This post is a reply to a client (I’ll let him/her decide to come forward or not) when I gave them the Metabolic Meal Plan. I found out they they instinctively reverted back to their old opinion on what “healthy” is.
“Hi ______
Just in what you said you were eating. Im not sure if you just didnt include meats and the major cruciferous greens in what you said you ate. That looks like a relatively normal “healthy diet”, not the specific fat burning diet. It would be ok if you had fish, loads of chicken and a rake of brocolli and cabbage with it,, Im just not sure if you left all that out.
You have to remember the WHOLE thing about ths diet is taking in vast quantities of very certain foods that contin alot of fibre, few calories, and spark metabolism. Imagine this. If you took what you told me there, put it in a blender and condensed it you would have a smoothie that would be relatively thick with a moderate amount of calories in it. Now imagine you got 2 chicken breasts, a head of brocolli and a lot of cabbage. If you blended this you would have an even bigger smoothie (in terms of quantity) than your last one, which would also have alot less calories in it. This smoothie would also stimulate your metabolism more, and reduce cravings.
You have to remember the golden rule: 2 thirds of your plate must be from the “lots of” category.
You will lose weight with what your eating ____, but you wont be getting the same positive hormonal effects as from eating the vast quantities of lean meats and cruciferous veg. The salted peanuts have to go too Im afraid.
No Salt Allowed!”
End of message
You must be careful not to stray back into a regular chicken and veg diet. That is a healthy diet, but not a fat burning diet. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.
I would highly recommend this meal plan with 3 Underground Classes a week.
I will be releasing a new diet to class members in the coming weeks. This diet was created primarily to kick start the metabolisms of those who may have been dieting a bit too hard, and had their metabolism slow down. Saying this, this is the prefect nutritional plan for anyone. It has the following benefits
– Burns Fat while building metabolism – Doesn’t plateau
– Elimintaes hunger and cravings – Aids sleep and healthy function
– Cleanses the gut and removes toxins – Eat lots of food
– No calorie counting or small plates.
What you’re eating and why
The bulk of your plate will be fish, lean meats and cruciferous greens (broccoli, cabbage, spinach). It doesn’t sound great but you can flavour it up, and the beauty of it is you can eat as much as you want. You can then take in other foods, as long as you’ve filled with those main three.
This will trick your body into thinking you are eating vast amounts of food (and you will be), but you won’t be taking in vast amounts of calories. A lot of protein will be consumed to spur muscle growth, but a large amount will be fibre. Your body will keep revving while your stomach is full, but there will still be a calorie shortage. With your energy still running strong your hormones will be in a state of fat burning, which is where all this excess energy will come from.
Remember that when starving yourself or eating the wrong foods, your metabolism will drop. That’s why you plateau and lose progress. With this diet your metabolism stays strong, so you really can lose a significant amount of weight with it.
Body Composition
With this diet, you get your hormones working for. This can almost seem like you are changing on a genetic level.
Let’s take an overweight person with a round frame. If they simply reduced calories their bodies would pull fat from everywhere, until finally their metabolism would slow down. They would be left with the same shape, and their progress would halt.
With this metabolic plan, the same person would finally switch on their hormones to work on their behalf (the fact that they were overweight was likely because hormones were working against them). Properly balancing hormones can help strip fat from problem areas, essentially changing this person over all shape. They’ll finally have the shape and metabolism they thought was beyond their reach.
I will be handing out the diet in the classes, so be sure to pick one up. If you don’t want to follow one yet don’t worry. I can print for anyone who wants it in time. This is not one to miss though, the old form of dieting is dead and buried, this is what will give you the consistent results you’re after.
Best of luck, Im here to answer any questions you may have.
https://underground.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/New-Logo-transparent-1-300x214.png00Paddy MacKeoghhttps://underground.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/New-Logo-transparent-1-300x214.pngPaddy MacKeogh2012-08-30 10:42:452012-08-30 10:42:45The Metabolic Energy Diet
This is for the women in the class who tell me they are not losing weight.
Many women when starting the class say this to me, and my reply is always the same: “well are you noticing any changes?” They seem broken like the last week or two has been in vain, like the scales has placed them in fitness purgatory, then they reply “Well no I’m not losing any weight, but I seem to be toning up”…
Hhhhmmmm…
When most women come through my doors what they hope to achieve with me is to lose fat, or as they call it “lose weight”. They can become fixated on seeing a drop on that scales. They might be misinformed that a drop in body fat while toning up will have a direct reduction in their body weight. Honestly, this is because this is because how they have been educated; incorrectly. Special K, Weight Watchers and all these short term solutions have you dropping weight, but their results won’t last. Radically dropping calories without training will result in a breakdown of muscle tissue, which is where most of the weight lost will be seen.
In the Underground System we do a lot of high intensity training, using a lot of resistance. Resistance training (weights etc.) stimulates muscle to grow when fed the right nutrients, namely Protein. Muscle weighs more than fat, so as you build small amounts of muscle, this is off-set by the body fat you are losing. This is more prevalent in the early stages of the class as you put on muscle quicker when adopting resistance training for the first time (or if it has been a while).
All’s not lost… Yet!
As your body builds more muscle your metabolism will raise. An extra pound of muscle can burn an extra 40-60 calories a day by just being there. This combined with the fact that as you get fitter you can perform more intensely in the class, will result in a great increase in your metabolism. As your muscle and aerobic fitness grows so will your calorie expenditure. When your muscles build to a certain size its development will slow down somewhat, but your fat burning will remain increased. This is why many women tone up in the first couple of weeks in the class (really burning body fat), but their weight will only start to drop after this time. This balance of muscle gained and fat lost will tip more towards the latter.
This is called Reconditioning, and it is by far the healthiest way to lose weight, because it means your new metabolism will help you keep the weight off. Forget the fads and the crappy money driven Special K diets (hilarious this is even legal), you must train to build muscle and develop a strong and efficient metabolism, one that will really keep you in that red dress for years to come.
https://underground.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/New-Logo-transparent-1-300x214.png00Paddy MacKeoghhttps://underground.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/New-Logo-transparent-1-300x214.pngPaddy MacKeogh2012-08-17 11:02:242012-08-17 11:02:24Reconditioning For Women – “I’m not losing weight!”
The Muscle Up program is a method of training used within the Underground System that will enhance muscle growth and increase separation. The advantage of this system is the functional nature of the exercises that will help grow muscle uniformly around the body, additionally targeting small muscles usually forgotten in the gym setting. You will grow muscle while maintaining functional strength across 3 dimensions (up/down/left/right as opposed to just front/back or left/right). This is extremely important for sports, where varying movement requires strength and power at many different angles. Heavy bench pressing for example would be of little benefit to an athlete whose sole purpose is not pushing something forward.
To maximise hypertrophy (the growth of muscle) you have to work with heavy weights. You’re not going to build much muscle if you’re lifting light weights, which is more suitable for fat burning (toning – Melt Down). In a workout such as that in The Underground System toning is inevitable, as you are performing so much work in a short space of time. Your heart’s pumping, and the burning sensation you feel is the burn off of calories as heat. You could not become a bodybuilder in this class, but that’s not why you’re here. You are here to be fit, lean, and functionally superior. That said, it doesn’t mean we can’t put on a good bit of muscle in the process.
The general instructions for the Muscle Up program are relatively easy to grasp. You simply need to perform clean reps of as heavy a weight possible in the strength exercises. This means that in all the exercises we do involving kettlebells, dumbbells, bars or even yourself as resistance, you need to perform the exercise with great muscular control, and as heavy as possible. If a weight is too heavy or too advanced to perform correctly, lower the resistance (or drop down from advanced to intermediate), and continue in good form. Doing things correctly will increase your likelihood of being able to correctly perform the lift/exercise next time you tackle it. A good slow lowering tempo is key.
The process of lengthening and shortening muscle fibres under control is what weight lifting is. If you perform an exercise too heavily or with bad technique, other muscles not meant to be involved will kick in to compensate, and you will develop back posture, poor muscle alignment, and possibly get injured.
Muscle building and strength development go hand in hand. You develop strength in order to lift heavier weights that will develop muscle. What also governs strength along with size is your body’s motor units. A motor unit contains a number of muscle fibres that it is responsible to contract. Lifting heavy weights has an effect on your muscles causing them to grow, and also on your motor units that improve your ability to perform that movement (like your muscles get better from practice). Your body’s central nervous system (CNS) is responsible for activating your muscles to flex/extend (move). Remember a time in your life when you lifted something very heavy, like furniture. You would not have really felt it in your muscles. It felt more like a body shock. These types of heavy strenuous movements are fired by your high threshold motor units.
You must train these higher threshold motor units with heavy weight to increase your chances of handling heavy weights in other exercises. If you train your body to lift a very heavy aqua bag even a few times, your body will be more adaptive to lifting heavier kettlebells in your swing etc. So you need strength to lift bigger, and it is in lifting bigger that muscle gets stimulated to grow.
As well as focusing on heavy weights where possible, you must also develop power. Power is defined as the maximum exertion of strength within a short burst movement. Power is like strength and speed combined. Power can be seen in a boxer’s punch or a footballer jumping high for a header. Excelling in the power based exercises of the class will increase strength and muscle size, by stimulating both the muscle tissue and the motor units of your central nervous system. You need only look at a sprinter to see how power affects the aesthetics of your body. Powerful muscles are lean, separated and Vascular (visible veins).
To enable you to perform at your maximal level in these exercises, you must sacrifice some of the energy spent on the cardio exercises (laps, jump jacks, skipping etc.). These exercises are great for fat burning and fitness, but to tip the scales more towards building strength and size you must pull back on your cardio intensity. Instead of hammering down in the cardio, go at a slower pace to slowly steady your heart rate. This will enable you to gather enough energy to perform maximal weight with good technique on the following strength/power exercises. Try to create balance where you increase cardio output (raise heart rate) in laps/skipping etc. while being able to lift heavy weights for good reps in following strength exercises.
Nutrition
In regards to diet, muscle loves carbohydrates and requires protein. Proteins (amino acids) are the building blocks of muscle. You are essentially eating an animal’s muscle when eat meat. The Muscle Up Meal Plan is the diet guide supply’s you with the carbohydrates needed to perform exercise intensely, and the protein required to recover and grow. When you perform exercises (heavy lifts especially) your body is burning off an energy source found within your muscles. There are a few different types of energy that your muscle uses in order, all deriving from sugars (carbohydrates). After exercise, if you eat a good dose of carbohydrates, these energy stores can “supercompensate”. This means your muscles can almost fill to the brim with glycogen (one of the energy forms), enabling them to lift slightly heavier than the last time. This is why carbohydrates are so important to weight lifters and athletes.
Protein is transported to muscle with the carbohydrates, where they act as building blocks repairing damaged muscle, which will build bigger than before (especially in the presence of supercompensation).
Eating big and lifting big is required to get big. The beauty of the system is that if you see yourself putting on unwanted fat with muscle, you can supplement in a Melt Down workout a week, or just switch to the Melt Down program for a period of time. It’s all scalable and changeable. We are here to help you achieve your desired look or performance. If you have any questions just ask, and be sure to check out the blog regularly for tips and tricks to maximise muscle growth.
Lift Big my brothers.
https://underground.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/New-Logo-transparent-1-300x214.png00Paddy MacKeoghhttps://underground.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/New-Logo-transparent-1-300x214.pngPaddy MacKeogh2012-07-12 15:25:492012-07-12 15:25:49Muscle Up – For Size, Performance, Definition
Congratulations to Paul for all the hard he’s put in. Training in the Underground System and following our diet has lost him 65lbs in less than 5 months. He lost nearly a pound every 2 days. HArd work and commitment DO pay off!!! Keep up the hard graft Paul, its paying up! :)
Be sure to check out this months image magazine where the Yourfitness Underground got great reviews!!! Thanks to Amy Ingram for her kind words… and for agreeing to take the bribe! :) Haha, stay fit everyone!!!
The following passage is written universally, but bear in mind if you are attending PT or the Underground classes you are already in metabolic effect – you’re training is sorted ;)
Christmas Jelly, New Year Belly.
Christmas, the time of year associated with jolly bellies
and sore heads, but does it have to end with breaking the top button off your
jeans? Of course Christmas is a time for us all to do whatever makes us happy. You
see people out with colleagues, family and friends, a sharp rise in biscuit tin
privileges, and Christmas feasts seldom isolated to the day. Christmas seems to
be the one time of year we really allow ourselves to indulge in the things we
like, but is it ever guilt free? The party is always followed by the hangover. By
January 1st people are regretting the extra slice of cake and the
extra shot of hot port with Uncle Tommy. So, can Christmas really be enjoyed
without the after effects?
Short answer, Yes. I will provide you with some sure fire
methods to keep Santa out of the mirror when it hits 2012. It will take some determination, but the fact
you can still enjoy the finer things makes the whole process much more enjoyable.
Follow this advice strictly and you will may lose weight, while still
indulging!
The first thing you must observe is why you might put on
weight during December. You take in a lot more calories, while not raising your
calorie expenditure (how many calories you burn). Besides maybe the odd dance
while out, Christmas tends to be a lazy time. Like an abacus, you slide
calories one way while sliding very few back. The few weeks are enough time to throw your
body and eating pattern out of balance, and the resulting calorie surplus can
be seen quickly.
So to keep balance you must do one of two things, reduce
calories in, or increase calories out. First we’ll take a look at how to
increase calories out. The easy
explanation is to DO MORE. Christmas doesn’t have to be about lazing around
tucking into a box of celebrations, there is plenty of things you can do to
keep yourself busy. General Christmas activities like walking around shops,
going to ice rinks, or even building snowmen with the kids, they all burn body
fat. It also keeps you busy so you don’t eat unnecessarily.
A more direct way to
burn calories is through exercise. Weight training a few times a week is the
best way to keep body fat from forming during periods of increased food intake.
It raises your metabolism so you burn more calories while at rest, and it
enables you to use more of the carbs and protein (e.g. meat) you will be
eating. It doesn’t have to be heavy, but just enough to tire your muscles out.
Combing exercises without rest (circuits) is perfect for stimulating muscle to
grow while burning calories. I would
highly recommend trying exercises that use various muscle groups at the same
time, as opposed to isolating muscles on their own. You burn more calories this
way, and increase body tone over a greater area in a shorter period of time. You
can find good exercises and routines up on our blog.
Of course if weight training is not your style you can do
cardio. Interval training is the best way to burn calories and raise your
metabolism while jogging or using aerobic machines. Start by building up your
pace over 5 minutes, then for one minute go as fast as you can (raising heart
rate), then two minutes slow pace (levelling heart rate), then one minute fast
again. Continue this for 20-25 minutes and follow by a five minute cool down.
Now let’s take a look at reducing over-all calories in an
attempt to maintain or even lose weight over Christmas. I do not want to deny
anyone their holiday indulgences, so here’s a strategy you can use to enjoy the
feasts and parties that comprise the upcoming season.
Divide all of your meals into two categories: saint and
sinner. The Christmas feasts, office parties, boozing sessions and occasional
indulgences will be sinner meals. These are the meals you truly enjoy, when you
want to treat yourself (like Christmas dinner – the average person takes in
8000 calories on Christmas day!) The sinner meals will be over-loaded with
carbohydrates and fats, which would generally make you over-weight (The average
person takes in 8000 calories on Christmas day!). Any excess your body cannot
use is stored as body fat, unless…
Your body has a certain requirement for nutrients including
carbs and fats (which increases when exercising). So isolate your carbs and
fats to your” sinner” meals. So to balance out, all your everyday meals, like
your average breakfast or lunch at work, must be “saint” meals. These meals
will be the majority of your diet. Try and stick mostly to protein and fibre,
so lean meats or fish, and vegetables. Taking fruit occasionally is ok, but it
is still carbs so keep it limited. You must still eat 4 to 5 meals a day, but
you are looking to take in the majority of your carbs and fats when you
indulge.
Tips the scales far enough towards saint meals and will lose
weight, but the bottom line (no pun intended) is that you won’t have put on any
excess body fat, while still having the odd indulgence.
So increase calories out, and reduce calories in
periodically. Balance out the beads on the abacus. Be good so you can be bad. It
doesn’t have to be a battle, and you don’t have to become a celery induced
hermit to stay in shape! Happy Christmas everyone, enjoy your lives and do what
makes you happy if even once a year. Follow these words, and you can enjoy the
jelly rolls without feeling them under blouse come spring. Bon Bon Noelle!
https://underground.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/New-Logo-transparent-1-300x214.png00Paddy MacKeoghhttps://underground.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/New-Logo-transparent-1-300x214.pngPaddy MacKeogh2011-11-04 18:33:462011-11-04 18:33:46Christmas Feasting Fitness and Diet Plan
Being Organic week, i will give you some info on a diet that I am currently doing. Its perfect for me because Lidl next door are doing €1 offers on all organic produce this week. Handy!
So now to apply it to an eating plan. Every nutritionist or dietary author will have mixed opinions on what the best diet is. A definate contender on everyones list however is the Caveman diet, aka the Paleolithic (Paleo) Diet, or the Neanderthal Diet. It is based around trying to match your diet to that of our caveman ancestors of the Paleolithic era, long before dairy farming, grains and pop-tarts. Put extremely lighlty, you can only eat that which comes from the land, and is for the most part completely unaltered by man. This would include 0nly organic raw vegetables and fruits, grass fed and organic meats etc. The additives in processed foods are obvious, and written on them. So its obvious that TV dinners are’nt good for us, but what about the raw ingredients that are not organic?
Chickens and other mass farmed animals are just not healthy. They are pumped full of hormones and preservatives that are passed onto us. If you’ve ever seen wild animal meat, there is little visible fat, especially not between muscle. This is called marbling, an example would be the fat that runs through a beef steak – Its just not there on a wild animal. Farmed animals are generally sick, and poorly looked after. Organic Grassfed beef do not contain these hormones, and are generally healthy which can be seen and tasted in the meat. Wild meat is untouched, but can be expensive and hard to source.
As for fruit and vegetables, chemicals and pesticides sprayed over them destroy nutrients, and these chemicals remain present in the foods when we are eating them. Switching to organic fruit and vegetables avoids these additives. The food tastes good, but goes off easily (due to no preservatives), but is worth it. Give it time, and as your body releases its toxins (due highly to the amount of antioxidants in all the fresh organic veg), you body will burn excess calories (all the nasty man altered carbs) at a powerful rate. Toxins in the body cause stress, which if you look back in posts, I have told you causes the body to store fat. Be toxin intake free, and on a calorie defecit, and the end result is… well.. desirable.
If you’re interested ask me for some practical info
https://underground.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/New-Logo-transparent-1-300x214.png00Paddy MacKeoghhttps://underground.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/New-Logo-transparent-1-300x214.pngPaddy MacKeogh2011-09-15 12:44:362011-09-15 12:44:36Organic Week, and The Paleo Diet
