Naturally Intense High Intensity Training™ Health & Fitness Blog

Here are 10 great carbohydrate tips that I have used with my clients in my practice as a NYC personal trainerand for myself as a lifetime drug free athlete that needs to stay in peak condition at all times. (I always say that if I don’t watch my figure, then no one else will!) Many of my personal training clients over the years have a hard time reconciling the idea that you need carbs to lose weight efficiently if you really want to keep those pounds off permanently and these tips will help keep your carbohydrate intake from affecting your waistline:

1.- Educate Yourself.It is really a must! Get a book or chart detailing the glycemic index of the foods that you eat along with their macronutrient and fiber makeup. Choose carbohydrate sources that have a low glycemic index and if you do eat a food with a high index, combine it with a protein source with fat to lower the rate of digestion, which in turn will ultimately reduce the overall insulin response to the food. A good example of this would be steak and potatoes- on its own, potatoes create a rapid rise in blood sugar, however the fat present in steak serves to significantly reduce the insulin response. A look at foods like ice cream which has a glycemic index of is a good example of this, however I would not advise you to eat icecream on a regular basis for very obvious reasons.

2.- Eat mainly fruits and vegetables with a relatively low glycemic index of under 50- All fruits are not created equal. You can eat grapefruits all day long and not worry about overdoing it- but eat grapes and mangoes all day long and you will have a bit of a problem! Not that you cannot eat them, but higher glycemic index fruits have to be eaten in moderation. You can check out my free weight loss ebook for more information on fruit intake as well!

Rice won't make you fat- unless you over do it!

3.- Avoid processed and refined carbohydrates- Check labels for high-fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, sugar, and partially hydrogenated oils.- and stay away from them! You cannot eat something that is inherently bad for your body in moderation. As much as we may want to think that a cheat meal here and there isn’t that big of a deal, you are far better served by learning to eat better in the long run than indulging in something that is actually harmful to your body. On the outside some Oreos or pptato chips may feel good, but on the inside it is a really different story! Refined carbohydrates are actually the main reason that carbs get such a bad rap in the first place as a food responsible for making people gain unwanted pounds, whereas the crux of the problem lies with the artificial nature of processed foods in the first place and how they wreak havoc on the human body.

4.- Make sure that the carbohydrates that you eat are in as natural a state as possible. The first and most important test for your carb sources, is to simply ask yourself if it would exist without the presence of food processing. Use the Naturally Intense question: Ask yourself if you would be able to find the food in front of you if were stranded in the wild, far away from supermarkets, fast food restaurants and convenience stores. If the answer is “no” then it is most likely not a good choice.

5.- Eat only carb sources that are high in fiber - Since fiber is not digested if you eat a food with 15 grams of carbs and 8 grams of fiber you are only really getting 7 grams of carbs. Not bad, is it? You will also feel fuller as a result and be less likely to overeat or succumb to food cravings for the wrong foods over time. Some great choices are oatmeal (a family favorite), rice, potatoes, yams and vegetables. Make sure as well that you have a healthy amount of fiber intake for breakfast- as it is key to regulating your appetite for the rest of the day.

6.- If you have to eat things like cold cereal pasta or a bread product make sure it has over 3 grams of fiber per serving and is low in simple sugars- That piece of advice eliminates a lot of what you will find in the supermarket but if you look hard enough you will find some good products. You’ll learnto read lablels in the process as well!

7.- Remember that milk contains a significant amount of sugar.- Back in the old days of bodybuilding the competitors would stop their milk intake befor a contest when they really wanted to reduce their body fat and lean out. The same applies to anyone interested in really getting their waistline under control. Lactose is the primary form of sugar found in milk (which in essence is water, sugar protein and salt) and can create some problems with a large percentage of the population. Even if you are not lactose intolerant, I would advise you to stay away from it.  You also don’t need it for its calcium- studies have conclusively proven that osteoporosis here in the United States and developed countries has little to do with inadequate calcium intake, but rather other factors that take calcium away from the body or reduce absorption such as high sodium diets, smoking, carbonated beverages and lack of sunlight exposure to name a few. Milk is also a poor source of calcium in comparison to foods such as kelp, bones of all kinds and sardines. Trust me- you don’t need it and the extra pounds around your waist that you will get from all of those simple sugars isn’t worth it!

8.- Don’t eat a lot of carbohydrates and a lot of fats at the same time. Fettucine Alfredo, donuts and French Fries are all great exercises in weight gain. It will be hard to stop for many of you, but your body will thank you in the long run!

9.- Consume an adequate supply of water at all times. The more water you drink, the less carbohydrate foods you will consume and the easier it is to not give in to the urge to constantly snack on something. Remember the key is to find simple ways that not just get you on track, but keep you on track as well and you’ll be surprised at how much weight you can lose if you substitute plain old water for juices. It is as simple as that!

10.- Eat 5 to 6 small meals daily, always eating before you get hungry! If you wait until you are starving you are going crave everything that is bad for you! That has nothing to do with lack of willpower, it is just how the body works. Make sure you have a small meal every 3-4 hours to keep your blood sugar regulated and please make sure you eat breakfast!!

Now everyone is different and as such each individual must determine exactly how much carbohydrates that you need. If you feel sleepy after a carb meal- you’ve eaten too much. Remember this is not a natural process and feeling sluggish after a meal isn’t something to enjoy, it’s a hint that you are doing something wrong. Spread out your carbohydrate intake throughout the day, taking in most of it earlier in the day and eating less and less as the day winds down. Even though carbohydrates are an essential part of a balanced diet the idea is not to overdo it and follow the middle road. If you employ these 10 tips for as little as two weeks you’ll not only see a big shift on the scale, but also in your overall energy levels! All the best!!

Good luck!

Lose weight, build real muscle and get Superfit training only 10 minutes 3 times a week! That’s the slogan and the 100% guarantee of the Naturally Intense System of Diet & Exercise™ created by visionary NYC personal trainer, internationally renowned natural bodybuilder and fitness expert, Kevin Richardson. Get a copy of Kevin’s free award winning weight loss ebook here!

A Living Example of the Power of 10 Minute Workouts!

For the past 18 years, the 10 minute workouts of the Naturally Intense System of Diet & Exercise™ have served as the foundation not only for my success as a drug free athlete, but also for the success of hundreds that have used it for everything from weight loss, overall health and fitness improvement to physique competition and sports performance enhancement. It is heartening to know that more and more research is being done to prove what I have worked for the better part of my life to teach others- namely that when it comes to really making a change in your body- less is more.

Read the NY Times posting here:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/can-you-get-fit-in-six-minutes-a-week/

Get superfit in 10 minutes or less- that’s the guarantee of Naturally Intense NYC Personal Training Services! Learn more at www.naturallyintense.net

Even the Material Girl needs a trainer to stay in shape

Do you need a personal trainer? Well, if you are serious about weight loss, improving your strength and overall fitness then I would say that you should indeed consider using the services of a good personal trainer, regardless of whether you are just starting off, or have been training for years. There is just so much that you can stand to learn from having a truly experienced personal trainer at your side that it is always a good investment.

My martial arts teacher always used to say that you should never seek to follow in the footsteps of successful men and women, but instead seek what they sought. Taking this into consideration, let’s take a look at the people that most hold up as having attained the perfect body.

For most women images of Angelina Jolie come to mind. As do others such as Madonna, Janet Jackson, Eva Langoria and Jessica Alba to name a few. These women grace the silver screen and pages of so many magazines with their toned and sleek bodies and yet even though many women would die to get themselves in such stellar shape they never really stop and ask ourselves how they are able to look so darned fantastic all the time.

L.L. Cool J doesn't look like this by accident- he has a trainer.

For the guys, Will Smith, Brad Pitt, L.L. Cool J., Christian Bale and immediately come to mind, and a lot of guys join the gym all fired up about trying to get themselves in that kind of shape, but fail despite their best efforts and using every supplement and weight loss formula under the sun.

But what do the stars have that everyone else don’t? You see impromptu photos of them off somewhere on vacation and they don’t look that, well, stellar. In fact sometimes they kind of look like everybody else, complete with flabby arms, sagging butts and pot bellies. However, no matter how badly they look before a movie role or concert, they always seem to pull it together for their public performances. 

How do they do it? Is it a pill or magic potion? They definitely don’t follow the same diets everyone else does, or train they way everyone else does, because they get real results!

So coming back to my point on doing what successful people do to be successful, what do they all have in common? The answer is an experienced personal trainer. Think about it for a second, if you had to look really spectacular for a movie or a tour, one that would earn you several millions of dollars in income, are you going to leave your results to chance, or are you going to hire an expert that has been proven to be able to get people in shape consistently over the years?

The answer is an obvious one, and more often than you think highly experienced trainers are contracted to help some of your favorite stars into fighting shape (due to the nature of some of the contracts sometimes we are not allowed to disclose who we work with) but make no mistake that behind every buff body there is an veteran trainer overseeing both their diet and exercise program.

So there are no real secrets, and yet I am always amazed to see how much peoples invest in everything from fat supplements to liposuction to get in shape but are reluctant to hire an experienced personal trainer. Now a good one isn’t that easy to come by- and just because you are paying top dollar doesn’t guarantee that your trainer can really help you change your body. Always look for track record of success and equally important, your trainer should at least look like they belong on a magazine cover. Success follows success and you always want to work with trainers that practice what they preach.

With the right trainer, you can really realize your dreams and make a real and lasting difference in your body and your mind. It isn’t inexpensive, but then again, so is everything else in life that is worthwhile. You do owe it to yourself though and if you really want it- you’ll find a way. I promise you that it will be an investment that will pay off for the rest of your life.

Kevin Richardson is a visionary NYC Personal Trainer and the founder of the Naturally Intense System of Diet & Exercise™- a new way of looking at health and fitness. Get your copy of his free weight loss ebook here!

What is healthy?

In today’s world I am always confronted by one single nagging question that no one seems to be able or willing to answer. The question is how do you define healthy? Now according to the personal training manuals there are all manners of definitions and categories for fitness,  cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy to name a few, but not really that much on what it means to be healthy.

From my point of view, the majority of individuals that society holds up as in good health, are really only alive thanks to the wonders of modern technology, and I think that this is a real problem for us as a people- confronting that fact that without the medical strides made over the past two centuries, most of us wouldn’t be here.

A sobering thought, yes, but one that we need to look at if we are really going to be able to improve the ever worsening health crisis here in the United States. Think about it for a second, the typical man or woman today here in the U.S. has probably had their tonsils removed at an early age. Not too uncommon an occurrence and I am sure that many of you have had this routine procedure done when you were younger. Growing up, the typical man or woman has also had their wisdom teeth taken out, and teeth straightened with braces. More dental work is common as well as the average American has a several fillings in his or her mouth by the time they are in their twenties as well as several root canals as time goes on. Nothing at all out of the ordinary for most people in this day and age.

The average person today as well is almost always in a state of stress where he or she feels depressed very often and wishes that they had more energy in general. Back pain and headaches are all common occurrences as well and are chalked up as being just another part of what happens to a person during the course of their life. For a woman, osteoporosis is another part of getting older, as are fibroids, whereas for men, prostate cancer and hernia operations are the norm. All sexes suffer from cardiovascular disease and problems with blood sugar as they get older and of course most are far above their ideal weight by their mid thirties.

Looking at the family history of the average man or woman in the developed world, there are even more norms. Most have siblings or parents that died from cancer or heart disease before the age of 40, and many either suffer from allergies, or have family members that are crippled several times a year by seasonal allergens. A large number of women as well have had children born via Cesarean section, and more and more children today are in need of special education due to the increased incidence of hyperactive and learning disabled children.

This profile can describe a man or woman that has six pack abs, is built like a Greek sculpture and works out religiously or an overweight man or woman that eats foods that they really shouldn’t and spends more time in front of a television set or computer screen than they should. It doesn’t make a difference really because neither of them are healthy.

They can’t be. You see the technology we have today creates the illusion of health, but not the reality that without modern medical interventions used to remove tonsils, fix teeth, help with childbirth, our typical man or woman would be a toothless, childless cripple- or perhaps would not have even survived to adulthood!

We can access computers that give us instant information about just about anything and talk on cell phones to people on the other side of the world but for all our technological prowess, we still can’t cure diseases like cancer. The remedies that we cling to for ailments like depression, fatigue and allergies serve to lessen the severity of the symptoms at best, while creating a series of other problems. In an age where there is a solution for everything, there is no real solution to the current health crisis, only a blanket that creates the appearance that all is well. Perhaps it is time to admit that conventional wisdom on health is questionable at best, and that the real solutions lie outside of the box.

Kevin Richardson is a vsionary NYC Personal Trainer and the founder of the Naturally Intense System of Diet & Exercise™- a new way of looking at health and fitness. Get your copy of his free weight loss ebook here!

Six pack abs take more than just situps!

In my years as a Naturally Intense NYC personal trainer I am constantly asked about sit ups. For year considered the Holy Grail of stomach exercises, most people assume that to get a really flat stomach all you have to do is a couple hundred situps a day and you will be on your way to six pack abs. If only it could be so easy!

 Fact: Working your abdominal muscles is no different from working the muscles in your arms or legs, it will serve to make the muscles bigger and stronger. It will not however do anything to get rid of the fat that surrounds it. Abdominal and hip exercises can strengthen and tone the muscles. But those muscles are underneath the “subcutaneous” layer of fat that gives you the lovely appearance of flab. Only losing weight can get rid of excess fat

To reduce fat around your waist you need to do two things:

1. Watch your diet, as you need to lose body fat to see the six pack that you are seeking

2. Engage in intensive weight training exercise that will increase your overall muscle mass and help you keep the weight off as well.

Spot reduction doesn’t work. Exercising specific muscle groups in particular parts of the body will not burn fat from that area. If were that simple then everyone that did situps everyday would instantly have great abs- and they don’t. Abdominal exercises are important, though as they help strengthen your torso as well as serve to build the muscles in your six pack region so when you finally do lose the fat in that area, you will have some nice lines to show off!

Lose weight, build real muscle and get Superfit training only 10 minutes 3 times a week! That’s the slogan and the 100% guarantee of the Naturally Intense System of Diet & Exercise™ created by visionary personal trainer, internationally renowned natural bodybuilder and fitness expert, Kevin Richardson. Get a copy of Kevin’s free award winning weight loss ebook here!