I received an email question last week from a reader asking:

“How many times a day should I be eating?, Is there a set number that is best for weight loss? How often do you eat?”

Ok it was 3 questions, but here is the best answer I could come up with.

I don’t think that there is 1 specific eating schedule that is best for weight loss. It really depends on the individual and how they deal with the hunger in between meals. I’ve found that the longer I go between meals the more likely I am to go off course and eat something I’ll regret later.

I’ve heard a lot of people say that your body goes into “Starvation Mode” after 5-6 hours without eating. I personally don’t believe that is true. Starvation mode is when your body starts to store energy (fat) in anticipation of an extended period without food. I don’t think 6 hours qualifies.

Now your body will start to slip into fat storing mode if your overall daily calorie intake is constantly too low. I would say anything under 1000 calories per day can be dangerous and will probably prevent you from losing weight. (Well fat anyway)

A popular way of eating is 5-6 smaller meals a day. The theory is that it keeps your energy levels steady and you end up burning off the calories more evenly throughout the day, meaning there is nothing left to store as fat. This makes sense for me and it’s what I am currently doing.

Right now I am eating every 3 hours with a glass of water or 2 in between meals. I find that at the end of 3 hours I am hungry enough to eat but not too hungry that I will abandon my plan and overeat.

Here is a sample of my day.

-Wake-up and workout 6am-7am

-Breakfast 7am

-Mid-morning Snack 10am

-Lunch 1pm

-Midday Snack 4pm

-Dinner 6:30/7:00pm

-Post workout snack on weight training days 10pm

The bottom line is that unless you are really looking to add some serious muscle, it doesn’t really matter what kind of eating schedule you employ. As long as you are comfortable between your meals and don’t overeat at those meals you should be ok.

A couple of tips to keep in mind:

1. Always have a post workout recovery snack that includes some protein and carbs. Chocolate Milk is a great choice.

2. Watch your portion sizes, some meals can have well over 1000 calories.

3. Breakfast, Breakfast, Breakfast you heard this over and over again. Just eat something early in the morning and call it breakfast, so I can stop preaching it please

If you have a question you’d like answered just send me an email. Please remember to include your name/site if you would like me to include it in the post.

Well it has officially been 1 month since I started this blog and I have to say that I am very pleased with the results so far. I thought I would take a moment to share with you what I have achieved and also what I have learned.

First a few stats that I am pretty proud of:

I have managed to reach at least 1 person in all 50 states.

As well as at least 1 person in over 50 different counties.

Below are my page views and the number of visits I have received in the last 30 days.



Not bad for a newbie

The only disappointing thing has been the RSS subscriber count. 22 as I write this and I am grateful for every one of them. I think I really need to improve on promoting my feed. Not to mention that I just figured out how to set it up properly 2 weeks ago.

Last word on the stats, since the Google page rank update I went from an N/A to a PR2. This was a nice surprise.

What have I learned?

Promoting a blog is actually quite different from promoting a static site (yes I just learned that phrase). I think for a blog it’s more who you know or are associated with, rather than where you are listed.

Less is more, when it comes to post length anyway. I’ve found that readers lose interest quite easily and if your post is more than 500 words chances are they won’t finish it. Keeping your paragraphs short is also a good way to hold a readers attention.

Finally, Getting traffic is not an easy thing to achieve. You need to put in effort, time and have a lot of patience. I’ve also learned that I really enjoy checking my stats and comments, almost obsessively (everyone is addicted to something right?)

Thanks to everyone that has helped me along the way so far. The members at Websitebabble.com have been great. I would also like to thank Adtracker for her “stumble love” over the past few days.

I am always open to suggestions for improving my sites and writing in general. If you have any suggestions for topics, site improvements or advertising maybe??? Send me an email or leave me a comment.

These are what I consider the Top 5 non workout/exercise weapons for losing weight and keeping it off. My full list can be found at here

1.) Chicken Breast - Chicken Breast is very versatile, you can bake it, fry it, or BBQ it. It can be cut it into strips, or stuffed with your favorite veggies, you can skewer it and grill it or just eat it on a sandwich. With nearly 9 grams of protein per ounce it will help you feel full longer and is a smart choice for building or maintaining muscle.

2.) Chocolate Milk - 1% Chocolate milk is quickly emerging as a great health treat. All the benefits of milk (Calcium, low fat, high protein etc..) with the great taste of chocolate. A word of caution, the calories can add up very quickly. Keep your servings to 1 to 2 cups per day. (150-300 calories)

3.) The Food Scale - This is a great tool for controlling your portion sizes. You don’t need a fancy digital or nutritional scale. A plain old mechanical one will work just fine. You can find them for under $10 online or in-store. I suggest you buy one with a minimum 500 gram max capacity.

4.) Almonds - A great snack between meals or after a hard workout. Almonds are full of protein and heart healthy fat. A handful of Almonds, 1 ounce or 23 whole ones have about 160 calories, 6 grams of Protein, 14 grams of unsaturated fat and 3 grams of fiber. Not to mention all the vitamins and minerals packed into them.

5.) The Internet – There is a wealth of information on the internet that can aid you in your weight loss efforts. With more people becoming healthier everyday and new sites popping up to offer their advice and share their experiences, it has never been easier to get in shape. You can find anything from what to eat to
how and when to exercise. There are also lots of great tips on how to stay motivated through it all.

Here are some of the other great weight loss related resources to help you out:

www.fatmanunleashed.com

mvpsupport

www.Johnisfit.com

www.thedietpulpit.com

www.reneegetsfit.com

www.formerfatguy.com

weightwatchen.com

bloggingawayfat.com

If you have a favorite weightloss site let me know about it. I am always looking for something new to keep me inspired and motivated. Email me or leave a comment.

Does this ever happen to you?

It’s midday, lunch is over and done with and there is still an hour or two before dinner. You’re working away at your job, busy with school or with the kids when you start feeling tired and begin to lose focus on what you’re doing. Or maybe you get a headache and the “little things” begin to get on your nerves.

This is what is known as the midday slump and it’s usually caused by a rapid drop in blood sugar. Combine this with a lack of proper rest and you have a recipe for weight gain.

What you do between the hours of 2pm and 4pm can have a dramatic impact on your weight loss efforts. There is a twofold effect that happens:

1.) When the slump hits your first instinct is to eat, eat, eat and your cravings are usually not for some health fruit or vegetables either.

2.) If you’re like me you make poor decisions when you’re hungry and that leads to pizza for dinner or a trip out to your local restaurant.

So how do you stop this from happening?

I usually fight this in 3 ways:

1.) I eat a smaller, more protein dense lunch. This way the drop in blood sugar is not so dramatic.

2.) I bring pre packed snacks so that I am not tempted to grab something really unhealthy. Granola bars, almonds, or 100 calorie snack packs are all good choices as well as at least 1 bottle of water.

3.) I get moving. Take a break from whatever you are doing and walk, stretch, or run. It doesn’t really matter just get your heart rate up and the blood flowing. You’ll be more alert and able to make better decisions.

One last suggestion I can give you is to get your rest at night. 6-8 hours a night at least. Most of us waste way too much time at night watching TV or dare I say on the computer. An extra 30-45 mins of sleep can really make a big difference during your day.

What do you think? What do you do to beat the midday slump?

What does a personal trainer do for you that you can’t already do on your own, right?

I asked myself that question a year ago while I was 35 Lbs over weight. I received a lot of advice from family and friends, mostly negative. They’re too expensive, not worth it, and just another way for the health club to make money was what I heard.

So naturally I signed up for some one on one sessions. I figured everyone that offered me their negative opinion was overweight and out of shape, so of course they would be against hiring a trainer.

Going in I thought I knew enough about weight lifting and cardio that this guy would be impressed. Boy was I wrong. Apparently my technique and form were really bad (that explains the shoulder and lower back injuries); currently up to 70% of people perform at least 1 weight lifting exercise incorrectly.

He also pointed out that I was missing out on all of the benefits from those last few reps that I quit on. I was “lifting for comfort and not for size or strength”. (His words)

What did my trainer do for me?

The 2 most important lessons that I learned from my trainer were:

1.) How to lift weights properly, for safety as well as maximum gains.
2.) How to push myself beyond my normal comfort zone, on my own.

To this day I still follow that advice and have been injury free ever since. As well as dropping the 35lbs

How Much do they cost?

This varies from city to city and gym to gym. I signed up for 10, 1 hour sessions and paid a total of $450. So you really need to check with your local health club. My sessions were without a meal plan. But the generally accepted fees are anywhere from $40 to $100 an hour.

Most health clubs have plans that include your trainer fees, fitness assessments and meal plans.

Conclusion

I do recommend hiring a personal trainer for at least 6 sessions anything less and you won’t really see the benefits. After that you should be knowledgeable enough to go it alone.

Follow these guidelines on how to pick a personal trainer. From Ray Burtons site buildingbodies.ca