Since the late 1990’s Dr. John Berardi has published 8 scientific abstracts; 15 scientific papers and textbook chapters; presented at nearly 50 scientific, exercise, and nutrition related conferences; and published countless articles online.
His first articles at Testosterone Magazine so many years ago, provided me with the basis for everything I know about nutrition today. Now I will turn some of that knowledge over to you in the form of Nutrition Tips written by Dr. Berardi himself.
I have been reading exercise and nutrition material written by a gentleman named Dr. John Berardi since the late 1990’s.
Since that time he has published 8 scientific abstracts; 15 scientific papers and textbook chapters; presented at nearly 50 scientific, exercise, and nutrition related conferences; and published countless articles online.
His first articles at Testosterone Magazine so many years ago, provided me with the basis for everything I know about nutrition today. Now I will turn some of that knowledge over to you in the form of Nutrition Tips written by Dr. Berardi himself.
The Project Swole Three Step Full Body Detox Plan is the most effective detox and weight loss plan ever. Combine the supplement plan with a full body fat loss exercise routine for record breaking fat loss results!
Acai berry is one of the best foods you can eat for fat loss and good health.
Acai will help speed up your fat loss considerably if you already follow a moderate fitness and nutrition plan, and you can definitely use the high concentration of antioxidants in acai to keep you healthy and young for the rest of your life! Read why antioxidants are so important to us in one of my old posts called, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Antioxidants.
Because I talk about acai all the time, I am constantly asked the question: “How can I get a 14 day free trial of acai shipped to Canada?”
The Project Swole Three Step Full Body Detox Plan is the most effective detox and weight loss plan ever. Combine the supplement plan with a full body fat loss exercise routine for record breaking fat loss results!
Acai is one of the best foods you can eat for faster weight loss and health.
Acai will help speed up your fat loss considerably if you already follow a good nutrition and exercise plan, and you can definitely use the high concentration of antioxidants in acai to keep you healthy and young for the rest of your life! Read why antioxidants are so important to us in one of my old posts called, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Antioxidants.
I talk about acai all the time, so constantly I am asked the question: “How can I get a free trial of acai berry shipped to The UK?”
Finally I can say to all the Project Swole visitors from the UK:
The Project Swole Three Step Full Body Detox Plan is the most effective detox and weight loss plan ever. Combine the supplement plan with a full body fat loss exercise routine for record breaking fat loss results!
For fat loss and good health, acai berries are one of the best foods you can eat.
Acai will help speed up your fat loss considerably if you already follow a moderate fitness and nutrition plan, and you can definitely use the high concentration of antioxidants in acai to keep you healthy and young for the rest of your life! Read why antioxidants are so important to us in one of my old posts called, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Antioxidants.
I talk about acai all the time, so constantly I am asked the question: “How can I get a 14 day free trial of acai shipped to Australia?”
Finally I can say to all my Australian friends: “Get your free trial of Acai Berry shipped to Australia using the link below.”
The Project Swole Three Step Full Body Detox Plan is the most effective detox and weight loss plan ever. Combine the supplement plan with a full body fat loss exercise routine for record breaking fat loss results!
Acai is one of the best foods you can eat for faster weight loss and health.
Acai will help speed up your fat loss considerably if you already follow a good nutrition and exercise plan, and you can definitely use the high concentration of antioxidants in acai to keep you healthy and young for the rest of your life! Read why antioxidants are so important to us in one of my old posts called, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Antioxidants.
I talk about acai all the time, so constantly I am asked the question: “How can I get a free trial of acai berries sent to New Zealand?”
Finally I can say to all the Project Swole visitors from New Zealand: “Get your free trial of Acai Berry shipped to New Zealand using the link below.”
I have been reading exercise and nutrition material written by a gentleman named Dr. John Berardi since the late 1990’s.
Since that time he has published 8 scientific abstracts; 15 scientific papers and textbook chapters; presented at nearly 50 scientific, exercise, and nutrition related conferences; and published countless articles online.
His first articles at Testosterone Magazine so many years ago, provided me with the basis for everything I know about nutrition today. Now I will turn some of that knowledge over to you in the form of Nutrition Tips written by Dr. Berardi himself.
I have been reading exercise and nutrition material written by a gentleman named Dr. John Berardi since the late 1990’s.
Since that time he has published 8 scientific abstracts; 15 scientific papers and textbook chapters; presented at nearly 50 scientific, exercise, and nutrition related conferences; and published countless articles online. The man is a nutrition guru.
Today’s Topic – Eating Pasta
Today we get to examine a nutritional strategy of eating pasta for maximal fat loss, strength gain, and health. I personally don’t mind pasta too much, at least whole wheat pasts, but let’s see what Dr. John Berardi has to say about it.
When you think about losing or gaining weight, you think about strict calorie deficient diets with bland food to lose weight, and sugary flatulence-inducing weight gainer shakes to gain weight. These ideas are not reality.
The average American gains 2 pounds a year, which is 7000 total calories. Divided by 365 days, that’s about 19 or 20 calories a day. It makes sense then, if you want to gain weight over the course of your lifetime, possibly to put on a couple pounds of muscle each year in order to stay fit and healthy, just eat 20 calories a day over your maintenance level.
It also makes sense that if you want to stay lean and trim for the rest of your life, with no major weight fluctuations, just eat 20 calories under your maintenance level each day.
Initially, you thought fat people eat so much food because it gives them pleasure. Well guess what? You were wrong! In fact just the opposite is true.
Dopamine
Dopamine, a substance that makes us feel good, is one of the best-known neural chemicals. Though it is often thought of primarily as a manufactured substance it is actually produced naturally in the body. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that activates dopamine receptors, which makes us feel a sense of euphoria.
Check this out: in recent Consumer Reports news, we find out that some cereals have more sugar than a glazed Dunkin donut. The worst offenders are the sticky sweet cereals like Golden Crisp and Honey Smacks, and I tend to think that my beloved Cocoa Pebbles really aren’t that great either. I’ve mentioned time and again to stay away from food in boxes, especially sugary breakfast cereal.
So what are we to do? You know your kids are going to want something sweet and tasty for breakfast, and in all likelihood you probably don’t want to eat eggs, egg whites, or eggbeaters every day either. Here are some tips to make breakfast both tasty and healthy. I’m happy that I can promote another of my favorite cereals, Frosted Mini-Wheats… good stuff!
The Project Swole Three Step Full Body Detox Plan is the most effective detox and weight loss plan ever. Combine the supplement plan with a full body fat loss exercise routine for record breaking fat loss results!
Argh! Everyone keeps asking me what the best acai product is.
There are a whole bunch of acai berry products on the market today so it is hard to know which one is the best. Today, I would like to clear up any questions you might have.
I’ve been doing a bunch of research on the subject of acai berries because I am very interested in eating healthy foods. I feel at this point it will benefit the readers of Project Swole to publish my results.
When you look into the mirror what do you see? Perhaps you see a cupcake. Perhaps you see a pear that can talk. An apple maybe? A watermelon? Or perhaps you see walking toothpick. No matter your aesthetic malady, if it can be fixed with diet and exercise.
So often I’ve seen folks try to diet by immersing themselves in fad diet strategies. They use Atkins, Weight Watchers, South Beach, The Zone, Hollywood diets, Low-Carb, Low-Fat, the list goes on and on. Read some reviews of a couple fad diets. The problem is that when dieters go off fad diets, 90% of them gain back whatever they lost and sometimes more! I want to address that issue and provide some tips on how you can generally eat healthier for the rest of your life, rather than abusing fad diet after fad diet.
Starting a new diet or exercise program should not be taken lightly. If you are severely overweight, severely underweight, and/or have any medical conditions, you should always consult your physician prior to drastically changing your eating habits and performing significant weight bearing tasks. Now I would like to outline a number of basic rules for building the foundation of your new dietary plan.
Rule #1 – Permanent Changes
I avoided using “The Diet” as a subtitle of this section for a reason; this is not a diet. I repeat, we are NOT starting a new diet here. These are the permanent changes that need to be made to your lifestyle eating habits. From now on when I use the word “diet” I am referring to your lifestyle eating habits. For example, right now you might say that your diet consists of Coca-Cola, donuts, cheeseburgers, and ice cream. In the future you will say that your diet consists of Crystal Lite, beef jerky, lean beef and chicken, and a protein bar. (more…)
There are so many fad diets out there these days. When you want to lose a quick pound, it’s hard to know where to turn. This is just a short review of popular fad diets, and a solution to the fad diet problem.
Fad Diet Principles
Many diets promote certain principles that will make you fatter. Super restricted calorie diets will only slow down your metabolism so that when you start eating again you will balloon right back up. Liquid or juice diets tend to follow this idea. High carbohydrate diets will just bulk you up with carbs and will negatively impact your insulin resistance over a long period of time, possibly leading to adult onset type II diabetes. Zero carbohydrate diets will leave you with no energy and nasty protein bi-products floating around in your system. Plus when you go back to eating normal, the increased carbs will be stored as fat right away and you will balloon back up again.
Proper Diet Principles
From now on your diet refers to the way you eat on a daily basis. Instead of going on a diet, you will change your daily eating habits. You will increase your protein consumption, decrease your fat and carbohydrate consumption, eat 5 small meals, and drink a gallon of water a day. These four actions will inherently function to both reduce your daily caloric intake, increase the calories burned by the metabolic processes in your body, and control your cholesterol. It is your responsibility to exercise 3-5 times per week for 45 minutes, and eat fewer calories than your body uses in a day.
Low Carb Diet – The basic concept of a low fat diet is to replace the simple carbohydrates in sugary and starchy foods, with high protein, high fat, complex carbohydrate foods. Low carb dieting forms the basis for most successful personalized weight loss diet strategies. A-
Atkins Diet – An extreme version of the low carb diet that sets a limit on the amount of carbs in a day to 20 grams coming only from fibrous sources. This is generally considered to be a moderately dangerous diet, which should only be followed for a month at a time. C+
Low Fat Diet – Since fat has significantly more calories than carbohydrates and protein, this diet aims to keep calories low and eliminate harmful trans fats and saturated fats from the diet, opting to eat mostly carbohydrates instead. The low fat diet craze is single handedly responsible for the rise in Type II diabetes in Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers. F
If you are looking for a pure protein powder, check out Optimum Nutrition. Optimum Nutrition protein powder comes in about 20 different flavors, and is available in 1 lb, 2 lb, 5 lb, and 10 lb containers.
Are there drawbacks from eat too little or too many carbs?
What are the side effects of eating carbs or abstaining from eating carbs?
Well once again, as with protein, it depends on what you do on a daily basis. Furthermore, ingestion of carbs should be focused more around the question:
The most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans, as stated by the Department of Health and Human Services, suggest that roughly 50% of your daily calories come from carbs. Thus, a person who eats approximately 2,500 calories per day should take in about about 300 grams of carbs. This number is not altogether bad for the average American, but we have to take into consideration the sources of those carbs.
These are the kinds of carbs to avoid at all costs:
sugary snacks and pastries
sugar-sweetened soft drinks or fruit juice
candy
cookies
regular fried greasy chips
processed, packaged snack foods
high sugar kids cereals
processed white flour products such as white bread and pasta
These foods offer virtually no nutritional value, and they contain far too many calories. Some of these foods also contain saturated and trans-fats that are bad for your heart, and sugary foods can lead to such maladies as type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Specifically if you are already insulin resistant, you should avoid these bad carbs as they will just ruin your day by making you tired, slow, dumb, and hungry.
Instead choose these kinds of carbs:
fresh fruit
vegetables
whole wheat and whole grain products
beans, nuts, and other legumes
When Do I Need More Carbs?
People that exercise with high intensity or with prolonged endurance, can benefit from a high carbohydrate intake before exercise. It is feasible to consume a high carbohydrate meal before a marathon, or a moderately high carbohydrate meal before lifting weights or martial arts training. It is not a good idea to consume too many carbs in one sitting, but 50 grams is not out of the question if you are preparing for a physically draining event.
During and after exercise is also a key time to consume carbs. In fact this is the only time it is recommended to consume sugary carbs. I tend to sip on Gatorade during a workout and my post-workout drink contains about 40 grams of carbs in the form of dextrose. If allowed to choose, I would choose Biotest Surge as my post-workout drink of choice. This is a product that is specially formulated to replenish lost glycogen stores and restart protein synthesis after a demanding workout.
When Do I Need Fewer Carbs?
There is no need to eat carbohydrates at night. Ever. Some folks believe in consuming a high-carb meal the night before an event like a marathon, but I just don’t see it. I would say eat that meal in the morning if the event is in the late morning or early afternoon. The best time for a high carbohydrate meal is in the morning, when your body is prepared to uptake glycogen for energy for the day. Lunch should be a moderate carb meal as you don’t want to get that ‘bonk’ feeling in the middle of the afternoon. Also consider that if you don’t plan to exercise during the day then there’s really no need to gulp down many carbs at any point in the day.
Carbs and Fat Loss
If you are on a fat loss diet, then there’s definitely no need to eat more than 100 grams of carbs in any one day. I don’t necessarily support Atkins, but there are valid points to that diet. When I am in the middle of a hardcore cutting phase, trying to get as lean as possible in a given time frame, I will only consume 20-30 grams of low glycemic index carbs for breakfast.
For lunch I will try to avoid most carbs, opting for whole grain bread or a salad if necessary. My pre-workout drink is typically 1/2 a serving of Biotest Surge, I sip on Gatorade during the workout, then finish off with 1 serving of Biotest Surge after the workout. On non-workout days, I skip all of that and choose a protein bar, cheese, or a meat snack instead.
Dinner is always low carb during a diet. Soup, meat and vegetables, and salad are all great choices for low carb dinners. Appropriate snacks are meats, cheeses, protein bars or shakes, veggies, and other super-low carb foods. Typically in the midst of a diet phase, I eat around 75 grams of carbs on a non-workout day, and maybe 120-140 grams of carbs on a workout day.
In conclusion, I recommend that if you are moderately active, you should derive maybe 30% of your daily calories from carbs. Sure, my opinion differs from specialist government agencies, but that’s only because I have seen low carb diets work. I have also seen Americans grow obese and suffer from a long list of carbohydrate induced diseases.
A 200 lb man on a 2500 calorie diet would probably eat maybe 180 grams of carbs in a day, all from unprocessed whole food sources. A 140 lb woman on a 1500 calorie diet might only eat 100 grams of carbs in a day.
Someone on a strict diet might limit themselves to 50 grams of carbohydrates a day regardless of sex or weight. Just remember to avoid those nasty sugary processed carbs so that you can stay healthy, avoiding energy crashes and adult-onset type II diabetes.
The first question you will ask yourself when you embark on a diet to either lose or gain weight is, “How should I eat?”. If you have ever asked that question, let me help to give you some guidance.
Diet is Responsible for 75% of Progress
Eating right is what fitness is all about. Did you ever think that daily trips to the fast food strip were good for you? Obviously they’re not. About 1-2% of the population has that natural metabolism that functions perfectly all of the time. They can eat whatever they want and still have a perfect physique. You know who I’m talking about out.
Unfortunately for you and me, we’re not those people. We have to make a strong conscience effort to eat correctly. Believe it or not, there are food companies out there trying to make a buck and they don’t care what they are feeding you.
It’s very tempting to just skip meals and head to the drive through because the food is so good, or you don’t have time to cook. Well, the majority of what we eat isn’t good for us.
Preservatives, high-fructose corn syrup, and other nonsense plagues the food Americans eat. Food that costs 29 cents and takes less than a minute to make is not good for you, no matter how or where you make it.
One of the better quotes that I have heard in my times goes a little something like this:
“If it grows, or eats food that grows, then you can eat it.”
Basically we want to stick to the all natural whole foods like unprocessed whole grains, vegetables, fruit, eggs, meat, and the like. Keep away from foods in boxes or bags.
Important Meals
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! Don’t skip it.
Lunchis also important, and it provides an excellent opportunity to eat a small high-protein meal to sustain you until dinner.
Dinner should be small and compact, and light on the carbs.
Finally, don’t forget your 2-3 high protein snacks throughout the day, and drink water like it’s your job. Be sure to research how much fat to eat, so you can keep yourself full of healthy fats.
