Ask Gilad

Are There Good Carbohydrates?

Question: What is the difference between complex carbohydrates and simple carbohydrates?

 

Answer: The carbohydrates in your diet should be complex carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates should be avoided. Simple carbohydrates are sugars that are converted into glucose and absorbed by the blood too rapidly. They will give you an immediate shot of energy followed by a sudden loss of energy. Simple carbohydrates include sweets like candy, cookies and desserts and anything made with white flour...like sandwiches made with white bread, white rice, flour tortillas, etc. You may notice that after you have a lunch of a sandwich on a French roll you feel tired an hour later. That is because white flour has almost the same effect on the bloodstream as straight table sugar.  
Complex carbohydrates, on the other hand, are made up of starches and fibers, and break down into glucose slowly providing a consistent supply of energy for a long period of time. 
Foods high in complex carbohydrates include vegetables cooked or raw, potatoes, whole grain breads, pastas and cereals, legumes (beans, peas, lentils) seeds and nuts.

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Find out more information about Gilad and his Fitness DVD's HERE.

What Does Being Fit Really Mean? (Part 2)

Two weeks ago Gilad responded to this same question by outlining the 5 components of fitness. (Read it HERE!) Today he explains how the body reacts to weight loss by diet only.

Question: I recently reached my goal of losing 35 pounds by altering my eating habits and counting calories. I didn't even have to exercise and I feel pretty good. Does this qualify as being fit?

Answer: Another important point to understand about dieting for weight loss is that if you lose weight that way once, and then, at a later date, try the same technique again, it will be much harder to do the 2^nd time.  Why? Simply because you've trained your body to react to what it perceives as 'starvation,' a decrease in the number of calories it gets each day. Our very clever bodies don't like that. They respond by activating their 'starvation response'.  Your metabolic rate goes down and consequently requires less food.  In this mode, your body will store anything it can as fat. So by repeatedly following low calorie diets you are teaching your body how to better store food as fat.

What you want to do instead is alter your fat to muscle ratio so you get more active muscle tissue busily burning calories.  Muscle tissue, unlike fat, actually burns calories while at rest. This means that increased muscle mass raises your metabolic rate so you can become a lean, mean fat-burning machine instead of a fat-storing body that is expecting to be starved.

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Have a question for Gilad? Click HERE and send it in! Gilad will choose one question each week to answer.

Find out more information about Gilad and his Fitness DVD's HERE.

What Does Being Fit Really Mean?

Gilad: I recently reached my goal of losing 35 pounds by altering my eating habits and counting calories. I didn't even have to exercise and I feel pretty good. Does this qualify as being fit?

Answer: Some people equate fitness with losing weight and being slim. But slim people can be unfit. Other people equate fitness with lots of muscles. But muscular people, too, can be unfit. Some people think fitness means being able to do 100 push-ups or run a marathon or compete in athletic events.
What does it mean to be a fit person? It means that you possess each of the 5 components of fitness: cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility and low body fat.
You felt a sense of accomplishment when you reached your weight loss goal. Now it is time for you to discover the joy of an active lifestyle.

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Have a question for Gilad? Click HERE and send it in! Gilad will choose one question each week to answer.

Find out more information about Gilad and his Fitness DVD's HERE.

Discover Your Inner Athlete

Gilad: I have always wondered what it would be like to be in good shape but I have never been the athletic type. I need some motivation about how to start an exercise program. Can you help?

 

Answer: I believe we are all 'natural athletes', and our bodies are just waiting for the opportunity to exercise their innate physical abilities. However, somewhere along the way, many of us have forgotten these abilities because we didn't use them.

I make it a point to observe people that are just starting to exercise or participate in sports for the first time in their lives. It is beautiful to watch people that are setting and achieving goals for the first time.

Whether we build a castle on a hill or grow a rose in the back yard...whether we win an Olympic gold medal or make the cut on our bowling team, it's all about achievement! And achievement is about putting energy into motion!

Now get out there and discover your 'inner athlete'!

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Have a question for Gilad? Click HERE and send it in! Gilad will choose one question each week to answer.

Find out more information about Gilad and his Fitness DVD's HERE.

Reshape Your Lower Body

Gilad:

What are the best exercises, including weights to tone and build muscle in the thighs? I especially need to firm up the inner thigh but interested in more intense exercising in buns and thighs. 

Regards,

Nancy

Answer:
The best exercises for the buns and thighs would be squats, lunges and inner thigh toning exercises. I think you will find all you want in my Power and Grace workout. It's the best workout I have for reshaping, toning and strengthening the lower body.

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Have a question for Gilad? Click HERE and send it in! Gilad will choose one question each week to answer.

Find out more information about Gilad and his Fitness DVD's HERE.

 

Fitness & Diet Do's and Don'ts

Gilad:

What are some fitness/diet do's and don'ts for hard training male and females 50 years old plus? 

 

Answer:
When we go into our fifties it is more important than ever to pay close attention to our nutrition since the metabolism slows down and everything we eat seems to want to stick to all the wrong places... Nutrition wise it is very important to eat lean and healthy foods and of course not over eat.

Lean proteins, good complex crabs (yams and sweet potatoes, brown rice, whole grain etc.) green veggies and 3 servings of fruits a day are a good base. In regards to exercise, when you get into your fifties consistency becomes way more important the intensity.

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Have a question for Gilad? Click HERE and send it in! Gilad will choose one question each week to answer.

Find out more information about Gilad and his Fitness DVD's HERE.