One Man and Paleo (Day 3)

• Nutrition
• No Comments

All right, Day 3 has come and gone and I’m feeling pretty in the grove with the diet. I will add though that yesterday was the first day I had any specific cravings; I really wanted some bread. But didn’t give in and had a good day of eating. I added a few things from Day 1 and Day 2, I had a bit more handfuls of nuts. I carried around a bag of raw mixed veggies to nosh on when I needed it and I had about two dozen small shrimp for dinner.

One little tidbit I’ve used to help things taste good is that in a pinch if I need a quick meal I through some beef or chicken (about 6-8 oz) in a bowl along with a whole avocado and about half a cup to a full cup of good fresh salsa. Heat up for about two minutes and you get a nice fast tasty meal.

All in all so far I feel pretty good. I’ve noticed a decided lack of feeling bloated (I’m pretty certain this comes from ditching the processed carbs.) Energy seems to be okay, though I felt a little more tired at night then I do normally. Probably just need an adjustment in calories. A few more fruits and veggies should probably help.

Remember, a nutrition bar or whey shake is still processed! All natural, all real. Pick it. Kill it. Eat it.

See you tomorrow.

Mike Babbitt, M.F.A, M.A., CSCS

Master Trainer

Mike is a Master Level trainer at Empower Personal Training. He has a unique approach to fitness that combines his scientific foundation of research and applied exercise physiology with his artistic experience as a professional stage actor. For more information about Empower Personal Training please call (919) 401-8024

One Man and Paleo (Day 2)

• Nutrition
• No Comments

Onto day 2. What I ate yesterday was pretty much the same I ate on day one. I added a few more nuts and I ate an extra 6 oz of chicken but all in all it was the same.

One thing I’m noticing is that this diet is calorically deficient. What I mean by that is it isn’t a convenient diet. When we did the vegan diet I could walk in just about anywhere, including fast food and/or convenience stores, and get something small to eat. With this diet you can’t do that. I was driving back from an appointment and was feeling a little hungrier than normal so I stopped to get gas. Went inside and there was almost nothing I could eat. I ended up with a small bag of nuts. But other than that, nada. With this diet you’ve got to plan. You need to have your food with you.

Stay hungry andsee youtomorrow.

Mike Babbitt, M.F.A, M.A., CSCS

USA Triathlon Level 1 Coach, Master Trainer

Mike is a Master Level trainer at Empower Personal Training. He has a unique approach to fitness that combines his scientific foundation of research and applied exercise physiology with his artistic experience as a professional stage actor. For more information about Empower Personal Training please call (919) 401-8024

One Man and Paleo (Day 1)

• Nutrition
• No Comments

All right. Yesterday was the start of the paleo experience.

Here’s what I ate throughout the day:

2 boiled egss

1 apple

2 nectarine

6 oz chicken

6 oz london broil

2 oz cashews

2 tomatoes

1 red pepper

1 chili pepper

1 habenero

1/2 onion

1 avocado

All meat was hormone free and free ranged.

It all tasted great and I mixed it into various different concoctions of food to be spread over about 4 meals. I drank a ton of water and had 1 coke zero. This is my big weakness now, I’ve got a fairly strong addiction to coke zero. I decided at the beginning of the week with the changes I was already making I was not going to try and tackle this. I’ll save it for another week.

By the end of the day I was a bit hungry, that sort of hunger that sits in the back of your mind, but not overwhelmingly hungry. I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that this is probably going to be a constant feeling with this nutrition plan, but hey, that’s cool. We should always be slightly hungry anyway. Part of our nations big problem is always eating to be completely full. That would rarely happen in the world of paleo man. And when it did, it was most likely from a fresh kill.

Stay tuned for tomorrow.

Mike Babbitt, M.F.A, M.A., CSCS

USA Triathlon Level 1 Coach, Master Trainer

Mike is a Master Level trainer at Empower Personal Training. He has a unique approach to fitness that combines his scientific foundation of research and applied exercise physiology with his artistic experience as a professional stage actor. For more information about Empower Personal Training please call (919) 401-8024

One Man and Paleo (Day 0)

• Nutrition
• No Comments

So if you haven’t heard, this week Empower Personal Training is doing a week long nutrition challenge using the Paleo Diet. The gist of the diet is that if you can pick it and eat it raw or kill it it’s fair game (pun intended). So, no legumes (that includes peanuts), no processed foods, no processed carbs like bread (you’re welcome to eat all the uncooked grain you want but I’m not sure your stomach will like that.) Dairy should be keep to a minimum and you can sprinkle in some nuts. But mostly it’s lean meats, raw fruits and vegetables (cooking the meat is good but try to keep most of the veggies raw.)

I’m doing the challenge because I’m hoping it’ll jump start a nutrition/fitness program for me that has been lacking due to injuries for the last two years (yeah, believe me, it’s not been fun.) I’m still in the injured category but things are starting to come aroundand as the winter hits the tendency is to become more sedentary. I’m betting that this kickstarts some good stuff for me and sends me into the winter months ready.

I’ll be blogging every day this week to talk about how it’s going. Each day I’ll describe what and how much I ate plus how it may be effecting me physically and/or emotionally (goodbye to bread is going to make me grumpy.)

Stay tuned for all the fun.

Mike

Mike Babbitt, M.F.A, M.A., CSCS

USA Triathlon Level 1 Coach, Master Trainer

Mike is a Master Level trainer at Empower Personal Training. He has a unique approach to fitness that combines his scientific foundation of research and applied exercise physiology with his artistic experience as a professional stage actor. For more information about Empower Personal Training please call (919) 401-8024

Unrealistic Expectations

• Articles,
• Personal,
• Psychology of Exercise and Nutrition,
• Uncategorized
• No Comments

It’s a common trap people fall into. We go to the movies or watch television and see the beautiful celebrities on the screen and strive to have that same look. Who wouldn’t want to look like Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) from Fight Club or a Victoria Secret model?

Tyler Durden

Miranda Kerr

But it’s important to remember the circumstances of these people’s lives. Your job may be an accountant, a programmer, a mother, or anything else. You probably dedicate 40-60 hours per week on your job alone, not to mention finding time to exercise, cook, clean your house, do laundry, pay the bills, etc. During your two weeks off (maybe) per year you’re probably busy trying to rest and relax.

Their job is to look good.

Brad Pitt has made 21 movies since Fight Club came out in 1999. That’s just over two movies per year, and assuming filming takes two months (max) he can dedicate the rest of his time to eating pristine foods, exercising as much as he needs, and sleeping. And don’t think I’m trying to take anything away from him. I believe these people are extremely disciplined and focused towards their goals. I once read that Christian Bale had to starve himself for over four months prior to filming a movie. His eating consisted of a cup of coffee and either one apple or one can of tuna each day. Now that’s dedication.

But think of how he must have felt during that period. The point is that these people are putting themselves through extreme circumstances in order to obtain a certain look for the camera. It’s their job.

Christian Bale

Paul Piracci, BS CSCS

Paul brings a background of athletics and education to the Empower team. He believes that wellness should be viewed as a blended lifestyle that balances nutrition, a healthy mind, and fitness which incorporates fun recreational activities. For more information about Empower Personal Training please call (919) 401-8024.