Carbs are evil, but you need carbs for intense workouts. Fat will make you fat - but no, wait, that's a myth.
Too much protein will give you kidney stones and calcium deposits. But then again, you need a high protein diet to be toned and build muscle.
I don't even know where to begin.
Zuzka recommends a high fat diet - now her workouts are short, and she might not need as much carbs as others and she also says that she is quite sedentary other than her workouts.
But honestly, Zuzka has tried a half a dozen diets and she has had a six pack regardless, so I take what she says with a grain of salt.
I remember her mentioning that carbs have to be earned and that they can be evil in simple form, and even feeds cancer cells. I just read again the other day the same thing about simple carbs. Then I read something else that eradicated that theory. What gives?
The one problem I do have with Zuzka's diet is that it has a lot of dairy. Cow's milk is meant for calves, not human consumption, but then again, dairy farmers make it in a way for us to eat - it is pasteurized, etc, so it is safe for human consumption or is it?
I saw this video recently on what it takes to make milk and milk products, and I just can't justify the amount of dairy Zuzka has in her recipes. Research shows time and time again despite the amount of calcium in dairy, it promotes inflammation and a lot of people cannot digest it properly. I never really seem to have a problem with it, but this video freaks me out.
https://www.facebook.com/simone.cavalletti.5/videos/10208852868905941/?pnref=story
NOTE - do NOT watch that video if you love dairy and want to continue to eat it!
Now I know this video is extreme and it is meant to freak us out, but still. Really? Even with organic cows this is happening? That I did not expect!
I'd love to know what some of you use as dairy substitutes.
I know when Lisa did some of her nutrition books in the past she eats approximately 1500 calories a day. IDK - I need more than that. Maybe she is just able to curb her appetite with that, or is OK with being hungry. I cannot ignore hunger- it drives me nuts, but I do have friends and family where it just doesn't seem to bother them that much!
Lisa also promotes everything in moderation - which is probably the most reasonable approach, but she eats grains. This is a whole other topic. There's lots of research out there stating the grains are meant for birds and animal life and not for human consumption. Hence the Paleo diet - which is actually no grains, legumes or dairy. Any else confused yet?!
I came across Eat To Perform which is a spin off of Paleo - but they recommend high carb diets around your workouts. Now this is assuming you work out hard - CrossFit, heavy weight training. Kettlebell training, power lifting, military style, MMA, etc, etc. etc.
The believe in high carbs such as rice, oats, bananas, potatoes, and sweet potatoes.
I can tell you the two things almost ALL diets have in common - no wheat, no sugar. Probably my 2 favorite ingredients on earth other than chocolate and bacon. Sigh.....
I have 3 weeks left of my 12 week program that I am doing, so after than I need a new fitness program. I will most likely do ONNIT's 4 week bodyweight training program (but will add in deadlifts as I have come too far with those). After that, IDK. I could go back to Get Glutes. I am super interested in Bret's new program.
A couple of you mentioned other programs I have been interested in in the past and forgot about:
Ashley Horner (thanks Pamela) and Gold Medal Bodies at home gymnastics. (thanks Laura)
Bret's program is 3 days a week and mixing it up with yoga/gymnastics sounds pretty enticing to me right now.
I did look at Ashley Horner's program and her workouts are so intense. Part of me REALLLLLLLLLY wants to do this. Here is where my problem lies - in the past when I have done workouts like this (CrossFit, Kettlebell Extreme) I was hungrier than I ever had been in my life. Uncontrollable hunger where I ate too much that is negated my efforts. If you are able to workout like that and control your appetite. lucky you. She makes Lisa and Zuzka combined look like a stroll in the park!
This is one workout of hers I would like to try, but I could not do it more than once a week without eating myself out of house and home, LOL.
FULL BODY CIRCUIT WORKOUT
CIRCUIT 1: 4 ROUNDS
- Man-Maker: 5 reps
- Dumbbell Thruster: 5 reps
- Wall Run with Shoulder Tap: 5 reps
CIRCUIT 2: 3 ROUNDS
- Weighted Burpee: 15 reps
- Kettlebell Swing: 15 reps
- Weighted Step-Up: 15 reps
CIRCUIT 3: 5 ROUNDS (NEVER SET THE BARBELL DOWN)
- Hang Clean: 5 reps
- Push Press: 5 reps
- Front Squat: 5 reps
- Alternating Lunge: 5 reps
- Back Squat: 5 reps
EXERCISE TIPS
MAN-MAKERS
Hold dumbbells as you move down into a push-up and then into a plank. From there, do a row with each arm, another push-up, and then jump your legs into a squat position and up straight. That's one rep.
THRUSTER
Hold dumbbells right under your chin, descend into a squat and then stand up while punching the weights over your head. Repeat.
DUMBBELL THRUSTER
WALL RUNS
Find an empty space on a wall. Lay on your stomach with your feet against the wall. Walk your feet up the wall while you walk your hands backward. You should end in a hand-stand position with your face and body against the wall. From there, lift your right arm and tap your right shoulder and then do it with your left. Repeat the taps five times and then walk back down the wall until you're lying on your stomach. That's one rep.
WEIGHTED BURPEES
Hold on to the dumbbells as you drop into a push-up position, hitting your chest to the floor. Then, jump your feet under your hips and stand up. That's one rep.
KETTLEBELL SWINGS
Hold the kettlebell so it hangs between your legs. Bend at the waist and knees. Thrust your hips forward so the kettlebell swings forward and up over your head. Allow the weight to fall back down to the starting position. That's one rep.
WEIGHTED STEP-UP
Tighten your core. Step up with the same leg 10 times before repeating on the other leg. I like to make these more challenging by lifting my non-stepping leg up at the top of the movement.
WEIGHTED STEP-UP
HANG CLEAN
Make sure you get under the bar. Don't just pick it up and put it on your shoulders. Use some momentum from your legs and hips to move the bar up and to your shoulders.
HANG CLEAN
PUSH PRESS
Push the bar from right under your chin to over your head where your elbows lock out.
FRONT SQUAT
Make sure your elbows are up and your arms parallel to the ground. Squat until your legs are at 90 degrees or lower, and then push up through your heels. Keep your core nice and tight throughout the movement.
LUNGES
Place the bar behind your neck and then lunge forward with one leg. Your front leg should be at 90 degrees—don't ever let your knee track inside your toes. Keep them out and over your toe. Your back knee should hit the floor. Do five reps on each leg and then repeat.
SQUAT
Keep your core tight, keep your breathing steady, and push up through your heels. Squat all the way down to parallel!
Hi Gina! Thanks for all the interesting links. I'm sensitive to dairy. I use nut milk mostly because I think it tastes the best and I am also sensitive to soy (yay haha). Did you know you can make your own nut milk with any type of nuts? Just soak raw nuts overnight, rinse them, and then try half soaked nuts half fresh water (you can play with proportions for consistency) and spin them in the blender...Even a crappy blender can handle soaked nuts! You just have to strain it through a cheesecloth....or a nut-milk dedicated T-shirt haha. You can even save the strained grinds for pastry crust or other nut meal applications. Don't make tons as the fresh version only lasts about 4-7 days in the fridge compared to slightly longer for the bought varieties.
ReplyDeleteI'm not very strict on my diet. I just try to monitor and restrain when required. I like food and cooking too much to be so restrictive. I manage to cut down on the sugar though! Oh, and you can sign up for the Pulse Pledge and get recipes with pulses every week - they're great for protein and complex carbs, and they're really easy on the environment (unlike meat and unfortunately most nuts).
Thanks Claire!!! I've only made nut milk once. I just bought some coconut milk tho.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sensitive to dairy, but I just don't like the thought of it.
I am sensitive to many legumes - unfortunately. As well as soy.
It's hard to plan a good diet sometimes!!
I love this workout and it was actually the first one i did and well after that i was addicted to her workouts :). i cant say that i´m hungryer than before, but i do eat alot, no portion control but keeping a clean diet with a cheat day every week, sometimes 2 we only lives ones:)
ReplyDeleteHa ha. I'm a hungry person too and certain workouts def make me WAY hungrier. When I did CrossFit and Punch KB workouts I ate so damn much it was silly!
Deletehaha workouts like this gives me an exellent excuse to eat :D
DeleteI did one of Ashley´s programs before and she is really awesome. Currently I am doing Melissa Ioja´s new challenge, I like it a lot, she adds a lot of strength moves and she even did one of Ashley Horner´s workouts during this challenge. Also I don´t know if you are familiar with Michele Lumadue, but you may want to check her workouts. She does super long workouts, intense and strength-focused. They work the whole body, are very interesting and variable and they are free. She does two workouts a week (each around 1.5 to 2 hours).
ReplyDeleteI am super hungry all the time, if I ate like Zuzka or Lisa does, I would faint twenty times a day :)
LOL Lena! I need to eat more than they do too. I sometimes wonder if I would feel fuller on a Zuzka diet because it is so high in fat, but I don't like the amount of dairy she uses, so it just would not work for me.
DeleteI'm going to check out Michele Lumadue. Thanks for the tip!
Check out Nutritionfacts.org for REAL information regarding diet/nutrition. A lot of the information that gets handed to us via popular fitness magazines/tv programs etc is often paid for and created by certain food companies/industries. For example, the American Egg Board spends thousands of dollars every year to popular food bloggers and tv programs to promote eggs as a 'superfood' and as super nutritious - it's not real nutrition information, it's just good marketing. The wheat aversion thing is really just part of this no carb nonsense. Mediterranean countries have been utilizing wheat as their staple food for thousands of years, and they are not unhealthy. They have only become more unhealthy in the past few decades due to the consumption of more processed junk and American style foods - the 'wheat is evil' "fact" is perpetuated by industries who benefit from people not eating carbs (dairy and egg industries).
ReplyDeleteI will check it out! Thanks for the tip!
DeleteCarbs are not evil, fat doesn't make us fat if we don't eat it a lot, protein doesn't give us kidney stones and calcium deposits. Who is saying this bullshit?)))
ReplyDeleteI read a lot of acrticles by Lyle McDonald and Alan Argon and I haven't seen information about evil carbs etc.
I've opened flexible diet for myself and now I eat what I what and when I want, just tracking protein, carbs and fats.) And I see results.))
I'm tracking lately too. Pain in royal ASS but worth it. I never eat enough protein. I'm a carb girl.
DeleteThis might seem so vain, but the reason I would not follow Melissa Ioja or Ashley Horner is because their body size is too bulky for my taste. I do understand that simply doing their workouts will not make me look like that, but looking at them exercise does not inspire me to follow them. And that's too bad, because they really seem to know what they are doing. I guess this is also the reason thin girls like Zuzka or Lisa Marie have no problem recruiting new followers...their body type seems to be the aesthetic that a lot of women want. Yes, I am one of them, and I'm a little ashamed to admit it, but at the same time, wanting to look like that has gotten me into fitness, and as my fitness evolves, so do my workouts and training preferences.
ReplyDeleteThis might not have anything to do with the post directly, but when I looked at Ashley Horner's photos, my first thought was "That is way too much muscle for my taste!", even before I looked at her workouts.
I hear what you're saying M. I get it! I just know that my propensity to get bulky is ZERO percent so their look doesn't un-inspire me.
DeleteI've never been a fan a Melissa's look - she is too bulky for me and her boobs like WAY too fake, but she is GORGEOUS and she is inspiring to me in the sense that she is super strong and very agile.
I am new to Ashley Horner, but she is one muscular lady. :)
Zuzka and LM are both more aesthetically appealing to me as well.
HOWEVER - notice one thing ALL these women have in common? Breast implants!
i have to say that i love Ashley Horners body but i do not wanna have it my self, i´m completly satisfied with my own body :) what i love with her workouts are the way they make me feel not how i look, thats what i look for when i search a program to follow and this type of workouts has not made me bulky only stronger, faster and happy in my own skin :).
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