P90x Nutrition And Diet Plan
According to World Heath Organization, about 2.7 million deaths can be connected to low fruit and vegetable components in daily diet while, 1.9 million deaths are related to lack of physical activity. With this in mind, Americans are starting to spend million on numerous “diets” and fitness programs. Tony Horton understanding the need of Americans to stay fit developed the P90x which combines both exercise and diet.
The P90x is a 90-day fitness program that does not only builds you body strength and stamina, but also focuses on developing healthy eating habits. The nutritional and diet plan complement the weight loss and muscle building regimen. The nutrition plan has three phases: the Fat Shredder, Energy Booster and the Endurance Maximizer.
• Phase 1 or Fat Shredder
This diet followed in the first four weeks. This would start weight loss and focuses on high-protein diet. Consumption of carbohydrates is kept at minimum. Protein would provide your body energy to get through with the workout. What are great sources of protein? Lean meat, salmon steaks, tuna, tofu and low-sugar vegetables like lettuce and other greens are great sources of protein.
• Phase 2 or Energy Booster
In this phase, carbohydrates are again introduced to the diet. The combination of carbohydrates and protein would increase your energy level, just make sure that they have lower amount of fat. This is also the phase where exercises are becoming more rigorous and intense. Carbohydrates like wheat bread, pasta, grains, legumes and potatoes could be eaten but there are still proper proportions followed. There is no defined time period when to stop the diet. You could continue it as long as it is providing you the energy and stamina needed for the workout.
• Phase 3 or Endurance Maximizer
As the phase is called, it consists of food that would be providing the followers in more energy and stamina. Followers would consume more complex carbohydrates, lean proteins but low-fat content. Some would hesitate to follow this phase since it consumes much carbohydrate, but surprisingly, to adapt with intense workouts, carbo is needed.
Before starting the P90x meal plan, it is important to calculate the calorie consumption. It would be based on the activity level and resting metabolic rate.
There are two ways to follow the P90x nutrition plan, it could be through the meal plan or the portion plan. In meal plan, there are menus which you could follow or prepare. In portion plan, servings or amount of the food per meal is important. You could identify which plan suits your needs and preference.
To help followers, not only menus are offered in the guide. Grocery lists and recipes are also included in the guide. If you read the meal plan, you will be able to notice the P90x finds it more suitable to consume several small amounts of food than big meals. Water intake is also given importance in this meal plan.
The P90x nutrition plan is meant to help followers of the P90x to combine exercise and healthy diet. At the end of the day, it is not only a 90-day program but a lifestyle change. It would help you achieve not only a bulkier and your dream bod, but a healthier body too. But to achieve it, discipline in sticking to the program will help achieve positive results.
Showing posts with label nutrition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nutrition. Show all posts
Sunday, March 07, 2010
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Nutrition And Distance Running
Unlike other sports people, distance runners need carbohydrates for their nutritional needs in the endurance sport of distance running. While other sports like, say weightlifting that rely mostly on proteins, runners depend heavily on carbohydrates.
The main reason, of course, is that different sports have different goals. Weightlifting, for instance, puts a heavy premium on proteins because proteins help build muscles and bulk up a person’s body better and faster than other food. Distance running needs food that builds stamina and strength.
Carbohydrates
One of the most studied topics is the role of carbohydrates in sports performance. Most practicing sportsmen now know that carbohydrates are best for strength and endurance.
Scientists are now also taking a look on the link between low carbohydrates intake and exercise-induced free radicals that leads to impaired muscle function. Every athlete knows that carbohydrates can improve endurance, while the lack of it reduces glucose supply to the muscles which, in turn, leads to fatigue.
Fatigue is normally seen as the loss of the body’s overall force-generating capacity. This may be caused be a lot of reasons, but scientists believe it is the loss of muscular ATP, a high-energy molecule that fuels muscle contraction generated by glucose.
A high-carbohydrates diet while training ensures a good store of muscle glycogen long before competition time. Glycogen, the body’s carbohydrates store, is the fuel for endurance. The carbohydrates could be taken in as fluids (such as juices) or in solid forms (fruits or starches).
However, a long and hard exercise sometimes drains the muscles of stored carbohydrates (glycogen). Eating right away (the best time is within the first hour) food rich in carbohydrates combined with protein is best. The proteins would help in muscle repair broken by he strenuous exercise.
Commercial energy bars both have carbohydrates and proteins but they are expensive and mostly tasteless. A peanut butter sandwich is okay, washed down with some sports drink. Best, of course, would be some cereal with nuts and dried fruits in them.
Fluids
No other factor is more important in the success of a distance runner than maintaining enough fluids in his body.
Running, in training or in competition, produces body heat more than in normal circumstances. This heat is then released through sweat, which in turn, depletes the body’s fluids. When the body is dehydrated, general fatigue sets it.
To maintain the body’s water status, runners should develop the habit of regular and fixed fluid consumption (every 10 to 15 minutes) during practice runs, whether thirsty or not. The amount is around one-half to one liter of fluid per hour on mild conditions. (The amount should be more, of course, if conditions are more severe.)
In hot and humid conditions, a combination of water and sports drinks (to provide carbohydrates and electrolytes like sodium) is best.
Fibers
During scheduled runs (practice or competition), many runners suffer from bowel problems. One way to avoid this is to stay away from food high in fiber content as well as those rich in fat.
You can also buy commercial liquid meals formulated for athletes and convalescents. Make sure they have high carbohydrate content. You may also make your own formula using skimmed milk powder, fruits, and regular milk.
Caffeine
It is not very clear how caffeine appears to enhance endurance performances in athletes. It could be that it is a central nervous system stimulant. It stimulates the release of adrenaline that increases heart rate and blood pressure, blood flow to muscles and the release of glucose by the liver.
Caffeine is found in coffee, tea, and chocolates (cocoa). It is also added to cola drinks and other beverages. Normally, caffeine is a natural diuretic (with a 31% hike in urine production.) During competition, however, it loses its diuretic effect but may improve your capacity to have that extra kick at the end of the race.
All in all, the two things distance runners have to remember about nutrition is carbohydrates and fluids. These are the top two important nutrition needs for the sports.
The main reason, of course, is that different sports have different goals. Weightlifting, for instance, puts a heavy premium on proteins because proteins help build muscles and bulk up a person’s body better and faster than other food. Distance running needs food that builds stamina and strength.
Carbohydrates
One of the most studied topics is the role of carbohydrates in sports performance. Most practicing sportsmen now know that carbohydrates are best for strength and endurance.
Scientists are now also taking a look on the link between low carbohydrates intake and exercise-induced free radicals that leads to impaired muscle function. Every athlete knows that carbohydrates can improve endurance, while the lack of it reduces glucose supply to the muscles which, in turn, leads to fatigue.
Fatigue is normally seen as the loss of the body’s overall force-generating capacity. This may be caused be a lot of reasons, but scientists believe it is the loss of muscular ATP, a high-energy molecule that fuels muscle contraction generated by glucose.
A high-carbohydrates diet while training ensures a good store of muscle glycogen long before competition time. Glycogen, the body’s carbohydrates store, is the fuel for endurance. The carbohydrates could be taken in as fluids (such as juices) or in solid forms (fruits or starches).
However, a long and hard exercise sometimes drains the muscles of stored carbohydrates (glycogen). Eating right away (the best time is within the first hour) food rich in carbohydrates combined with protein is best. The proteins would help in muscle repair broken by he strenuous exercise.
Commercial energy bars both have carbohydrates and proteins but they are expensive and mostly tasteless. A peanut butter sandwich is okay, washed down with some sports drink. Best, of course, would be some cereal with nuts and dried fruits in them.
Fluids
No other factor is more important in the success of a distance runner than maintaining enough fluids in his body.
Running, in training or in competition, produces body heat more than in normal circumstances. This heat is then released through sweat, which in turn, depletes the body’s fluids. When the body is dehydrated, general fatigue sets it.
To maintain the body’s water status, runners should develop the habit of regular and fixed fluid consumption (every 10 to 15 minutes) during practice runs, whether thirsty or not. The amount is around one-half to one liter of fluid per hour on mild conditions. (The amount should be more, of course, if conditions are more severe.)
In hot and humid conditions, a combination of water and sports drinks (to provide carbohydrates and electrolytes like sodium) is best.
Fibers
During scheduled runs (practice or competition), many runners suffer from bowel problems. One way to avoid this is to stay away from food high in fiber content as well as those rich in fat.
You can also buy commercial liquid meals formulated for athletes and convalescents. Make sure they have high carbohydrate content. You may also make your own formula using skimmed milk powder, fruits, and regular milk.
Caffeine
It is not very clear how caffeine appears to enhance endurance performances in athletes. It could be that it is a central nervous system stimulant. It stimulates the release of adrenaline that increases heart rate and blood pressure, blood flow to muscles and the release of glucose by the liver.
Caffeine is found in coffee, tea, and chocolates (cocoa). It is also added to cola drinks and other beverages. Normally, caffeine is a natural diuretic (with a 31% hike in urine production.) During competition, however, it loses its diuretic effect but may improve your capacity to have that extra kick at the end of the race.
All in all, the two things distance runners have to remember about nutrition is carbohydrates and fluids. These are the top two important nutrition needs for the sports.
Monday, February 26, 2007
A Diet Isn't Forever
By: Ken Bendor
A lifestyle change means that you're changing the way you live your life through better nutrition, good exercise and healthy habits. Eating more fruits and vegetables can be a lifestyle change as well as starting to walk, run or exercise everyday. A diet simply means what we eat but in today's world means restricting your calories to lose weight.
While a lifestyle change should be permanent, diets don't have to be. Ending a diet the proper way will ensure that you keep all the weight off, stay healthy and never go back to your old and unhealthy ways again.
Coming off a diet means that you should add calories back into your food so that you'll stop losing weight. To figure out how many calories you should eat now that you don't want your weight to change, use the Daily Calorie Needs Calculator. The amount of calories you burn per day will be the amount of calories that you eat per day.
Another way to maintain weight without adding calories into your diet is to exercise less. If you were trying to lose weight by doing an extra amount of cardio everyday, you can cut back on that exercising. Because there a lot of health benefits that come from doing cardio, completely eliminating it from your routine is a bad idea. Maintaining weight by adding calories is a better option.
Remember that even though you are ending your diet, you are still committing yourself to a healthy lifestyle. Adding unhealthy foods to your everyday eating habits isn't healthy even if you don't gain weight from them. Having a twinkie every now and then isn't horrible for you, but eating junk food too often can bring you back to gaining unwanted weight and having to start a diet all over again.
A lifestyle change means that you're changing the way you live your life through better nutrition, good exercise and healthy habits. Eating more fruits and vegetables can be a lifestyle change as well as starting to walk, run or exercise everyday. A diet simply means what we eat but in today's world means restricting your calories to lose weight.
While a lifestyle change should be permanent, diets don't have to be. Ending a diet the proper way will ensure that you keep all the weight off, stay healthy and never go back to your old and unhealthy ways again.
Coming off a diet means that you should add calories back into your food so that you'll stop losing weight. To figure out how many calories you should eat now that you don't want your weight to change, use the Daily Calorie Needs Calculator. The amount of calories you burn per day will be the amount of calories that you eat per day.
Another way to maintain weight without adding calories into your diet is to exercise less. If you were trying to lose weight by doing an extra amount of cardio everyday, you can cut back on that exercising. Because there a lot of health benefits that come from doing cardio, completely eliminating it from your routine is a bad idea. Maintaining weight by adding calories is a better option.
Remember that even though you are ending your diet, you are still committing yourself to a healthy lifestyle. Adding unhealthy foods to your everyday eating habits isn't healthy even if you don't gain weight from them. Having a twinkie every now and then isn't horrible for you, but eating junk food too often can bring you back to gaining unwanted weight and having to start a diet all over again.
Guide to Dieting Straight Health - Health, Exercise and Nutrition
Article Source: http://www.ArticleBiz.com
Monday, February 19, 2007
Your Health: Weight Loss, Nutritional Supplements May Ease Arthritis-Related Knee Pain
Rallie McAllister, M.D., M.P.H.
If you're a physically active baby boomer, you've probably come to realize that there's really no such thing as a completely risk-free form of exercise. Minor aches and pains are to be expected, and no matter how careful you are, there's always a chance you might trip and fall on the treadmill or drop a dumbbell on your toe.
If you're worried about the toll that your exercise program is taking on your knees, however, the results of a long-term study published in the February 2007 issue of Arthritis Care and Research may put your mind at ease. Researchers at Boston University reported that moderate exercise doesn't increase the risk of developing arthritis of the knee in older adults.
The study included more than 1,200 participants with an average age of 53. At the beginning of the study, the participants had knee X-rays performed and answered questions about their exercise habits and symptoms of knee aches, pains, or stiffness.
The same individuals repeated the process approximately a decade later. After analyzing the participants' X-rays, exercise patterns, and knee symptoms, researchers found no relationship between moderate physical activity--including walking and jogging--and the development of osteoarthritis of the knee.
Although osteoarthritis can strike virtually any joint in the body, the knee is the one most commonly affected. The risk of developing the condition increases with age: Approximately half of adults over the age of 65 have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis.
As a progressive, degenerative disease, osteoarthritis is caused by a breakdown of the cartilage within the joints. While healthy cartilage is a firm, rubbery substance that serves as a cushion and shock absorber for joints, the cartilage in arthritic joints is typically brittle and thin, and often becomes ragged or torn.
As the cartilage continues to wear away, the bone ends may begin to grind against each other. Bits of bone or cartilage can break off and enter the joint space, causing considerable pain, swelling, and even deformity.
Although osteoarthritis appears to be influenced by genetic factors, obesity is known to be a major risk. In overweight individuals, every pound of excess body weight adds about four or five pounds of additional load to each knee.
For this reason, even modest weight loss can significantly improve the symptoms of arthritis of the knee and slow the progression of the disease. Getting plenty of exercise is one of the most effective ways to lose weight, but for individuals with chronic knee pain, it's easier said than done.
Although aspirin, ibuprofen, and other anti-inflammatory medications can reduce arthritis pain, they're not entirely risk free. The drugs are notorious for causing gastrointestinal problems, ranging from mild stomach upset to bleeding ulcers.
Likewise, many prescription medications have proved to be less than satisfactory in the long-term management of osteoarthritis. The drug Vioxx, once a mainstay of treatment, was withdrawn from the market in 2004 after being linked to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
For folks who aren't willing or able to take conventional drugs to relieve the pain of mild to moderate osteoarthritis of the knee, the combination of two nutritional supplements, glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate, is a popular alternative. The supplements are generally well tolerated and are associated with few side effects.
Although their exact mechanisms of action still aren't fully understood, laboratory studies suggest that the supplements stimulate cartilage growth and inhibit the action of enzymes responsible for cartilage destruction. Both glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate appear to have mild anti-inflammatory effects that can ease discomfort and reduce swelling.
A number of scientific studies have demonstrated the supplements' effectiveness in reducing the pain and progression of osteoarthritis, especially in the knee joint. The results of the largest of these studies, the Glucosamine/Chondroitin Arthritis Intervention Trial (GAIT), suggest that when taken together, daily doses of 1,500 milligrams of glucosamine and 1200 milligrams of chondroitin sulfate may produce a significant reduction in knee pain associated with osteoarthritis.
If you decide to take the supplements for symptom relief, don't expect immediate results. Because both are slow-acting agents, they must be taken daily for at least four to eight weeks to produce noticeable effects; and maximum pain relief may not occur until the third month of treatment.
Hopefully, baby boomers will live to see a cure for osteoarthritis of the knee. Until then, a treatment program that includes pain management, weight loss, and moderate exercise may be the next best thing.
========
Rallie McAllister, M.D., M.P.H., is a family physician in Kingsport, Tenn., and author of "Healthy Lunchbox: The Working Mom's Guide to Keeping You and Your Kids Trim." Her Web site is http://www.rallieonhealth.com. To find out more about Rallie McAllister, M.D., and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
Copyright 2007 Creators Syndicate Inc.
If you're worried about the toll that your exercise program is taking on your knees, however, the results of a long-term study published in the February 2007 issue of Arthritis Care and Research may put your mind at ease. Researchers at Boston University reported that moderate exercise doesn't increase the risk of developing arthritis of the knee in older adults.
The study included more than 1,200 participants with an average age of 53. At the beginning of the study, the participants had knee X-rays performed and answered questions about their exercise habits and symptoms of knee aches, pains, or stiffness.
The same individuals repeated the process approximately a decade later. After analyzing the participants' X-rays, exercise patterns, and knee symptoms, researchers found no relationship between moderate physical activity--including walking and jogging--and the development of osteoarthritis of the knee.
Although osteoarthritis can strike virtually any joint in the body, the knee is the one most commonly affected. The risk of developing the condition increases with age: Approximately half of adults over the age of 65 have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis.
As a progressive, degenerative disease, osteoarthritis is caused by a breakdown of the cartilage within the joints. While healthy cartilage is a firm, rubbery substance that serves as a cushion and shock absorber for joints, the cartilage in arthritic joints is typically brittle and thin, and often becomes ragged or torn.
As the cartilage continues to wear away, the bone ends may begin to grind against each other. Bits of bone or cartilage can break off and enter the joint space, causing considerable pain, swelling, and even deformity.
Although osteoarthritis appears to be influenced by genetic factors, obesity is known to be a major risk. In overweight individuals, every pound of excess body weight adds about four or five pounds of additional load to each knee.
For this reason, even modest weight loss can significantly improve the symptoms of arthritis of the knee and slow the progression of the disease. Getting plenty of exercise is one of the most effective ways to lose weight, but for individuals with chronic knee pain, it's easier said than done.
Although aspirin, ibuprofen, and other anti-inflammatory medications can reduce arthritis pain, they're not entirely risk free. The drugs are notorious for causing gastrointestinal problems, ranging from mild stomach upset to bleeding ulcers.
Likewise, many prescription medications have proved to be less than satisfactory in the long-term management of osteoarthritis. The drug Vioxx, once a mainstay of treatment, was withdrawn from the market in 2004 after being linked to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
For folks who aren't willing or able to take conventional drugs to relieve the pain of mild to moderate osteoarthritis of the knee, the combination of two nutritional supplements, glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate, is a popular alternative. The supplements are generally well tolerated and are associated with few side effects.
Although their exact mechanisms of action still aren't fully understood, laboratory studies suggest that the supplements stimulate cartilage growth and inhibit the action of enzymes responsible for cartilage destruction. Both glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate appear to have mild anti-inflammatory effects that can ease discomfort and reduce swelling.
A number of scientific studies have demonstrated the supplements' effectiveness in reducing the pain and progression of osteoarthritis, especially in the knee joint. The results of the largest of these studies, the Glucosamine/Chondroitin Arthritis Intervention Trial (GAIT), suggest that when taken together, daily doses of 1,500 milligrams of glucosamine and 1200 milligrams of chondroitin sulfate may produce a significant reduction in knee pain associated with osteoarthritis.
If you decide to take the supplements for symptom relief, don't expect immediate results. Because both are slow-acting agents, they must be taken daily for at least four to eight weeks to produce noticeable effects; and maximum pain relief may not occur until the third month of treatment.
Hopefully, baby boomers will live to see a cure for osteoarthritis of the knee. Until then, a treatment program that includes pain management, weight loss, and moderate exercise may be the next best thing.
========
Rallie McAllister, M.D., M.P.H., is a family physician in Kingsport, Tenn., and author of "Healthy Lunchbox: The Working Mom's Guide to Keeping You and Your Kids Trim." Her Web site is http://www.rallieonhealth.com. To find out more about Rallie McAllister, M.D., and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
Copyright 2007 Creators Syndicate Inc.
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