My Trip To Prague (plus 5 diet rules to help you stay lean)

It's amazing what a few days away can do isn't it.

I've just come back from a wonderful city break in Prague, Czech Republic where I was on a stag-do for the weekend.

I've never been to Prague, what a great city! One of the very few cities that wasn't bombed in the war so it's managed to keep alot of it's architecture and history.

Behind me is the famous River Vltava than runs straight through Prague.

I'm not going to lie to you, it wasn't ALL sight seeing.

I didn't eat exactly how I intended and as you can imagine, there was plenty of drinking going on (although not copious amounts)-

Hey, it was a stag-do! give me a break! = >

However, a few of us DID manage to do some sight seeing.

We passed through the famous old town square on several occassions and everytime it was always real busy. Tourists taking photos of the old square clock, market stools selling and horse drawn carriage tours were just some of the things going on.

At times it was hard to walk through due to the sheer volume of people.

I really enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the old town square.

I managed to get my brother to take another snap of me with the famous square clock in the background.

As you can see, plenty of people milling around!

A great place to people watch!

So anyway, I haven't written this just to show off my holiday snaps to you

There IS a reason why I wanted to write to you today..

As I strolled through the town square with my buddies, people watching, my personal training instincts decided to kick in (it happens suddenly, I can't help it!)and I kept noticing one thing.

And the more I saw of this, the more it confirmed my thoughts.

(And it REALLY stood out for me!)

How so many Czech Republicans WEREN'T overweight!

I'm serious. I hardly saw one local that was overweight.

Ok, maybe a couple here and there but generally speaking, hardly any.

Which led me to the question...WHY?

Why is it when we go to other countries, certain cultures seem to be thinner, leaner, less over weight than Britain and the States?

Now the typical answer I usually get is "our diet is far worse than other countries" which is true to a certain extent, but walking around Prague, there wasn't any evidence that that they WEREN'T consuming a western world diet?

MacDonalds was there, KFC was there,and amongst some nice restaurants there was the usual fast food outlets like any other city you'd find in Britain or the States.

This is strong evidence that the western world diet is already in Prague wouldn't you say?

They are already subject to it so why aren't they overweight?

After a lot of thinking this lead me to the conclusion that this pure and simply comes down to calorie restriction.

Simple I guess...it's not rocket science.

Whether the Czech Republicans are exercising more, eating less, or simply can't afford to eat like we do (after all, Britain and the States are considered to be richer countries than the Czech Republic and richer countries usually means over indulgence in everything, including food),

whatever the reason they're doing something right!

They're simply consuming less calories than us.

This was plain to see just from people watching in the Old Town Square of Prague.

There is growing evidence suggesting that a calorie restricted diet is not only great for staying lean but also increasing longevity too.

Somtimes I think our fitness industry over complicates things when it comes to diet. We need to take note from the Czech's and do what they're doing.

Eat Less!

Stick to these 5 diet rules and you'll be well on your way to achieving great fat loss success this year.

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Rule 1) Eat fewer foods from a bag or box, and eat more whole, natural foods such as fruits, vegetables, and raw nuts.

Rule 2) Avoid wheat, dairy and gluten whenever possible

Rule 3) Try to consume some protein with every meal.

Rule 4) Be consistent with your diet plan but don't stress out if you've had a bad day. Just get back on the wagon again knowing that tomorrow will be MUCH better

Rule 5) And most importantly...CONSUME LESS CALORIES.

Eat Stop Eat will help you consume less calories. Flexible Intermittent Fasting is an easy and effective way to reduce your overall calorie intake while still enjoying the foods you eat.

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And that was my trip to Prague.

Catch up with you very soon,

Sam Winkworth
CPT, SPN

Short Term Fasting For Weightloss

Just been reading an interesting piece from my good buddy and nutritional professional Brad Pilon which really got me thinking.

Here's Brad: =>

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My Secret For Weight Loss: Short Term Fasting

By line: By Brad Pilon, MS

URL: www.eatstopeat.com

If you've been searching for a diet plan that you will not only lose weight with, but have a chance at making a change that will last a lifetime, then you need to look into short term fasting as part of a sensible plan that can help you reach these goals. If you've always dismissed fasting as the domain of the religious fanatics or the political prisoners, then you are in for a surprise. There are many misconceptions surrounding fasting, and here we'll look into how it can help you not only in your weight loss program, but aid in achieving a better overall you!

In order for any diet plan to work, there is really only one “magic” secret for it to work: eat fewer calories than you burn off. That's it! Think about it - all of the current fad diets rely on teaching you to eat certain proportions of whatever they think is best. Ornish promotes low fat, Atkins low carbs, The Zone a more balanced ratio, but in reality, they all preach smaller amounts, which will lead to weight loss. The only question with them is can you sustain yourself on these diets? Not many can. I tried the Atkins plan, and even though I'm a meat lover, after a few weeks it was difficult to face all that protein. Conversely, people report similar difficulty staying with Ornish and the others, simply because of the restrictive nature of these diet plans. One thing that is interesting, however, is that any of these kinds of diets will cause you to lose weight, (by restricting caloric intake) proving that it really doesn't matter what you eat, only that you eat less of it.

I proved this to myself when I was younger by going on a cherry pie and hard-boiled egg diet for 30 days. I lost a bunch of weight, but it obviously wasn't the healthiest plan I could have undertaken. And needless to say, it was not sustainable as a lifestyle. (But it hit the spot for a time!)

I believe that short term fasting, a 24-hour fast once or twice per week, can be a great way to get you into total caloric deficit for the week. Eliminating two full days of eating helps us consume fewer calories than we use, and that in turn can help us reach our goal of weight loss. Of course, you can't eat like Michael Phelps the remaining hours of the week, (Unless you ARE Michael Phelps!) and hope to have a deficit, but in reality, I've found that you don't often have the desire to wolf down excessive amounts of food when following this plan.

Short term fasting is not only the fastest way to achieve caloric deficit, but also, contrary to popular opinion, can actually increase your metabolism during the first 24-36 hours. Short term fasting can be a great aid to helping you lose weight. Give it a try, there's nothing to buy!

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Brad Pilon is a nutrition professional with over eight years experience working in the nutritional supplement industry specializing in clinical research management and new product development. Brad has completed graduate studies in nutritional sciences specializing in the use of short term fasting for weight loss.

His trademarked book Eat Stop Eat has been featured on national television and helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat without sacrificing the foods they love. For more information on Eat Stop Eat, visit www.eatstopeat.com