10/1/2006
Surprise Surprise I expected my 35th birthday to be an average Josh birthday.  A few cards in the mail, a few gift certificates and top it all off with some cake.  That’s about my normal, and it suits me fine. But oh no, that’s not how it went down.  First I was disappointed that I did not receive one card in the mail. I thought geez, I turn 35 and everyone forgets about me.  I have 2 cute kids, and once that happens no one remembers the dad.  Well, not quite. Turns out that after spoiling one birthday surprise (I bought myself something that everyone was going to go in on) I had another surprise coming.  Through the hard work of my Mother, wife and friends I had my first ever surprise birthday party.  My father flew in, as did my brother and his family. Most everyone I knew was able to come, and I was indeed surprised. I was very touched that everyone put in so much effort just to give me a special day.  And as luck would have it there were birthday cards, gift certificates and cake. My best birthday to date. Thanks to all, especially my Mother for putting it all together. Get Dunked, Again It’s official.  We will be having the Body Fat Test, Inc. the Hi-Tech Mobile Body-Fat Testing clinic at the North Hollywood Gym.  The date will be Saturday November 4th, so mark your calendars.   Call the North Hollywood Gym to sign up.  818-766-8888. It’s The Metabolism Stupid Too many trainees I see miss the forest for the trees. They are approaching their training programs all wrong, and stagnating as a result. If the goal is fat loss, then metabolic optimization should be our primary focus.  Let me explain.  Your metabolic rate, or “metabolism” is the rate at which you burn calories in a given day.  From a fat loss perspective, the more calories we expend per day, the better.  Far too many people I see in my gym look the absolute same as the day the walked in the door (the same cannot be said of ANY of my clients). If they were to follow some basic principles, all that could change. Big Weights - Big Workouts To increase your metabolism working out with weights is a must.  First off, the more muscle you carry on your frame, the higher your metabolism.  You should want to stimulate as much of that muscle as you can.  This is because muscle is metabolically active, and requires energy to exist.  So the goal when working out should be to cause as big a “metabolic disruption” as possible.  The more muscle you stimulate, the bigger the disruption, the bigger the metabolic increase. For example as session of 10 sets of deadlifts would cause a greater metabolic shift then a session of 10 sets of bicep curls. Deadlfits use almost your entire body, while curls only use the bicep muscle (give or take).  The net effect will be increased calorie utilization over the long term. Consistent Eating Habits Eating regularly increases your metabolism, while skipping meals actually lowers it.   Eating multiple times per day is an easy way to keep your metabolism humming along.  For example, you will increase you metabolism more if you consume your daily allotment of calories over 5 meals than you would if it were only on 1 or 2 meals.  Here’s food for thought: Sumo wrestlers only eat one meal per day. Do Not Drop Calories Too Low Your body is extremely smart, or exceptionally stupid depending on how you look at it.  Your body probably does not know that you would like to drop a few pounds.  If it did, it would not create so many road blocks making that endeavor so difficult.  As you drop your calories, your body responds by lowering the rate at which your body uses those calories.  It is a survival mechanism preventing you from starving to death. Let’s say your metabolic maintenance level is 3000 cals, and you drop your intake to 1500 cals in a effort to drop some weight. Your body will soon respond by lowering your maintenance level to meet the new lower calorie intake level. Now what do you do? Drop your calories again? Well that sucks.  The better way is to not drastically drop your calories and take some of the other measures in this article to make certain your metabolic rate stays nice and high. Do Not Over-Do Cardio We have had it beaten in to our heads that cardio is the be all and end all of fat loss. But I am here to tell you it ain’t so.  The people I refereed to earlier in the article, that look the same as the day they walked in my gym-  they are the ones who come in and do nothing but extended cardio work.  Here’s my beef with cardio- it does NOTHING to increase metabolism- get that? NOTHING.  It’s only saving grace is that is burns calories while you are performing it – but big deal really, so does brushing your teeth.  How many calories you expend during a workout session (whether it be a cardio or weight session) is almost irrelevant. What matters is how many calories it expends in the long run.  When you complete a traditional cardio session you are done burning calories the second you step off the treadmill.  This is not the case with weight training.  You continue to burn calories as a result of the workout for days and days (no joke). So what do you do instead of traditional cardio? Interval training.  Interval training simulates the same metabolic response as a weight training session, and revs up the metabolic rate. EFA’s It seems I cannot write an article without espousing the benefits of fish oils (EFA’s).  Well here is another one to add to the list.  Recent studies have shown that steady intake of EFA’s can increase metabolic rate by 400 cals per day.  That is just freaking amazing.  If you are not already taking EFA’s what is it going to take? Do they need to do your laundry or cook dinner too? Just take them. That’s it for this time. Be well and I will talk to you all next time.  If you have any questions I am looking to do a Q&A in an upcoming newsletter, so drop me an email at Joshua@carterfitness.com. Joshua Carter The Body Transformation Expert Carter Fitness Training http://carterfitness.com 818-766-8888 Breakfast: It really is for champions? We have been told time and time again that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, yet nearly one-fifth of all adults choose to pass on the Wheaties. What is the big deal about breakfast? Can a solid breakfast really make or break your fitness goals? Read on as I answer your most pressing questions on this popular subject… Why eat Breakfast? Let’s dissect the word ‘breakfast’. When you take it apart you find two words with an all-important hidden message. Break – Fast. I can hear your wheels spinning on this one! That’s right, breakfast is the meal that breaks the fast that your body goes into each and every night when you sleep. When breakfast is skipped, your body continues to fast until you eat later in the day. This is a problem for two reasons. Problem #1: Your brain needs fuel to function at its peak. This fuel comes in the form of glucose derived from food and is needed to walk, talk and perform all other activities. When you skip breakfast your brain is forced to work extra hard in breaking down stored carbohydrates or to turn fats and proteins into usable forms of glucose. Eating breakfast has been proven to improve concentration, increase your problem solving capabilities, enhance overall mental performance and even boosts your memory and mood. Problem #2: Your metabolism will go into ‘famine’ mode. Three to four hours after you eat, your metabolism shuts down and acts as if it needs to store food. This is a great function to have if a famine were to break out, leaving you without food for days. Since this is likely not the case for you, it is pretty annoying when your body starts packing on the pounds in an attempt to protect you from starvation! Eating breakfast communicates with your body the fact that you are healthy, well fed and not in need of extra fat storage. What about the cut calories? “Skipping breakfast is how I cut calories out of my diet.” I can’t tell you how often I hear this response when I encourage people to eat breakfast. What these “calorie cutters” don’t realize is that they are the ones who turn to snacking later in the day in an attempt to ward off low energy levels. Allowing your body to become over-hungry leads to distorted satiety signals, and leaves the door wide open for overeating later in the day. Start your day with breakfast and then continue to eat smaller meals and snacks throughout the day for optimal calorie burning. What’s for Breakfast? Now that you are convinced that breakfast is worth your time, it’s time to decide what to have! A recent study done by FoodWatch, a Minnesota-based consulting firm that watches food trends, revealed that most people are basically eating dessert for breakfast, due to the high quantities of on-the-go breakfast foods that are processed, packaged and pumped full of refined carbohydrates. Another study recently proved that high fiber, low fat breakfasts promote healthy weight control much more effectively than highly refined breakfast foods. Try the following On-The-Go Breakfast Selections for a blend of hearty carbohydrates, protein and fat and experience optimal morning energy. Low Fat Yogurt with Fresh Fruit Low Fat Cottage Cheese and a Cherry Oatmeal Muffin (see recipe below) Hard Boiled Egg and Whole Wheat Toast Scrambled Egg White on Half a Bagel Whole Wheat Tortilla rolled with Scrambled Egg Beaters and Salsa Soy Milk with Whole Grain Cereal and Fresh Fruit Sleep It Off Did you know that sleep is a vital component for weight loss? A study done at the University of Chicago concluded that people who got less than four hours of sleep actually had increased levels of the hormone cortisol and insulin—which are linked to a difficulty in processing carbohydrates. Tonight go to bed early, aim for 8 hours of sleep, and wake up fitter. Cherry Oatmeal Muffins Every bite of this hearty muffin is packed with pure energy! Oatmeal and dried cherries blend with fresh oranges for a low-fat, low-sugar breakfast taste that is far from ordinary. Yield 12 tasty muffins. Ingredients: 1 cup Quick Cooking rolled oats 3/4 cup All-Purpose flour 1/4 cup Whole Wheat flour 1 tablespoon Baking Powder 1/2 teaspoon Baking soda 1/2 cup Brown Sugar 1 grated rind of a Whole Orange 1/2 cup Dried Cherries chopped 1/3 cup Low-fat Milk 1 Egg, beaten 1/4 cup Oil 1/4 cup Light Sour Cream 2 tablespoon Light Cream Cheese 1/4 cup Juice of one Orange Instructions Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place 12 muffin liners in a muffin pan. In a medium bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients together. Add the wet ingredients and mix until the dry ingredients are just moistened—Be careful to not over-mix. Fill each muffin tin ¾ full. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Enjoy. Know anyone who could use these valuable tips and ideas? Do them a favor and use the link below to forward this newsletter along. 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About the Author: Joshua Carter is a certified personal trainer as well as a fitness and fat loss expert. With over 15 years personal training experience, Joshua has developed training & nutrition protocols that have delivered proven results in half the time as traditional programs.  These successful protocols have been shared with a select few trainers who assist Joshua with training at his Carter Fitness in West Hills, California.  His facility offers personal training for those who live near West Hills , Woodland Hills, Canoga Park, Chatsworth and Calabasas. Email: joshua@carterfitness.com Phone: 818-766-8888 Web: http://carterfitness.com

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Joshua Carter   5126 Lankershim Blvd.   North Hollywood   California   91601