David King Blog
Pour Some Sugar on Me!
My long journey to fitness nirvana began right out of high school when was I working at the Blue Bell Ice Cream plant in Brenham, Texas. I had been a jock and was in great shape when I started working at Blue Bell, where the company’s folksy ad slogan was: “…we eat all we can and sell the rest.”
Putting in my forty hours a week, I took that campaign to heart and pigged out on free ice cream during every break. And within a few months, I had gone from my high school football weight of 175 up to 208. I finally saw a picture of myself at a family holiday gathering, with my new round face and fat gut, and knew I had to do something. A buddy and I went to the bookstore, bought a book on diet and exercise (called Flawless in 10 weeks), and began working out for 2 1/2 hours a day, five days a week. Big surprise, double-fudge pops were not on the menu.
Sure enough, after a few months of working out like a madman, the pounds melted off, and I was back at my old weight. So, had I found the secret to getting fit and staying fit? Not really, at least not for normal, busy people who don’t have two hours a day to devote to a fitness program.
But that experience began my quest to learn more about the human body, about basic nutrients and fat, and most importantly, sugar. If you carry more fat than you prefer on your body, you can bet sugar is the root of all that evil. You can eat all natural, grass-fed whole foods until free love makes a comeback, but you won’t drop body fat long-term until you accept that sugar has you down for the count.
Don’t believe me? Many of my clients don’t because they don’t eat a lot of candy or take in the obvious sugar loads from heavy desserts. But do a little research, and you’ll find that sugar is all over the place, even in “healthy” fruits and vegetables.
Now, I’m not telling you that fruits and vegetables are bad for you, but in the context of this program, the simple sugars found in fruits and some vegetables stand in the way of interrupting the patterns that keep you from losing weight.
When we say that the majority of Americans are overweight, we mean they have 30% or more body fat. I’m convinced the main culprit in that is not lack of exercise, though we could all improve in that area. The fact is we are a convenience-based society and likely will never go back to inconvenience—cooking every meal from scratch or doing one hour of vigorous exercise per day six days per week.
So, based on that reality and the 80% nutrition/20% exercise formula for weight loss and fitness, the harsh truth is: You’ll have to watch your sugar intake like a diabetic, at least until we melt your brain back to reality.
Most people eat way more sugar than their body really needs, and every gram of extra sugar you take in gets stored as fat. When you load sugar into your body throughout the day, it’s like getting in the car and stomping on the accelerator for a little while, then abruptly taking your foot off the gas. What do you think would happen to your car if you were constantly going back from full acceleration to dead stop, time after time, day after day? That’s exactly what happens to your body when you eat too much sugar!
And when I say sugar, I’m not just talking about the spoonful of sugar you put in your morning coffee. I’m talking about the hidden sugar that is in just about everything we eat—bread, milk, pasta, bagels, rice, fruit, potato chips, crackers, cheese, carrots, butter, booze, and even yogurt (yeah, check the label).
Lower your Cholesterol
A client in Austin, TX recently asked me if I knew anything about lowering cholesterol. She acknowledged, as I do emphatically, that I am not a doctor.
(910 on my SATs is not only embarrassing but more that than restrictive to Med school ;-) Thank goodness for the career of professional motivator in the form of personal trainer.)
Anyway....She has athletic levels of body fat (16 to 17%) but her total Cholesterol is still 250.
She gave me a list of what she was doing which included adopting a Paleo type nutrition plan and doing Crossfit 2x per week. (BTW Paleo is a fancy name for nearly the same nutrition plan any doctor would prescribe a cancer patient or pre-diabetic. It is mostly all natural low sugar food that limits or eliminates refined carbs).
It is a fantastic way to maximize your vitality, lean out unnecessary body fat and ward off disease. However, if someone has a cholesterol issue and does not want to turn to drugs there is still more they can do.
Here is what I told her:
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Hello Michele!
Eating mostly Paleo usually creates excellence in all medical numbers but sometimes you may have to modify it for your unique situation. My cholesterol is 118 and there some things I do on purpose to keep it that way.
These are my suggestions.
- 1) Deliberate exercise 5 times a week even if 3 of them are brisk walks with the family. The words are big and the science is complicated but this REALLY helps.
- 2) Until you get your Cholesterol to under 150 I would eat mostly egg whites. Egg yolks are not proven to have an effect on good cholesterol numbers with regular exercise but in this case you should mostly cut those out until you get to 150.
- 3) Up your soluble fiber either through more sweet potatoes or occasional servings of plain oatmeal or SUPER SEED!! (Also look for a product called Super Greens. Both will TOTALLY HELP YOUR SYSTEM REGULATE!)
- 4) Up servings of green vegees!!!
- 5) Take fish oil caplets!!
- 6) Bacon is okay but to give yourself the best chance make sure its the leanest kind and moderate.
- 7) Eat mostly fish and chicken and protein powder and eat LEAN red meat only once in a while. (I don't eat it very much, maybe 2 times a week. Hamburger and or a Steak egg and avocado taco on Special Saturday.)
- 8) Limit how much you actually cook in bacon fat.
- 9) Keep cream in your coffee to once a day or only on weekends. Cutting Dairy is probably one of biggest good things about Paleo. I don't do it 100% but I can tell the difference when I eat dairy. It "irritates" the human biology even though the taste buds love it. ;-) Remember we are the only mammal that drinks other mammals milk.
- 10) Water (pee clear all the time)
Besides the above minor adjustments KEEP IT UP!!! It should take about 5 weeks and your numbers will GO DOWN!
Hope that helps!!
If you have anything to add please comment! This is what works for me and my clients but I would love to hear what YOU have to say!
DK
I Lost 7lbs of Holiday Waste, Water, and Fat in 3 days.
In the few days surrounding Christmas I put on 7lbs. (Stuffing with Owens Sausage and Chocolate chip cookies will do it every time.)
I went from 182lbs on last Friday morning to 190lbs on last Tuesday morning.
Have you ever felt BLOATED and LATHARGIC after the Holidays?
To me its worth it for a few days AS LONG AS I can take it off in a few days.
SO.... this Morning I was back to 182lbs. How did I do it?
I ate exactly like this for 3 days:
- 1 Scoop Protein Shake and 15 Almonds every 3 hours with Black Coffee and Stevia.
- At Dinner I have 1 can of tuna, 2 tbs of Light mayo, 3 pickles, 3 egg whites and use 2 or 3 cups of cauliflower or broccoli as scoops.
- Dessert is 1 or 2 scoops of Protein shake.
Would I eat like this forever? No. But in 3 days I am back to pre Holidays weight and I feel fantastic physically, mentally, and emotionally.
In fact, I add in a little sweet potoato, a little fruit, a few brown rice cakes, a little avocado, a little bacon, some eggs, a little chicken breast, a little red meat, some vegetarian sausgage and a few meal replacements and that's how I eat most days. (Producing medical numbers that make my doctor drool BTW.)
And I am ready to take on another fitness game in January.
Remember this for all time:
Unless you have a religous awawkening and go strict Paleo or Vegan YOU, AND ME, AND PEOPLE LIKE US, will have to constantly be in some sort of game with our nutrition. The mythical "fitness lifestye" just means you never stop some sort of structure or the American Fat Train will eat you alive. It never sleeps and it is always growing. Literally.
Everyday it is screaming "EAT CARBS AND YOU WILL FEEL BETTER!!!" If you have taken any of my programs you know that is a big fat lie from the depths of a world ruled by Pudgy McPudgerson and his 300 million unhealthy followers.
Create your own castle of counter culture and most days you will do AWESOME with your food!
DK
Everybody is Human.
Being Human means we will fall short. At least I do. Often. I accept this and keep going with whatever challenge is in front of me. Does this mean I get disappointed? Yes. It is a built in mechanism meant to signal me to do something different.
Recently after tackling a 20 mile training run with my marathon group I got a little burned out. I was eating too much and had gained 8lbs. (Even as a professional trainer I fell into the trap that training for a marathon equals being able to eat anything....WRONG!!)
After weeks of running 20 to 30 miles, over Thanksgiving week I ran 1.5 miles. Then trying to get it back on that following Monday I ran little too hard and my back started hurting. Then the disappointment began to sink in. Borderline self pity.
My mind would say, "Maybe I don't want to run the Marathon anyway" or "Maybe I am just not built for this long distance stuff." I cruised by my run group a couple of times opting for the gym instead while my brain did its flip flops.
So after Thanksgiving I went on my Fitness Rehab Master List and lost the 8lbs in 10 days.
Then, a little more than a week ago, after a week of decent gym workouts I did a slow Saturday run of 10.5 miles. Everyone else did 16 miles but I checked my ego and just had fun with it.
THEN, on Sunday morning, as I spent some quiet time with coffee I thought about my difficulty with consistency. I remember a time a few years ago when I ran 3 miles a day for 100 days in a row and how it pulled me out to do AT LEAST something instead of nothing.
So being a little sore from the previous days run I set out to run or walk my 2nd consecutive day of at least 3 miles. It was wack. I was totally fatigued and walked more than half the way but I did it.
Then Monday was Day 3, then Day 4,......on Day 7, I walked most of the 3 miles for active rest, then on Day 8 I ran 22.5 miles around Austin with my group. And it was the total opposite of the grueling horror that had occurred with the 20 mile run 3 weeks earlier. I was back in the saddle!
At least until the next time but I know there are solutions.
Everybody is human. We just have to help each other face the Truth and get past the lows so we can experience the higher highs!!
David
Study Finds a 500 Cal Diet Makes it Hard to Keep Off Lost Weight
An article in the NYTimes says researchers were excited to find that subjects, after eating a 500 calorie diet for 10 weeks, "metabolism slowed and they experienced hormonal changes that increased their appetites." And that it "confirms their convictions as to why it is so hard to lose weight and keep it off."
I am just a personal trainer from Austin, TX. Not a doctor.
But please let me be the first to say.....No Sh#t Sherlock.
It doesn't explicitly mention this but I know from experience that this kind of thing plants a seed in the minds of people that a hormone based weight loss pill is right around the corner.Hey, they discovered Viagra so we could be close! And by the way where is my hair loss pill???
One of my clients (who is doing amazing losing 6lbs in 10 days eating 1200 cals day) asked for my thoughts on the NYTimes article. (I posted a link to the article at the bottom of this page)
Below is my email response.
..............
There is nearly nothing in that study that is false. If they tracked a million people they would likely get similar results.
Unfortunately it overstates the obvious "metabolism slowed and they experienced hormonal changes that increased their appetites", and doesn't really highlight that they fed 200lbs people 500 cals a day for 10 weeks.
Every doctor and nutritionist in the world knows that regularly eating less than 900 cals a day will completely rearrange the human metabolism to protect itself from dying. Including hormone change to stimulate appetite. We laymen call it "starvation mode".
Everyone who has lived a day in American society knows it's challenging to stay fit or even healthy, but eating 1000 to 1200 cals of food low in sugar and starchy carbs is only bringing your body back to it's more natural state and is only reducing hormones and metabolism that were added to support an unhealthy lifestyle.
However, that doesn't mean that it will let go of those "extras" without a fight!!
That is why Dr. Barry Sears who has studied thousands of people and wrote "The Zone" found that eating 40% protein 30% carbs, and 30% fat produces optimal hormonal balance where food is concerned.
Can you dig it??
If you want to be healthy and not workout 2 hours a day this IS the answer. It's my job to show you it's possible and pull, push, yank, and drag you to see the light!!!
DK
NYTimes Article
Fear, Not Money, is the Root of All Evil
When I look back on my childhood, the one, central emotion I remember more than any other is fear—not the fear of wild animals or cliff diving, but fears that were deeper and much less healthy. Fear of the unknown. Fear of people. Fear of failing. Fear of looking foolish. You name it, I was afraid of it.
When I was about twelve years old, my family took a vacation during spring break. The hotel had a big swimming pool and play area for kids, and my parents wanted me to join the other kids who were all laughing and playing and having a good time. But it scared the hell out of me, and I refused to go. I just waited in the car while they checked in the hotel, so terrified that the other kids might not like me or would make fun of my accent or think I was stupid. Fear was more or less shutting me off from an enjoyable existence.
Fear was the driving force in my life, in elementary school, in middle school, and on into high school. The only saving grace for me was that I was athletic and soon gained recognition as a local star in football and track. And in Texas, in the Friday Night Lights culture, being a jock on the high school football and track team gave me a mask to hide behind, something to use as a calling card to talk to girls or be accepted into social circles.
Coping with fear flushes out all our flaws, and somewhere along the line, I discovered that the one thing that made the fear temporarily go away was alcohol. The alcohol gave me confidence, so I could get drunk and dance with a pretty girl. I recall looking at the sky while intoxicated and thinking: “I’m going to do this for the rest of my life.”
Famous last words because that was, of course, complete and utter nonsense. My unwillingness to recognize the truth about my situation eventually ran its course, and I had to learn why I was afraid, where it came from, and how to respond effectively. That experience taught me many of the lessons that I can now share with people on the path to fitness, helping them conquer their fears, change their behavior, and enjoy long-term success.
What are you afraid of?
You may have been afraid to sign up for a fitness class because of all those “what ifs.” What if you were older than your classmates, more overweight, or unable to physically do the exercises. These are all perfectly normal and very common fears. Maybe you’re afraid of failing. You might have tried a popular diet program and experienced the exhilaration of hitting your goal, only to see the pounds and fat come back again when you slipped off the straight and narrow.
I can promise you that many people (including me) have felt everything you’re feeling about this journey to fitness. So, I’m asking you to put aside your fear and step outside your comfort zone for just 21 days. Forget about what might happen or how you might look or what has happened to you before. Find the strength to commit yourself to following the program for three weeks. Then, you’ll see how different you can feel.
As I said, it won’t necessarily be easy. The great paradox is that you must accept a bit of suffering in order to move through it. The idea that we as humans shouldn’t suffer is at the very foundation of why we suffer so much!
You’re not going to find chocolate cake as a reward or French fries as a treat or a glass of wine for unwinding in this program. What you will find are tips and missions that reduce the noise in your head. And healthy foods chosen specifically to keep you feeling full and energetic without spiking your blood sugar. Stay the course, buckle down, and breathe easy. We can do this together.
