Best – Mike Cola

MikeCola.TV

My wife and I went out to dinner in Scarsdale , NY with friends this weekend. As soon as we sat down, one of are friends said he was really hungry and asked the waiter to quickly bring over some bread.  I instantly said to myself  “his body must have been surviving on sugar for fuel instead of burning fat”. I know it’s common for people to be so hungry that they can’t wait for their main meal to come and have to instantly eat tons of bread to get some sugar in their systems and feel better; I witness this all the time.

Unfortunately, it’s not good to get so hungry and have to quickly eat a bunch of empty sugar calories like bread to feel normal again. You should be able to skip a whole meal or not eat for a number of hours and not be overly hungry. If you can’t do that I would bet your eating too many empty calories and I would guess you’re most likely over weight. Even if you’re not eating very much but snack on small amounts of sugar all day like pretzels or sodas, what you’re doing is programming your body to burn sugar all day and not letting fat release into the blood stream to be burned as fuel.

What you have to do is reprogram your body to burn fat. You do this by eating protein and healthy fat while reducing simple insulin raising carbohydrates. When you eat sugars the first thing the body will do is burn the sugar as fuel. If you eat too much sugar your body will produce insulin, a storage hormone that helps remove the sugar from the blood steam and can store it as fat. If your snacking on carbohydrates like pretzels all day you will always be hungry. As soon as your body removes the sugar (pretzels) from your blood stream with insulin, you’re hungry again and you haven’t burned off any fat. You are pretty much living off of sugar all day.

If the scenario above sounds like you, your goal should be to eat mostly organic vegetables for your carbohydrates with organic meats, chicken, fish and eggs for your proteins and fats.  Snack on nuts, seeds and some fruits. By eating this way your blood sugar will be more stable. You will keep insulin under control, you won’t be overly hungry if you miss a meal and your body will be programmed to burn fat as a fuel when ever possible.

I know conventional wisdom suggests that all that matters is calorie intake to calories burned when it comes to weight loss. But my 25 years of experience has showed me its not that simple.  My contrarian view is that insulin can play a large role in weight gain, hunger and a number of other healthy related issues.

If your always reaching for the bread before dinner, try eating like I recommend in this article for a few weeks and let me know if you are less hungry and have lost some weight.

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Best – Mike Cola

Personal Training

My NYC personal training clients were always asking me what are the rules when they go out to dinner. For years I used to frequent restaurants that my clients would go to so that I could recommend healthy choices for them while still letting them enjoy a delicious meal. It was fun and challenging going out to different restaurants in New York City like Jean Georges, Union Square Café and Le Bernardin to name a few to determine what I thought were the least fattening appetizers, entrees and deserts for my clients to eat. I would even study the drink menu and make my recommendations. But this process was very time consuming and costly. My clients frequent some of the best restaurants in New York and to try to keep up with them and the changing menus was impossible for me.

Over the years the Internet has made my job a lot easier. Most restaurants have their menus on their website. When one of my clients is going out to a restaurant, all I have to do is look at the menu and make my suggestions. Every now and then I call to ask some questions but most of the time there is enough information right on the web.

I recommend trying this the next time you plan on going out to eat. Go online and look up the menu and decide exactly what you’re going to eat and drink before you get there. Not only will you make a much healthy and sliming choice you will enjoy your time at the restaurant more.  You will have plenty of time to socialize without the pressure of not knowing what to order. Call the restaurant and ask some questions like what are the specials tonight and how are the dishes prepared. If you’re going to a fine restaurant they will be happy to help you.

Follow these rules when deciding what to eat at the best restaurants in New York

• Stick to vegetables and protein (meat, fish and poultry) when it comes to appetizers and entrees. Ordering meat and vegetables are all good choices as long as they’re not breaded or fried. Tuna tartare, grilled octopus, vegetable salads, grain & cream free soups are all good choices for appetizers. Steaks, chops, whole fish, poultry entrees served with vegetables are all good choices as long as they’re not breaded, fried, glazed or caramelized.
• What you don’t want to eat are grains or potatoes. No bread, rice or pasta. Even so called healthy grains are off limits like quinoa & couscous. No mashed, baked or roasted potatoes and stay away from all pasta.
• In addition don’t order anything that has a sugary coating. No sugary glazes or barbeque sauces. Avoid anything caramelized.
• Have a small portion of cheese or fruit for desert
• When ordering alcoholic drinks stick to martinis and wine within reason.

I have found over the years that this style of eating works very well in fine restaurants. It lets you enjoy the taste of fine food by not limiting the fat and spices in the preparation. What you are avoiding by sticking to my recommendations are the empty calories and the sugar content on the menu. Eating the bread, pasta, rice and potatoes is what puts you over the limit and adds the inches to your waistline.

The next time you plan on going to a fine restaurant decide what you’re going to eat ahead of time. You will be a lot happier in the morning when you step on the scale.

If you need some help making the right fine-dining decisions drop me an email.

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Best – Mike Cola

Personal Training New York

What to Eat at a Barbeque to Avoid Summer Weight Gain

• Always start off with a salad. I have never been to an adult barbeque where there was not a salad.

• Don’t pick on chips or pretzels. They’re just empty calories that you don’t even realize you’re eating. Must people will grab a handful out of habit when they’re not even hungry.

• It’s ok to eat hamburger but avoid the bun. Same thing for a hotdog; if you have to have one don’t eat the bun.

• The best choices for your entrée would be grilled fish or lean meats but fattier cuts are ok as long as you avoid other empty calories at the barbeque like bread and sugary deserts.

• Stay away from potato and pasta salads. Potato salad and pasta salad is too carbohydrate heavy along with all the other food you will be eating and drinking at a barbeque.

• Eat as many vegetables as you like. Corn on the cob is great along with any grilled vegetables.

• When it comes to drinking alcohol, I like to drink beer at a summer barbeque. What I do to limit the calories is drink light beer on ice. I drink light beer on ice all summer long. It‘s a great summer drink that is low in calories and limits the amount of alcohol consumed. It’s my version of a white wine spritzer. A white wine spritzer is a great idea at a barbecue, as well.

• Watermelon or any fruit is a great choice for desert at a barbeque. Just stay away from cakes and pies.

Everyone loves going to barbeques in the summer but doesn’t like to gain weight. I’ve been helping my personal training clients avoid gaining weight in the summer by following the above simple rules.

Let me know how you avoid gaining weight at a summer barbeque.

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Best – Mike Cola

Personal Training in Bronxville, Scarsdale & Chappaqua

You can flatten your stomach by stretching out your hip flexors and strengthening your hip extensors. Stretching the three primary hip flexors known as Psoas Major, Illacus and Rectus Femoris and strengthening the hip extensors known as Gluteus Maximus and Hamstrings could solve the belly pooch problem for good.

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Best – Mike Cola

Personal Training -Westchester, NY & Greenwich, CT