The Fitness Dude
Helping You To Reach Your Fitness Potential
The Fitness Dude Blog
Fitness Myth: Losing Weight Is Extremely Difficult
Myth: 
Losing weight is always extremely difficult.
Fact:
Losing weight itself is not always the problem — losing the right weight and keeping it off is the challenge.
Fact: 75% or more of all dieters regain the weight they lost within 1-3 years of completing a diet.
Constant fluctuation of weight is not only demoralizing, but it can lead to increased risk of heart and gall bladder disease.
Another factor that tries patience is rate of weight loss. 1-2 pounds per week is reasonable, and attainable. More importantly, you are much more likely to be able to keep it off.
What is the difference between the "right" and "wrong" weight to lose?
First, some of the body weight you lose initially will be water weight. After that, there are only two real areas from which you will see losses:
- Muscle mass
- Storage fat
If you lose both muscle and fat in great quantities, you will undoubtedly weigh less, but you will not be more healthy.
The best route is a fitness and nutrition plan that encourages fat loss and maintaining lean body mass as much as possible.
Recipe: Scrambled Eggs with Turkey
It's the weekend, so take time to enjoy a good breakfast.
Love the smell of sausage in your kitchen, but trying to reduce unhealthy fats? Wake up your morning with this recipe.
Scrambled Eggs with Turkey (1 serving)
Nutritional Info Per Serving:
Calories: 382Protein: 56gFat: 15gCarbohydrates: 2g
Ingredients:
- 1 cup egg whites or egg substitute
- 1 tablespoon Dijon or other coarse-grained mustard
- 6 oz ground turkey
- 3/4 cup chopped green onions
- 2 teaspoon dried thyme
- Cooking spray
- Optional: Salt and pepper
Utensils:
- 12 inch nonstick skillet
- Small bowl
- Large bowl
Directions:
- Whisk egg whites and mustard together in small bowl, and put aside
- Coat a 12-inch nonstick skillet with cooking spray and place over medium heat
- Add ground turkey, breaking into small pieces
- Cook ground turkey until browned
- Drain cooked ground turkey and return to pan
- Add thyme, green onions, salt and pepper
- Heat for one minute, then transfer to large bowl
- Recoat skillet with cooking spray
- Add egg white mixture to skillet
- Stir over medium heat until softly set
- Add ground turkey mixture to skillet
- Stir often, until eggs are set
Suggested Side Dishes:
If your nutrition plan permits it, some whole-grain toast (Nature's Own Double Fiber,for example) makes a great addition.
The Dude Recommends:
- Use regular ground turkey, not ground turkey breast: you want the meat to brown, and ground turkey breast never quite gives a browned appearance due to its lean nature.
- Substitute sage for thyme. Personally, I think that it gives more of a sausage-like aroma to the dish.
Reminder:
Never eat anything that your doctor has prohibited from your diet, or to which you have an allergy or intolerance.
Recipe appeared in Muscle & Fitness magazine, courtesy of Laura Creavalle (www.clubcreavalle.com)
Moving Forward
Did I want to spend the rest of my life mourning my past?
Specialist in Fitness Nutrition (SFN) Certification Achieved
I'm proud to announce that I have completed the Specialist in Fitness Nutrition (SFN) certification, with a score of 90%!Once I am medically cleared to return to work, I will begin announcing the customized nutrition programs that will be offered.
In the meantime ... on to the Certified Fitness Trainer (CFT) course materials!
Recipe: Chicken Cordon Bleu
Chicken Cordon Bleu (4 servings)
Nutritional Info Per Serving:
362 calories
53g protein
15g carbs
10g fat
Ingredients:
- 4 skinless boneless chicken breasts (4 oz each)
- 1 tsp Mrs. Dash or other salt-free seasoning
- 4 slices fat-free Swiss cheese
- 4 slices low-fat deli ham
- 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
- Nonstick cooking spray
Utensils:
8 x 10 baking dish
Toothpicks
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Coat an 8 x 10 baking dish with cooking spray
- Pound chicken to 1/4 inch thickness
- Sprinkle both sides of chicken breasts with seasoning
- Place one slice of cheese and one slice of ham on each chicken breast
- Roll up each breast and secure with toothpicks
- Place chicken in baking dish, seam side down
- Sprinkle chicken with bread crumbs
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink inside
Suggested Side Dishes:
Steamed carrots or broccoli
The Dude Recommends:
Substitute low-fat Swiss cheese for the non-fat variety. There's a substantial taste difference, with not that many additional calories and fat grams.
Reminder:
Never eat anything that your doctor has prohibited from your diet, or to which you have an allergy or intolerance.
Recipe appeared in Muscle & Fitness magazine, courtesy of Laura Creavalle (www.clubcreavalle.com)
Fitness Myth: Sweat = Fat Loss
Myth:
The more you sweat, the more fat you lose.
Fact:
If you exercise in extreme heat, or wear one of those shiny rubber-like suits, you will absolutely sweat. And you will absolutely lose weight.
However ... this weight decrease is due to water lost via perspiration, not from fat loss.
And would you like to guess what happens once you consume food and water? Bingo. The weight comes right back.
More importantly, you put yourself at risk for heat injury by undertaking such an extreme method. Heat injury can, in some cases, be fatal.
Keep in mind that sweat is an indication of factors such as temperature, humidity, body composition, and your physical condition.
It is not an indicator of the amount of energy you are burning — or, more precisely, the amount of fat..
DVD Review: Super Size Me
What happens when a man consumes nothing but food from the McDonalds menu for 30 days?
The results may shock you!
West Virginia's own Morgan Spurlock is the star and creator of this 2004 documentary. In response to McDonalds' claim that their food does not make customers obese, he sets out to eat nothing but food from the McDonalds menu, 3 meals per day, for 30 days. In addition, he also curtails his physical activity drastically.
You'll be amazed to watch his transformation over time; and you'll also be fascinated by his observations on the fast food industry and even school lunch programs.
Just as Spurlock illustrates that lack of nutritional guidance and physical activity lead to poor health, you should take away the point that good nutrition and staying active can, over time, improve health dramatically.
The Dude Recommends:
Watch the bonus feature The Smoking Fry. I won't spoil the ending for you.
Recipe: Cola Chicken
Don't have time to cook out this weekend, but still want great BBQ taste?
Here is one of my all-time favorite recipes: it's simple to make, requires only a few ingredients, and tastes fantastic!
Cola Chicken (4 servings)
Nutritional Info Per Serving:
Calories: 280
Protein: 34g
Fat: 9g
Carbohydrates: 15g
Ingredients:
- 1 lb boneless chicken breast
- 1 cup ketchup
- 12 oz can of diet cola
Utensils:
Skillet with lid
Directions:
- Spray skillet with non-stick spray
- Add 1/2 of the can of diet soda
- Add the chicken breasts
- Pour the ketchup over the chicken breasts
- Add the remaining diet soda
- Turn heat on HIGH until boiling
- Reduce heat and cover
- Cook on medium heat for 45 minutes
- Remove lid and increase heat until sauce thickens
- Serve and enjoy!
The ketchup and cola combine to make a delicious BBQ sauce.
This is actually a Weight Watchers recipe, or at least that is where I originally discovered it ... and if you're following a Weight Watchers point system, each serving is just 4 points!
Suggested Side Dishes:
Corn on the cob
Steamed rice
The Dude Recommends:
Experiment with the brand of cola you use. Coke Zero suits me just fine — especially since I already have it on hand! But find which diet cola tastes best for you.
Healthful Hint:
If sodium is a concern, use low-sodium ketchup
Reminder:
Never eat anything that your doctor has prohibited from your diet, or to which you have an allergy or intolerance.
Three Keys to Success
From Lou Tice:
- What you can do depends as much on your beliefs as it does on your ability.
- The quality of the help you receive along the way can make all the difference.
- All meaningful, lasting growth and change starts first on the inside and then works its way out.