San Diego Personal Trainer Rivak Hoffman discusses the health impact of high sugar diets

San Diego personal trainers and nutritionists all agree on one important issue concerning obesity and difficult weight loss. Sugar is the demon food that is plaguing the health of 60% of Americans. We have been secretly screwed by the food industry for the benefit of there bank accounts. So listen up people!

In the 1970s we were told that high fat diets are the culprit to obesity. So fat was removed from food products and a copious amount of sugar became the needed additive. Adding sugar is how the food industry compensates of taste. By the 1990s fat free precepts laced with sugar filled the grocery store shelves. In turn Americans got fatter and fatter.

Fast forward, and now we are seeing a 60% obesity rate and a significant increase in diabetes. This increase in dietary carbohydrate sugars screws up our metabolism and spikes our insulin levels to abnormal levels. Insulin which is produced in the pancreas, is a fat storage hormone as well as a blood sugar regulator. Insulin puts fat into fat cells and makes us plump. Another result is visceral fat around our organs which leads to heart disease, cancer and accelerated  aging. The worst thing you can do is cause your insulin to hit peaks and troughs. And sugars not proteins do this.. When I use the word sugar, I am referring to sucrose which is table sugar and fructose which is fruit sugar. Both of these sugar are embedded in almost every food product on the shelves of our supermarkets. Even bottled filtered water has a small dose of sugar in it for added flavor. For those of you who have tried an Atkins diets, you are fully aware how difficult it is to eat completely sugar free.

When we get obese, we grow fat in two ways. 1. We collect subcutaneous fat which is not so bad, or 2. we acquire visceral fat which is fat collected in-between and around our inner organs. This is absolutely dangerous.  A beer belly is a great example of visceral fat.

Visceral fat releases pro inflammatory hormones into the body. This leads to metabolic disease. When you make extra liver fat  from fructose sugar, you create a situation called insulin resistance. The liver doesn’t work right so the  pancreas over produces insulin.  Also fructose sugars are a major culprit causing aging. You want more wrinkles? Then continue on the high sugar diet and look 10 years older than your biological age. High fructose sugar also affects the stomach hormone Ghrelin which provides the sense of satiety to food in your stomach. In turn you always feel hungry and you eat anything this sit in front of you.

People wonder why they always look and feel fat. Well, Its not so much the excess calories consumed  but the wild swings of insulin spikes signaling the body to store and create fat.  If the individual consumed primarily protein then it would take twice as much energy to metabolize that protein into energy as it does a carbohydrate.  This is know as the thermic effects of food. Therefore protein eaters stay leaner.

its easy to fall into the bad cycle of sugary foods. the more you eat the more you want. Sugar is often abused and leads to an addiction. It has been reported by numerous psychologists that sugar addiction is on par with cocaine addiction.

Understanding the malevolent effects of simple carbohydrates is integral for weight loss programs. Understanding how your metabolism is subdued is an important element to weight loss success. Understanding what foods are right for your metabolic type is important to find out. What do you know about your metabolism? Perhaps you should find out!

Our expert Personal Trainers and medical exercise specialist can guide you though a metabolically and nutritionally sound weight loss program. You can contact the weight loss experts and personal fitness training team of RX Fitness pros at 760-271-3064 to get started on your journey. Or simply log into the company website RXfitnesspros.com

 

 

San Diego Personal Trainer and Nutritionist discusses. Diet or Exercise for Weight Loss.

I you have struggled with losing weight in the past through hybrid diets or unconventional style of workouts, you understand this paradigm. Perhaps you have found a system that works for you. In short weight loss is determined by the number of calories that go into the body and then the number of calories that are expended through metabolism or exercise burn.  For many people it is impossible to out exercise a bad diet. Example to burn off 3000 calories in meals would require 4- 5 hours of intense working out! 60 minutes on the elliptical trainer isn’t going to burn off that Cinnabon you had for lunch! But Geez folks is it freaking worth it? And who has that amount of time.

I know I don’t, so I limit my intake, and always plan on at least a 100 minute workout session every day. But I am a San Diego Personal Fitness Trainer , and this is what I do!

Most people will tell you that diet is responsible for 80-90% of weight loss. This is only partially true. You can work out like a mad man or woman, but if your food intake isn’t in check, you will always look soft,round and unhealthy. Overall, both diet and exercise are equally important to weight loss success, as well as acquiring a lean healthy body composition. To validate my point, a new study was recently published the Annals of Behavioral Medicine. Test subjects were divided into four (4) groups.

Group 1. Adjusted their diets first, than 4 months later added a strict exercise program.

Group 2. Started a strict exercise program, than 4 months later integrated a diet plan.

Group 3. Adjusted a diet and integrated a strict exercise program AT THE SAME TIME

Group 4.  Did absolutely nothing. This was the “Control Group”

So the researchers wanted to see which group would best comply with the regimens for 12 months.  And the winner was, Group 3 !!! (Those who did diet adjustment and strict exercise at the same time)

And as the Master trainer with Somagenesis Health and Fitness San Diego, I have had many successful clients lose weight when both diet and exercise are in check. If not, then weight loss is stymied.  I also lecture clients who focus on diet alone and lack the fitness prowess, how diet alone will SLOW YOUR METABOLISM.. Yes, this is a known fact. Moreover your weight loss with be from muscle and bone catabolism, not actual fat.

So people, get with the program. The entire program! If you need professional guidance, then don’t be shy. Hire a professional personal fitness trainer and nutritionist who can design you a personalized fitness program, get you on a consistent workout schedule, and help you make the necessary change to your food  intake to get on the road to health and wellness.

It’s what we do at Somagenesis Health and Fitness!   Amongst many other things. So please click on the Somagenesis link to get started today.

And please enjoy the enclosed video, which will surely bring back memories.

 

San Diego nutritionist personal trainer tips to control holiday fat attack.

It all begins around this time every year, where we find our selves rummaging through our kids Halloween buckets, or office candy jar in search of that last Reese’s Peanut butter cup. We all know you can’t just have one, so we vow to ourselves we will do better tomorrow, to justify eating those the last dozen mini Snicker bars. Tomorrow is pushed off to next week and before we know it is Thanksgiving festivities, holiday parties, then Hanukkah, Christmas and New Years eve. The end result is 9 weeks of gluttonous mayhem!

The perennial question is how do I control myself without acting antisocial and still enjoy myself? As a popular weight reduction expert and San Diego Personal Trainer for over 10 years, I struggle helping clients with this dilemma year in and year out. It all come down to lifestyle priorities and goal setting. Do you want to be the “average American that gains 7 pounds during the holiday month statistic”? How do you feel knowing that you will have to burn or diet off 25000 calories, just to get back to your pre holiday weight? Are you prepared to put in approximately 50 arduous, heart pumping, sweaty hours of working out to melt off that holiday fat with no guarantee it will come off this time? I doubt it.

Lets look at some realistic strategies to help you minimize the holiday fat attack. Give these suggestions a try and you may just be pleasantly surprised when you step on the scale come the New Years.

1. Exercise on the days you know you will be indulging – Just an hour of vigorous exercise can offset the negative ramifications of toxic holiday foods. Make the commitment to yourself to “workout so you can eat”

2. Ditch the Egg Nog – 1 Tiny cup of egg nog is 350 calories. Most people cannot have just 1 cup. Substitute some warm apple cinnamon cider instead. 1 cup is only 60 calories and the cinnamon with help stabilize your blood sugars.

3. Don’t reach for the bread basket – Did you know you can eat a days worth of calories just by noshing on bread and better. These bad boys can easily add up to 200 calories a piece. Just push the basket away.

4. Avoid the Martinis,Margarita’s and most mixed drinks – Vodka martini’s and Margarita’s can easily add up to over 350 liquid calories. Have a elegant and antioxidant rich glass of red wine for only 70 calories.

5. Eat a light snack before hitting the parties – I personally recommend string cheese and a apple which are both nutritious, contain fiber and fat which make you feel full.

6. Avoid social eating – Parties make people nervous and eat compulsively. Make yourself a plate of food and eat it slowly over a long period of time. Do not go back for a second plate.

7. Make the best of your family and friends – Although food is pivotal around holidays, it doesn’t have to be your focus. Redirect your good feeling towards laughter and cheer.

8. If you screw up its not the end of the world – Remember it not just one bad meal day that cause the weight gain it numerous back to back bad eating days that does you in. Just do your best to minimize. Your goal should be to maintain weight during these tempestuous times.

Author:
Rivak Hoffman, President of Somagenesis Health Inc, is both a Physician Assistant and Master Personal Trainer living San Diego California. His specialty is difficult weight loss, sports performance training and post rehab and conditioning.