You’re not overweight, so you must be healthy, right?

You’re not overweight, so you must be healthy, right?

While it is ideal to be within your “healthy” weight range, this doesn’t always guarantee perfect health.

It is a common misconception that the only people who are unhealthy are those who are overweight or underweight.

And while yes, it is true that being overweight or underweight can lead to serious health concerns, these are not the only 2 categories that can be subjected to health concerns.

People who are in the “healthy” range on the scales are often very unhealthy without even knowing it.

So what does this come down to?

Fat.

I bet you’re saying, but I don’t look fat, so how could I possibly have any fat affecting my health?

Something that many people don’t know is that there are 2 types of fat that get stored in our bodies.

Subcutaneous fat and Visceral fat.

Subcutaneous fat is the common fat that we all know, which makes us overweight. This type of fat is stored between the skin and muscle tissue, making it noticeable when someone is carrying excess amounts of this fat as it jiggles, has dimples and caused cellulite.

Of course, this type of fat should be kept within reasonable levels to avoid health concerns. However, of the 2 fats types this is the more desirable physiologically, even though it is unsightly for those who are concerned about their appearance. 

The real danger is a type of fat that comes from eating a highly processed, refined diet and a lack of physical exercise.

Visceral fat is found deeper within the body under your abdominal muscles and surrounding vital organs such as the liver, kidneys, pancreas and intestines.

This visceral fat can cause inflammation around these vital organs and can lead to major health concerns including:

·       Heart Disease

·       Type 2 Diabetes

·       High Blood Pressure

·       Stroke

·       High Cholesterol

·       Coronary Heart Disease

·       Certain Cancers

·       Metabolic Syndrome

·       And many more

So, what causes visceral fat?

Genetics do play a small role in the amount of visceral fat someone carries, although, the primary factor here is poor nutrition and lack of exercise.

Foods high in trans-fat would probably be the largest contributor to this, so things like, fried fast foods, burgers, hot dogs, bakery items (pies, sausage rolls etc.), potato chips, packaged foods, margarines.

Excessive amounts of fructose, so items such as, soft drinks, energy drinks, table sugar, high fructose corn syrup. One exception to this is natural fruit which does contain high levels of fructose, but due to the high fibre and other nutrients found in fruit it diminishes the absorption of fructose.

Another contributing factor to visceral fat accumulation is your level of physical activity.

If you are consuming large amounts of calories every day and are doing little to no physical activity, it is highly likely that you are going to have high levels of visceral fat. If this is the case I would recommend getting it checked out.

So now that you know what visceral fat is, and what causes it, how do you go about reducing the amount you are carrying?

The method is basically the same as reducing subcutaneous fat. Reduce your daily calories (although not to extreme levels), and more importantly make wiser nutrition choices.

Consume plenty of fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains and lean proteins.

Keep any processed foods to an absolute minimum.

Along with improving your diet, regular exercise will also help reduce levels of visceral fat, incorporate both cardio and resistance training into your workouts.

Reducing stress levels and getting plenty of sleep each night are important factors also, as high levels of stress and lack of sleep increase cortisol in the body which can directly induce weight gain.

Hopefully this information will be useful to you and help you make healthier choices.

If you feel you need some help with training or nutrition, please get in contact with me, as I have a range of online training packages available as well as a Black Book of Nutrition that I have written.

You can find me at:

Web: https://www.danwhitehandfitness.com

Email: danwhitehandfitness@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danwhitehandfitness

Instagram: @danwhitehand_fitness

What drives you??

So the other day I got thinking about what drives people to succeed. It was a beautiful 30 degree day in Melbourne and I was at the local pool with my girlfriend and her family. Enjoying the sun for a few hours and we remembered that today was leg day!
Needless to say neither of us could be bothered leaving the pool on such a good day, and head to the hot gym and complete a grueling leg session.
However because we both have that drive to succeed and get things done, we left the pool and hit the gym.

As much as it sucked leaving the pool, the feeling after we left the gym was far greater...we knew that we had just done something that most people wouldn't even think of, and that we are going to be stronger tomorrow than when we woke up today!

For me it's quite simple nowadays, I know that these small sacrifices made each day are what will transform to success and greatness in my life.
It wasn't always like this though, back when I was new to all of this I would skip the gym on a nice day or when something better came up and just make up the session the following day.
Over time you learn that these skipped sessions eventually add up and are costing you! and the sooner you realize this the better.

Yeah some of you might think that I am over reacting to missing a single gym session, however I'm not just talking about one session. I'm talking about every time you are out doing something or a better offer comes up. It might not be every week that this happens, but over time you are robbing yourself of achieving the body of your dreams.
Adding to that, you're training regime should really be planned out so you know which days you are in the gym, training which muscle groups and which days are rest days for each week. When you do this, you are less inclined to miss a session because it will ruin the rest of your weeks schedule
Of course this all really depends on your commitment levels, if you're happy to just go to the gym whenever you feel like it and get average results, that is ok....it's still better than someone who doesn't go at all!

However if you are someone who is striving for greatness, it's these small decisions made each day, whether to turn up or not if it's a good day, you've got somewhere else you'd rather be, you're tired, you're not feeling the best and so on. By turning up on these days you are doing something most people don't do, and you're getting a jump on your competition.

Success is just about small decisions consistently made on a daily basis!

So guys let me know what drives you for success as I'm really interested to know.

Also I made a short video about this topic the other day after that leg session, check out my YouTube channel and be sure to subscribe :) 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxjAs04nuDW1I58jwlQaGhA

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And as I'm about to post this, it's an ever better day in Melbourne today. 37 degrees and today is REST day....BEACH HERE I COME!!!

Talk soon guys!

Are All Carbs Created Equal...?

Are all carbs created equal?

When you are chasing the physique of your dreams, and spending hours in the gym each week I can’t stress how important understanding your nutrition is!

We’ve all heard the term 30% training and 70% nutrition. While I prefer to think of it as 100% commitment to the entire process, training, nutrition and mindset. The point is if you are eating the wrong foods, you are not going to achieve the results you truly want, and it’s as simple as that.

For so many people who are getting into health and fitness and trying to make healthier nutrition choices, a common problem I always see is confusion over the differences in carbohydrates. This problem is often made worse by these fad diets that we all see on TV and in gossip magazines promoting ketogenic diets where carbohydrates are completely cut from the diet in order to lose weight fast. Ok, so yes this tactic may work in the short term, however it is not a sustainable or healthy way to go about things. 

The way I always recommend my clients, is to learn and understand what carbohydrates are, the ones to include in the diet, and the ones to avoid.

This brings me now to what are carbohydrates and why are they important?

Carbohydrates are one of the three major macronutrients our body needs to function, and one of the primary sources of energy production. Once carbohydrates are digested by the body they are converted into glucose and ready to be used as energy. Excess glucose is able to be stored in various places around the body until the energy is required. However the body is only able to store a certain amount of glucose, if there is a surplus of glucose it will be converted to fat for long-term storage in the body.

Not only is glucose the preferred fuel option for the body during physical exercise, the brain and other vital organs rely heavily on glucose supply to be able to function optimally.

Now you may think a carb is a carb… However this is far from the case.

Carbohydrates come in two forms, complex carbs and simple carbs. Also known as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ carbs.

We will start with the Simple Carbohydrates.

A simple carbohydrate generally is where the food has been heavily refined so that it has a short chain of sugar molecules, usually only one or two molecules. This makes the carbohydrate simple to digest and provides instant energy but wears off quickly. You will notice this when you have a soft drink such as Coke for example. The Coke will give you a quick sugar hit that is quickly digested and converted to glucose for the body to use as energy. Insulin is then released from the pancreas and this tells the body that it has just been fed, which stops the body from burning fat as fuel and onto the nutrients that have just been ingested. Also just like how insulin opens up muscle cells for nutrient delivery, it also opens up fat cells for nutrient storage to begin.

As you can see from this, spiking your insulin levels other than at times of exercise is a bad idea as it is directly promoting nutrients to be stored in the fat cells.

Pre and post workout spiking the insulin is however a good idea, as it opens the muscles cells for nutrient delivery that you should be fueling your body with around your workouts, but this topic is a blog post for another day!

Because most of these simple carbohydrates have been so heavily refined, they do not contain the vitamins, minerals and fiber that are found in the complex varieties. It is for this reason that simple carbs are often referred to as ‘empty calories’ due to the fact they have minimal nutritional value…if any.

While simple carbs are generally bad, there are however a couple of food types that fall into this category but act differently once inside the body and offer plenty of nutritional benefits. These are fruits and certain vegetables, so don’t go thinking that because they are technically listed as a simple carbohydrate that they should be avoided.

For individuals who are on serious fat loss nutrition plans (I’m talking getting below 10% body fat) I would recommend limiting fruit to 1 piece per day and preferably post workout, and opting for more low energy vegetables instead, due to the high fructose content found in fruits.

For the majority of people, even those on diets a couple of pieces of fruit a day is fine.

Simple carbs to avoid are:

• Fizzy drinks (Coke, Pepsi, and Lemonade etc.)
• Lollies (Candy)
• Chocolate
• Artificial Syrups
• Sugar
• White Bread
• White Pasta
• Pastries and Desserts

Complex carbohydrates are considered the ‘good’ carbs because of the fact that they are made up of long and complex chains of sugar molecules. This chain of sugars can be anywhere from three to hundreds of molecules long. This means it takes the body much longer to break them down and be released into the bloodstream for energy, and because of this they will keep you feeling fuller for longer. Unlike the simple carbohydrates which have refined or processed sugars, the sugar found in complex carbs are naturally occurring sugars and are far better for the body.

When consuming a healthy diet, the vast majority of your carbohydrate intake should be coming from the complex category. Not only are these slower digesting carbs, but they also contain high amounts of vitamins, minerals and fiber which are highly important for our health.

Sources of complex carbs:

·   Whole Grains – such as Brown Rice, Corn, Wheat, Oats, Quinoa etc.
·   Whole Grain Bread and Pasta
·   Nuts, Seeds and Legumes – such as Lentils, Kidney Beans, Split Peas, Chick Peas, Soy Beans etc.
·   Vegetables – such as Sweet Potato, Onions, Green Vegetables etc.

For people trying to gain lean muscle, you should be aiming for a serving of one of the above with each meal, plus a high quality protein source to give your body the best chance for growth.

Now that you have a basic understanding of the different carbohydrate types and how they digest, you will be able to make wiser choices next time you are at the supermarket. It may take a little time reading the labels until you are totally familiar with what carbohydrate is what type, but the more you do it the easier it becomes.

Another great way to remember things, is ‘if the food product is not going to go off and start rotting in a few days, it should probably be avoided’. Foods in their natural form are not meant to last, think fruits, vegetables and meat. This however does not apply to rice and beans etc. which will last a long time.

I hope this makes some sense to you all, and it gives you some clarity on which carbohydrates to be filling your shopping trolley up with!

If you would like more info on this topic, or you need some help achieving your goals, head on over to www.danwhitehandfitness.com

Alternatively email me at dan@danwhitehandfitness.com

Until next time!

Dan Whitehand