How To Maintain a Lean Body

We deal with pretty much every aspect of coaching as we have found that it is extremely difficult to separate them into individual parts. This is because the different parts of our lives such as our personal, social and work lives all intermingle and impact on each other and a big topic for us is how to live a healthy life with the right nutrition. There are so many different diets out there and I have a problem with the word diet as it is implies a short period of time, people don't usually stay with a diet for the rest of their lives so we promote changing your lifestyle to your advantage and work long term for your benefit.

The low carb way of eating has had mixed press and a lot of confusion as to what it is all about and I wanted to explain it from my perspective here and hopefully highlight why it can be a great way to eat everyday. It is not for everyone and it may be worth you seeing a nutritionist to get advice about your specific needs. However adapting your lifestyle to include this nutritional plan is a great way to lose excess fat and to maintain the body that you want, IF you are prepared to make the changes necessary for it to work. There are so many delicious and healthy meals that you can make with our guide and then you can adapt and change them to keep variety in your life.One of the main reasons why people get concerned about low carb diet is that they worry whether our bodies can function without adequate amount of carbs (glucose).

The term "adequate" is very subjective and what's considered adequate for some may seem meager to others. If you're used to eating carb dense foods like cereal, bread, pasta, rice, and other grain foods...going a day without any of these foods may seem unthinkable!

Believe it our not, before grains (and the advent of agriculture) were introduced into our evolutionary diet, it's quite likely that we were all "low-carbers!" and that most of our foods came from animal meat, fish and even insects. Carb rich foods like fruits and vegetables, which are seasonal, were probably hard to come by and even if they did, there probably weren't enough food available to keep them nourished for long periods of time.

Although I'm speaking about our hunter and gatherer ancestors which doesn't seem applicable to our modern society, it's a lot more relevant than you might think considering that our bodies internal mechanisms like endocrine (hormones) systems and digestive systems haven't changed much at all since our hunter and gatherer ancestors.

So evolutionary speaking, our bodies (most likely) evolved to handle the kinds of foods available during those times, which were mostly animal meat, high in protein and fats and some sparingly available vegetation which made up for modest amounts of carbohydrates. It's also likely that food was hard to come by and that our ancestors likely went without food for prolonged periods of time. This would indicate that their bodies were probably in a state of ketosis more often then not.

Ketosis is a state where your body uses stored fat instead of glucose for energy. It can happen during periods of famine where lack of food intake results in a drop in blood glucose levels, or if you're on an extremely low carbohydrate diet. Either way, when the glucose level in your body drops below a certain level your body automatically shifts the metabolic pathway to produce ketones from fat which are used to fuel your body.

Ketone is produced as a by-product when fat is converted to energy and is a perfectly good fuel source that your body and brain can utilize.

Keep in mind that your body's functions are based on gene expression. So, if you're used to eating a high carb diet, you've been signaling genes that express metabolic pathways to burn glucose/sugar as your primary fuel source. However, just as easily you can shift your metabolic pathway to burn fat as your primary fuel source by signaling the correct genes through diet.

As you start eating a diet lower in carbs and higher in protein and fat, you start signaling genes to up-regulate your fat metabolism and ketone production while down regulating your sugar metabolism. This can take anywhere from 3 weeks or longer depending on your situation, but once you're "fat adapted" your body and brain starts to function very well on this new energy pathway.

In fact your brain prefers ketones over glucose especially in state of ketosis.

They even did a study where they found that people with mild cognitive impairment improved their memory on a ketogenic diet as supposed to a typical diet high in carbs.(1)

Also, it's important to note that ketogenic diet and low carb diet are not the same. It's often grouped in as the same but, ketosis only occurs when you're carb intake dips below 15 - 20 grams of carbs a day. Most people that are on a low carb diet keep their carb intake between 50 - 100 grams a day, which keeps you out of ketosis, but still shifts your metabolic demands from sugar burning to fat burning, essentially making fat your primary source of energy.

If you follow our Lean Body Program you will learn that 100 grams a day of carbs is what I call the "sweet spot". I find that it's enough to get all the nutrients available from nutrient dense vegetables (even some fruits) while keeping your carb intake low enough to keep you an efficient fat burner as supposed to reverting back to being a sugar burner.

So here are 6 key points to keep in mind when you're on a low carb diet:

(1) Ketosis is a normal shift in your metabolic pathway to burn fat as your primary source of fuel when glucose in your body is low.

(2) Low carb diet is not the same as ketogenic diet.

(3) Your brain does completely fine on a low carb diet, and does quite well on a ketogenic diet as well, since it prefers ketones as fuel in absence of glucose.

(4) If you're switching to a low carb diet, give yourself at least 3 weeks of feeling sluggish while your body adapts to becoming "fat adapted".

(5) My recommendation is to keep your carb intake to about 100 grams a day and keep our carb intake mainly from vegetables.

(6) If you look at our ancestral/anthropological history along with the various studies done on ketosis, it's strongly evident that a low carb diet is not only safe, but has evolutionary significant health benefits...not to mention it's one of the most effective ways to naturally burn body fat!

For more details on our Lean Body program send me an email at:

simon@humancognizance.com

In the meantime stay fit and stay healthy

Simon

How To Kickstart Your Dreams!!

This will make some people angry as hell, but it's time to debunk the myth of 'Time Management' while sharing the real secret of getting things done.

Let's face it, many so called "gurus" tell us to 'manage time better' or to become 'ruthless with time' if we want to achieve their level of success.

What rubbish!

You cannot manage time itself. It continues along happily doing its thing, whatever you do.

I've read countless systems on 'time management' and the majority take so long to implement and keep track of, you get even less done than you did before! If it's impossible to manage time then manage your actions instead.

This is the key to launching new projects, completing existing ones and to at least doubling your current output without having to do any more work.

Self-improvement celebrity, Tony Robbins, said "Action is destiny." He's spot on. If you start managing your actions, the impact on what you get done will amaze you and you'll accomplish your goals and dreams.

*** Your 5 Simple Steps To Action Management ***

1. Write down a master list of actions you need to do which directly lead you towards your goals.

Tip - I suggest having at least 3-6 items on your daily action list. Write this up the day before you use it. Depending on how many of these you complete determines whether you need to add more items to the list or whether you need to break the items down into smaller chunks instead.

2. Set aside between 1 and 5 'Prime Action Hours' every day where you will do nothing except the most important activities. Refer to your master list and immediately cross each item out once it's done.

Tip - During your prime action hours you do NOT: take phone calls, check your email, break for meetings, chat with fellow office workers or friends or read the mail. You need to get current outside distractions to support your new routine. If you work from home get agreement from your family to only interrupt you in an emergency during your prime action hours.

3. Get Yourself a Timer and set it to 50 or 55 minutes. You work without distractions for this long during each prime action hour.

Tip - This gives you more efficiency by making you more accountable for what you do in each prime action hour. It also lets you know when to take an important quick break.

4. Carry a pen and paper or a voice recorder with you during your breaks between any prime action hours.

Tip - During the breaks you'll find new ideas, thoughts and strategies will surface in your mind. The brain often makes new connections as you relax after a very focused session. Make sure you jot them down to record them. You'll find them invaluable. Don't neglect to do this, an unrecorded idea is usually lost forever.

5. Set yourself a weekly target. When you reach it, reward yourself how you like. You don't need to do any more prime action hours for the rest of the week. Revise your weekly income target upwards at least every 90 days.

Tip - Having a weekly target gives your prime action hours a specific goal to achieve. Purpose is the most important ingredient when it comes to action.

For some people it's realistic to do a maximum of five prime action hours each day without impacting too much on the rest of the day. Some people will only manage one prime action hour each day. That's okay. Over a year this will still amount to an enormous difference in you achieving your dreams.

Don't make the mistake of dismissing or forgetting what you just read There's real power in this quick and easy 5 step action management system.

In fact I urge you to start right now. Get out a piece of paper and write down your master list for tomorrow. It doesn't matter if you can only manage one prime action hour to start with. You can increase the number as you create more focus for yourself.

Original article from Cliff @ Street Hypnosis