4-CORE NUTRITION
“IF YOU KEEP ON DOING WHAT YOU’VE ALWAYS DONE, YOU’LL
KEEP ON GETTING WHAT YOU’VE ALWAYS GOT!”
Perry Nickelston, DC, FMS, SFMA
1. STAY HYDRATED
Did you know that being dehydrated makes you fatter? Why? Muscle Glycogen (stored sugar energy created from ingested carbohydrates)
is stored along with water. For every gram of Glycogen in the muscle there should be three of water. Dehydration forces Glucose to remain
in the bloodstream instead of muscle until it reaches the liver for overflow storage. When the liver is full, the Glycogen (sugar) has no place
to go but your FAT cells. Not good!! So how much should you drink?
Recommended: .55x your bodyweight in pounds = # ounces per day)
2. EAT SMALLER AMOUNTS MORE OFTEN
Not eating frequently enough is a major mistake that most people make in their fat loss/muscle gain nutrition strategy. When your body does
not have enough calories to replace the energy expenditure from exercise, it will take the calories from your lean muscle mass. The loss in
muscle mass leads to a decreased metabolic rate and gives you one very unappealing physique.
Starving yourself will only cause your metabolism to decrease to an all time low and the body will be forced to hoard (store) more fat for
future energy. Always eat at least 5-6 small meals and snacks during any given day, including your days off from training. Simply eat a
little bit less at each meal on the off days, but absolutely DO NOT skip meals. Eating every 2-3 hours keeps the hormone Insulin from
spiking up and down, creating a steady increase in your metabolic rate to help burn fat.
3. BREAKFAST IS THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL
Want to get lean and eat a lot? Chow down at breakfast. Of your 5 daily meals, the one that is least likely to end up on your hips, thighs
and lower back is the first one. In the morning, muscle glycogen stores are lower than during any other part of the day, you are actually in a
fasted catabolic state (body eats up lean muscle stores for energy). When glycogen stores are low, your body’s capacity to take
carbohydrates and store them as body fat is hampered. So pack in the carbs at breakfast –along with 20-40 grams of high quality protein to
jump-start your day. And don’t worry about getting fat.
Suggestion: Here is my personal secret recipe for Power Pancakes! You will love them!!
1 cup of one minute oatmeal (not the packets), 1 whole egg and 2 egg whites, 1 scoop of whey protein, raisins, ½ cup of orange
juice, cinnamon and honey, teaspoon of cottage cheese.
Combine ingredients, cook until golden brown. Top with all natural jelly (YUMMY)
Let me know how you like them’!

4. ALL CARBS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL
When you put a simple sugar in your digestive tract, even if it's in a fat free cookie, all of that sugar gets absorbed into the bloodstream at
once. For that moment, you have high blood sugar. Assuming the pancreas is functioning well, it responds to the blood sugar spike by
beginning to produce more insulin. There is a sensitive balance between the pancreas' production of two hormones, insulin and glucagon,
thus, when you are forced to up insulin production, your pancreas has no choice but to back off on its production of glucagon. Insulin is a
"storage hormone" as it transports sugars through the wall of the digestive tract and into the muscles and the liver. Glucagon is a "release
hormone" and allows you to mobilize stored fat.
When you eat a simple sugar and glucagon production declines, you are crippling your fat burning ability. The refined carbohydrates, such
as foods made with bleached and refined flour, are not much better. Normally your body does a fair amount of calorie burning work to digest
complex carbs, but if those carbs have been bleached and processed, it's sort of like a machine did much of the work your body was going
to do. The process also robs grains of vital micronutrients making them "empty calories" that, in addition to spiking blood sugar, are easily
converted into triglycerides and stored as fat. As a rule, you shouldn't eat more than two or three grams of carbs per pound of body weight.
Many people overdose on carbs, thinking them "safe" if they don't have a high fat content. But your system doesn't discriminate: It stores any
excess calories--whether from protein, fat or carbs--as fat.
5. KNOW YOUR PROTEIN AMOUNT
How much protein is enough? For the person whose idea of physical effort is changing channels by hand, protein isn't an issue. But for
someone who's active in sports and trains regularly, adequate protein is essential for gaining muscle and losing fat. Your safest bet is to
ingest between 0.8 and 1 gram of protein per pound of lean mass.
When doing that calculation, use the weight you think you would look good at, especially if you're 20 or more pounds too heavy. For
example, if an optimal weight for you would be 170 pounds, multiply that number by 0.8 grams: Your daily protein requirement turns out to be
136 grams, which translates to 27 grams of protein per meal (at five meals per day). That's about four slices of turkey breast deli meat or one
small can of water-packed tuna. Remember this rule, ‘The less legs, the better.” Liver dominant hormone people do better with less protein
however.
6. POWER EVERY MEAL WITH PROTEIN/FOOD COMBINING
Never eat a carbohydrate by itself! Always combine it with another food, either protein or fat. This rule applies to eating a single piece of
fruit. Why, you need to offset the sudden reactionary spike of Insulin. This prevents fat storage. So, eat that apple with a handful of nuts,
a yogurt, peanut butter, etc. While eating anything raises your metabolic rate, protein boosts it the most. Chicken, turkey, beef, egg whites
and cottage cheese are just a few of the choices you have for high-rev foods. Protein is also the building block of muscle, and the more
muscle you carry; the more efficiently your body will burn fat.
Muscle is metabolically active, which means it burns calories even at rest. Fat, on the other hand, doesn't require calories--it just sits there.
It follows that what you don't want from your weight-loss program is loss of muscle tissue. One way to minimize this loss is to get enough

protein delivered in relatively precise doses throughout the course of each day. And for your body to make use of that protein for muscle
building, you've got to hit the weights regularly.
7. FATS ARE FABULUOUS
Contrary to popular opinion, too much fat intake doesn’t make you fat. Too much of anything will make you fat, be it protein, carbohydrates,
or fat!! Some fats you need. One kind is called omega-3 fatty acids. Common to fish and flax seeds, this fat helps burn fat when combined
with a low calorie diet. One study showed individuals following a low calorie diet and eating fish on a daily basis lost more fat and weight
than those who ate the same amount of calories but did not eat fish.
Another kind of fat is called omega-6 fats. These fats help support brown fat burning. Babies are loaded with brown fat. That’s one reason
they can eat pound for pound more calories than at any other time in their lives and become leaner. Brown fat burns calories. Adults also
have brown fat but in far smaller amounts. Most is located around the spinal column while the rest coats the organs. Omega-6 fats support
brown fat’s ability to burn calories.
The final of the important fats is CLA, short for conjugated linoleic acid. This fat seems to turn up the production of a fat burning enzyme
called hormone sensitive lipase (HSL). HSL opens up fat cells allowing them to dump fat. While this isn’t a thermogenic effect, there’s no
increase in the metabolism overall, it adds to fat loss when combined with thermogenic factors numbered 1-6 above.
8. STOP FASTING IN THE EVENING
Doing so might make sense for an obese, sedentary person, but someone exercising all week needs to be nourishing his or her body to build
muscle during sleep. People have these myths like 'I shouldn't eat after 8, or I shouldn't do this or that, but it's like, ‘Do I fill my car with
gas at 8 a.m. or 8 p.m.?” What matters is, how many miles did you drive? Active people need to nourish their bodies from the demands put
on it by strenuous exercise. The body has a wonderful way of taking the nutrients from your hard earned muscle if you don’t feed it enough
of what it needs.
Don't spend countless hours in the gym and sabotage your progress by not eating enough food. Never go to bed hungry or wake up hungry
because I guarantee you will be losing precious lean muscle mass. One hour before bedtime consume a protein shake in 16 oz. of water, or
eat an egg white omelet with cheese to prevent hunger pangs. This will give your body a positive nitrogen balance during sleep to prevent
catabolism (muscle atrophy).
9. TAKE THE RIGHT PRE-WORKOUT FUEL
Rule of thumb: Exercise on an empty stomach! You want blood rushing to your muscles for strength, not the stomach for digestion. Two to
three hours before exercise eat a high-energy meal such as chicken breast and granola. One hour before training drink 16 ounces of water
with whey or soy protein. Under no circumstances should you ingest an energy sports drink that contains carbohydrates or sugar
before exercise!! Examples: Gatorade, Red Bull, bodybuilding drinks, etc.). This is only for athletes in competitive endurance events or those
training more than 2 hours per day, so they do not fatigue and burn out. For those seeking fat loss and lean muscle this is a drastic
mistake. You will be exercising to burn off the drink. What a waste of time!

10. TAKE THE RIGHT POST-WORKOUT FUEL
First rule of recovery is to replenish the muscle Glycogen (sugar) stores! But it must be done during a very specific time frame. After
resistance exercise and vigorous aerobic activity, Growth Hormone and Testosterone are released to begin growth and repair. These
hormones reach their peak within one hour after exercise. If you eat too soon after training you will reduce this hormone response. Not
good! Between 30-45 minutes after training take a super high simple sugar carbohydrate drink (60-70 grams), with protein (30-35 grams),
preferably whey or soy
“BONUS MENTAL POWER TIP”
Failure is a Process! Over the last few years, I've helped hundreds of people achieve their own personal
"Success Stories" after several failed attempts at getting their overweight body into shape. Designing a training
and nutrition program that enabled them to achieve lasting success in staying in shape was only possible after
they mastered the “neck-up” positive mental attitude of fitness success.
I think that part of the reason people fail in their quest for a better body is that they have unrealistic
expectations. There are no shortcuts to obtaining great physical conditioning and health. Optimal physical
conditioning and health are the result of a lifetime commitment to proper training and nutrition. In our "fast
results now" society, we expect things to happen quickly and effortlessly. We then expect to move on without
another thought, without ever having to work at our goal again.
Great physical shape is an ongoing process. You're either getting better or you are sliding back. There's no such
thing as status quo in a living organism. The key, then, is to get on a program that you can live with, a program
that you can incorporate into your life and stick with it!
Perry Stopchasingpain.com
973-800-6570