John Lark

Spot reduction is a myth right? You can’t possibly shift that troublesome spot of cellulite off your thigh or kick the bingo-wings into touch – can you?  Well, yes you can and the answer lies, according to Olympic Strength Coach and founder of the ‘Biosignature‘ System, Charles Poliquin in your hormones.

Your body fat doesn’t just lay down fat in a random fashion to seemingly spite you. There is a pattern that has been unearthed by functional medicine experts and endocrinologists that determines where you possess your body fat is a reflection of your hormonal activity.

The science behind this has been around for years. Take for instance our belly. When we are stressed we release a hormone called cortisol. This is our fight or flight response hormone or a low-grade adrenaline that used to help us get the hell away from lions and other man-eating predators.

The only thing now is that we don’t have any of those around, unless you include the gaggle of women spilling out of our night clubs.

Our bodies are in essence still primal. Our genetic coding has changed 0.01% in 40,000 years. Not much in the grand scheme of things. But yet we still continue to produce cortisol at a rate which we find it hard to live with.

Do we still run away from lions? No.

What has happened, and this has been unearthed by scientists, is that the higher your cortisol levels, the higher your belly fat readings making you more prone to the nasties such as Syndrome X and dislipidemia.

Men can also take note that incidences of male breast cancer and Gynecomastia (‘moobs’) is on the rise.

High levels chest and arm fat can be correlated to your levels of aromatisation or how male or female you are.

Men are not designed to have breasts. Common symptoms include crying at Little House on the Prairie and shopping for bras.

This is not normal and what is increasingly more worrying is that functional medicine experts are in agreement that for males this elevates your risk of prostate cancer

What about your love handles? Your love handles and fat that you carry on your back are reflective of your insulin management.

Genetically a carbohydrate or sugar tolerant individual will carry little fat on their back. However, your love handles may carry a sufficient amount of fat. This is a classic case.

Skipping meals and or consuming too much carbohydrate will elevate your circulating insulin levels making you insulin resistant rather than insulin sensitive. So, as you consume sugar instead of being shuttled to the muscles for energy, you push it into your fat cells.

Bad news. This coupled with a high level of back fat and abdominal fat will significantly increase your risk of dislipidemia and other nasty scourges on society such as cancer.

Fat around the legs is also indicative of your estrogens (the female hormones) and growth hormone activity. High levels on the calf and knee point to recurring sleep issues. Why are men carrying fat on their legs? The answer lies in too much circulating estrogens.

Did you know, for instance, that red wine and dark chocolate are excellent for clearing excess estrogens? 1-2 glasses a day of red wine and 3oz of 70% Coco Organic Chocolate, once or twice a week are excellent for this. The reason being is the high levels of Resveratrol – a nutrient that inhibits the action of estrogens at the cell receptor sites and inhibits aromatising enzymes.

Bad news is – more is not better.

The bottom line is this – it is not your fault. A combination of lifestyle, exercise and supplementation protocols can be used to combat each site resulting in a leaner and more importantly healthier individual.

So each bit of fat on your body tells us a story. It makes sense. Why do individuals carry fat all on their legs and not up the top? What about the individual who just cant shift the fat off the hips.

Spot reduction a myth? Not anymore. Here is a glass of red to a healthier and leaner new you.

John Lark M.A. is a Fat Loss Specialist and Personal Trainer in Dublin Learn more about his methods at www.spherefitnessstudio.com and download your ‘5 Top Tips for Fat Loss’.

Taking responsibility for your health and fitness is often the first and most crucial step on the path to your goals.

It is your fault that you dug into a box of biscuits and equally shovelled down 12 pints of beer at the weekend.  Equally so it is your choice that you watch mind-numbing (and at times rather depressing TV) rather than head out for a brisk walk.

Obesity is rife and climbing. Every day millions are lost through absenteeism and sickness in industry through people not looking after their greatest asset – themselves.

I often laugh as one of my personal training clients drives up in the latest offerings from the local sports car dealership, only to grumble at the prospect of having to buy organic meat.  This is the same person who raises an eyebrow ‘at the cost of food’ nowadays.

“That’s ok then” as I point to the car.

“Perhaps you can drive that car with you into the grave, then?”

Your body is designed for optimum performance – nothing less. How we have come to be devoid of a clean diet and lack of movement is beyond me. We function at well below par.

Our society is riddled with illness, disease, ailments that take an eternity to shift and  metabolic disorders such as high blood pressure and diabetes are all to prevalent.

My Dad won’t mind me saying this but he is a diabetic, type 2. This means he can manage the potentially fatal relationship between glucose (sugars) and the hormone insulin. I often raised an eyebrow at how he settled his sugar fix with a Mars Bar.

“The nurse told me to take onboard some sugars, if I ever felt like this”

“He forgot to mention that Orange Juice would also be a good idea”

Needless to say he is now enjoying managing his diabetes with exercise and herbs (alongside the odd dose of insulin managing drugs). But it was hard at the start. Here was a man ingrained in the ‘quick-fix’ mentality avoiding taking all responsibility for his health until it took control of him.

Here was a man resigned to putting his health in someone else’s hands for life. He was unwilling to see the alternatives. He was unwilling to go back to the basics – diet and exercise.

His ‘why’  however was strong enough to elicit a change. Eventually his sugars were getting hard to manage without taking 9 pills a-day. Alongside this the side-effects were shocking to live with. His grandson was born which drove him to ensure that he was round long enough to enjoy bringing him up.

What is your ‘why’?

I often use the example of an ‘Onion’ with my clients. Asking probing questions that you can do yourself is the first step. At all times you must remain honest to yourself.

Why do people primarily go to the gym? Answer – to look good naked. However, if you keep telling yourself that you want to feel good and just want to ‘tone up’ then you are in for a struggle.

I asked an executive the same question. He answered me with the platitudes of “I want to get rid of my belly”, “I want to tighten up”.

“What’s your real reason?” I asked

“What do you mean?” He replied

“Well, what do you mean by ‘getting rid of my belly’ – why is this important to you?”

A moment passed before a startling dose of honesty set in.

Well I am sick and tired of looking across the table and seeing guys older than me, ten times fitter. It makes me angry. They must think I am weak”

“That’s more like it – hold onto that thought”

Being responsible for your actions means peeling the layers of the onion until you get to your real answer, not some woolly platitude to make life easy.

This is your ‘why’ and something strong enough so that you will be motivated to keep on track whilst others fall away. It will allow you to get out of bed when the wind and rain is pouring. It will allow you to choose a swim over Eastenders. It will allow you to choose nutrient dense foods over packaged rubbish.

John Lark is a personal trainer combining exercise, nutrition and lifestyle strategies. He is based at The Sphere Fitness Studio, Maynooth Download your ‘5 Top Fat Loss Methods’ report at www.spherefitnesstudio.com

I thought that might grab your attention. The truth is that there is NO secret to what personal trainers use in within their personal training methods.

The truth is that the application of these methods will differ from individual to individual and this is the key to success in any fat loss programme.

We also believe in training with intensity, constancy of purpose and a clear vision of where you want to be. We are not interested in tyre kickers or persons afraid of placing an honest effort into the programme.

Our personal training system follows the following route:

1) Start Line

It is important that any personal training system has a results based approach. It sickens me to see personal trainers ‘wing it’ with their clients seemingly guessing what they should be doing – all under the pretense of making it ‘fun’ and enjoyable. Our enjoyment comes from seeing results and progression. For this to happen our personal trainers will record body composition, visual changes and structural balance. If a complete profile is required we look to taking bloods for a comprehensive look at the body’s systems.

It is also at this stage that your personal trainer sets your goals and then more importantly matches behaviours to take you to those goals.

2) Flexibility

Our personal training system is based on a corrective approach to the body. Tight muscles are located and a specific and tailored personal stretching programme is implemented. Our personal training clients often feel an immediate difference in their flexibility with the techniques we use.

3) Anabolic Activity

Our focus here at Sphere Personal Training is to focus on exercise that will stimulate, invigorate, bring balance and create an environment for development, growth and strength. Most of our clients who come to us for personal training come to us through frustration at lack of results. Normally they are cardio junkies, pounding the roads every day.

The problem with this is that it is stressful to the body, often too stressful. Hormonal imbalances are created, metabolism is floored and energy levels hit rock bottom. We aim to flip this on its head and include more anabolic activity such as strength training and interval training. Overall these methods work out as more invigorating, and results-producing. Clients see progression every time they set foot in the gym.

4) Diet and Nutrition

Our personal training system is geared towards correcting behaviours and making nutrition practical. It is like the Torvill without the Dean. Our Sphere Nutrition System follows a progressive and long term approach. 3 distinct phases take you through and with the help of your personal trainer, Sphere will drive these towards your goals. Our long term nutritional approach can be found here.

5) Sleep

No sleep, no recovery. And that goes for recovering from the high octane day you may have been through at home or at the office. We offer a 10 point coaching list for you to work your way through to normalise your sleep patterns.

6) Stress

Managing your stress is no easy task and following steps 1-5 with your personal trainer is a HUGE step forward. Taking and relinquishing control of your body is equally as important. Again , our personal trainers follow a 10 step methodology to help you manage your stress levels.

7) Digestion

Imagine a system of your body that is so sensitive that problems there can be directly expressed in pain in your lower back and give you that poochy belly look. Correcting digestion is largely achieved through supplementation recommendations. However, our personal trainers can coach you in specific habits that willunderpin your digestive efforts.

Our system is constantly evolving. Our duty of care is to provide you with a service that is supported by science and applied with professionalism and a duty of care to the client.

John Lark M.A. CSCS is a personal trainer and owner of Sphere Fitness. He can be contacted at 01-5052131.

Choosing the right personal trainer can be a daunting task.

How do you know that your investment will be put to the most effective use and that the care of your well-being and nurturing of your goals is met with equal enthusiasm and a relentless pursuit?

Here are my top tips for choosing a personal trainer:

1) Check for relevant personal training qualifications coupled with experience in what you are looking to acheive.

So he has worked with football teams, is an Olympic level strength coach but can he deliver his results to you as a housewife with three screaming kids who just wants to ‘tone up’. There is no reasons why that level of expertise wouldn’t be able to deliver. They often have the experience and ‘know-how’ and in the trenches personal training experience to help you. But check first. As if they have worked with anyone similar to your goals.

2) Ensure that they carry the most up-to-date qualifications out there
Not only does this allow you to see that they are committed to bringing nothing but the best in terms of personal training qualifications, but it is a sign of their professionalism and pursuit of excellence.

3) Do they walk the walk?
Look at your personal trainer? Do they look as of they have been out drinking the night before and feasting on bagels and cream cheese? Your personal trainer should be a shining example of what you hope to acheive. Anything less and you may find it harder to achieve your personal training goals than you think.

4) Try them out
Most successful personal training companies or personal trainers will allow you to sample thier services with no obligation. Ask if they can offer you a guarantee with their services or some form of trial period. If their methods or level of training doesn’t work out then you haven’t lost anything. At the Sphere Fitness Studio we offer a complimentary lifestyle assessment to see of you are ready for the level of personal training we deliver. Our emphasis is on results through hard work and dedication rather than cotton woolling.

Call The Sphere Fitness Studio to arrange your complimentary personal training assessment now

John Lark M.A, CSCS is owner of The Sphere Fitness Studio a personal training company located in Maynooth with personal training in Dubin also available. He can be contacted at 01-5052131

If there was one thing that kept me motivated without me really knowing was the little dog-eared piece note book that contains all my training information in from years a passed.

Have I made mistakes as a personal trainer with my training? Yes. Loads. But they are documented. Like training with a cold. Training through the pain barrier despite my shoulder telling me it wasn’t a good idea. Like not lifting heavy enough and relying on ‘functional movements’ and ‘blood  pressusre cuffs’ to tell me that I wasn’t contracting muscles that contract anyway.

The bottom line is that if you are serious bout making progress quit the guess work and allow one personal trainer to tell you what his secret is – a training diary.

John Lark is a personal trainer in dublin. Check out his website at www.john-lark.com

With so many conflicting debates, diet books, fads and approaches it seems an almost impossible task to wade through it all.

Where do you begin and more importantly what are you aiming for or looking to achieve?
Like training and any fat loss goal, it pays to have the end result in mind.

Nutrition is goal dependent and habit based. Fat loss nutritional strategies will differ to health specific strategies. Sports nutrition will differ to aiding ladies through the menopause.

There are, however, common threads that can be applied in any strategies.

Habits underpin good nutrition. How many of us undergo a diet programme and attempt to change everything over-night? We hope to mystically transform our entire approach to nutrition over-night and follow a ‘eat this don’t eat this’ approach.

Here’s the thing – It doesn’t work.

One step at a time.

Here are a few of our habits that should be deployed with most nutritional programmes. In an ideal world, you should consult a professional to find a nutritional programme tailored to your needs.

1. Eating a protein rich breakfast – meat and nuts are a great start to the day, contrary to the dead-nutrition found on the side of a cereal packet. Foods rich in tyrosine such as red meat will stimulate dopamine levels – a hormone designed to give us sustained energy, focus, drive and motivation. Cereals tend to work the opposite.

2. Following a Caveman approach to nutrition. If it ‘doesn’t run, swim, fly and isn’t a veggie’ don’t eat it. The only exceptions to the rule are nuts and oils.

3. Keeping a food diary if you want results.  We all tell a few white lies to ourselves you know the ones that start with the words ‘This wont hurt’. Well it does. It all adds up particularly if you are looking to lean up. Keep a food journal and you are 80% more likely to hit your targets. Not a bad little habit to keep.

4. Preparing your food in advance. Develop a little ritual the night before where you bring some foods with you to work or in the car. Trying to eat healthy snacks in this country is like asking finding a needle in a haystack.

5. Drinking water as your source of fluids. Consider that most of your body is made up of water and you can see how important it is to stay hydrated. Coffee, Tea and other hot drinks tend to be water-robbers. Water – pure and filtered is the best. There really is no comparism. As a guideline, consume your bodyweight in kg x 0.033 to find your ideal amount in litres. The only real exception is green tea. Shoot for 3 cups a day of this mighty beverage.

6. Making sure you have a serving of protein with each meal. Protein will maintain a healthy blood sugar level assist you in burning fat and keep your digestive system healthy. It is also the number one nutrient at keeping hunger pangs at bay.

7. Consuming veggies with each meal. Everytime you feed there should be a source of vegetables. Spinach in omelettes, salads, chopped veggies, grilled (a really great way to sweeten veggies) and stir-fry and ‘Greens Drinks’ are all great ways of getting more veggies in to your nutrition. These little beauties are packed with vitamins and minerals (the building blocks of good nutrition), fibre and calorifically very low.

8. Get the skinny on fat – fat can make you thin. Fact. Did you know that supplementing your diet with fish oil is a sure fire way to get those fat furnaces burning fast. Coconut oil, rich in SATURATED FAT, can also help you get leaner. Fats are your friends. Now I am not talking about those artery-clogging fat   found in fried foods, cakes, biscuits and take-aways. You would be best to avoid anything on the packet that has ‘hydrogenated’ on it like the plague.

Instead shoot for fats that are rich in Omega-3. These include fish oil (pharmaceutical grade only), flax seeds, hemp oil, nuts and olive oil. Cook with coconut oil.

9. Consuming Fewer Carbohydrates Overall. We don’t tolerate the likes of bread, pasta or rice very well. Think I am mad? Look at the expanding waste lines despite the low-fat craze that is absorbing us. Fat is not your enemy. If you want to get lean and healthy then ditch the sugary carbs and switch to a diet rich in veggies, protein and healthy fats.

John Lark is a Fat Loss Specialist and Personal Trainer in Dublin and Kildare providing tools to help you get healthier and leaner – faster. He can be contacted at 01-505213. Download your free fat loss report at www.spherefitnessstudio.com
**

This test can be found in the excellent book ‘Why Stomach Acid is Good For You’. It is the foundation test I would use with all my clients:

“Step 1 – Have a high-protein solid meal (no shakes). Let’s say for illustration purposes a 12-ounce steak and vegetables.

Step 2 – Eat half the protein, roughly 6 ounces of the steak.

Step 3 – Swallow a 200mg capsule of HCL.

Step 4 – Eat the other half of the steak and the vegetables.

Step 5 – Wait 15 minutes.
Step 6 – If your stomach acid is normal, you will feel like you just drank a hot cup of tea. If you feel nothing, you need HCl as a supplement.

So what do you do next?

At every meal repeat steps 1 to 6, upping the dose one capsule per meal until you feel the burning sensation. So if it takes five meals to get a burning sensation, you need on average four capsules per meal.
If you get to seven capsules and you have no burning, stop the test – you are achloridic!”

References

Poliquin, C (2008) Maximise Your Progress with Hydrochloric Acid http: www.charlespoliquin.com Date Visited 8th June 2008

Wright, J and Lenard, L (2001) Why Stomach Acid is Good For You, Evans

www.spherefitnessstudio.com

Here is an article on Stomach Acid from Olympic Strength Coach, Charles Poliquin. In it he explains that adequate stomach Stomach Acid is the foundation for all regimes, both nutritional and supplementational. Enjoy!

Maximizing Your Progress with HCl
Charles Poliquin

Stomach Acid is more important to your development than you think. Read the latest insights on digestion with tips for improving your own.

Are your muscles getting all the protein contained in that 12-ounce steak? Does your immune system enjoy all the antioxidant protection from the vitamins and minerals in organic fruits and vegetables? Do your supplements work as well as the manufacturer promises? There’s a 50/50 chance that the answer is “No.” The reason is that it’s not so much what you eat or what supplements you take, but how much you assimilate.

This statement might seem peculiar, but it is true. I’ve worked with countless athletes who seem to do everything right with their diet and training but make little or no progress in the gym. Their problem can often be traced to low levels of stomach acids, a condition known as hypochlorhydria.

Stomach acid breaks down food, chemically altering it so that the body can extract the required nutrients for proper structure and function, including muscle maintenance and growth. The acid begins the digestion of protein in the stomach and then triggers the pancreas to secrete digestive enzymes and the gallbladder to release bile into the small intestine. The acid is also responsible for killing pathogenic bacteria that enters the body via food.

The Acid Test
In our land of abundance, it is hard to imagine that our body’s cells could be starving, especially when we consume high-quality food in sufficient quantities. Yet many of our affluent habits prohibit us from properly digesting our food, leaving our cells weak from undernourishment.
If there is insufficient hydrochloric acid (HCl), proteins will pass into the intestine and putrefy instead of being digested. In addition, carbohydrates will also be left to ferment without adequate digestive enzymes from the pancreas. Fat digestion is also dependent on the acid’s influence on the pancreas to secrete lipase and the gall bladder to secrete bile. Poor digestion of these macronutrients means poor absorption of our basic energy sources.

Low stomach acid prevents adequate absorption of essential minerals such as zinc, manganese and calcium because they cannot be ionized for proper absorption. Cruciferous vegetables are known for their estrogen-detoxification properties through the production of Diindolylmethane from Indole 3C, but this extraction cannot occur without an adequate amount of stomach acid.

Low stomach acid also puts you at an increased risk of food poisoning since you are missing your primary defense against bacterial organisms. It has been shown that the drugs that inhibit stomach acid, such as Prilosec and Tagamet, can cause an increase in stomach bacteria and inflammation.

Undiagnosed low stomach acid is linked to various neurological disorders such as dementia and Alzheimer’s because those ailments are linked to folic acid and B12 status (i.e. no stomach acid, no folic acid and B12 absorption.) In effect, you could go senile just from low stomach acid. Here are a few of the symptoms of low stomach acid:
•    belching or gas within one hour of a meal
•    bloating and fullness shortly after eating
•    bad breath
•    loss of taste for meat
•    nausea after taking supplements
•    brittle fingernails
•    undigested food in stool
•    foul-smelling stools
•    stomach pain
•    desire to skip meals
•    estrogen buildup
•    acne rosacea
•    depression

The Growing Epidemic of Low HCl

After taking numerous functional medicine seminars from digestion experts such as Dr. Nigel Plummer, PhD, from Wales; and Dr. Jeff Baker, NMD, from North Carolina, I realized how important it is to monitor stomach acid. In Wales alone, it is estimated that over 40 percent of the adult population is deficient in hydrochloric acid. In the USA, many experts estimate the deficiency also to be in the range of 40 to 50 percent. Some gastroenterologists are now advancing that it is today’s most under-diagnosed ailment.

Over the last four years at my training centers, we have been doing stomach acid challenge tests routinely. In this time I have yet to see a single successful male over the age of 40 with normal stomach acid levels. Actually some of them are actually achloridic, which means that they make almost no stomach acid.
There are many reasons for low stomach acid, such as B vitamin deficiency, excess carbohydrate consumption, hypothyroidism, food sensitivities, H. Pylori infection, soda consumption and aging. But the most common cause of low stomach acid is actually stress. Stress experts estimate that we now have 100 times more stress than our grandfathers did.

How do you test for low HCl? Here are a few ways:

From your blood chemistry screen values, or by a urine test
•    A string test where you swallow a string in order to measure your stomach pH – not a pleasant test, incidentally
•    An examination of the reflex point on your abdomen, an inch below the bottom of the breastbone on the edge of the left rib cage
•    Presence of a zinc deficiency; an insufficient amount of this mineral is associated with hypochlorhydria
•    Presence of vertical ridges on your nails
•    Stool testing
•    Amino acid profile tests
Finally, there is a simple test you can do at home, but I suggest you talk to a physician qualified in nutritional medicine before you try it. Nutritionally-oriented physicians often prescribe this test along with a zinc challenge test. It requires a bottle of Betaine HCl, at 200 mg potency per capsule. Here is how it is performed:

Step 1 – Have a high-protein solid meal (no shakes). Let’s say for illustration purposes a 12-ounce steak and vegetables.

Step 2 – Eat half the protein, roughly 6 ounces of the steak.

Step 3 – Swallow a 200mg capsule of HCL.

Step 4 – Eat the other half of the steak and the vegetables.

Step 5 – Wait 15 minutes.
Step 6 – If your stomach acid is normal, you will feel like you just drank a hot cup of tea. If you feel nothing, you need HCl as a supplement.

So what do you do next?

At every meal repeat steps 1 to 6, upping the dose one capsule per meal until you feel the burning sensation. So if it takes five meals to get a burning sensation, you need on average four capsules per meal.
If you get to seven capsules and you have no burning, stop the test – you are achloridic!

At our Phoenix center alone we have been doing over 250 tests a year for the last four years. In that time, I have never seen one person not need at least one capsule; the average person tested could feel it after five capsules. You are getting better when you start feeling a burn at your initial determined dosage. For example, if you found that five capsules was your initial need, you may find that three days later it starts to burn, so then you would cut back to four capsules with a typical high-protein solid meal. And so on.
Most people achieve normal levels within eight weeks even when they start at seven capsules, but some individuals take as much as 18 months. I have two clients who need two caps a day permanently. Why?

Because neither one will ever escape their stress levels – one of them is a real estate mogul, and the other is a highly accomplished author. 
Once you go off HCL, it is suggested by most functional medicine experts to take 2g of histidine a day for eight weeks to support HCl production. (Great Smokies Laboratories offers a battery of tests that determine proper digestion. They are very helpful; have your physician contact their technical help line, if necessary.) Take a great multivitamin formula once a day upon engaging in HCl therapy, as it will accelerate the healing. Make sure that your HCl product also contains the probiotic pepsin and the digestive enzymes papain and pancreatin, as they have a synergistic effect with HCl therapy.

One of the most common positive effects our clients get from HCl therapy is enhanced sleep. Why? Because they are finally absorbing the supplemental magnesium they have been taking. Minerals need an electric charge to be absorbed. You need sufficient HCl to provide that charge to the minerals. I had a client, a former Olympian in bobsleigh and former national weightlifting team member, go from an erratic four hours of sleep each night to a sound eight hours after three days of HCl supplementation.

In addition to the above HCl protocols, here are a few other suggestions to normalize your stomach acid levels. First, avoid carbonated drinks. Second, avoid all-you-can-eat buffets, as they are America’s leading source of food-borne pathogens. Finally, there are numerous herbs that can contribute to raising HCl, such as gentian, peppermint and ginger, but be aware that very few controlled studies exist on this topic.

Over the last four years, I have been amazed how a correction in HCl deficiency has led to not only dramatic improvements in physique and strength but also improvements in a variety of health parameters. Interestingly enough, in strength-trained individuals those improvements are often associated with gains of 15 to 18 pounds of lean body mass within two months! Why? They are now absorbing proteins and minerals.

If you suspect that you are low in stomach acid, you must address this issue with the utmost importance. You cannot make adequate use of your food or your supplements if you cannot break them down for proper absorption. It’s true that not only are you what you eat, you are what you assimilate!

Article courtesy of www.charlespoliquin.com

“What do you mean you only want a still Water? Are You sick?”

Can you imagine the scene in your local? You are at the bar surrounded by your nearest and dearest and someone offers you a drink.

Suddenly, out of the blue, you decline the cider, with its 8 teaspoons of sugar or the beer with all its man-boob nutrition, and opt for a water.

Your friends look at you as if you are possessed. There must be something wrong. You are feeling ill.

After a while the dust settles. Armoured and padded vehicles are called away. The straight jacket is put back in the closest and the landlord smiles away as he continues to charge 400% for glorified tap water in a nice shapely bottle.

Discrimination against fit people is rife.

So what if you have made the choice to improve yourself or set a mini-goal.

Imagine if you told your friends you wished to raise €1000 for charity by cycling half way round the world on a uni-cycle.

I am sure that the fund-raising committee would be there in a flash. Lads would be dipping into their pockets and emails will be circulating encouraging co-workers to drop money in the biscuit tin on the way out of the door. Pats on the back in abundance.

So what is the difference?

Both are goals. Both are focused around individual effort and acheivement. But there is a crucial difference. One is far more personal based.

Here lies the discrimination factor.
“Look at her out running. She is in awful shape” or
“She hasn’t lost anything” cry the ‘friends’ with the muffin tops and flabby arms.

I always recommend these ‘emotional vampires’ to keep their heads in the latest gossip magazines and stick to their own narrow minded lives.

It is a classic case of reflecting their own insecurities on others. More often than not it is their nearest and dearest .

It has led to gyms becoming a  confession box for the late night munchies and sugary breakfasts. Why not view them as a place to achieve and succeed. It feels good when you achieve something – doesn’t it?
This discrimination doens’t just lie within friends and family. I often ask off the menu. Dressing on the side, no spuds, leave the bread basket, extra veggies rather than chips and so on.

The look I get is priceless. I might aswell have asked for grated glass on a bed of nails as a sandwich.
Please don’t be afraid to ask for what you want in a restaurant. Either that or get ready to unfasten your belt at the end of the meal.

Fair play to one establishment I was visting with my son last week. I asked them to drop the carbohydrate mountain of noodles and replace them with vegetables. And they did. I promptly rewarded her with a Gold Star and an Employee of the Month.

There is discrimination against fit people where-ever you go. Do you know how hard it is to find a nutritious snack when you are out and about? Fruit that looks and has been sat there for weeks, meat that is riddled with hormones and antibiotics and hot-counter food deep fried to within an inch of its life.

Moral of the story – if you find yourself eating alot at service stations then good luck in the fight for health and fitness.

And then it comes to charging ridiculous amounts for glorified tap water. I mean two euros fifty for a bottle of water? You have got to be laughing! Why should fit people or designated drivers be persecuted for taking responsiblity on the odd night out.

Simple action steps we can take to ensure that fit discrimination is stopped in its tracks are to a) be strong with your goals. This is your goal! Not anyone elses b) have the end result of your goal in the back of your mind – if what your friends think of you turns you off your goal then your goal is not strong enough in the first place c) Don’t be afraid! The results are worth it and d) don’t settle for zero nutrition food – bring your own.

As one author writes would you rather peck with the turkeys or soar with eagles?

“Make mine a double. My mate will have a still water too”

John Lark is a personal trainer in Dublin, Ireland who specialises in using advanced fat loss techniques combining exercise, lifestyle and supplementation. Download your free report on fat loss at www.spherefitnessstudio.com or call 01-5052131.

Scientists have found a hormone that encourages the liver to start using fat as fuel. What this hormones does, according to the scientists involved in the study, is switch the liver from using carbohydrate stores to fat stores.

This is the central idea behind Atkins. By depleting the body’s dependency on carbohydrate through an initial induction phase (restricting your carb intake to around 40-50g per day) you are encouraging the body to use its fat stores.

The by-product of this are a large number of ketones putting you in a state of ketosis. Is this dangerous? No. According to Jonny Bowden, it must not be confused with ‘ketoacidosis’ a condition suffered by Diabetics through their inability to shift sugar from the blood. We produce ketones all the time. They are used as fuel by the brain smooth muscle such as the heart. On a low carb diet, the difference is that the levels circulating now become measurable.

According to David Manglesdorf “In addition to switching the body to a fat-burning mode, the team found FGF21 induces the hibernation-like state of torpor that conserves energy in fasting animals”

This may explain why they found elevated levels of this hormone in obese people. A double edged sword!

In essence this hormone is key to regulating fat metabolism and for those who have high biosignature readings on the insulin sites – waist and back – take heed! We want to ramp up the activity of this hormone and guess what – low carb is the way to do this!!

References

M K Badman et al, Cell Metab., 2007, DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2007.05

T Inagaki et al, Cell Metab., 2007, DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2007.05.003

Bowden, J (2003) Living the Low Carb Life

John Lark is a personal trainer in dublin and founder of the Sphere Fitness Studio including Corporate Fitness. He can be contacted at 01-5052131.