petefox’s Sick Purpose!

3. Calories in should be less than calories out.. In reverse, you should burn more calories than you eat.. I read on another board a guy was "cutting" at 1500 calories.. If I eat that little in a day, shoot me! Do you think muscle can survive without nourishment? Sacrificing muscle to see your (amino deficient) abs shouldn’t be the goal.. Saving as much muscle while allowing your metabolism to burn off as much fat as possible is the one thing we want..

Very simple and easy, yet it’s the main area we tend to screw up.. Yes, we as in myself included.. It’s fairly easy for me to look pretty full and dense one day, then flat and not-so-full the next.. I’m sure this has happened to many, and hopefully it doesn’t happen while getting in competitive mode.. Talk about a mental screw job!

Macronutrients: Protein, carbohydrates, and fats are the main nutrients the body uses for many processes.. Hormonal production, lots of metabolic fun takes place when you get the right amount of nutrients in.. Now the question, "What’s the right amounts of these nutrients?"

First off, you’ll have to figure out your resting metabolic rate (RMR).. This is the indicator for how much calories your body will burn at rest.. There are afew ways to measure your RMR, a simple (not really) mathematic formula:

The Harris-Benedict equations

The original equations from Harris and Benedict are:

* for men, 66.4730 + (13.7516 * w) + (5.0033 * s) ˆ’ (6.7550 * a)
* for women, 655.0955 + (9.5634 * w) + (1.8496 * s) ˆ’ (4.6756 * a) >

where w = weight in kilograms, s = stature in centimeters, and a = age in years.

Take the number you end up with and multiply by the number in your level:

* Sedentary: (little or no exercise): BMR x 1.2 * Light activity: (moderate exercise or sports 1 to 3 days per week): BMR x 1.375 * Moderate activity: (moderate exercise or sports 3 to 5 days per week): BMR x 1.55 * Very active: (hard exercise or sports 6 to 7 days per week): BMR x 1.725 * Extremely active: (very hard exercise or sports and a physical job, activity or training 2 times per day): BMR x 1.9

Now knowing what your body needs, you may be thinking you don’t get that much in.. No problem, eat more! Just be carefull on how many extra calories you get from sugars (read about glucose management) and keep fat and carbs seperate..
Of course the usual 6 meals every 2-3hrs is gospel.. Constant feeding keeps the body from storing too much as excess, and your metabolism stays up and running.. Just a matter of where you get the nutrients, and the set amounts of each in every meal.. Due to the practice of carb-cycling, I won’t get into the eating structure at this time.. It seems to be way too non-linear for another cookie-cutter
idea about staying lean, and trends change way too often!

Basic answer: whether you’re leaning out or bulking up, burn those extra cals with cardio, and step up the amino acid intake..

2. If you don’t take any antioxidants, you really should start.. Besides just being damn good for you, they absorb free radicals in the bloodstream.. Not to mention (and this is the simple science) your body stores toxins and free radicals in the FAT! As a defense mechanism, fat will not be released to be burned UNLESS there are enough antioxidants to combat the toxins built up.. Some may seem to think otherwise, but anyone who’s had a deep tissue massage knows you feel like crap afterwards due to the toxins being forced out into the bloodstream..

We breathe them in, we eat them in most cases.. Toxins are commonplace, and the body has many ways to deal with them.. The liver is the main filter for them, the kidneys keep the blood clean, our intestines draw out nutrients(small) and cast out toxins in bile and bulk (colon).. When trying to get bodyfat to go away, the system goes into a panic.. Our bodys think we’re starving, so extra calories stay around the waist.. If there were something in the bloodstream to protect the organs while blood lipids are being released for energy, it would be so much easier..

Antioxidants are natural compounds, or even some amino acids, that have an ability to absorb free radicals to render them inactive before they can cause cellular damage.. Labs usually rate their strength by ORAC, or Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity.. This little test shows the ability for the product to destroy free radicals in certain foods.. Most dark berries and red berries ave the highest ORAC value..

So, what does this mean? The vegetarian weirdo you may know who drinks that gosh-aweful green sludge may be onto something.. I’m not saying to throw lawn shavings in your whey, there are better alternatives..

- Exotic fruits: Acai (ah-sigh-ee), goji (wolfberry), noni, coffeberry, even good ol’ blueberries are potent enough to add to your fat-burning arsenal.. The better tasting of the bunch would be blueberries, Acai, and Goji..

- Some companies do actually make tasty greens mixes.. These mixes usually have a high ORAC rating per serving, and some don’t taste like dirt. Look for one with a god mix of spinach, brocolli, cauliflower, wheat grass, and alfalfa..

- Don’t wanna look like a granola-munchin’ sissy? Most of these come in capsules, so no worries of choking on tree clippings.. Most say to take 4 caps a day, which is a good start..

- Don’t wanna go back to Earth for antioxidants? You don’t have to when we got tea! Green tea is getting plenty of press for its antioxidant properties, and it’s good for the metabolism.. Drink plenty, it’s low in caffiene and L-theanine tends to even out the buzz if you’re sensitive to caffiene.. Not too many obese asians around, no?

- N-Acetyl Cysteine helps boost the livers ability to produce glutathione, another amino that’s a very strong antioxidant.. I like this over milk thistle while using methyls since silymarin tends to force the liver to work more..

- R-ala is back.. Not only is it good for your blood sugar, it helps recycle other antioxidants like vitamins c and e.. Also liver protective, and another favorite of mine over milk thistle..

My favorite blend would be :
250-500mg R ala
600mg NAC
500mg Green tea extract with 90% or more EGCG

There are many blends out on the market that work quite well, also.. Most of them have the ACES blend (vitamins a,c,e, selenium) with other herbs and such.. Do a search for a product with the Supercritical extract, it’s a Co2 extraction that doesn’t destroy the actives making it alot more potent..

Now, as it states in the bold, if you have strong antioxidants in the body while trying to activate lipolysis, the fat and toxins will be released.. The toxins will be absorbed by the antioxidants, and your immune response will be strong enough to keep you from getting sick.. Ever have a feverish feeling while cutting? Those same toxins are beating on your immunities.. Antioxidants can stop that, and strengthening your immune system makes it a more enjoyable experience..

Besides, who says cardio was enjoyable?

1. Like I said in my last statement, insulin can make or break your fat-burning.. Ever have "that last few inches" you try to get rid of, only for it to taunt your efforts? Glucose, my friend, manage glucose.. Even if you’re on a low-carb type of eating program, proper nutrient partitioning is key for the spikes in insulin that may occur even with the low glycemic foods..

Proper nutrient partitioning can excellerate your fatburning needs, and help with building lean mass at the same time.. Noticed how insulin was the rage real quick? It pumps everything into muscles fast, yet still causes fat gain.. Even if you keep fats away from carbs when you eat, it’s bound to happen..

Let’s get aquainted with two of our hormones that are a part of the nutrient partitioning mechanism..

1) INSULIN: Both anabolic and hyperlipidemic, insulin is the main mover and shaker of nutrients.. Muscles must be sensitive to insulin to allow the partitioning to work.. Amino acids are also shuttled into muscle and fat stores.. Once in muscle, glucose becomes glycogen and glycogen synthesis takes place.. Insulin prevents protein breakdown, blocks gluconeogenesis, and sadly stops lipolysis.. Lipolysis is the breakdown of fat cell lipids into fatty acids that enter the blood to be burned by other organs..

2) GLUCAGON: Kind of insulin’s helper.. Increased glucagon is due to low blood sugar, increased amino concentration in the blood, and elevated epinephrine/norepinephrine.. When insulin levels spike, glucagon levels drop.. Glucagon goes up of couse when insulin is absent, and the others I’ve listed previously.. Glucagon helps the body adjust before hypoglycemia sets in by forcing the liver to release glycogen..

And this all applies how? Easy! First off, glucagon is part of a fun little system of reactions after receptor activation that results in cAMP production.. Can’t be too bad, some fatburners these days add cyclic adenosine monophosphate.. cAMP causes glycogenolysis (glycogen becomes readily burned glucose), and helps with many other functions in the cell membrane.. Balancing insulin and glucagon can keep fat storage down, blood glucose stable, and energy production high..

How do you do it? Also simple! Complex Carbs are your best bet.. Steady stream of glucose in the blood keeps both hormones level.. On top of eating complex carbs, to optimize sensitivity there are many good supplements on the market to help out..

Alpha Lipoic Acid: Thiotic acid is considered the universal antioxidant, it has th eability to recycle other antioxidants.. It also mimicks insulin by forcing glucose into tissues, including fat.. Good to use when trying to achieve ketosis, or when you wanna fill out abit from low-carbing for awhile.

Fenugreek: These seeds contain 4OH-Isoleucine, a very potent amino hybrid that also mimicks insulin quite well.. It’s a shame no company has a good 4OH Isoleucine product anymore, EAS had InsuLoad which worked very well.. I’m not certain if it has fat-storing properties, I leaned out when using it so that should mean something..

Banaba Leaf: This herb contains corosolic acid, very good at lowering glucose, and too much can give you loose stools if you’re not used to it..

Cinnamon : Even eating cinnamon is good for overall well-being.. Cinnulin PF is the trademarked extract on the market.. There’s a couple companis that use the Supercritical extract, which has a higher concentration of actives without using alcohols that destroy a percent of them..

Truthfully, many herbal products on the market would be good to add to a weight-loss regimen.. Best thing to do is pick one or a combo of these, and try to figure out a good dose for your needs.. Some may need 300mg cinnamon with 250mg R-ala to get the same effect as someone who uses 500mg R-ala with 250mg fenugreek..