OnFitness Magazine - September/October 2014 - 42

CLEAN
NUTRITION
REPORT
W W W. O N F I T N E S S M A G . C O M | V O L 1 5 N O 2 | 2 0 1 4 4 2

protein sources do not come ready-to-eat, nor are they
conveniently prepackaged.
Most protein sources that help burn fat need to be
prepared, cooked, refrigerated and eaten with a knife
and fork. Fresh meats need to be bought regularly. Cook
up a dozen chicken breasts and boil a dozen eggs on
Sunday. Put serving-sized amounts of lean protein in
containers to take to work in a cooler.
This fat-loss plan requires eating every 2.5 to 3
hours throughout each day, consuming 5-6 small meals,
each containing a signiﬁcant protein source, along with
mostly green leafy vegetables and a small amount of a
very speciﬁc low-glycemic carbohydrate.
Frequency of eating prevents ravenous hunger.
However, the meal timing and contents alone cannot be
held responsible for preventing slip-ups. There is a
certain amount of self-restraint and will-power

Reasons to
have one
green
smoothie
every day
__________
Green smoothies are all
the rage these days
and for good reason. If
you were to make one
small dietary change
each day to improve
your overall physical
and mental health,
drinking a green
smoothie is a natural
choice. The reasons are
many, but here are just
a few.
First, the nutritional
beneﬁts are vast.
Vegetables like kale
and spinach in a
smoothie become
more bio-available to
the body, so all the
chlorophyll, ﬁber,
calcium, iron and
protein reach your
cells in an efﬁcient
way.
Second, green
smoothies are antiinﬂammatory. Because
inﬂammation causes
disease, drinking green
smoothies helps to
keep all those icky
disease processes at
bay. Third, green
smoothies make you
pretty.
It's true! Greens reward
us with glowing skin, a
slimmer body and
fewer wrinkles, not to
mention they are easy
to make. Just toss a big
handful of greens in
your blender, along
with some organic
frozen berries, a
banana, and a dash of
coconut water and
blend away.

associated with this diet. Cravings and temptations are
inevitable. It's not the end of the world if you resist this
once. Check yourself; be conscious of food choices;
resist the temptation to just grab a brownie without
thinking. Once you say no and eat your next clean
meal, not only will you experience a sense of
accomplishment, but most likely you will have
forgotten about the brownie altogether.
The food choices
Remember that weight loss is guaranteed for 90 percent
of the people who eat this way. Consistent clean eats
like those found in the produce section and the meat
counter (except luncheon meats) are what work. Most
non-perishables found in the middle of the grocery
store are out, including prepackaged dinners, soups,
pastas, cereal, baked goods, chips, 100-calorie snack
which is a small amount and
potentially an undesirable cost.
Carbohydrates require 10 to 20
percent and proteins require a
whopping 20 to 30 percent of total
calories consumed. Therefore,
having proteins as a cornerstone of
your diet will keep the TEF factor
high and metabolism busy.
So, make sure the "cost" of
each of your meals is signiﬁcant
and that you eat every few hours.
This can result in up to ﬁve or six
feedings a day to keep the
metabolism active.

Thermic
effect of food:
foundational
concept to
fat loss
TRAINERS CAN USUALLY get their
clients to work out. However,
having them make important shifts
in their nutritional regime,
including what they are eating,
how often, and how this will
impact their goals is a trainer's
biggest challenge.
One of the most common
habits that seems to terrify clients
is the notion of eating more to
lose. Somewhere along the way,
they learned that starvation and
"metabolism hibernation" equal
safe and effective body
composition changes.
Explaining the "why" behind
eating every few hours to stabilize
blood sugars and create homeostasis,
while also speciﬁcally pairing your
macronutrients, is imperative in
order to reassure your clients that
there is a method behind the
madness of exercise and
nutritional programming.
Today, clients are inundated
with all types of advice on how
much to eat, when to eat and what
to eat, without any real
explanation or reasoning behind it.

TEF factor
The thermic effect of food (TEF)
factor, is the guiding principle
behind eating every couple of
hours to keep your metabolically

active tissues and organs
functioning, and understanding
the calorie cost of your food
choices.
The thermic effect of food is the
caloric cost of processing and
digesting the macronutrients in
your diet. It states that some foods
require higher levels of energy to
process, which, in turn, increases
the levels of caloric expenditure
and will create a heightened
metabolic effect.
Macronutrient costs
Each macronutrient (carbohydrates,
fats and proteins) have their own
unique "cost" of energy. Digesting
fats takes only zero to three
percent of total calories consumed,

Individualization
Pairing certain foods in certain
amounts together, as per your
activity levels and lifestyle, is
important. As activity levels and
metabolic function change, each
person's TEF factor, caloric
expenditure and requirements will
vary and change, as well. Constant
tweaking and adjusting should be
a necessary part of your lifestyle.
A certain amount of calories is
needed not only to keep your
metabolism humming, but also to
keep blood and oxygen ﬂow to the
brain and muscles sufﬁcient and to
allow for necessary functions, such
as breathing, digestion and optimal
brain functioning.
By understanding this concept
of the thermic effect of food and
keeping the energy and
metabolism cost high through the
proper pairing and portions of
your macronutrients along with
proper nutrient timing strategies,
you can maximize your
metabolism and create a ﬁrestorm
of energy.
- Lindsay Kent
http://WWW.ONFITNESSMAG.COM
OnFitness Magazine - September/October 2014

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