Archive for category Rants
The Sumo Diet – How close is it to your own?
Posted by bradinator in Diet, Nutrition, Rants on February 14, 2009
You ever wonder how a Sumo wrestlers eat? You may see some very scary similarities.
Without speaking to a Sumo wrestler in training directly I can only go off of my research. So lets look at what I found:
- They skip breakfast everyday
- They eat a large lunch, generally followed immediately by a nap or very sedentary activity (desk job anybody?). This is very important for young Sumo’s in training as it is very effective at putting on weight.
- They eat a large, communal dinner a few hours before bed. Beer and Sake are are usually consumed during this meal as well.
- Typically they eat about 4500 calories a day (including drinks)
Do you skip your breakfasts? Do you eat a large lunch (anything over 1000 calories) followed by a low energy consuming activity? Is your next meal a large late night dinner? Drink any calorie laden beverages today with your meals, juice, soda, beer or otherwise? I hope you answered no to most if not all of those questions. Even if you keep your calories low so you should be losing weight, allowing yourself to enter starvation mode (going 4+ hours without food) will -NOT- help you lose weight. It actually does the opposite and helps your gain weight more effectively.
Like any athlete a Sumo wrestler will eat and train a certain way to achieve the goals necessary to excel at his sport. Being big just happens to be one of those parts. So unless you are a Sumo wrestler or planning to become one in the near future I think its safe to say your goals are not the same. If that is the case then why are you eating like one?
If you are eating like this hopefully your still getting as much exercise as a training Sumo does…
Trans Fats
Posted by bradinator in Nutrition, Rants on January 26, 2009
I won’t deny the fact that I am pretty zealous about my diet. I follow a pretty rigid eating plan 80% of the time and rarely deviate during the weekdays. With that said I still frequent the candy dish in the office, enjoy a few beers during the week and make small exceptions on a daily basis to keep myself happy (and sane). That is bar one rule which I never make an exception for: Absolutely no Trans Fats.
For those not in the know, let me give you the simplified dirt on this toxic product we are nearly forced to consume on a daily basis. Lets start by looking at the basic structure of a fat that is ingested into the body. In its simplest form each fat molecule has two ends, one that connects to your fat wall and the other that hangs freely. The free end can be grabbed by the body, pulled from your cellular wall and used as energy in times on need. The science behind this is probably far more complicated but I don’t care enough to delve any deeper then this on the subject.
A Trans Fat is created when you take a typical liquid oil, heat it to extremely high temperatures and inject hydrogen into it. This causes the the free end of the fat molecule to become bonded with the hydrogen atom. This free end which was used by our bodies to pull the fat from the cell wall to use as energy has now become mutated, making it impossible for the body to use. So in a nut shell a Trans Fat is a fatty acid the body cannot use and therefore sticks to your cell wall permanently (Not truly permanent — It dissipates in about 2 years with your normal cell wall regeneration). Scary stuff eh?
In my opinion Trans Fats are one of the leading causes in the obesity epidemic in North America. Only in the last few years have people become aware of it. Trans Fats are labeled on most grocery products which is good, but it is not law in restuarants yet. I wouldn’t go as far as banning eating a restaruants, but I have black marked any store bought food containing it. With that said the rule is simple: I will never knowingly eat a Trans Fat.
On a final note: The World Health Organization sets the intake limit for Trans Fats at 1% of your daily calories or about 6 grams a day based on a 2500 calorie diet. I don’t knowingly consume that much Trans Fat in a year.
http://www.howstuffworks.com/fat.htm
http://www.bantransfats.com/
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/nutrition/gras-trans-fats/tfa-age_question-eng.php
The World is awash
Posted by bradinator in Misc, Rants on January 25, 2009
I wanted to make a website based around fitness and health but it would seem that the Internet is already awash in information and misinformation on these topics. There must be tens of thousands of websites selling “the real” fitness secrets and thousands more giving it away for free. I world just be a squeak of information drowned out in a deafening roar of sales promises, long lost secrets and money back guarantees.
Instead this website will blog about things important to me. This does include fitness and health, but it also includes funner things like beer, language study and travel. Hopefully someone can benefit from my inane knowledge and experiences, but if no one does I really don’t care.