Austin Hanson

During the last few months I’ve come up with some “Pro Tips” that I think are the biggest factors in dropping fat.

Please note; however, that I have zero formal training in health, fitness or nutrition, do not claim to and all of my knowledge has come second hand via people and the internet. I am proof that the summation of these tips do work but I can’t guarantee the legitimacy of any single one. I will go out of my way to be as unbiased as possible throughout my post, hopefully giving you as much accurate information as possible and pointing out things that I am not certain about.

1. Cheat Day
   • This is the most critical to factor in weight loss and there’s quite a bit of science behind it. One of the major contributing factors to your metabolism and how much fat you burn is a hormone called Leptin. The more Leptin you have, the more “on” your metabolism is and therefore the more fat you’re burning all the time. Leptin is released by two mechanisms; the normal way is from your fat cells, signalling to your body that it should ramp up and metabolize fat. Leptin is also released when you eat – turning on the “burners” so to speak. When your at a constant caloric deficit or when you don’t have very much fat, Leptin levels will slowly fall, causing your metabolism to decrease and your body to burn less fat.

     Cheat day solves this by creating a huge influx of food that kicks your Leptin levels up and, presumably, at an elevated level for a period of time until dropping back down. Ferris’ cheat day makes the assumption that this period is around one week and I haven’t found anything so far to concur or refute that.

2. Blood Sugar and the Glycemic Index
   • This was originally labeled “Cinnamon” until I did some more research into blood sugar and insulin levels in the body. Cinnamon is proven to aid in lowering the glycemic index of foods which mitigates spikes in your blood sugar levels after eating. When your blood sugar levels rise too dramatically your body isn’t capable of using all of the “fuel” so it converts the excess to fat. Note: This is also why people say to “eat slower” or “chew your food more” – it really does help! By eating slower you’re slowing down the rate at which your blood sugar levels will rise.

     The glycemic index is a listing of foods and indexed based on how they affect blood sugar levels – with the base being glucose set at 100. Your goal should be to only eat foods with a index of 55 or lower and for flavor…or it’s reduction effects…, throw in some Cinnamon! Be careful though, you never want to exceed 1 tbsp of cinnamon a day (for the average sized person) – it has coumarin in it which is poisonous in large doses (google coumarin – breaks the Vitamin K recoup cycle).

3. Casein Protein
   • Dropping fat all relies on your body using fat as it’s primary energy source and not muscle. Why would your body use muscle when it has fat? Because it’s stupid. After not eating for a certain period of time, typically 3-4 hours, your body goes into a catabolic state where it begins metabolizing muscle cells for energy instead of fat cells. In all actuality, this allows your organs and brain to perform 25% more efficiently but is a really bad thing (google ketosis – acidic blood, coma, death).

     We never want our body to drop into catabolic mode so we always want to eat within that 3-4 hour period. That’s all well and fine until you realize that also means getting up in the middle of the night to refuel your body… Casein Protein is the solution – it’s a slow burning protein that typically stays in your stomach for 6-7 hours. This is, apparently, a result of mixing with the acid in your stomach and “clotting” somewhat. So, a scoop of Casein before bed and you’re golden until morning.

4. Cut Carbohydrates mid-way through your day
   • Your body does need a certain amount of carbohydrates per day: usually a healthy mix is 40% protein/40% carbs/20% fat. So we don’t want to cut carbs completely out of our diet but timing your carb intake will aid in controlling how your body uses them.

     Your liver metabolizes carbohydrates, burning up a portion, converting some to miscellaneous substances and the rest are stored as fat. Protein on the other hand has to go through a number of other processing steps before your body can store it as fat. It gets broken down and moved around the body finally ending up as amino acids that are used for muscle – with the excess amino acids going to fat. The trick here is giving your body the easy fuel in the morning, getting in some high-intensity cardio to ramp up your metabolism, and finally cutting carbs the rest of the day so your body has to focus on metabolizing and processing protein instead. Finally, when you go to sleep, your body only has protein to work with and has to work harder to create fat than it would with carbs.

There you have it, my top 4 Fitness Pro Tips which I’ve amassed over a very short 4 month period. As I stated above, none of this comes from any formal education and if anything is wrong let me know and I will fix it. My goal is to help people lose weight, become healthier and live longer – not to make money.