Nutritional Advice
With a Minor in nutrition from Texas Tech University, Danny can help you design a nutritional program unique to your own dietary needs and preferences whether you are an athlete, business-person, atudent, or stay-home mommie! He has been prescribing and assessing client and friend's diets since 94', and realizes that 'enjoying one's meals are among life's greatest indulgences'. He feels that simple suggestions and recommendations are more likely to be adhered to rather than drastic changes. He suggests eating bread at the end of the meal (like a dessert) to not fill up on starchy carbs BEFORE you get to the veggies and much needed protein. " Once a person is made aware of the repercussions to certain diet choices, they can slowly adjust their habits such as the timing of one's meals, or even simply by eating a protein dominant breakfast within 15-20 mins. of wakeup time to kick-start their energy levels and metabolisms most efficiently. Proper hydration/water consumption is always crucial and advocated, yet rarely is it explained in great detail why! One reason is because the cells need to be hydrated, or saturated adequately so that the body is not forced to utilize other forms of hydration such as sugar water or even oils which are less efficient. It is important to note that cell membranes are permeable, which means that substances like water (the MOST EFFICIENT of them all) can move in and out of the cells rather easily. When the cells are dehydrated, however; they are forced to utilize the 'less efficient fluids' for hydration. Simply put, cells get clogged and don't work like they are capable of. So the cool thing about being properly hydrated is, if you DO have something fattening, or sugary, or whatever... (AND you have enough water in your system) then the body can most easily dillute that less than efficient (Or desirable) substance which allows you the ability to rid itself of the 'fattening stuff' with the most minimal effort." Make sense?
OXIDATION_ Some of you may have heard this term. Oxidation (in this case) refers to oxygen 'touching the surface' of a food, and destroying some of it's nutritional value. A simple example is a banana or apple once it has been pealed. If you set it on a counter for an extended period of time, it will begin turning brown as a result of oxidation. A useful example that many are unaware of is the hard boiled egg. When you crack the egg shell, oxygen is touching the contents and some of the nutritional value is lost. It may only be a fraction, but when you hard-boil them, ALL of the nutrition is kept for ABSORBTION! Your body absorbs or assimilates up to 98% of the protein, fat, etc. (Choline is a substance critical for brain function and is contained in the yolk, so try to eat some of the egg yolk for choline, good cholesterol and fat.) This is why the hardboiled egg is a SUPERFOOD! (From one of Danny's books, out soon!)
ALCOHOL. This is one of the main reasons that I stay employed as a trainer. If people actually realized just how DETRIMENTAL it was to their goals, then they would at least limit its consumption. It actually 'poisons' the body and dehydrates the muscles, skin, etc. which causes the organs (liver and kidneys) to work overtime, and adds bodyfat, (Alcohol turns into sugar) not to mention the fact that it ENLARGES the diameter of the waistline, over time! Other than being consumed in moderation and occassionally, it can be the enemy to a lean and healthy physique. (Think about a steak for a moment. If you were to marinate one in red wine all night, then think about what happens to the meat in the morning? It is 'tenderized', right? Well, that is exactly what happens to your muscles. They become soft and flabby, they are dehydrated, and they don't look toned, because they aren't! You could combat that by re-hydrating in the morning, but other damage has already taken place. I'm not advocating no alcohol... I'm just suggesting for all to be smart about quantity and quality of. (Expensive tequilas and a good wine is always better/cleaner than vodkas, whiskeys, or beer) One glass of wine is actually healthy, if it is a red. (Whites are more sugary.) But if you have one or two glasses EVERY NIGHT, then that cumulative effect is NOT going to make you leaner, I promise you. D