I've Launched a New Site

In preparation for the launch of the new Your Naked Nutrition Manual - www.NakedNutritionGuide.com has been launched. Check it out and let me know what you think.

-Mike

The Problem with Losing Weight

As I've mentioned previously over the past several months I have diligently been working on the Your Naked Nutrition Guide - A results driven all encompassing manual for nutritional success. I have also included in this a couple chapters at the beginning on mindset, planning, and goal setting. In this section I pose the question

"What are the negatives of achieving your goal?"

Have you ever thought of this? Over the past couple months I've dropped a bunch of extra weight. Living the life of a graduate student had been taking its toll on my physique (I know excuses, excuses). As a result a good bunch of my clothes don't fit. My pants sag off my waist, I need new belts, and my button down shirts need to be tapered...this isn't something that most people consider.

What about birthdays? It seems like we are always having mini birthday parties in the lab. This means cake. It is awkward refusing birthday cake at a party, standing there drinking water while everyone else enjoys the fluffy sugar laced baked goods. It makes you sort of an outcast...have you considered having to deal with these social situations?

What about drinking? An all to common occurrence is getting a drink on Friday after work. What will you do in these situations? Say no and not attend? Does that make you antisocial? Will you go but not drink and just have a diet coke instead? That's fine but be prepared to be on the receiving end of some ribbings from your buddies.

Most of the time we talk about food and training....but learning to deal with social pressures and stick to your plan regardless of the birthday parties, happy hours, and telling the waitress exactly how you what your food prepared ("Hold the fries, double the steamed vegetables, and I'll have the dressing on the side.") is extremely important. This can be the hardest part for many people.

So don't forget to look at the whole picture. What is it really going to cost to reach your goals?

Tags: goals, weight loss, success, nutrition

Protein Bar or Candy Bar???

The world of "protein bars" is probably the most misleading and ingenious marketing idea ever. Most of the bars are loaded with sugar and low quality protein but since they are protein bars and not candy bars companies mark them up 100-200%. Plus they usually taste like garbage.

I was at the super market yesterday and found myself very hungry (it is never good to go to the market hungry). I went over to where they sell the protein bars and was extremely disappointed. Of course there were not Metabolic Drive bars (my first choice) but they didn't have any Greens+ bars either.

Here's what I did find...I won't mention the company name because it is too embarassing. The bar contained 360 calories. The first ingredient was a protein blend but the next three ingredients were corn syrup, brown rice syrup, and high fructose corn syrup. The bar had 51 grams of carbs, 25 of which came from sugar. Oh yeah it also contained partially hydrogenated soybean oil. Total crap.

The moral of the story is that it is extrememly important to read the labels before you purchase "health food" items.