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5 Insights from Holistic Health for FAT LOSS

Want to burn more fat?

The goal seems simple yet our bodies respond in curious ways. Lets look at body composition.

Runners, explosiveness/strength vs endurance/distance

Differences in body comp, maybe its okay to be heavier than runway model standard or ultra endurance runner (r)

Think about body composition for a moment. You may notice an individual who is exceptionally lean no matter what they are wearing. Their body composition would indicate low levels of body fat.

How do we burn more body fat?

Focus on the gut

I think fat gets way too much attention, probably because you can see it. We can’t kill the fat cells, but we can make them smaller. The fat cells must receive hormonal signals in order to begin the burn of energy from fat cells. In other words, it’s the fat cells themselves that burn the fat, yet it’s the internal system that must first produce the signal.

Once you have a certain amount of fat cells, they can only shrink in size -- never disappear.

Once you have a certain amount of fat cells, they can only shrink in size — never disappear.

To signal fat cells to burn fat, the most common way is to workout. High intensity exercise can be short and still burn a ton of fat. The HIIT workout (example: Orangetheory) will burn fat mostly due to the hormonal release post-workout. These are the signalers that tell the fat cells to use energy and therefore get smaller.

The gut is complicated

Take a moment to think about all of the organs in your torso. There is much life within my human digestive system, it’s like totally ecological. There are so many billions of non-human life inside my body, it’s a biotic fiesta in my stomach. I like to celebrate with my gut and with my friends.

TBT may'n, back at LP Athletics trying to have healthy gut micro-flora

TBT may’n, back at LP Athletics focusing on strength and having healthy gut micro-flora

Aside from the fact that the digestive system is the biggest key to human immunity, the gut is ground zero for so many metabolic processes. The nutrients we consume from food contain catalysts for physiological, biological, and hormonal elements that life would be impossible without it. Therefore pure fat loss is impossible without nutrients.

Nutrients are the most valuable

Don’t leave it to scientists to discover everything, but it’s pretty amazing the advances in nutrient science with the last few decades. It’s unlikely we’ll understand everything about nutrition, but we can go on these ideas:

  • Nutrients come in many forms, for example: 
    • vitamins, minerals, water
    • dietary fats, carbohydrates, proteins
    • antioxidants, phytonutrients, fiber
  • Doing it right

    Doing it right

    • enzymes, pre-biotics, pro-biotics
    • curcumin, gingerols, dietary nitrates
    • etc
  • The goal is to improve symbiosis within the gut and surrounding organ systems between human cells and colonies of bacteria
    • Lactobacillus acidophilus is a commonly mentioned pro-biotic in our guts
  • A calorie is probably still a calorie, but most of us don’t really appreciate the depth at which food impacts our metabolic lives  24/7 including how fast the cells age!
    • Anti-aging strategies always involve exercise and nutrition
  • You can’t beat real food and herbal sources
    • Fresh, green food provides many catalysts for fat loss, and also for systemic health
    • High quality herbal extracts have benefited human health for thousands of years
  • It’s less about what you don’t eat, than what you do eat
    • Even if you restrict calories, you may be restricting nutrients as well
    • A low calorie poor diet is still a poor diet — dieters may become nutrient deficient if their food is not nutrient-dense.
    • The nutrients contain catalysts — cellular processes – sending signals to fat cells
    • Give your body a reason to burn fat, for example: antioxidants

You always knew it was about the gut anyway

If you’ve ever had a gut feeling, you may have experienced a range of feelings, emotions, and experiences from within the gut; Some pleasant, some anxious, others perhaps made you feel compelled to action.

Listen to the gut. Focus on nutrients. Simplify your life by consuming fresh vegetables.

And if you have a sweet tooth like me, you could be eating berries almost every day of the year. Blueberries are loaded in antioxidants. Give your body a reason to burn fat. Nutrients. Antioxidants. A reason.

You'll be excited about this when your eating window is only 8 hours long

YEEEE!!

Good luck my readership. May you eat mindfully and enjoy your existence inside and out.

and Digestion Immunity Nutrition Orangetheory Fitness Seattle Orangetheory Seattle
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How to leverage Orangetheory’s instant bio-feedback technology for Rapid Fat Loss

Heart rate technology

Hello fitness minded fellow. Let me say that advancements in cardiovascular research have led to a surge in demand for tech in fitness. Just look at how many people come to Orangetheory Fitness in Capitol Hill Seattle to workout.

Behind the scenes heart rate training at first ever Master Class in Seattle

Behind the scenes heart rate training at first ever Master Class in Seattle

Sprint towards fat loss

You should progress towards higher intensity throughout a healthy period in your exercise regimen. In general, exercise specialists measure intensity by heart rate thanks to the cardiovascular and muscular demands of high intensity training.

Go heavier with resistance

When you are aiming for fat loss, increasing the intensity of your workout by using heavier dumbbells will accelerate fat loss. As you progress in strength, even if it is five pounds at a time, the excess energy will be eliminated from your body and lean replaces fat.

Orangetheory is enjoyable for me, I workout here often in addition to teaching classes

Orangetheory is enjoyable for me, I workout here often in addition to teaching classes

If you are in Seattle,

Whether you have been coming to OTF Seattle for a while or are thinking about trying out the hottest workout in Seattle, come talk to me about your fitness plan. For fat loss, health, conditioning & well-being you can’t beat this.

We’re all looking forward to the opening of Orangetheory Fitness in Lower Queen Anne as well. So are our members.

Orangetheory Fitness Seattle Orangetheory Seattle Physical Fitness by Dre
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What do you Eat before and After the Workout?

Brandon, Orangetheory group fitness coach, was sitting next to me

And then we asked. . .

Nutrition strategies revealed!

Nutrition strategies revealed!

Is it best to eat before or after the workout?

Lets just go over the perspectives for a moment.

Option 1: Exercise on mostly empty stomach before workout, with carb feeding within zero to sixty minutes of high intensity exercise

The idea is that you will burn significant body fat during the workout since, “there is nothing else in the system, so the fat burns off!”

Post-workout nutrition strategies such as this can support the preservation of lean muscle mass by feeding on dense carbohydrate sources immediately and within the hours of a workout. Thus burning more fat in a shorter time.

Option 2: Fuel the workout! Consume from a variety of food sources including carbohydrates before the workout

With the second option, the exerciser purposely consumes carbs 1-2 hours pre-workout with the goal of making fitness progression. By Powerrring through an intense training session (which itself can be addictive), the post-workout release of testosterone and many natural healthy hormones for both sexes activate Fat Burning potential.

A sandwich I once ate ate Marlene's in Tacoma before my workout at the nearby athletic club which I worked at

A sandwich I once ate at Marlene’s in Tacoma before my workout at the nearby athletic club which I worked at

Regular cycles of intense workouts will naturally promote healthy glucose management and is key in the activation of the hormone adiponectin — a powerful fat burning catalyst which fat cells themselves release!  This effect occurs more frequently and with better results by having the habit of eating nutrient dense foods and exercising vigorously for sixty minutes up to four times per week.

Eat post-workout in addition to pre-workout so that you may achieve full recovery sooner. Perhaps give somebody a massage or even yourself.

Everybody is different

It seems that Option 1 will burn fat more rapidly, but may hinder performance… so then it comes down to goals at this time in your training history.

Personally I do what I can to enjoy the workout and that means eating a rich energy source before my workout. Fresh vegetable juice (including some root) is my all-time favorite pre-workout. I also go for smoothies if I need something easy to digest.

Do something good for you

By reading this and considering nutrition choices you are on the right track. I hope this has made you think more about the benefits of timing nutrition. Every moment you take to be mind-ful about nutrition will take you greater places in health, longevity and of course fat loss.

Eat on people!

Nutrition, Immunity, and Digestion
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Why I love Training

Training is about progression

Training is not always about raw strength.

Squatdeep

For example, even though my Squat strength has not skyrocketed in my previous years of training, technique has improved, range of motion increased, I recover faster, and the practice of squatting has become a catalyst for other healthy behaviors within the body and in my life.

Training supports clarity and rest

Sometimes I have so many thoughts in my head it’s challenging to write about a specific subject for the blog, but after exercise I feel the gears in my head running smoothly like a calm mechanical serenity of sorts.

Can you imagine what it is like to transform stress into something else? I can’t say that exercise always brings happiness, even though it can help you ask yourself the questions that ultimately lead to a happier state. In what ways will I guide myself into a healthier being? If I could do one thing right now to improve my well-being, even if it was something tiny, would would it be?

(a: write a blog post)

Training is anti-aging

I feel that we have a destiny in this world and beyond that — I have to think that age plays an important role in the stages of our learning. Since proper training is always progressive in some way (remember it doesn’t have to be linear), you should also realize that aging is not linear either.

aging

What does that mean — Aging is not linear?

The reality is that the signs of youth, vigor, strength, beauty, etc. are more due to internal factors rather than external. To explain further, the health of the cells in your body is dynamic and strongly affected by periods of stress, disease, poor sleeping patterns, caffeine, alcohol, substance abuse, lack of nutrients, loss of nutrients, dehydration, exposure to everyday chemicals, exposure to toxins, exposure to radiation, chronic inflammation, auto-immune disorders, and even more.

Training is a beautiful stimulus.

Not only will training release a cascade of beneficial body-recomposition hormones, it will also affect the way you view the world. How we perceive our own realities will determine the decisions we make about eating for well-being (as opposed to weight loss), it will help us take care of ourselves and love ourselves.

Training can manifest the most profound mental and physical transformations you’ve ever experienced

The world is always changing. There are some things that we have no control over — however we should strive to gain self-mastery in the areas that are most important to our lives (that is– which you value the most).

A holistic approach

A holistic approach

Self-mastery from training is exhibited through perfect technique and form (because you realize that the actual weight matters less than the muscular activation), self-mastery is by resting when you need rest, eating nutrient dense foods, and self-mastery is surrendering yourself to the perseverance of defeating each limiting belief you carry — one by one.

I believe in you.

Power of the Mind
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3 Thoughts on High Intensity Interval Training

HIIT is — this year — the number one fitness trend

Exposure to the concept of High Intensity Interval Training has become widespread through journals, magazines, and programs all over the place!

An example of a person who utilizes fast energy

An example of a person who utilizes fast energy

The reason is simple, and we’ll get to that…

1. Body composition

The most valuable measure of overall health and fitness relates to Body Composition. We should consider the internal elements as promoting vitality — in a way that reinforces key structures and anabolic processes for both men and women.

HIIT promotes a lean body type to support key muscular structures.

2. Value of time spent

High intensity requires fast energy.

By developing an efficient use of fast energy, the result is a cascade of beneficial hormone release throughout the system. Hormone regulation allows the body to persist in a desired state– allowing vitality and clarity of thought.

3. Seek wellness feeling

Sure, I could go on and on about the technical stuff… hormones and neural connections, nutrient interaction, process and storage…

The reality is that you need to feel well. Seek that wellness feeling. Exercise utilizing high intensity interval training gets better results.

IF you follow those steps, Fat burn becomes a brilliant process

For the more curious, learn about the hormone Adiponectin– as the amount in your body relates strongly to the oxidization of body fat.

Physical Fitness by Dre Sports & Athletics