This is how to re-wire your appetite.