Thursday, March 7, 2013

Meal Timing

Hey guys,

It's been a while since I've blogged but personal training & Fitness Symmetry have taken off, so life is super busy and fun!! Most of you know that I'm a HUGE fan of Robb Wolf - The Paleo Soulution Diet - and I listen to his podcast daily.  Yesterday I started personal training a new client and his main goal is to loose weight.  He's in his late 40's, 6'3", and well over 300 pounds.  He's a very succesful business man, married, and has three boys, so to he's one busy dude!  For those of us who work, are married, and have children, well, we can relate.  24 hours is not enough!  So, to cut to the chase, this guy's health has taken a "back seat" to his family and business and now he wants to change his hierarchy of needs.  Kudos to him!!

My first PT session with clients invloves NO physical fitness.  I need to learn about the individual, their lifestyle, eating habits, sleeping habits, needs, and wants.  In regards to how many meals/day and what types of food my new client eats well,he eats 6 meals/day involving complex carbs (primarily breads & pastas), soda, and dessert at night.  Shit, who wouldn't like to have ice cream at night, every night, and pannini sandwhiches with melted cheese...freaking delicous but SO bad for you.  I also asked him what he ate first thing in the morning and he replied, "I don't.  I have a cup of coffee and I'm out the door."  Not what I wanted to hear but an easy fix!

Now, I tell ALL my clients when they ask for nutritional advise that I am NOT an nutritional expert nor do I have any certificates in this field.  I simply go off of what I read regarding the Paleo Diet, Robb Wolf's podcast, my own experiences, and friends of mine who have made amazing heath changes eating paleo.

Meal Timing information - Robb Wolf's podcast (3/5/13)

I explained to my new client the vital ole of breakfast.  From the information I learned from the podcast, much of which I've already new about, I told him to have roughly  30-50 grams of protein first thing in the morning as it seems to be effective because he will most likely not to be as hungry throughout the day, and the temptation to eat "crap" should decrease.  Also people who are stressed out and have poor sleeping habits tend to have high cortisol levels, which makes one's blood sugar level look like an EKG!!  People, like my new client,  should be on a 4 meals/day and one snack to help keep blood sugar levels more consistent because the peaks and valleys, "EKG" example, seem to irritate the whole adrenal fatigue/burnout.  After eating 4 meals/day with a healthy snack and better sleep, are cortisol levels will level off into a regular pattern (more like rolling hills - smooth and consistent).  After a few months of following these suggestions, with moderate exercise, my client will get healthier, and then we'll lower his meals to 3 per day with a healthy snack.   We've been told to "graze" all day long but humans are not meant to graze all day.  We're not cows! Another great recommendation Robb Wolf expressed for people to loose weight,  is to  decrease the amount of carbs as we approach the later evening.  This seems to have a better effect on the body composition, suppressing cortisol and healing restoration kind of mode, so that seems solid for those who are overweight or want to loose 20-30 lbs.  Obviously everyone is different and some things work for some and not for others, but this is a great starting point for someone like my new client.  

Hopefully this is a helpful tip for some of my 9 followers!!  

Have a great day and remember, U-Can-Paleo!!



No comments:

Post a Comment