Increase Fiber for Fat Loss

So you’ve been working out at the gym for months now; you’ve increased your protein intake and you’ve been doing cardio like a madman or woman, but you’re still not getting the fat loss results that you desire. This is happening to countless people around the world as they strive for that dream body and those six pack abs. As a trainer I can’t tell you how many people tell me that they want to lose inches around their midsection, get rid of their man boobs or lose those cottage cheese thighs, but never take the time to look a bit closer at their diet. As they say, you can’t always have the cake, eat it too and expect to look like an abs model.

You see, exercise alone will never get you the results you desire. It is only through exercise and a well balanced diet that you will be able to shed those extra kilos of body fat. So at Fitcorp Asia when I make recommendations regarding diet, one of the first things that I instruct a client is that they need to increase their consumption of whole foods; mainly vegetables.

Most of us frown at the site of vegetables and many of us were conditioned from an early age to dislike vegetables as our parents typically had no idea how to present them or prepare them and simply put them on the plate as an afterthought. We were commanded to eat them and told that if we didn’t eat them we couldn’t have desert. So what do we do as adults? We say, my parents aren’t here to tell me what to do so I’ll skip the vegetables and go straight for the desert.

But here lies the problem in our quest for Fat Loss. The dietary fiber which comes from vegetables is a key component for not only your body’s overall health but it’s also a strong support in fat loss. Of course we’ve been told that fiber will help fight against heart disease, cholesterol, diabetes and colon cancer, but there is much more to fiber than meets the eye. Here are a few ways that fiber can help you to your fat loss goals.

Fiber controls appetite. Insoluble fibers do not dissolve in water and absorb large amounts of water while traveling through your digestive tract. It tends to add bulk and will give you a full feeling of satiety. This will assist you in consuming less calories overall.

Research shows that fiber lowers estrogen levels, which in men is tremendously important in preventing prostate cancer. But estrogen also causes the body to store more fat. This is why women tend to carry more body fat than men. Men also have estrogen within the body and it can be lowered by increasing the amount of fiber in the daily diet.

Fiber has been shown to improve protein absorption by slowing the rate of protein moving through the body and allowing your body a longer period of time to digest and absorb it.

Insulin is a major factor if fat loss or fat storage. By slowing the process of sugar absorption, the release of insulin into the bloodstream is also slowed. Insulin contributes to the storage of excess body fat so the lower the insulin spike is the better off your body fat will be.

If you’re not consuming fiber then it’s time to get on it. The average person consumes well below a suitable level of fiber per day. There are no specific guidelines but research has shown that 25 to 30 grams of fiber per day is a good level. Unfortunately, most people are consuming less than 15 grams per day of fiber.

Now don’t run out and jump to 30 grams immediately. Take your time and work your way up. Increasing fiber immediately can have adverse reactions like gas, irritable bowels, bloating, etc. Increase slowly and give your body time to adjust.

Also be sure to divide your fiber intake throughout your meals. If you are on a 5 to 6 meal a day plan which includes snacks, try to get 5 to 6 grams of fiber with each.

Make sure to get both types of fiber, insoluble and soluble. To decrease body fat insoluble fiber is recommended. Whole grain cereals and apples are a good choice. Psyillium Husk can also be an excellent source of insoluble fiber.

Like I have said in many of my previous articles, fat loss doesn’t happen overnight. For fat loss you will need a bit of patience. Don’t set your expectations too high. Give it a few months before you start to see the long term external benefits of fiber, but realize that from day one you have started the cleanup process from the inside.

By Rich Thurman, B.Sc., MA, CSCS, CPT.

Rich is the Fitness Development Manager and a Fitness Coach at Fitcorp Asia. Thailand's leading personal training, sports performance and corporate wellness organization. With a Bachelors degree in Physiological Science from UCLA a Masters in Sports Management from The University of San Francisco, Rich has over 10 years of experience in Fitness, Sports Performance, Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation. Rich and other coaches from Fitcorp Asia can be contacted via email at info@fitcorpasia.com.

Fitness on the Road

You might be taking a break from it all, but ask yourself if your fitness program can afford to take a break when you on the road. Richard Thurmann from Fitcorp Asia has some advice for the business and leisure traveler in 2010.


So you have just set out on a one-week journey for business, three-day weekend getaway with the family, or a two-week beach holiday and the last thing you’re thinking about is exercise. You have two choices, one of which is to let all those gains you’ve achieved over the previous months go to waste. The other choice is to take steps to maintain your fitness, but the question is how? Well here are a few steps you can take the next time you go on vacation.

The first requirement for the Fit Traveler is that you maintain some level of activity. At Fitcorp Asia we usually prescribe a morning metabolic booster. This is a series of exercises designed to activate muscles throughout the body in just 15 to 20 minutes. Using a combination of exercises in series such as squats, pushups and jumping jacks a 20 minute fat burning workout can be achieved. In just a one hour session with one of our trainers at Fitcorp Asia you can learn how to maximize your 15 or 20 minutes in order to achieve maximum results. It’s quite convenient for the person who is short on time and just needs to get moving.

For the weekend getaway traveler, simply get active. If you’re at the beach go for a swim, go for a walk, and take the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator. Go for a walk after meals. Be sure to give your stomach a little time to digest before you head out however. During our weekend beach boot camps we do various simple exercises that you can do on your own like walking lunges in the sand, which provide a different challenge to stabilizer muscles than the very same exercise done on solid ground. If lunges are a little tough try squats or squat jumps. A good old game of tag or Frisbee will do just fine if you’re hanging out with the family.

If you’re traveling for a couple of weeks, make sure you combine a few of the strategies previously mentioned. I personally like to take my TRX with me wherever I go. A TRX is a great tool, a bodyweight trainer that is no heavier than a yoga strap. It can be wedged in a doorway and provide you with numerous different exercises to help get you toned and increase core strength. Next time you’re on holiday or a business trip you should have one of these handy tools. Just a one-hour session with a trainer and a TRX is all it takes to give you a year supply of exercises to do when on the road.

Your nutrition is also going to be an essential component of remaining a Fit Traveler. Many people go on vacation and binge on foods that they wouldn’t normally consume. Many times it’s tough to find a place that serves quality, low fat meals. For the business traveler this can be a nightmare. Often you may find yourself sitting in meeting after meeting without food and if there is food, it’s usually some pastry or high fat food that is presented. So what do you do? Pack! That’s right, pack a healthy lunch or snack to hold you over. Bring raw, unsalted nuts, vegetables and or dried fruits to keep your tummy happy and your metabolism on fire. Think of it as brain fuel that will enhance your mind as well as your physical fitness.

For the weekend or vacation traveler, I often recommend that you find a grocer near the location in which you will reside. This way you can buy healthy items and store them. This not only helps you to eat right, maintain or even lose weight, but you will save loads of cash by not paying for overpriced, unhealthy dishes. There is no reason why traveling should equal eating out all the time. Indulge in the local cuisine, but remember your fitness goals and don’t let these take a vacation too. Trust me, you wont feel the better for it afterwards no matter how brief or long the lapse in fitness is, and you probably don’t deserve the ensuing guilt trip either. Flip it around and you will feel so much better for having kept to your goals and returning home feeling fit as well as relaxed.

So it all comes down to making small adjustments in our lifestyles that can give us major gains and help us maintain our goals and strive to be our best. For more information on healthy eating, diet and exercise, TRX trainers or general inquiries for fitness at home or away, contact Fitcorp Asia at info@fitcorpasia.com

By Richard Thurman, B.Sc, MA, CSCS, CPT

Rich is the Fitness Development Manager and a Fitness Coach at Fitcorp Asia. Thailand's leading personal training, sports performance and corporate wellness organization. With a Bachelors degree in Physiological Science from UCLA a Masters in Sports Management from The University of San Francisco, Rich has over 10 years of experience in Fitness, Sports Performance, Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation.

Whether it’s fat loss or toning, personal training or group exercise Fitcorp Asia, Thailand’s leading sports experts has something for everyone. If you are in Bangkok or traveling through, drop in for a training session or try our morning or evening bootcamp training in the park at these times:

MWF 6am
T Th 530pm

Stay consistent – Weekends can be healthy and fun!

By Mark Slaney

Well, ironically enough it’s Friday afternoon as I start to think about writing an article for the Fitcorp Asia newsletter and the conversation with my colleagues has fallen to plans for the weekend…

After a great week of workouts, calorie counting and a beer free fridge I find myself once again devastated at the prospect of a ‘dry’ weekend - ‘dry’ meaning not just the booze but more importantly maintaining a healthy balanced diet. But hang on, why can’t I put my feet up and have a treat?! After all, I am just the marketing guy…. Surely I can take solace in a delicious nutritious Mac Fat burger and fries this weekend can’t I? Well, I know the trainers here wouldn’t agree and I guess if I am honest I know undoing 5 days good work in just two days of gluttonous over eating and calorie packed beer guzzling would probably seem ludicrous… Hmmm, I guess I am faced with every dieters dilemma – How do I stay true and on track with my fitness goals without sacrificing my entire life?! Weekends after all are sacred!

Anyway, a stern telling off from the trainers here and some great guidelines and advice as always and I suddenly have the inspiration for my newsletter article… Stay Consistent – Weekends can be healthy and fun!

One reason we find ourselves back to ‘square one’ come Monday morning is because during the weekends we find ourselves falling out of our regular daily routines. There are always dinners, dates and family gatherings, where trouble is lurking in the form of buffet lines or rich desserts! Weekend menus can also be more difficult to plan - and without a plan, you're more likely to stray from the healthy habits you have been working so hard to develop and maintain. The key to achieving any goal is not to do something correctly but to do it correctly – CONSISTENTLY!

This "Weekend Survival Guide" is designed to help your diet survive those dreaded weekends. Keep it with you - in your purse, in the car - wherever you go. The checklist and helpful tips can keep you focused and on track. Most importantly remember this: when you start feeling the temptation to slip, ask yourself how you will feel about your decisions once Monday morning rolls around.

TIPS FOR AVOIDING TEMPTATION

1) Plan family activities like bike rides or outdoor games. This helps you spend time with your family and burn calories all at once!

2) Carry a water bottle with at all times! Take it to your weekend activities, take it to the shopping mall and even take it to bed! This will help you get your water for the day and resist the temptation to reach for a soda or other caffeinated beverage so full of diet destroying calories.

3) Set some "weekend specific" health and fitness goals for yourself based on the realities of what you'll be doing. They may look very different than your weekday goals, and that's okay.

4) If you know you are going to be out all day, then take 5 minutes the night before to pack some healthy snacks in case you get hungry. There is no easier way to sabotage your good intentions then to get caught hungry at the shopping mall with the only food available being ice cream or pizza.

5) Set Monday as your weigh-in day. You are more likely to resist temptation if you have to face the scales first thing Monday morning.

6) Plan ahead!! If you are going out to eat, find the restaurant's menu (and any available nutritional information) online. Search online for a calorie counter and do the math. You'll have plenty of time to make a healthy choice before you get there and this way you will be able to enjoy yourself at the meal table and feel guilt free knowing you have just ordered the healthiest thing on the menu.

7) Don't save all of your splurging for the weekends. Allowing yourself a few treats throughout the week will help you avoid the mindset that the weekend is an excuse to go crazy. And by spacing your treats evenly, you're less likely to get sudden, irresistible cravings and undo all your hard weekday work.
So there you have 7 tips to avoid self-sabotage, and keep yourself on the right track - without having the need to be rudely awoken by the alarm clock at 5am on a Saturday morning reminding you it’s time to get up and jog on down to the gym! With a little extra effort and planning, you can turn weekends into an enjoyable experience and an opportunity to keep your program moving in the right direction without the need to spend all day Sunday confessing your dietary sins.
Have a great weekend and give a little thought to how much alcohol you might consume as well; It’s always cheaper when you hit the bars during happy hour!

I Just Started Working Out; Why am I gaining weight?

So you’ve just signed up for a membership at your local gym, or you just began working with a trainer, but after the first two weeks you get on the scale and realize that you’re a kilo heavier. What’s going on? Well first of all, if you have a trainer I’m sure he or she has told you to stay off the scale. Time and time again as fitness professionals we find ourselves locked in battle with the treacherous scale as people obsess over weight instead of the stuff that really matters i.e., body fat, girth measurements and how your clothes fit. So first things first, throw that scale out the window. Whether you gain weight or not has a significant amount to do with many factors, including body type and nutrition.





At Fitcorp Asia the fitness trainers begin an assessment with a body stat test, which is used to measure body fat versus lean mass, resting metabolism (# of calories needed to sustain your current muscle mass without moving) and average metabolic rate (# of calories that should be consumed by your body on average during an active day. When you begin to lift weights, your body which is now stimulated by heavier loads establishes new links between your brain and muscle. Your body begins to recruit more muscle and this increases its demands for energy.

It is this increase in demand that makes you feel hungrier than normal and it represents a change in your metabolism. This is a very critical time for you as you must now make better choices on what to consume and when to consume it, in order to meet the demands of increased muscle activity. The problem that many personal trainers find is that their clients will begin to use this newly revved up metabolism as a sort of credit card which affords them the luxury of eating junk food. This is however counterproductive to your goals of fat and weight loss and most people will experience weight gain if this is not monitored carefully. This is a time where you have a chance to combine your training with low calorie, high nutritional value foods and get the most out of your metabolism. At Fitcorp Asia, we encourage our clients to eat often, but to make sure that you’re eating quality foods.

Not only is nutrition a key reason for why you may be gaining weight, but consider this:

• Muscle is about 70% water and when you work out more; your body’s response places a higher demand for consumption of more water. Also in response to weight training your body needs to prepare itself for heavier loads. One of the ways it does this is to increase surface area by hydrating the muscle fibers in order to increase surface area and provide higher power outputs.





• Your lean mass includes muscle, bone and organs. Weight bearing activity stimulates muscle growth and stimulates an increase in bone density. These two things can easily cause significant weight gain within the first couple of months. This is where it is important to have a look at girth measurements and body fat. Muscle is heavier and denser than fat and as more muscle is stimulated, the body’s ability to burn fat increases, which sometimes results in a loss of inches with an overall gain of weight.

Similar to the old saying, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people”. Exercise doesn’t make you fat, the choices a person makes, makes that person fat.

At Fitcorp Asia we believe it’s about changing your lifestyle and by lifestyle we mean changing the way your body moves, the amount of movement that it does and changing the fuel that you run on.

The take home messages are clear. Throw out the scale and focus on getting stronger and increasing your metabolism by moving more and eating right. The rest will fall into place over time. Rome was not built in a day and your body took years to get this far; sometimes 10, 20 or 30+. The process of reprogramming your body is not an overnight miracle, but a life-long commitment to change.

From an excerpt of Maya Angelou, “If you don’t like something, change it.





If you can’t change it, change your attitude”. Realize that your trainer or fitness coach is there to assist you in reaching your goals, as well as support you along your journey to change. We give you the tools to succeed, but it just may be your attitude towards food, nutrition and exercise are the only thing holding you back from a better you.

By Rich Thurman, B.Sc., MA, CSCS, CPT.
Rich is the Fitness Development Manager and a Fitness Coach at Fitcorp Asia. Thailand's leading personal training, sports performance and corporate wellness organization. With a Bachelors degree in Physiological Science from UCLA a Masters in Sports Management from The University of San Francisco, Rich has over 10 years of experience in Fitness, Sports Performance, Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation. Whether it’s fat loss or toning, personal training or group exercise Fitcorp Asia, Thailand’s leading sports experts has something for everyone. For more information check out our website at www.fitcorpasia.com or drop Rich a line at Richard@fitcorpasia.com

Strong Buns for Performance & Fat Loss: Why Training Glutes is Essential

Many of you may remember the Sir Mix-A-Lot song, “I Like Big Butts”, but for those of you who do not remember this popular early 90s rap song and wonder why someone would prefer a big butt, think about this. The butt, which is composed of the gluteus maximus, medius and minimus is the ultimate sign of strength, power and in most cases a point of attraction for the opposite sex. The Glutes are often neglected and allowed to wither away into nonexistence by the working public who spend most of their time sitting at a desk, riding escalators instead of taking the stairs and generally performing activities without activating the Glute muscles.

But why should I have strong or shaped Glutes you ask? Well first of all, to hold up those pants without having to pull your belt so tight that it cuts off circulation. On a more serious note, having strong Glutes can help improve posture, ease back pain, strengthen your running stride, help prevent knee and hamstring injuries and increase power output during activity involving the legs.

At Fitcorp Asia, one of the things we emphasize with all of our new personal training, group training and even Boot Camp clients is the importance of Glute activation. We identify weaknesses or imbalances during initial evaluations and many of the problems that our clients face, whether it is in their performance or dealing with pain can be traced directly back to a weakness or an imbalance in the Glutes.

Activating the muscle fibers of the Glutes are the first step in developing a stronger, more shapely butt. Learning how to trigger those muscles on command and integrating their usage into the lower leg exercises that you may have done for years will provide much greater results over the long haul. Once you have successfully learned how to activate the Glutes, multi-joint exercises like squats and lunges will provide much more results.For the ladies who are concerned with having a larger butt, don’t worry one bit. These are the reasons why:

1. The Glutes are the second largest muscle group of the body after the back. For this reason, when we stimulate growth of these muscles, not only are the muscles used more, but more calories are utilized resulting in greater overall fat loss throughout the body.

2. Muscle takes up less space than fat. More muscle, less fat…less space. Just ask my personal training clients how their jeans fit since we’ve been Glute training.

3. Muscle has a defined shape giving the body nice curves. Need I say more?

For all the guys who are thinking, I don’t want to do Jane Fonda exercises; these are the reasons to reconsider:

1. Consider Usain Bolt, the fastest man on earth. For all of the men striving to be faster but focusing on the quadriceps, think again. It is the Glutes that are required for horizontal propulsion and according to studies fire more than twice as much as the quadriceps during sprinting. Don’t forget your backside gentlemen!

So ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, what are you waiting for? It’s time to get off your backside and get moving. The road to a happier, healthier body starts here.

By Rich Thurman, B.Sc., MA, CSCS, CPT.

Rich is the Fitness Development Manager and a Fitness Coach at Fitcorp Asia. Thailand's leading personal training, sports performance and corporate wellness organization. With a Bachelors degree in Physiological Science from UCLA a Masters in Sports Management from The University of San Francisco, Rich has over 10 years of experience in Fitness, Sports Performance, Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation. Whether it’s fat loss or toning, personal training or group exercise Fitcorp Asia, Thailand’s leading sports experts has something for everyone. For more information check out our website at www.fitcorpasia.com or drop Rich a line at Richard@fitcorpasia.com

Young Athletes in Action with Personal Trainers Bangkok - Fitcorp Asia

Fitcorp Asia's expert fitness coaches and young athlete conditioning specialists conducted youth fitness programs at the International School of Bangkok's (ISB) Health & Fitness Expo in Bangkok Thailand on September 16th, 2009.



"Working with youth is very different to working with adults", Daniel Remon, Fitcorp Asia's founder and Thailand's only Youth Fitness Specialist. "We break down youth into different age categories, 6-9, 10-13, and 14+. Each age group have unique needs, from the way we communicate, coach, give instructions and how they interpret information, he says."

"Working with the younger youth is a lot of fun, they are more into what we call 'Guided Discovery' which is giving them the opportunity to find out for themselves the process behind movement."




Daniel Remon is the Founder and managing Director of Fitcorp Asia. One of Asia's most exclusive and professional private fitness companies. Focused on delivering amazing results and unique personal and small group programs, Fitcorp Asia offer personal training, nutrition coaching, corporate health, fitness boot camps. weekend fitness retreats throughout Thailand and the Asia Pacific Region.

For more information, visit: http:www.fitcorpasia.com