This article is for the person who has dedicated perhaps 3 hours or more per week to some kind of exercise but finds that he or she is not getting the results they expect – or no results at all.
For sure, you will “feel” better with 3 hours of exercise per week, compared with spending those hours watching re-runs of the Simpsons on TV, but you may not be getting the weight loss or fat burning results you want. Or you may not be getting the firmness in your muscles that you want.
In most cases, your nutrition is the problem.
The need for nutritional changes was researched in 2008/2009 at the University of Texas. In this study, a group of sedentary individuals did 12 weeks of hard training. This consisted of 3 hours of resistance training, and 2 hours of cardiovascular training per week, under the supervision of qualified personal trainers and fitness coaches at a proper gym or fitness center. So lack of exercise was not the issue. However, they were not asked to change anything in their diets.
1kg of muscle gain, and a 1% drop in body fat (about 0.5kg on a 50kg woman) over 12 weeks, training 5 hours per week.
I would consider such results shameful! Over the same time period, our best clients lose 15-18%, or 10-15kg of body fat. This is done safely and permanently with no calorie counting and no starvation diets, largely due to customised nutrition plans and lifestyle changes.
The results of the study are pretty clear. Without nutritional intervention, one will be disappointed with the training program or personal trainer!
However, many out there lament, “I tried that program…why did that program not work for me?” Clearly, not everything works for everyone!
This is because each of us is unique, with different tolerance levels for different foods. Each of us require different amounts of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates, as well as different amounts of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.
For example, a person with darker skin may need more vitamin D from food or supplement sources because his skin does not allow as much vitamin D to be produced from exposure to sunlight.
A person of Caucasian ancestry may handle dairy products better than an Asian.
A blond and blue eyed individual may not be able to tolerate wheat products well, and so on.
Customised nutrition is also dependent on many factors such as genetic tolerance of carbohydrates, country of origin, current body-fat level, activity level etc.
While bearing the above in mind, one simple rule holds true for all:
“If a caveman had it, you can have it too”
Did a caveman have meat? – Yes
Veggies? – Yes
Fruit? – Yes (although his fruit was much less sugary than ours!)
Seafood? – Yes
French fries? – No
Cookies? – No
Candy bars? – No
Genetically modified grains? – No
I think you get my point.
We are genetically similar to our ancient ancestors. But our food has changed dramatically over the last 100 years. Most of these changes have not been good for us.
However, just by abiding by the “Caveman” rule above, almost all of us will experience better sleep, energy levels, lower body-fat levels, and improved markers of health like C-reactive protein, and lower triglycerides.
So if you want to see your health and exercise results sky-rocket, start eating ‘caveman style’ today.
Written by Coach Jon
