The TOPP1 Blog

Diet Versus Nutrition

2012-01-12T05:42:00.000-08:00

Due to it being the start of the year, I have now had a few people contacting me about their diet and what they should be doing. My first consideration is usually with their current build. Usually I say if you are of average build but want to tone up then consider resistance training and nutrition and not diet. Lets take no bones about it if you are chubby, or lets face it fat, then you gotta consider diet and resistance training.

Whats the difference between Diet and Nutrition? Well, diet means usually cutting out certain things from your diet, for example if you are overweight, maybe you should consider a Ketogenic Diet (from Steve Maxwell) or a Neolithic diet where you eat primarily proteins with little or no carbos. Whereas, if I have mentioned to you Nutrition that means eat pretty much what you do eat but try and get the basics, in other words eat your Proteins, Carbs, Veggies and Fruit while they still look like the original thing. I don’t mean you should have a pigs leg on your plate but you should still be able to recognise a bit of meat without it being wrapped in pastry, shredded and mixed with potato etc, or smothered in some creamy sauce with sprinkles of parsley….

Now before you guys start reaching for the diet books, you gotta remember I have read a lot of these books and tried a lot of their advice and even tried cheating with Fat Metabolisers, Hydroxycut and things like Thermogenic serum. None of these supplements did any measurable good, however, I did find the Ketogenic Diet worked well for me so I suggest if you want to tone up a bit and drop a few pounds try this one out. Remember though this is only the case if you are overweight, chubby or fat. If you are average build but just want to tone go straight to the nutrition phase and just monitor your portions. Another thing that I have found is that everyone is shouting about how good this diet is or that diet. I think a lot of these diets work well individually for different people so not all work all the time for everyone. So, bottom line forget the diets for a minute even if you are fat, and yes, I do mean you reading this blog…In the words of the old masters – “CALORIES IN EQUALS CALORIES OUT!!!!” I can go out for a killer 20 Min HIIT Run burning around 300 cals in that 20 minutes to immediately get back to work and destroy it all in 3 minutes of eating a Snickers bar (and that’s the normal sized one). Whats the point??? If you are hungry, then at least eat something of good nutritious value and that won’t spike my insulin telling my body to store more fat.

Not all food is equivalent in caloric value though so really pay attention to that, however I don’t want you all to start counting calories either. Again see if you can eat pure foods, fish (not in batter in fact nothing deep fried), steak, pork, lettuce, carrots, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, apples, oranges, bananas etc. Celery is a negative calorie food, as you use more energy to eat and allow it to pass through your digestion than absorb from it. Good to know…If you are interested do a wee bit of comparison studies, go on line and compare some of your snacks with healthy alternatives and you’ll be impressed. My biggest, hugest, weakness is crisps, cos I love them, but equally I love Pop Corn (lightly salted or non at all) and that’s the homemade stuff (which is more fun) rather than the sticky stuff from the cinema or in pack from Tescos. The later will let you enjoy the odd snack (in reasonable portion size) without getting fat and having cravings.

Many books tell you, you must, must, must eat 6 meals a day to stabilise your insulin throughout the day … ehm…. No, your body is pretty good at coping with 3 meals a day provided you don’t overload it on SUGAR or STARCHY CARBOS. So if you want my advice, I suggest 3 portions per day of roughly the same size (breakfast, lunch and dinner), and the content is still to be Proteins(for the Greek Proteus meaning first), Carbos and Veggies/Fruit. Be carefull with fruit though as fructose is a sugar!!! Also although a potato is a Veggie its also very starchy – eat something that isn’t white is a simple thing to remember, what about some tasty Broccoli? You can still have a wee snack if you get peckish but try and make it healthy (1 handful of nuts, or seeds or pulses or a bit of fruit). But NO CRISPS, BISCUITS, CHOCOLATES, ETC…..!!! OK!!!

Next is the portion size, a good rule of thumb for me is the a normal dinner plate and the palm of you hand. Your dinner plate should be split in to thirds, each third should contain each of the following : Protiens, Carbos and Veggies. And each one of these should be no bigger than the palm of your hand (and not the palm of someone like John Wayne or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Now also notice that’s no starter and no desert unless you want to be fat and overweight blaming me and everyone else cos you haven’t seen your toes in a month as you choke down that Chocolate Éclair. If this is you, pick up that phone book and give yourself a good whack on the back of the head…. Pay attention!!!

A quick note on eating out, do exactly the same as above, split your plate up and eat only what fits the solution above. Heck you may get a doggie bag to take it away for lunch tomorrow.

I guess I should have started with this but its boring so its ok here. I am giving you advice from what I have picked up with my own experiments. If you think it makes sense try it out, if not, that’s ok, just go and ask someone else. To some out there you may have diabetes or other health issue and you may need more than 3 meals a day, if you are you’d be better tracking down a Nutritionalist or Doctor. However, you may also be a Vegan or Vegetarian, well that’s just silly!?!? He.. He no, seriously that’s good too, and total Kudos to you, cos so far you are better than most other eaters reading this being able to stick to your own ‘Diet.’ The only problem is, sometimes Vegans or Vegeterians tend to be a little under nourished as the calorific value is less than the meat eaters and sometimes there are amino acid and vitamin deficiencies. This comes back again to balanced nutrition and either the palm of your hand or your plate in thirds. You can still get your proteins from nuts, seeds, pulses, etc, (and eggs, milk, etc for the non vegans). Try and avoid Tofu and Quorn as under scientific research have been proven to reduce testosterone in men – be careful men!!! I’m sure you can work out a testosterone drop isn’t just muscle mass drop….Work it out!!! If you want more info if you are Vegan or Vegetarian why not check out Mike Mahlers blogs cos he is a Vegan and is very strong and muscular.

If you are looking for supplements, keep them to a minimum. Magnesium Spray was suggested by Mike Mahler and I find it great (giving vivid dreams too). Vitamin C 1000mg when you feel like a cold is coming on (but don’t overdo it as your body can get used to it and it can do you no good when you need it). A fish oil or garlic oil (odourless) is good for your joints and hair too.

Finally, if you are all still with me, here is a secret that will help you all lose fat a bit more. Calories aren’t just in food!!! Calories are also in what you drink!!! Especially if you like milkshakes, frappaccinos, lattes, fizzy juice, soups etc. If you must drink fizzy drinks try and aim for the diet version (although it contains usually aspartame and sometimes formaldehyde so I’ve been told…) I’ll be sticking with my favourite (Mexican Lime cordial from Tesco – ok theres a little sugar but I make it weak). Mind you I also drink untold quantites of coffee, tea, green tea, diet caffeine drinks and good old H2O ( or water).

Well, I’ll wrap this up here, the next blog will be on resistance training. I hope this has been helpful, let me know…

Stay Happy, Healthy and Fit and remember save the planet - buy less, eat less, waste less!!!

Food Intolerance Part 2

2011-04-23T04:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have just received my email from Food Intolerance Uk inviting me to access my intolerance report on their web server. For this of you who have followed part 1 of this food intolerance project you should be familiar with the results of my Asyra Food Intolerance and Hormone Tests. If you are not please look at my blog I published earlier.

My goal was to compare both methods (blood test and computer probe Asyra) of testing mainly my Food Intolerances and hopefully highlight the fact that both tests reported common foods that I should remove from my diet to assist me in being a healthier individual. Additionally i would blog the results to assist others to decide if they wanted to do a test and indeed which test they would prefer. Now in simplest terms food Intolerances could cause or contribute to a multitude of health conditions such as M.E., Weight Gain, Weight Loss, etc. For more information on them please see www.asyra.co.uk or www.foodintoleranceuk.com.

The Asyra test was carried out at the Health Food Shop in Forfar and the Food Intolerance Uk blood test was done via a DIY kit they send you and can be seen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1sJB3Gr-Qg&sns=em

Right, enough northers and now time for to contrast and compare the results. Hmmmm, I gotta be honest, I was a bit disappointed. From my previous blog regarding the Asyra tests you can see a considerable list of foods I am sensitive to and should either avoid or limit their intake. The blood test on the other hand, highlighted a total of 5........Now the blood test method concentrated on identifying any antibodies in my blood when subject to 131 foods, so between both test screenings I would probably opt for the blood test method being the truer of the 2.

And now for a listing of the five foods:-

I should limit the intake of Basil, Blueberries, Gluten and Plums. Ok, I think I can do that no problem, however here is the food I should actively remove from my diet:-

Coffee........ Noooooooooo!!!!!!! How am I meant to handle my day job now????

So as you can see there isn't much of a correlation between the 2 tests. When you consider the blood test cost £145 and the Asyra cost £90, I am sorry but I feel that I wasted my £90.

I hope my blogs have been of help to you or help you decide if you want to take a test or which test to take. To assist me in recouping some of my costs and your feeling flush please use the donate button below to donate anything, no gift to big or small....

www.topp1.co.uk

Food Intolerance Testing Part 1

2011-03-28T14:12:00.000-07:00

As you may have already read in Facebook or heard from me directly, in the light of Mike Mahlers Hormone Optimisation lecture, I decided to go for a Food Intolerance test. I searched around a bit, surfing the net and asking around and found that there was to be held a Food Intolerance test in the local health food shop. It turned out that this was to be carried out using an “Asyra” Resonance machine. I again took this information back and searched the net for some inform on how the test is carried out and how it works and became more baffled and intruged by the minute.
At its most simplest, the patient is to hold a brass/copper electrode in each hand and after a few minutes the machine that is connected to the PC applies various electrical impulses through your body. It is apparently harmless and you feel nothing more than a slight pulse in your palms of your hands. The device that is connected to the PC has been calibrated to simulate various energies or wavelength signatures that relate to specific foods, vitamins, minerals, etc. I cannot explain this in depth and suggest if you are interested go to the manufacturers website for more information :- http://www.asyra.com

I took an hour for lunch from my day job, as the test should take around an hour. The actual resonance screening takes only a few minutes, but the initial questionnaire, the briefing of the assessment results and the unfortunate grilling I gave the poor lady that was hosting the screening took up the rest of the time. This all depends on how many of the Screenings you opt for of course. I opted for the Food Intolerance Test, with the Hormone and Metabolic Disturbances this came to the total cost of £90. I left with an 8 page report and a certain amount of appreciation for the test. Some of the results I expected while others did spread some enlightenment Here is a summary from my reports.:-

Energetic Baseline

Good (The following were tested and were acceptable)

Adrenal Gland

Appendix

Arteries / Veins

Bladder

Central Nervous System

Colon

Connective Tissue

Eustachian Tube

Front Sinus

Gallbladder

Heart

Joints

Kidneys

Large Intestine

Liver

Lymphatic

Maxillary

Parathyroid

Peripheral Nervous System

Pineal Gland

Reproductive

Skin

Small Intestine

Sphenoid & Ethmoid Sinus

Teeth

Thymus Gland

Thyroid Gland

Urinary Tract

Stressed (The following areas need a bit attention and can benefit from diet, vitamins and / or minerals)

Eyes

Hypothalmus Gland

Lungs

Spleen

Stomach

Weakened (The following is showing definite signs of weakness and will benefit from diet and supplementation)

Pancreas

The following list suggests areas that I need to 'Top Up'

Vitamin, Mineral, Digestive Function

Vitamin Deficiency
Inositol	Weakened
Cyanocobalamin	Stressed
Menatetrenone	Stressed

Supplement Deficiency
Dietry Fibre	Weakened

Enzyme Deficiency
Hydrochloric Acid	Stressed
Methionine	Stressed

Amino Acid
Glutamic Acid	Weakened
Tryptophan	Stressed
Carnitine	Stressed

Fatty Acid Deficiency
Gamma Linolenic Acid	Weakened

Hormonal Profile

Vasopressin	Weakened
Leptin	Stressed
Hydrocortisol	Stressed

The following table highlights the food that my body has issues with. The number is out of 100 where the lower the number the less my body wants these foods. The words 'Occasional' and 'Never' are suggestions for the foods inclusion to my daily menu. Occasional is suggested 1or 2 times a week, while 'Never' is NEVER. As you read this, if you know me, there are some foods I am happy to leave out of my shopping lists, but unfortunately and equally there are many foods listed as 'never' eat that I don't know how I will manage to find replacements for.

Food Sensitivity

Grains
Wheat – Germ	58	Occasional

Beverages
Beer	59	Occasional
Herbal Tea	92	Occasional

Dairy
Butter	39	Never
Egg – white	75	Occasional

Meat & Poultry
Chicken	65	Occasional
Pork	65	Occasional

Fish & Crustaceans
Clam	39	Never

Fruit
Grapefruit	27	Never
Fig	34	Never
Watermelon	35	Never
Apple	60	Occasional
Lychee	64	Never
Raisin	76	Occasional
Blueberry	78	Occasional

Additives
MSG	25	Never
Preservative Mix	41	Never
Sodium Sulphate	42	Never

Spices
Black Pepper	37	Never
Marjoram	40	Never
Red Pepper	40	Never
Mint	42	Never
Salt	57	Occasional
Savory	62	Occasional

Vegetables
Celery	37	Never
Lettuce	39	Never
Cabbage	54	Occasional
Beetroot	61	Occasional

Cooking Ingredients
Vinegar	40	Never
Soy Sauce	69	Never
Tofu	75	Occasional

Nuts and Seeds
Almonds	30	Never

Legumes
Kidney Bean	62	Occasional

Sugars and Sweeteners
Brown Sugar	40	Never
High Fructose Corn Syrup	75	Occasional

Any foods or drinks not on the above list are deemed as acceptable for the well being of my body.
Well thats all I have for you readers at the moment. I will also be subjecting myself to the blood type food intolerance test but that is £145 from Food Intolerance UK (google it guys !!!). I will be posting my results from that test too and I am hoping that both sets of results can be collated with some common areas. I am also hoping to contrast and compare my results.
Since this is costing me quite a bit, if this has or is helping you decide which path you would like to take. Please feel free if you would like to donate something to my ever growing bill using koyote@o2.co.uk via paypal. I would appreciate it!
Thank you for your interest and reading this blog. I am hoping this was useful or helpful to you.

If you are interested in getting this test done yourself and stay in Scotland, please contact the Asyra Therapist on 07817 663209 or email tracey.e.brady@ntlworld.com
In Health,
Stefan

The Summer Fat Loss Challenge

2010-06-11T16:06:00.000-07:00

Ok, here we are in mid June. How many of you in the passed few days have thought, "you know I'd really love to drop a few pounds for the summer"?

Well, you are not the only one, I too, and no doubt a few of you readers are thinking the same. So my challenge is, that provided you are in good health and have no medical problems, high blood pressure, diabetes etc., is to join me in this diet.

Oops, there I said it, "diet". First let me say don't count calories, do not miss meals, just for at least the next 2 weeks, change your eating habits and humour me by playing this game. Without getting too technical, it's called ketosis, I first was told about this from my Coach as he often prescribed it for competitive fighters. I have just recently found out it is remarkably similar to an Atkins Diet variant. It has worked for me in the past but I am aiming to have a little fun and spread the word. Remember though, consider this next section as a challenge of will, are you willing to stick to this 100%? Your will must be strong. Mind you in the same breath if you witness, feel, or show any side effects, Stop and return to normal. If it works for you, you may want to relax the diet for a week or so and repeat this cycle, but be mindful of your non diet weeks not to put on the fat again!!!

Ok, here we go:-

1. No cakes, no chocolate, no crisps, no chips, no biscuits even if they say low calorie or diet whatever! In fact this should be you new rule for life!
2. No carbohydrates!!! No pasta, no potatoes, no cereal, no rolls, no rice, no matter if it's special low GI, low cal, low fat, space food! NO!
3. Don't skip any meals. Try and take 5 or 6 per day, even if it means eat half now and the remaining half 2 hours from now.
4. Eat vegetables but cut down if not cut out fruit (contain too much sugars).
5. Eat more proteins, meat, fish, chicken, cheese, eggs and nuts. Ok, they do contain more fats but they help your body and provide energy in the absence of carbohydrate.
6. Finally get at least 30-60 minutes of high effort exercise 3 days a week, now that is high effort on your scale, not mine, not your friends, not some film star, your high effort! But come on I don't mean a leisurely stroll around the equipment with your friends down at the local Curves gym or for that matter any other gym. Get your ass in gear and get looking for the burn!!! If you can keep chatting while your training, you are wimping out, take it up a notch.

And, that's it, remember this is an experiment! If you want to give it a go, do it! If you do let me know what your results are! If you don't drop some fat, before you drop me an email look back at the six points above and if you can honestly say you stuck to them then drop me a note.

Finally, if you are as geeky as me you can purchase Ketosticks on amazon. If you stick to the rules above you should manage to reach a state of ketosis ( the Ketostick goes purple when you pee on it ) by day 3. This is where you want to sit for the remaining 11 days. Your body is in body fat meltdown.

The Cost of a Class

2010-03-26T15:32:00.000-07:00

How much should I pay for training?
This is no doubt a question that has gone through many a prospective students' head. It matters not the subject but for this blog I am concentrating on Martial Arts and Strength and Conditioning classes. In my 25+ years of experience I have asked myself this question quite a lot in the many classes I have attended as a student/trainee. Unfortunately, sometimes the answer hits you like a falling anvil once the class or seminar is over. Hindsight is a great thing, so here's to making that time machine. I digress, lets look a little deeper.

It costs a lot, it must be good!?!
This is a phrase that too many people get hooked in, a strange mindset almost brain washing. If the costs are high, then ask why? Its simple. High Cost doesn't necessarily mean High Quality. Costs may be expectedly high, but, still affordable, for example, if there is a specialist seminar by a veteran instructor or coach. This is all the more understandable if this said host is entrusting you to by bestowing you with an instructor status to carry their name and teach their system. But, for the many of us, all we want is to belong to a class to learn something new, improve their physique, loose a few pounds, etc. This should not cost the earth. If it does, question it!

Beware of hidden costs!
As you enter your next class, whether for the first time or for the umpteenth, think for a moment of how much you are paying. Obviously many martial art and some strength classes have a need for student insurance, this is a definite tick in the box, so make sure you get something that is endorsed by a known insurance company or one you can google and read about and contact should you need them. Next, you may need appropriate uniform, gi, kimono or t-shirt. Many classes have a grading structure, and unfortunately, this is where I tend to have my own reservations as often I feel these costs can often be ridiculous. Often too, the gradings are set in stone to be every 3 months and range from 3 to 20 or more. Don't get me wrong, gradings are good for personal progression and to gain an achievement. I have also witnessed schools grading for the sake of making money, whereby students step through all the levels and reach black without ever failing despite their own feeling they did not do their best and are unworthy of their belt. Learning from failure is success in itself. Finally, classes often charge a fee by hour, session, day or some schools offer a by monthly scheme. This leads me on to my next section.

Should I pay per month or by session?
I have been saddened lately to hear of a class who charge a somewhat hefty monthly fee by direct debit and then charge their students per each and every session on top of that. This is strange to me and if you find yourself on the doorstep of such a school, ask a few more questions as to see really what you money is going on. Personally I offer both, pay per class or pay per month and my monthly fee is sweetened by allowing a few free classes so the student can really benefit. My advice to you is, if you are offered either, sit down with a calculator and work out what is the most beneficial to your pocket. If you are told to pay both, either question it or find another school.

What do I get for my money?

Ah, you're learning. Over the past 10 or so years many fitness schools and martial art academies have appeared all over. All claiming to teach the ultimate fighting system or be the only place where you can miraculously loose 3 inches from your waist and 5 pounds in your first night. Hmmm...if that were true why are there still so many people still clinically obese? Mind you some say they have the best state of the art equipment to give you a ripped and toned body in a week. Yeah, right. What you should be looking for in your class or rather in your instructor/coach is lineage, knowledge and practical experience. Who taught them? Are they just out of college or university with theory but little practice? Have they just signed up on-line / read a book / attended a 1 day seminar and miraculously they are "The Guru"? Mind you, if you are new to instructing or coaching then gain some experience teaching free, or at nominal costs until you have experience. Also, don't run out and buy a training hall, hire one - just make sure you got your PI & L insurance. At the other end of the scale is the wise grey haired master teaching from the other end of the room firmly stuck in a rut. An instructor / coach in my opinion should constantly challenge you, the student. But he/she must constantly challenge him or herself too, devising new methods of training and further training him or herself. A great instructor is but a student. My point in this section is, your money should be invested in your development and not harvested by a miserly instructor/coach.

Cost of a Class

In this final section, I would like to mention class size. As you know over the years, school room classes in primary, secondary and tertiary have been advised to reduce in size to improve the quality of schooling. This is an area that should be reflected in the sport industry too. I personally teach up to a maximum of 20 but preferably I limit my maximum class size to 12, as I feel larger classes will loose out on optimum instruction and coaching. Some schools split the class further to subsections where lower instructors teach the different subsections but again these tend to max out at 12-20. Beware if the class you attend is in excess of this.

Final Comment

I would just like to say thank you for reading this and I hope I have provided some useful advice.