Life is Complicated

Guest blogger: Karin Anderson

First of all, please call me Karin. Just Karin. The "doctor" part is only for work.

I am a normal person. I'm not a born, natural athlete. If I eat too much crappy food and fail to exercise, I get fat. I have about as much coordination as your average toddler. I am fit because I work at it every single day. I do have a trainer, who is awesome (just check out his picture!), but a trainer isn't going to pull the pound cake out of your mouth or lift the weights for you or run in your place. Life is complicated, we all have a lot of obligations, and the only way to get and stay fit is to make a commitment to yourself and to make that a priority, or a part of everyday life, like brushing your teeth or feeding the dogs. Often that means going to the gym after a busy night shift, but you have to do what you have to do. Working with regular folks on what to do to lose weight, to keep it off, and to enjoy the process (or at least not hate it) – that’s why I’m here. There are so many emotional processes at work, and they involve learning to understand and accept your relationship with food and exercise, learning to find your place in this world, and learning to find joy in the little things.

Although I have not had any formal training in nutrition or exercise physiology beyond what I've learned in medical school, which is at least a decent background, I have several nutrition and exercise physiology texts which I love to read -- studying is actually FUN when you're doing it because you're interested in it, rather than having to cram for a test. So even if I don't have the answers off the top of my head, I have access to the resources and the ability to digest (no pun intended) them.

CHARLIE MIKE may be upbeat and positive, but it’s also realistic, and I’m not going to be the first blogger to tell you that you can sit on the couch and eat and achieve all of your fitness goals! Now that we have that behind us, if there’s a topic you’d like me to tackle, let me hear from you.

Secret Weapon #1: Nutrition

CM SEAL Team blogger: Mike Ryan

What do you need?

Proper protein intake is critical for athletic performance. Though protein can be used as energy by converting amino acids into glucose, its primary function is to build and repair tissues. Protein is made up of essential and non - essential amino acids. The key difference is that the body can produce non-essential amino acids whereas essential amino acids must be gained through food. You need both. Good sources include whole foods (beef, fish, turkey) as well as high quality sports supplements. Supplementation is a convenient way to augment your diet to ensure adequate protein intake. (We’ll discuss this later - a lot of you aren’t getting enough.)

Are all proteins created equal? Not really. Different types of proteins are digested and synthesized differently and at different rates. Let’s take a look at two common sources of protein: whey and casein.

In a recent study, ingestion of whey protein produced a rapid rise in amino acids, whereas casein showed a slight rise in amino acid levels - but over a longer period. Additionally, the casein resulted in higher Leucine retention after 7 hours. Quantitatively speaking, whole body protein breakdown was inhibited 34% with casein. Whey however, resulted in a 68% increase in protein synthesis vs. only 31% with casein. Further studies suggest that a combination of protein sources may yield optimal results.

When do you need it?

The benefits of consuming protein as part of every meal are varied and well documented. In addition, recent studies have demonstrated the importance of protein as a component of both pre and post-workout meals. According to the International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Nutrient timing, “Post-exercise ingestion (immediately after through 3 hours post) of amino acids, primarily EAAs, have been shown to stimulate robust increases in muscle protein synthesis. The addition of carbohydrate may increase protein synthesis even more, while pre-exercise consumption may result in the best response of all.” Bottom line, in order to grow and repair muscle tissue, we need to maintain net positive gain in protein synthesis vs. degradation. Here’s a good approach. Throughout the day, eat small meals (with protein) and focus on pre and post exercise macro-nutrient intake.

How much do you need?

Protein requirements vary greatly and are determined by a number of factors including type, frequency, duration, and intensity of training. Recent studies show that protein requirements for athletes far exceed those of sedentary adults. Intake estimates range from 1.4 to 2.0 g/kg (of lean body mass)/day. I bet that’s more than you thought! Individuals engaging in endurance exercise should ingest levels at the lower end of this range, individuals engaging in intermittent activities should ingest levels in the middle of this range, and those engaging in strength/power exercise should ingest levels at the upper end of this range.

One final bit of advice.

Everybody’s different. There is no ‘on size fits all’ program for optimal nutrition. There are tried and true guidelines (i.e. no sugar, beer is not a good carbohydrate, etc.) but you need to determine what works for you. As the saying goes, “You need to know where you are in order to get where you’re going.” Or something like that. Make a commitment to focus on nutrition for one month. Before you start, get a basic blood panel and get an accurate test of your body fat and lean body mass (ideally from a hydrostatic chamber.) Keep a log of everything you eat and check your weight once every seven days. At the end of the month, retest you blood and body fat. Have your doctor help you to interpret your ‘before and after’ blood work. From there you need only to modify your program and you are well on your way to increasing performance and overall vitality.

Write me and keep me posted of your progress and your results. Better yet, send pictures. Don’t quit. Stay focused. Remember, you only get one go-around. Live with Intensity.
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Biography:
Michael Ryan is the President and CEO of Intensity Nutrition LLC. Founded by former Navy SEALs, Intensity develops super-premium sports supplements for professional, semi-professional, tactical, and functional athletes. Intensity will launch early summer ’09 and welcomes any recommendations for product development. Mike and Alden met during “running remediation” at Basic Underwater SEAL (BUDs/s) training. Special thanks to BMC Pardue for the introduction.

Easy Dayz Way to Eat Right

CM SEAL Team blogger: Marcus Colburn

On the road! If you Eat Right on your "PERFECT" road to Easy Dayz, maybe you'll find the "perfect" fountain of youth along the way.

If you do any travelling, then you know how difficult it can be to get a low fat, high protein meal on the road. I always like to travel prepared. I pack a chicken breast sandwich on whole grain bread and a banana whenever I jump on a plane. Once I get to my destination, I make a quick pit stop into a local grocery store and pick up instant oatmeal, some bananas, apples, or oranges, and bottled water. I pack my own "PERFECT FOOD"!

Teammates, we're on to our quest for the ""PERFECT"ion". Yes, we all know that we must do our crunches and eat right -- to Stay Lean and Healthy!

It has long been only a myth about discovering the fountain of youth -- but we have found it and it's so easy. Just stay motivated and keep on training and eating right. We'll be here to help you. By the way, be sure you use the handy carry along "Perfect Pushups" & check out this blog for motivation. It's full of great information from many experts on all of the current fitness and nutrition topics of the day. Let us know how you like it!

remember....
"THE ONLY EASY DAY WAS YESTERDAY"
HOOYAH!
NUFF SAID...

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall Diet Plan

CM SEAL Team blogger: Marcus Colburn

Let's talk some more about your "Eat Clean" diet. Eating habits are the most important change that one can make to gain ground in your fight for health & well being perfection! Ask any pro bodybuilder male or female, even the fitness folk, will tell you that it's 80% diet and the rest physical stuff. Everyone must realize that in order to achieve success in your war & it is a war, that you have to have the "win win" attitude!

Diet, more than anything, is within your "CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE". In other words you can choose what goes on your altar of your temple.

Just be like your ancestors the hunters & gatherers that you got your "Levis" from. They only ate nuts & berries. Because they were always on the move they just grabbed a few here & there. Also, they started planting veggies so they grabbed a few carrots & heads of lettuce & tomatoes for their hunting & fishing trips where they would bring home fish, animal protein & other assorted proteins! They never had stuff in their food like all the word that we can't pronounce. All they had was uggga bugga, with no preservatives for fresh taste forever.

Or diet this & that: all this new diet crap is just they way it sounds, diet crap! Like: aspartame = ass-pertain (grins), saccharin show sh*terin (evil grins), demerara= diarrhea, even ten dollar words that sure sound kewl like polysaccharides are all wrong! Just stick with water -- tons of it -- but make sure you stop drinking all that water by late after noon unless you want to keep waking up all night to relieve yourself thus losing sleep which is the other important factor for well being.

Break fast, or breaking fast from a good night sleep which should be 8 hours! Hey even N.A.S.A makes sure astronauts get 8 hours of sleep! Now they are the cream of the crop. Think whole wheat waffles. If you really need some thing sweet find some kind of sub like natural bee's honey from the hive! Any fruit or some sweet veggies like dates or figs all make excellent sugar subs. The most important meal of the day as your breaking your night fast! You can go big on this meal but "eat clean". Kashi cereal, "steel oatmeal"skim milk, v8 juice or carrot juice, Bananas, plain yogurt. even a little cottage cheese & applesauce makes for a good snack as well as a part of breakfast.

2 hours later: second breakfast: An Apple & Grapes some nuts & mini carrots.

2 hours later: prelunch: Rice cakes & natural peanut butter or baked pecans are awesome.

Around noontime: lunch: Don't let the title or name whole wheat fool you -- most of it is just colored white bread. The kind of bread you want is the "sprouted bread"! Tuna, salmon, roast beast, turkey or chicken with veggies like avocado, tomatoes, lettuce.

A few hours later -- but not later than 18:30 (SEAL time) or 6:30 pm, your final meal could be fish, your fave sushi, chicken but bake or broil everything. NO FRYING ANYTHING or Fast food or FRIED CHICKEN! Kentucky fried is out: it's bad bad bad. The final meal should be at 18:30 or 6:30 pm so you can get to sleep later without the digestion process disturbing you. Also I would say that one should be finished pounding down the water by 17:00 or 5:00 pm so that your sleep is not disturbed by bathroom visits! Remember, sleep zzzzzzzz sleep is soooooooo important!

"YOUR BODY IS A TEMPLE. TREAT IT AS SUCH!" "WHY PUT CRAP ON YOUR ALTAR?"

If you consistently refuse to respect your body, you better find a money tree, because you will need it to pay for all those doctors and nurses.

If you do follow my plan you will find yourself feeling better, smelling better, throwin' down with the younger crowd more. Happier & healthier!

"THE ONLY EASY DAY WAS YESTERDAY."
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Back in 1997 while serving with the elite Navy SEAL jump team called Leap Frogs, Marcus was involved in a life changing parachuting accident. After free-falling to three thousand feet, Mark opened his chute. But the SEAL above him did not and continued free-falling at ninety miles an hour. The other jumper tore through Mark's chute, hitting him in the head and hand with his body. The impact sent Mark twirling unconscious through the air with few cells left on his chute, and he hit the ground, changing his life forever. Mark's amazing recovery became his biggest challenge – and surviving the accident is a miraculous story in itself -- but what is even more inspiring is how he handles his life after the accident.

Marcus Colburn's Eat Clean Diet

CM SEAL Team blogger: Marcus Colburn

Here's my Mojo Frog Lifestyle change diet for gaining your goals....but first, let me tell you a story.

During BUD/S there was this one student of mine who was a stud. A big tuff (smart) unusual for a former marine, a very oordinated awesome athlete. We thought this guy would breeze right through no prob. One day he forgot to drink enough water. He drank soft drinks (soda pop). A badddd move that he paid dearly for! Well, of course he cramped up big time during an obstacle course run. As a result he had to be rolled back!

So let that be a big lesson learned for him and a sermon for you!

The Marcus Colburn Eat Clean Diet -- and here's the trick, Make It An Easy Day!

1. Four or five small "clean" meals per day work best for cleaning out, because your body can absorb protein only in small amounts. That's about 30 grams per meal.

2. Excess protein will be stored as fat. Since the goal is to strip off fat and build lean muscle mass, go with the low-fat protein sources such as fish, lean meat, chicken, whey protein powders and egg whites, and spread out those proteins over your five daily meals.

3. Carbs as well as good fats (olive oil, nuts, avocados, assorted fruits) are a must because they produce energy for training and for thinking clearly. That, my dear friends, are a prerequisite for quality training.

4. Remember the mind-muscle connection!

5. Even as far as drinks. All that so called diet crap is just that, crap.
Water is best. If you're one of those people that can't stand plain water, get over that weakness. Think, how bad do you want to reach your goals? You could take real lemons & squeeze them in H2O or oranges or any natural clean source. Work it out by making your choice easier for you to swallow. With a smile.

If your body is a temple, why put crap on your altar and piss off your Maker?

Can I get an AMEN Brothers & Sisters!
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Back in 1997 while serving with the elite Navy SEAL jump team called Leap Frogs, Marcus was involved in a life changing parachuting accident. After free-falling to three thousand feet, Mark opened his chute. But the SEAL above him did not and continued free-falling at ninety miles an hour. The other jumper tore through Mark's chute, hitting him in the head and hand with his body. The impact sent Mark twirling unconscious through the air with few cells left on his chute, and he hit the ground, changing his life forever. Mark's amazing recovery became his biggest challenge – and surviving the accident is a miraculous story in itself -- but what is even more inspiring is how he handles his life after the accident.