If I can only eat 300 calories in one meal, what's the best protein/carb/fat breakdown you'd recommend to give me the best satiety?

   There is no one perfect combination for everyone, but we always recommend including all three of the macronutrients (protein, fats and carbohydrates) because each one contributes to satiety through a different mechanism. This also helps minimize cravings.

     For your relatively low-calorie meal, we suggest including 50 percent of calories from complex carbohydrate (whole grain breads, rice, pasta, etc.), 25 percent from protein and 25 percent fat. Your meal could include a lean-meat sandwich, two eggs and toast, a large salad with proper amounts of dressing (fat) or toppings (protein and fat) with bread (carbohydrates). By including plenty of vegetables (such as in a salad), you'll discover a larger volume of low-calorie foods. Salads also take longer to consume, contributing to satiety.

      For a 300-calorie pre-workout snack, we endorse consuming a meal-replacement liquid or bar for quick digestion and maximum nutrient absorption. Satiety is generally not an issue before training because exercise itself has been found to be one of the most active appetite-control aids available.

Does the female cycle affect weight loss?

     A few days before and during the time you are menstruating, you do burn more calories due to the added cellular activity taking place within. Some female metabolisms may increase up to 15% during this time due to hormonal changes and loss of blood. The increase in metabolism can lead to an increase in appetite in order to compensate for the greater calorie burn (in the same manner that as exercise can lead to an increase in hunger), which is why some women tend to eat more or yearn for different foods during this time of the month. Desires can also be caused by the hormonal changes that affect taste or thought processes. Additionally, certain foods can help sooth difficult times, thus leading to different or unusual food choices.     What all this means is that although a woman may burn more calories for a few days, she usually make up for it, and depending on how one gives into cravings, over-compensates (leading to a slight weight gain).
     In the latter case when the "period" is over and during the next week/s, the woman may return to her pre-period "normal weight'. But as you can see from this very typical situation, although this person may be sticking with her proper diet for 2-3 weeks a month, she still ends up with no net weight lost for the month, making dieting annoying.
      So what's the fix? Now that you are aware of what's going on, try to control your appetite and think "move more if you eat more" during the difficult phase of your cycle - or you may slightly increase your calorie intake during the tough period (i.e. give into a few cravings) and make up for it during the rest of the month so that your monthly weight goals end up on track.
      On the other hand, if your calorie burn is less during the time frame we are discussing it may be because you are not feeling your best and you end up moving less - in other words resting more till the discomfort passes. Fix: move more, because not only will you burn more calories, but exercise also generally helps ameliorate the uncomfortable state.

Why is it that improved muscle mass burns more calories?

    1 pound of muscle burns roughly 6 calories/day at rest and can burn many times more this rate while executing different activities.  The more intense the activity, the more calories the muscles will burn (running stairs for example can burn 10 times the resting amount, weight lifting around 4 times, etc.) A pound of fat burns nearly 2 calories per day and no matter what you do that’s all it burns because body fat doesn’t have anything to do with performing activities – it only jiggles and stores stuff.

Will using the Stairmaster make my legs and butt larger?

   That extra insulation around your butt does not grow because of any kind of exercise; it's genetic and from eating too much. Don't worry about any exercise making your butt larger--you couldn't even measure the difference. Just keep moving, eat less and watch it shrink.    If the exercise is done at the correct intensity to make it aerobic, the spur will not be sufficient to cause muscle hypertrophy (growth). Often what happens is that when one begins an exercise program, their hunger may increase or they may begin justifying additional food – the "I deserved this" syndrome. If caloric consumption exceeds expenditure, then fat stores can increase. This may occur on the thighs and buttocks.

If it takes 3500 calories to lose a pound, do you have to eat 3500 calories to increase a pound?

  If you wanted to gain one pound of body fat, you would have to consume about 3500 calories more than you burned in any given time frame. Many adults gain one pound each year.  Therefore, if all the weight gained was fat, over the course of the year their consumption netted 3500 calories greater than those used – end of story. The warning is that people who gain weight often gain lean body mass (LBM) even if they don’t exercise. Why? Because as weight increases, your body adds small amounts of muscle, bone, etc. With the body fat (generally 1/4 muscle and 3/4 fat) in order to carry the now heavier body through life. Therefore, we often use the formula of roughly 3000 calories per pound of weight gain. Muscle weight is primarily comprised of water and its dry weight (protein) contains 4 calories per gram vs. the 9 calories per gram that fat holds. Thus muscle can yield around 800 calories per pound when including the water weight. Additionally, when we project muscle gain within any goal, we make calorie adjustments based on these numbers.

Is it true that carbohydrates make a person overweight?

   Any amount of food that you eat above the amount of calories you burn will be stored as fat. Carbohydrates are the least likely of the three food types to become fat. The reason is that when too much carbohydrate is expended, it can actually excite your metabolism before it is converted to fat. Excess fat can do the opposite, making more of the excess calories available for fat storage. Our society's waistline has stretched simply because we eat about 250 more calories per day than we did a decade ago and we move less because of technology and lifestyle.

Carbohydrate facts:

• One gram of carbohydrate yields four calories

• Carbohydrates are the perfect preferred form of energy

• Help maintain proper cellular fluid balance

• Maintain satiety by keeping glycogen stores full and adding bulk to the diet

• Spares protein for muscle building

• Primary sources are fruits, vegetables and grains

Remember: extra calories make you fat.

Carbohydrate

   Carbohydrates provide the bulk of calories in the diet for most of the world's population. They represent the major energy source for the average American as well. Daily intake should be at least 50 percent of total caloric intake, and 50-70 percent is often mentioned. This large amount is suggested because carbohydrates are relatively easy for the body to break down so they provide a readily available source of energy.

  All carbohydrates are composed of simple sugars. "Simple" carbohydrates are no bigger than one or two units of sugar. The single sugars, such as glucose, are called monosaccharide. Double sugars, like sucrose, are called disaccharides. Mono- and disaccharides are building blocks for starches and fibers, which are larger carbohydrates, called "complex" carbohydrates. Fibers are complex carbohydrates that are largely indigestible. They are beneficial in that various types of fibers have been shown to decrease cholesterol, slow sugar absorption and change the rate of digestion. Most diets should include 25-30 grams of fiber daily.

What are the benefits of taking Omega supplements, and who should take them?

   you are talk about fish-oil supplements, which generally contain omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids, so-called because of their position of the unsaturated bonds on the fatty acid molecule. In the last 3 to 4 years, it has become fairly clear that certain fish oils ingested in specific amounts may yield health benefits (see below) for certain groups. But what is now beginning to unfold (because clinical trials using fish oils are now being completed) is the information regarding the subpopulations of people that shouldn’t use them. For example, it appears that chronic ingestion of fish-oil supplements may cause problems for users with certain heart conditions.
Many supplement manufacturers jump on the bandwagon early. But because USANA is a research and development company, we always wait until the data regarding a supplement with potential health benefits becomes complete enough to make the proper product and accompanying recommendations, which may include groups of people that a particular supplement may not be appropriate for (contraindicated).
That said, we now have enough data and have released our Fatty Acid supplement along with the proper recommendation and contraindications.
  If you prefer not to use a supplement, we recommend getting your fish oils from food sources. Know that it would be very difficult for anyone to consume too much fish oil from traditional (as opposed to ingesting daily supplements where one may easily reach an intake that may not be proper for them).  Current working recommendations: Omega 3-Fatty acids: 1g of eicosapentaenoic acid plus docosahexaenoic acid (cardioprotective effects); 2-4g/day (lowering cholesterol effects).

Foods: Consume fish, especially fatty cold water fish, 2 times weekly (~6 oz total). Women of childbearing age, nursing, pregnant and young children should choose fish known to have low levels of mercury.

Sources
Fish (3.5 oz. cooked)/ AMOUNT (mg)
Herring: 2,000 mg

Salmon: 1,800-2,100 mg

Whitefish: 1,600 mg

Mackerel, jack, canned: 1,200 mg

Sardines, canned: 1,000-1,400 mg

Bluefish: 1,000 mg

Tuna, canned white (albacore): 900 mg

Trout: 900-1,200 mg

Halibut: 500 mg

Tuna, fresh or canned light: 300 mg

   People with bleeding disorders, those taking anticoagulants, and those with uncontrolled hypertension should not take fish-oil supplements. Large doses of fish oil may suppress the immune system. Thus, supplements may be risky for those with weakened immune systems.
What’s a "large dose"? One definition is 3 grams or more a day, but no one really knows what the cutoff point is. Large doses can increase glucose levels in people with diabetes. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that fish-oil supplements might increase the risk of cardiac arrhythmias in people with implantable cardioverter defibrillators.

You can order your Omega-3 supplement from my Nutrition Store today. By clicking on the link My HealthPak