Spring Cleanse Your Body – Part 1

Spring is officially upon us and with it comes the perfect time to shake off any winter lethargy and perhaps the resultant additional pounds and spring cleanse your body!

Let’s start with the basics.

What is a ‘cleanse’?

By our definition, a cleanse is the act of both reducing the amount of toxins coming IN to the body whilst aiding or accelerating the processing and elimination of toxins OUT of the body.

In others words, cleansing helps us detoxify the existing CRAP (typically Chemicals, Refined sugars, Alcohol and Processed foods) out of our system whilst at the same time reducing the amount of CRAP that we put in that system in the first place!

At W10 Performance this process often begins with our W10 14-day Re-boot program.

What is the W10 14-day Re-boot?

The reality for people who are carrying a few extra pounds is that their blood sugar levels are out of whack and they have developed some degree of insulin resistance – disastrous for both health and aesthetics!

How has this come about?  Long story short, insulin rears its head in response to elevated blood sugar levels and insulin resistance occurs when insulin levels are elevated over a prolonged period of time, causing the body’s own sensitivity to insulin to be reduced.  This is a fat loss own goal and we need to reverse this, quickly.  Enter the 14-day Re-boot diet.

How does the 14-Day Re-boot work?

Our 14-day Re-boot program does exactly what it says on the tin; it ‘re-boots’ the system, specifically kick-starting fat loss.

In a nutshell, it works by removing processed foods and refined sugars that negatively affect insulin levels and balancing the diet with low GI foods which will help rebalance, or re-boot, our sensitivity to insulin.  This will help us tolerate sugars better and in turn help us shed some of that excess body fat.

So, we’re removing higher GI food – which eliminates all processed foods and refined sugars; we’re removing alcohol completely; and we’re placing the emphasis on clean water and organic produce – thus reducing many sources of chemicals and other unwanted nasties from the system.

Net effect?  Many major sources of CRAP removed from the system meaning a significantly healthier and more aesthetically pleasing you!

How do I do the 14-Day Re-boot?

It’s simple.  For fourteen days – and fourteen days only – you eat from the ‘green’ foods at the base of the W10 Food Pyramid, excluding all fruit and Category B vegetables.  No digressions, no cheat meals.  That’s it.  (We know, but it works!)

The only other guidelines we give are around protein quantity, supplements and fluids.

Protein recommendations are based an individuals lean mass and we encourage people to ensure that they get adequate amounts.  This is important for several reasons, most notably the preservation of lean mass and to aid liver detoxification.  A palm-sized serving with each meal is a decent guideline.

Supplements are not essential but will definitely help. If you choose to do nothing else, throw an organic greens drink into the mix (to help alkalize the system), some omega 3 fish oils (to help reduce inflammation), some fibre (to ‘clean out the pipes’), and a decent probiotic (to boost gut health).  A good quality multivitamin will also make you feel better.

Needless to say that plenty of clean water is essential – add lime to further alkalise.  No coffee would be ideal; one coffee per day is fine.  Herbal teas are in.  All else is out.

What can I expect from doing the 14-Day Re-boot?

Significant fat loss, increased energy levels, better looking skin, better sleep and radically improved mood are just a few of the things you’ll be experiencing by the end of the fourteen days.

Although it’s probably fair to say that for most people the first few days can be pretty tough going, the effort is worth it.  You’ll look, feel and function better – and you’ll find it easier to lose or maintain your weight in the long run.

Is the 14-Day Re-boot suitable for everyone?

It’s suitable for most people, although if you’re starting on the back foot you might want to build up to it meal by meal – something we do a lot with our new members at W10.

In other words, align your breakfast to the green list first – do that for a week or two.  Next, look at your lunch, align that to the green list – do that for a further two weeks.  Next, look at dinner, and so on.

Where can I find the W10 Food Pyramid?

You can find our downloadable W10 Food Pyramid on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/W10Performance and on our website homepage.  Please feel free to ask us any questions that you may have there also.

You’re set.

Happy spring cleansing!

In Part 2, we’ll look more closely at specific nutritional cleansing where we’ll introduce our 14-day W10 Amino Cleanse, a two week fat loss program designed to specifically boost liver function and help rejuvenate the digestive system, whilst simultaneously helping you shift fat like no other program we’ve seen!

12 Reasons You’re Not Losing Fat

'Whole' grain or not, they're not going to help most people when it comes to losing body fat!

Have a read of the 12 Reasons You’re Not Losing Body Fat guest blog by Jason Ferruggia which we posted on our Facebook page.

It’s a really good overview of the common mistakes A LOT of people are making when it comes to fat loss.

We’ll worth a read…..

 

Q&A: How much protein can I process in one sitting?

How much protein is can we actually use?

If you believe most things that you read, the most your body can digest in one sitting is 30g of protein. This is a myth – ask any serious athlete or bodybuilder!

From an evolutionary perspective it just wouldn’t have made sense.  We survived on periods of feast and famine (and functioned pretty well on it thank you very much), and without the ability to process larger amounts of food we might not be having this discussion today.

We must also consider that studies done to publicise this 30g theory were carried out on senior citizen groups and have little application to many of us.  This is because as you get older we lose the ability to process and digest higher amount of protein (due to decreased stomach acid).

How much can we process in one go?  We don’t know exactly.  It will very much depend on the individual and their specific circumstances (muscle mass, gut health, etc, etc).  But what we do know, is that increased amounts of protein help with muscle building and recovery during periods of high exercise volume, which would suggest that it’s being used!

How many grams of protein should I be consuming daily?

It really depends on whether you believe the vegetarians or the bodybuilders.

Most people need more protein than they currently get, but it depends on various factors (size, muscles mass, etcetera).   Although protein is key for many functions and has a huge impact on fat loss, muscle building and detoxification, too much protein from animal sources can also be taxing on the digestive system and cause an undesirable increase in pH.

Different people thrive on different amounts and of macronutrients (protein, carbohydrate and fat).  We all need all of these, but in different ratios.  Many people’s diets are too high in the wrong type of carbohydrates (bread, pasta, rice, etc) and this leads to weight gain.  Some people on a higher proportion of these carbohydrates in their diets, the majority of us however do not and should therefore be eating a higher proportion of protein and fats.

In bodybuilding circles, and in an increasing number of fat loss approaches, many people advocate huge amounts of animal protein, with greens, zero fruits and no other forms of carbohydrate.  Spot on if all you care about is getting lean very quickly.  Not perhaps so good for your digestive system and general mood!

Conversely, vegetarians taking in no animal protein, in our opinion are missing out on many essential amino acids, fats and nutrients, which are key to overall health.  Not to mention that protein consumption plays a big role in liver detoxification, building muscle, increasing strength and shifting body fat.

Our approach is probably somewhere in the middle.  Even from a sports performance perspective, we have found that it is possible to consume less animal protein and still maintain muscle mass and strength levels – although pre, during and post workout nutrition has to be spot on.  No matter, you must eat plentiful vegetables.

The bottom line, is that you need to eat according to your requirements and these vary hugely from person to person.  It’s worth remembering also that quality is as, if not more important, than the quantity.