TARGETING YOUR BODY PROBLEM AREAS FOR YOUR WEDDING
Part 1: The Diet As a personal training company, we provide many nutrition and workout programs for our clients who are interested in ‘shaping up’ for a special occasion, such as a wedding or a holiday. We often get asked by our female clients on shaping up a certain area in order to ‘look better’ in a wedding dress or an evening gown. First thing that is important to stress is that: Shaping up problem areas is more about fat loss and proper diet than about exercise. Proper diet is key! When brides mention to me that they want to ‘tone up’ a certain area, they almost always point to fat deposits located under arms and around the arm area. This section is notoriously visible in many popular strapless wedding gowns. Hips are another famously problematic area, which is especially visible in tight mermaid style gowns or silky dresses that hug every curve. To esthetically improve the problem, one would need to build up muscle AND cut fat at the same time. So, you might ask, how would I do that? First and foremost, it is important to look at the diet. You may already be exhausting yourself at the gym with endless hours of cardio and seeing little results. NO amount of exercise performed can ‘undo’ what an incorrect diet can deposit in your body. If no specific dietary restrictions are present, the bride-to-be should aim for 5-6 small meals consisting of protein and vegetables. Carbohydrates should be used as fuel (as well as for muscle building purposes) and structured around workout times. Good sources for carbohydrates include (but are not limited to): oatmeal, potatoes (sweet or regular), rice, and whole grains. Although dietary fat is important, it should be derived from the proteins that are being consumed (such as salmon and grass-fed beef). Fiber is key for the digestive system health as well as feeling of fullness, so make sure that you include healthy greens in your diet (such as broccoli and asparagus). Do not fall prey to popular shakes and detoxes! Although they promote some weight loss, they do not necessarily result in FAT loss. With a lot of the popular diets, fasts, and detoxes, your body turns to consuming your precious muscle because the diets often lack the proper macronutrients to sustain it. Therefore, you MUST make sure that you are consuming adequate amounts of protein and that those proteins have complete amino acid profiles! A lot of vegetable proteins do not have the full spectrum of all the amino acids necessary, which makes for suboptimal results. A lot of popular diets and detoxes either have too little protein or plenty of ‘empty’ calories that make you feel full without having any real benefit to your body. Invest in a food scale! A food scale is simple to obtain and will lead to greater accountability with your meals and portions! A food scale is also a necessary component for preparing your meals according to your meal plans. Preparing your meals ahead of time! Having your meals packed and ready to go the night before is an important part of sticking to your diet. Cooking at home will not only ensure that you are eating the best possible ingredients, but will save you money. Cook your food in bulk and you will have all of your meals ready to go for the next several days. Have your diet done by a professional! To make sure that you are consuming adequate amounts of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats to promote fat loss and muscle building, it is important to consult with a specialist who will be able to calculate your dietary macronutrients based on your goals and activity level. If you need any help with your diet, you can always contact us at mailto:info@forakfysique.com
10 Comments
Digestive Enzymes
Digestive Enzymes are one of the most useful tools in the bodybuilder’s daily arsenal that make a world of difference. Think about it, we have to eat a lot of meals a day, digest them all on time and be ready for our workouts everyday without having a meal weigh us down. Not everyone has good digestion, so how do the bodybuilders cope with it? They take digestive enzymes with every meal. Digestive enzymes help break down the food that we eat and make sure that all of the components of our meal are properly assimilated in our muscles. What’s the point of spending all of this time and money on food if your body can’t use it properly? What are digestive enzymes? Digestive enzymes are actually essential components for digestion and are produced in our saliva, stomach, and pancreas. Usually they are classified by the component that they help break down. Major Digestive Enzymes: Proteases and peptidases break down proteins into peptides and amino acids. Protease is an enzyme that is found in gastric and pancreatic juices. Together with hydrochloric acid, proteases break down protein into amino acids to be absorbed through the intestinal wall. Amylase is secreted by the salivary glands and pancreatic glands. Its function is to break down carbohydrates such as starch and sugars into simple sugars. The bacteria and amylase found in the salivary glands in the mouth bind and break down the carbohydrates that we consume. This is why it is so important to chew your food properly, because digestion begins in the mouth! Lipases break down fat (known as lipids) into three fatty acids and a glycerol molecule. This enzyme is produced primarily in the pancreas. Since fat molecules are large, lipase depends on bile to break down lipids into smaller forms. When choosing the correct digestive enzyme to supplement with, make sure that you get the most complete list, going well beyond the 3 enzymes mentioned above. You want the enzymes to help you break down as much food as possible so that it can be assimilated. After all, we absorb the nutrients from our food, not the actual food pieces themselves! |