47 Things Worth Reading

Image source: crossfit.com

Another great week has gone by! I feel really satisfied. Every day I am getting more and more convinced that everything in life is up to us, our attitude and our thoughts! Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. If life seems like an evil and an ugly place to be, then the problem is inside of you and that’s where you should search! That is what is supposed to be fixed!

Enjoy life, because it is truly beautiful! Focus on the good things and be grateful for everything you have!

Read a lot! It really makes life complete!

Have a wonderful weekend! Stay positive and full of enthusiasm and desire to live!

First, READ MORE

The Shocking Confession of a Personal Trainer! And Why Would You Care?

I don't squat when I perform deadlifts

Some time ago, one of my Facebook friends ( I won’t mention his name), who is a personal trainer and who is responsible for preparing men and women for bodybuilding and body fitness competitions, posted a picture of Vanessa Tib, performing a deadlift. What shocked me was not the picture( it was a good one), but his comment above the picture.

What was the comment and why do I think that it is worth a whole post?

“Proper deadlift form. It’s basically a squat from the ground and works the same musculature.”

Really? Are you serious? I sit really possible for a person who works with so many people and whose health is in his hands, to be convinced that squats and deadlifts are basically the same thing and work the same muscles?

That’s why I decided to pay close attention to the HUGE difference between squatting and deadlifting, so if there are some of you who are fooled into thinking that both movements are the same, could give it more thought ad question what is really the proper technique!

My personal opinion READ MORE

Q&A: Everything about The Chocolate Diet, Sprinting Workouts and Raw Nuts

Image source: http://marica.bg/show.php?id=94882

Last week I decided to start a Q&A(HERE), where every week I will choose a couple of your questions, and share my opinion about them on the blog! This week I will respond to the questions if the chocolate diet is healthy, what do workouts with sprints look like and if I eat raw nuts! READ MORE

Part 3: A Calorie Is NOT A Calorie:Why Junk Food In Moderation Is Bad for You

Image source: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=5652014568421

What is the foundation of turning nutrition into a lifestyle, so your thoughts aren’t constantly preoccupied with food; so you don’t feel constantly hungry and so you don’t wonder how to trick your grueling stomach?

The answer is that you should find the right approach to control hunger and appetite. And the right approach has nothing to do with “tricking” your body and your hunger. And it has everything to do with giving your body enough quality food, which will provide it with the necessary fuel for your muscles and organs, so your brain can get to receive signals that “everything is under control” and that the proper functioning and the survival of the body are ensured.

As I already mentioned on my Facebook page, the lack of fuel for the active tissues provides the
primary signal to eat. It’s calories BURNED as energy, not calories EATEN, that determines appetite, hunger, and how much one eats. The calories that enter the mouth and stomach don’t control food intake. How the body disposes of the calories it eats, either into fat for storage or into muscles and organs for burning, determines food intake.

What does that mean? You could eat a pork steak with broccoli and then feel satiety for a long time, as well as enough energy.

And you could eat a portion of pasta with some kind of sauces and then after an hour your thoughts will be preoccupied with food again; then eat one-two slices of bread with some peanut butter and jelly and then after an hour you will be there again- wondering what to eat!

Thus the steak and broccoli, as a sum of calories will be less than the pasta, the peanut butter sandwiches and whatever else you eat.

Why does it turn out like this?  The first meal makes you feel full for longer, and the second type of food even though the sum of the meals, equals more calories altogether, makes you feel the need of more food?

Because READ MORE

Part 2: A Calorie Is NOT A Calorie:Why Junk Food In Moderation Is Bad for You

This week I will stick to the topic of nutrition and the myths, which are successfully spread among society and the myths which, people blindly believe! First of all, ask yourself the question, “What results did I get so far, by following the common understanding about healthy eating (i.e. limiting the fat intake, focusing on eating grains and fruits, multiple meals a day in small quantities)?”

If your answer is that by eating like this, you are finally content with your body composition, that you feel energetic, and that you don’t have sweet cravings anymore, you are probably among the minority of people, who have found the balance. But because I highly doubt it, that eating the way I mentioned, you feel in the way I described above, I think that it is about time to ask yourself if this is truly the healthiest and the best way to eat!

Some time ago I wrote this post( “A Calorie Is NOT A Calorie: Why Junk Food In Moderation Is Bad for You” HERE), where I emphasized on the fact that not all calories are created equal and that “everything in moderation” is just a stupid myth. While you are a slave of this myth, you will be on a constant journey, searching for the appropriate diet!

Why?

As I mentioned last week, your bodyweight pretty much consists of your muscles, organs and fat. Food is meant to “feed” your muscles and your organs, the so called active tissue, so they can function properly and so they can guarantee your survival as a human being.

How would that matter? The food you eat, either provides your muscles and organs the fuel they need in order to function properly, or it never manages to be directed to them and instead it is being stored as fat.

Imagine it this way- the food, that you eat, is being “kidnapped” and stored as fat, while your active tissue( muscles and organs) are starving.

This will immediately lead to a reaction in your body, which in turn will send signals to your brains, that you need food. Thus, even though you just ate, you will soon feel as if you need to eat again. And not because you haven’t eaten enough, but because you did not eat the right food, which could provide your body with quality fuel!

Here, again, as an evil teacher, who has a grudge on the bad student, I will start the topic about eating too much carbs and how actually they are the one interfering with your progress.

Probably everyone of you is aware that carbs increase levels of insulin. Insulin is the so called storage hormone, which is to blame for the storage of fat in your body. Besides that its role is to regulate the levels of blood sugar. When you eat carbs, this increases the amount of blood sugar, insulin is being produced in order to take away “ the sugar” from the blood. These peak and lowering of insulin is responsible for you feeling tired after you eat, and for the constant hunger you feel. Besides that high levels of insulin interfere with the burning of fats!

Ok, here I want to mention that insulin has a vital importance for survival, but when everything functions normally, and when you are not in the enchanted circle of high levels of insulin, followed by drastic decreases and then drastic peaks!

What happens when your diet consists of too much carbs? The metabolic pathways, for digesting carbs and fats are different and they require different enzymes for digestion. The hormonal changes, which occur in your body, when you eat carbs, increase the production of enzymes, which help for the storage of fats. Everything comes up to the so called lipogenesis, which is the conversion of carbs into fats. During this process, the enzymes convert glucose ( blood sugar) into the fat storage “chemical”- triglycerid.

Here we come again, to the calorie portioning I mentioned last week (HERE and HERE). In this case, fuel is being directed to the production of fats and their storage and it can’t be used as fuel from muscles and organs.

Thus the active tissue does not have enough fuel to function properly, so even though you eat, in reality your body is starving. Your mistake is that you eat the wrong foods. You eat too much junk and carbs.

Today give it a thought what you eat and if you are giving your body enough quality food, and tomorrow I will continue discussing the topic, by explaining you more about the difference in the way your body functions, when your diet contains a lot of fats, and on the contrary when it is a low carb, high fat diet!

P.S. If you liked this post, please take a minute and share it with your friends! I’d greatly appreciate it!

Don’t forget to join my Facebook page! Thank you!

I Want to Start and Finish Relationships As I Do with Books…

National Sports Academy in Bulgaria

„ I want to start and finish relationships as I do with books. When I am done with one, I just reach for the next one. I got to know it, I liked it ( or not that much), I laughed, I cried sometimes, I learned something new and in one moment I want/ I don’t want it to end.” Maria Vasileva

I read this some time ago. I think it sounds beautiful. It made me think about a lot of things and I made the parallel not just with relationships, but with everything in life. Those who know me, are aware that I love reading. I have so many books. I always wonder, why I don’t pay for a card in the library, just rent the book, read it and then return it back.

Every time I ask myself this question, I find the same answer… because after each book I read, it somehow becomes part of me… I take a piece of the book and it gives me a piece of itself.

Then, I leave it on the shelf of my huge home library… sometimes I remember about the book, and sometimes months, years go by without even thinking about it.

Every book I read, gives me the freedom to use my imagination, to experience what happens inside, just the way I want it. Just the way I see the world! You immerse in the pages, where you find more, than what you think that you already know about yourself.

Every book is something, like a mini world. Like a mini fragment from true life, where you READ MORE

Delicious Salad with Tuna and Mackerel

Image source: http://kickstartfatloss.net

I love sea food! I ADORE it! I love eating fish, but most of all I love mackerel. that’s why more often than not, that’s my pick. Sometimes I like eating tuna, but I can hardly ever get satiety, if I do not add a solid amount of fat. That’s why today I decided to share with you a delicious salad with mackerel and tuna.

Ingredients: READ MORE

59 Things Worth Reading

Lauren Plumey

Another great week has gone by! I hope that you are feeling motivated and full of enthusiasm! I am getting back in shape and it feels great to be back in the gym and be pain free. I read a lot this week, but besides the blogs I follow, I read two books, so this explains the less reads, compared to the list last week. Have a wonderful weekend and don’t forget to go out for a walk and eat some steaks and eggs!

First, READ MORE

Q&A: Everything about Peanut Butter, Workouts at Home and Nutrition for Beginners

The beautiful Bella Falconi

Lately I am receiving a lot of messages and unfortunately I can’t respond to all of them personally! That’s why I decided that once a week I will choose the most frequently asked questions, and I will respond to them here. Thus, everybody who has a similar question, will have the opportunity to read my opinion, without having to write me. I want to thank everybody, who sends me a message! I am trying to read everything and more often than not, I try to respond as many people as possible, but when that doesn’t happen, do not take it personally! I promise that one way or another, you will get the answer you are searching for! READ MORE

One More Priceless Exercise for Your Posterior Chain, That You Hardly Ever Do!

One really underestimated and rarely performed exercise in the gym, is the so called “ good morning”. Unfortunately just like deadlifts and squats, the “good morning” also has a bad name. Interesting! All UNIQUE exercises and absolutely essential exercises that ensure the good health of a person, are being denied and claimed as dangerous! No wonder that most people spend their time in the gym, sitting on different, weird machines and no wonder that so many people have a bad posture, lower back pain and so on.

One of the best exercises, which you could perform in order to strengthen your posterior chain is good mornings. Unfortunately people rarely take the time to learn the proper way to do the exercise and usually their first try to perform it, ends up with a sharp lower back pain. That’s how myths about the danger of the exercise start!

Well, I want to tell you that there aren’t many exercises, which could contribute so much to you getting rid of lower back pain, as good mornings could! That’s right! Not harm you, but actually help you!

Besides that it will help you shape nice, strong hamstrings, get your butt tighter and strengthen your lower back muscles,GM is a great READ MORE