Tweaking Calories

Determining the basic caloric intake or maintenance calories takes some time and should be done gradually through a few weeks to months for the body to adapt to this new pattern. The key here is proper digestion and adequate enzymes to consume the amount of food that is required.

If the body does not digest the nutrients provided due to a sudden excess, it will either store it or get rid of it. Patience is virtue.

Take some measurements and monitor them monthly to make sure you are on track. If you have been gradually increasing calories but weight is still the same and body fat is decreasing or even maintaining, then good, keep increasing, you would be surprised how much your body requires. 

How often should I increase? The increments should be around 5% weekly for weight gain or even monthly depending on your goal. The weight gain is around 1 to 2 lbs per month. Take note that you want to have a good muscle : fat ratio! Meaning 2:1 or better.

However, if you notice your waist measurement is increasing quickly, perhaps it is good to slow the increase of calories as the body is starting to store fat due to the rate of absorption being low, low to slow metabolism or the workouts are not intensive enough to justify the increase in calories.

The key to success is consistency and understanding how your body works. For example if you are consuming too much simple carbohydrates through the day the insulin levels will be spiked and that slows metabolism. That is the reason why people feel sleepy if they consuming too much carbs after lunch. 

Choose slow digesting or carbohydrate choices that have lower glycemic scores such as sweet potatoes, brown rice, or rolled oats. Breads that are high in fiber would have a lower glycemic score compared to white bread.

If insulin is kept low to moderate and consistent throughout the day, metabolism will be kept stable. This in turn encourages fat loss. Exercise will always be the main method of heightening your metabolism and keep it high throughout the day. This is the most natural and best way to burn fat safely!

Next topic: Metabolism in a nutshell

Written By: Ryan Lye

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How to reduce body fat?

In my last article i mentioned about Macros and how we can continue to eat most foods and still be healthy. But before i get to that i want to touch on fat and how it accumulates in our body.

Blame it on low metabolism, too much work, lack of exercise. I am sure we all battle with it at some point. It is truly frustrating and the odds seem to be against us. 

But there is another reason why we store fat that most people don't realize.

Most people aren’t eating enough. 

When I asked my clients what they eat on a regular basis, some find it like a trick question or struggle to remember what they had yesterday. You see folks most of us just want to fulfil our body’s natural response. Satisfy hunger. It doesn’t matter what it is as long as it fills us up. 

 

But what if you found out that you were eating too little and it actually caused you to store fat? 

The body is built for survival. If you are not eating enough the body’s natural response is to store fat. It’s that simple. But wait! If i eat very little carbs and more protein and vegetables for my meals why then does one still store fat? The key thing is calories. Carbohydrates, Proteins and Fats all have calories. If the body is undernourished it will convert calories into fat and store it in the fat cells. Once the cells are full, they multiply. The source of the calories does not matter. 

The quality of each meal is also essential but overall if we eat adequately and moderately, the body will be inclined to not store fat as it knows that it has enough REGULARLY. 

That is why most fitness enthusiast understand this and they keep their meals consistent and maintain a proper caloric intake daily. Ever wondered how they maintained their slim fit figures and eat ice cream and fried chicken even though they eat fried chicken and ice cream regularly?

Well i am going to teach you how.

 

Stay tuned for the next topic: Finding my Maintenance calories

Ryan Lye

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Easy-To-Prepare-Breakfast to energize your day! Just Blend it!

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Creamy Berry Smoothie

It was a Sunday evening over dinner and was chatting with some friends about nutrition. The main issue why people don’t eat breakfast was because it isn’t convenient. I’d like to correct that! Breakfast is extremely crucial to kick start your day because it can provide you with energy and keep your metabolism stable for you to burn fat!!!

Personally I train really early in the morning. So I want something that is a good mix of proteins, carbs and fat. Easy to absorb by the body and great for digestion.

Let’s get started!!

Ingredients:

1 x Frozen Banana

Frozen Raspberries or Strawberries

1 cup baby spinach

250 ml unsweetened almond milk

Chopped almonds

Put all the ingredients into a blender and turn it on!

Blend till you get the texture you want. The longer you blend it, the smoother and creamier it gets

Enjoy!

Ryan Lye

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Fitness In the Air

Fitness In The Air - FITA

Today we will show you some very basic moves on the trampoline that can race your heat beat up really fast. These are really simple exercises and can be easily performed with proper techniques. The challenging part of these exercises is that it is on the trampoline ..(get that?) Having said that, the impact on the trampoline can be as high as 4-5 times of what you get from the hard ground. Especially the whiplash effect !!

We will try to get the movement right before we arrange them into a circuit workout. First, we learn to stabilize our body on the trampoline, and this requires our core strength.

The important key points are:
1. Keep your body straight and firm up your stomach and back.
2. Try your best not to rock your body, or let your back collapse.
3. Remember to breath.

The progression of the exercises is slow and safe. We want to enjoy ourselves and have a great workout without injuries right? The next exercises will be working out more on the adductors. This can be quite tiring for people who doesn't really work on their adductors before. The wider you open your legs, the more you will be working on it. But please don't be too adventurous, don't do a split...

Now is the coordination part, we will combine the 2 exercises above and work on the required muscles and also to build on our coordination. It might seem really straight forward and easy, but you'll be surprise how uncoordinated you are when you start doing it..

Last exercise we going to show you something more challenging. We do wide cuts mountain climbers on the trampoline. Coordination, flexibility and strength, all in one! Did we say that this is only for the legs? Come and do it and tell us if you can hold in this position without complaining your arms aching like mad..

Hope to see you in Amped, we going to shed some excess!
Contact Amped for more information!
http://ampedsingapore.com/

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Fitness In The Air

Bounce Your Fats Off!

This year, we had a few new programs coming up and one of it, which is super fun and interesting! Introducing our latest collaboration partner: Amped Trampoline Park! 

The Park is located at :
369 Tanjong Katong Road, Singapore 437126, (Level 2) Located above the food court.

If you haven't been there, then you are missing out something real big! 

Reactiv launched the new program: Fitness In The Air, it is a total body weight and resistance band training on the trampoline! Combining our existing program Triple-T Training system, our experience instructors came up with a hybrid of exercises with the unstable nature of the trampoline. A good 45mins of non-stop activities will definitely burn your unwanted excess off!

Do find out more from the Amped website:
http://ampedsingapore.com/

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Pancakes for Breakfast? Is that healthy?

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Gluten-free pancakes with Berry Compote

Pancakes are an excellent way to start the day and if done with health in mind can be a fantastic option for breakfast on a regular basis. Savory or sweet is fine. The key ingredient is the type of flour used. There is almond and coconut flour that is highly recommended or a premix which available at most organic shops or your local supermarket’s organic section.

NOW LET’S MAKE SOME PANCAKES!!!

Ingredients for pancakes:

1 ¼ cup of almond flour (measuring cup)

400 mls of almond milk or skim (adjust accordingly to texture of mix)

2 egg yolks

2 bananas (mashed)

1 Large mixing bowl and whisk

1 ladle or beaker (to pour your mixture to the pan)

Start by sifting the flour into a large bowl with a dry strainer to get rid of the lumps. This will make your mix smooth and your pancakes will not turn out lumpy.

Beat your eggs with a fork and add that to the flour together with your almond milk. Whisk the mixture.

If the mixture is too thick you can add more milk to reduce the thickness if too runny add more flour.

Mix in the 2 bananas and scoop of protein (optional) for protein pancakes. Whisk everything together

Heat up a non-stick pan over medium heat, and add some butter and once it has melted pour the pancake mixture in to the desired shape and size! You can even buy pancake tray to have some fun!!

Within less than a min, the pancakes start to bubble at the top and brown at the sides it is time to flip’em! 

Your pancakes should turn out nice and golden brown!

For the Berry compote:

Handful of blueberries

Handful of blackberries

4 – 5 organic strawberries

Soak and rinse your berries before use and place them in a small pot.

Place the pot over medium heat. After 5 mins, the berries should start to soften and the juices will form a syrup.

Continue to place over medium heat till the compote is reduced.

Tip: If your fruits are sweet, it is good on it’s own. You may add a tb spoon of honey once the mixture cools if you need added sweetness. No refined sugars please.

 

Ready to serve!

Plate your pancakes and ladle your berry compote and garnish it with chopped almonds, sprinkle on some cinnamon powder and serve!

Enjoy!

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