“What’s the best protein bar to eat?” This is undoubtedly one of the most common questions I am asked. Protein bars serve one purpose of filling the gap in nutrition when whole foods cannot be implemented. Opinions will differ of “what’s best”, but science tells us what is of high quality, and what is not. The number one thing I pay attention to when searching for a protein bar, is sugar. You want to get as LOW as possible on the sugar chart without loading your body with unneeded artificial sweeteners. Some sweeteners are better than others, but pick the wrong one and you have a gastrointestinal disaster waiting to happen. The number two most important ingredient to look for in protein bars, is the carbohydrates. Where are they sourced from? Are they from wheat? Corn? Oats? Ideally you should be looking for a source that is 100% gluten free and preferably paleo. Many individuals are allergic to gluten without knowing it, which will cause inflammation in your gut and lead to a whole host of issues mental and physical issues. A majority of wheat and corn are also genetically modified, which may be harmful if ingested regularly. Why am I not mentioning to look at protein as a buying point? Because most protein bars are equipped with enough protein. It isn’t too common you will find a protein bar with less than 20grams per bar. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t check the grams, but it’s the LEAST of your concerns. “But the guy at the vitamin store told me I should only look at calories.” Well the vitamin guy doesn’t know your goals, and unfortunately doesn’t have the education needed to have your best interest at heart. But I do. Below are my top 10 protein bars which will lead you closer to your goals, as well as keep your blood sugar levels steady, and sugar cravings at bay. #10 Quest Bars You have to be living under a rock to not know what a quest bar is in the fitness world. They are arguably one of the best tasting, most protein dense bars on the market. As far as quality goes, the bars are NOT made with grass-fed whey (Primal Body Protein IS made with grass-fed whey) and a majority of the bars are filled with artificial sweeteners other than stevia. A large advantage to Quest Bars is the low carbohydrate and high fiber content which will keep you full for hours. Is this bar better than 90% of the bars at the grocery store? Yes. But I still rank it higher on the list. These bars can be purchased pretty much everywhere now, even your local 711. www.questnutrition.com #9 B-UP Bars UP bars took a spin on Quest Bars, but only use natural sweetener’s such as Xylitol, Stevia, and Monk Fruit Extract. The texture of these bars have more of a Laffy Taffy consistency, which is perfect for those who do not like the Quest Bar texture. UP bars are also high in fiber and lower in carbohydrates, which is great for those who do not want an insulin spike or a blood sugar crash after eating. www.yupbrands.com #8 Jay Robb Protein Bars Jay Robb uses all natural sweetener’s in his products which makes these bars higher quality in terms of ingredients. This bar is perfect for pre or post work out since it contains a sufficient amount of carbohydrates for energy. The carbs from the Jay Robb bars are derived from organic agave syrup, whey isolate crisps, and tapioca starch. When choosing protein bars, it’s best to opt for the bars closest to the paleo lifestyle. This would mean opting for bars that do not contain gluten (wheat), oats, rice, or other grains. www.jayrobb.com #7 Manbake Protein Bars Another high fiber, lower carb protein bar packed with taste. These bars are only currently available online, but will soon be available at local stores. They are 100% paleo friendly, and will kill any type of sugar craving you have. They also carry beefcakes which are perfect for a post workout meal. Once you try Manbake, you may never go back. www.manbake.us #6 Oatmega Grass-Fed Whey Bars The appeal to these bars are they are derived from grass-fed whey. Grass-fed whey is hormone and antibiotic free, which is the highest quality protein on the market. They are relatively low in carbs and calories, which are perfect for a snack or eaten as a dessert. The downside to these bars is the small amount of oats included in the ingredients. However, a plus is that the “mega” in Oatmega refers to Omega 3 fatty acids that were added to these bars as an extra anti-inflammatory kick. With only 5 grams of sugar per bar, you can eat these free of guilt. #5 Julian Bakery Paleo Protein Bars The name Paleo Protein Bars says it all. Julian Bakery somehow found a way to incorporate egg white protein into protein bars and actually taste GOOD. These bars are 100% Paleo, Gluten-free, GMO-free, Grain-free, High-fiber, Dairy-free, Whey-free, No Sugar Alcohols, and High-protein. The prebiotic fiber used is made with tapioca, which is another grain-free ingredient. www.julianbakery.com #4 Tanka Bars Sweet tasting protein bars are fun, but what about when you crave Chipotle but don’t have time for lunch? This is where Tanka Bars come into play. Think healthiest and best tasting beef jerky you have ever had. The meat used in these bars are made from Buffalo meat , and are hormone, MSG, gluten, and nitrate free. They also have a sweet kick as they contain small amounts of raspberries. www.tankabar.com #3 Epic Bars Buffalo meat doesn’t sound appealing to you? Queue Epic Bars. With the same high quality ingredients as Tanka Bars, but Epic offers chicken, turkey, bison, and bacon options. These bars are as close to a complete meal as they contain a perfect amount of fats, protein, and carbs. The grass-fed meat in these bars contain high
Looking to shape up your diet plan? If you’ve been reading about nutrition, you’ve likely heard the term ‘macro’, along with the words proteins, carbohydrates, and dietary fats tossed around over and over again. You have a good idea of what these mean, but when it comes to setting these up in your diet, you’re confused as ever. Some sources say you should be eating 30% protein in your diet while others say 1 gram per pound is the right number to hit. And when it comes to carbohydrates, the advice is all over the map. Don’t feel confused by this. In terms of structuring your macronutrient intake, it’s never a black and white picture. Not only do you need to consider what your goals are – be it fat loss, muscle building, aerobic improvement, and so on, but you also need to consider the workouts you are doing. An intense weight lifting program is going to require far different types of macros in a day than an easier going cardio workout will. Customization is key This said, let’s back up a moment. The Real Secret To Beginner Fat Loss Success Before you let all this confusion regarding macros overwhelm you, it’s time to forget about it. That’s right. The biggest mistake I see beginners who are looking for fat loss making is getting too wrapped up in the details. It isn’t going to matter if you are consuming 100 grams of carbs or 150 grams of carbs per day if those carbs are coming from white bread, sugary cereals, and processed foods. In either scenario, you will not be seeing results. Until you get the basics down first – that is, sound nutrition coming from wholesome foods, your macros simply don’t matter. As a beginner, you can see dramatic success – a major transformation even – if you just focus on eating the right foods. Only once you’ve done this for 60 days and feel confident you can make wise food choices wherever you go, should you begin worrying about macros. Perfecting Step 1 So I challenge you, for 60 days, to eat a completely clean and natural diet. This means choosing lean protein sources, plenty of vegetables, small doses of nuts and seeds, along with moderate amounts of fruit. Opt for berries for the best results as these are rich in antioxidants and lowest on the GI scale. Add small doses of complex carbohydrates from white rice, quinoa, and sweet potato around your workout periods to fuel your muscles and you will be all set. This also means cutting out any forms of sugar and processed carbs, staying away from all deep fried foods or those high in unhealthy saturated fat, as well as forgoing all alcohol for this 60 day time frame. Once you have achieved this, then we’ll talk about macros. But for now, this is the bigger priority and should be your only focus as it pertains to nutrition. If you need help knowing which foods are allowed and which aren’t, pick up one of my programs and follow the macro list & grocery guide included. If you eat all the foods on this list and that’s all you worry about, I promise you, you’ll be loving how you look and feel in no time. As always thanks for following me, and giving me the opportunity to do what I love. ~ Michael Tweet 0 Share 1 +1 0 Reddit Pocket Pinterest LinkedIn 0
This question and answer session is with our Morellifit Coach Chris. Todays topics cover supplements. Is Whey Isolate Good? Absolutely, in terms of supplemental proteins, isolate is King. It has the highest bioavailability. It had a bioavailability of 159. Bioavailability is how well our body absorbs and utilizes protein. We can use this term for anything, but right now we are in the context of protein. The egg is the set point at 100. The egg is considered to be 100 in bioavailability. Whey isolate is at 159, meaning it is way up there. That means your body utilizes whey protein isolate better than any other protein that you can take in. What are your views on Casein? Is it good? Milk contains proteins. You might see on the back of ingredient labels milk protein isolate, milk protein concentrate, and calcium casein. Casein is a main protein found in milk. So milk protein is the whey and the casein together. When we take something like the whey protein isolate, what we are doing is pulling the whey away from everything else and isolating it. Casein digests a little slower, and it’s a different kind of protein. Whey isolate digests just a little faster. Most people are not allergic to whey protein, but a lot of people have allergies to casein. Michael has had severe allergies to casein, and that’s not uncommon. Casein is a protein that can agitate the intestines, and you may or may not have this issue, but I would tell you to stay away from it if you can. It is not considered a high quality protein. It’s bioavailability isn’t near a great as whey protein isolate. Pre-workout Supplements in a nutshell? Pre-workouts, if your someone who’s taken them for a long period of time, you’ll know what that crash is like when you come off of them. You crash hard. The reason is that they are pounding your central nervous system, and they are pounding your adrenal glands to release epinephrine. And caffeine does the same thing, but to a lesser degree, and it’s a lot healthier for you. What I would recommend to you is coffee. And if your going with coffee, which I recommend, go with an organic coffee like Grind. It’s really difficult to find a high quality coffee without a lot of extra junk like pesticides thrown in. That’s why Michael came up with Morelli’s Coffee because it is a pure organic coffee from a small farm in Costa Rica. If you order it right now you can get free shipping. You can go to Morelliscoffee.com and enter FREESHIP and you’ll get free shipping on your order. Grind Coffee has become one of my favorite pre workouts. I do a shot or two of espresso before I go to the gym. It perks me up, gets me going and I have enough energy to where I can really push through a hard workout and I don’t crash. That’s the best part. If you take a pre-workout like you get in the stores, eventually you need it just to be normal. Your body becomes so adaptive to it, used to it, that you have to have it to feel normal. What I would recommend to you is that if you don’t like coffee or you don’t like espresso, just try it. Just start drinking it. I didn’t like it either. The last thing I wanted to do was grab a shot of espresso or a cup of coffee. It wasn’t my thing. I used to be hooked on pre-workouts. And I can tell you that my overall quality of life is much better, I’m not near as tired, not near as run down, not near as dependent on a harsh stimulus to work out. Coffee is awesome. Benefits of BCAA? When to take them? Branch Chain Amino Acids is what BCAA stands for. Branch chain amino acids are specific to skeletal muscle. Protein is made up of Amino Acids, and you take them in, you chew it up, its sits with some acids and enzymes and it gets broken up. They can take a long time time break down. Then those amino acids go to the liver and your body does what it wants with them. You take amino acid supplements like Primal Body Amino Acids which, we are coming out with, and these amino acids are specific to skeletal muscle. You want to take them intra-workout, that way they are in your blood while you are training. What that will allow you to do is go that extra mile, and push yourself a little bit harder. Your body is already taking and using them to start repairing damage that is created during exercise. And it is creating an anabolic environment. That is an environment where we build up muscle tissue. Where as exercise in itself is a catabolic in nature, so your breaking muscle down. What are your views on fat burners? Fat burners are a lot like pre-workouts. They beat the crap out of your central nervous system and your adrenal glands. It can actually create more damage in the long run then the gain or benefit your going to have doing them. Just don’t do them. We all want that quick fix, but what is going to happen when you stop taking those fat burners and then don’t change anything else in your life. You are going to go right back to where you were and maybe even worse because your adrenal glands are shut down. Now, you could screw up your thyroid, and a lot of different things that can screw your metabolism up. Just stay away from them. I know there is a great selling point, which is if I just take this pill, I don’t have to change anything else, I don’t have to work any harder and I’m going lose fat. But I want you to think long term. What’s going to happen when you
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Welcome Morellifit Family to a workout nutrition Q + A with Michael. Today we focus on nutrition that has to do specifically with your workout routines. Q – Can you eat protein prior to your workout? Michael – You can. For me it’s not right up into your work out. Q – What is more important to eat before your workout? Michael – Fuel for sure! But a couple things you need to take into consideration. When was your last meal? If you ate two hours ago, and you had lots of carbs you potentially don’t need to eat before you work out. Its all predicated on you. Your body, your goals, and what your training looks like. If you’re going on a treadmill for 45 minutes you don’t need carbs for that; sweet potato, white rice or any carbs for that. It all depends on your training. But you definitely want to have some fuel before and after a work out. Q – What’s HIIT? Michael – High Intensity Interval Training. It’s my number one selling program bar no one. And I think we just passed 100,000 students world wide. Hittmax.com is essentially my version of high intensity interval training. I basically took plyometrics and strength and married them together to give you HIIT MAX. In a nut shell it is high intensity exercise followed by either low intensity exercises or a short period of rest. Q – What is the best way to bulk? Michael – Eat. If your really lean, like skin and bones and a hard gainer, and your goal is to bulk I hate to say it, but it’s milk and peanut butter. Almond butter if you want to go a little healthier and whole milk, pasture raised and the more organic the better. If you are lean hard gainer, that is highly recommended. Me and D are the opposite of that. We look at a cheese burger and gain weight. The moral is that you have to eat above your TDEE. You need to figure out your TDEE and you can go to morellifit.com and click on the blog. There is a BMR calculator so you can figure out your TDEE. Now in order to gain weight you have to eat above your total daily energy expenditure. If you don’t you won’t gain weight. If 3500 calories is a pound, then eat 500 above your TDEE for 7 days. In a week, you know that you’ve gained a 1 lb. You always have to remember, the cleaner you eat, the cleaner the gains. Know that I’m thankful for your support, and I’ll always have your back. Be patient. Stay the course. And let’s get fit, together. Tweet 0 Share 0 +1 0 Reddit Pocket Pinterest LinkedIn 0
Welcome Morellifit Family to a workout nutrition Q + A with Michael. Today we focus on nutrition that has to do specifically with your workout routines. Q – Can you eat protein prior to your workout? Michael – You can. For me it’s not right up into your work out. Q – What is more important to eat before your workout? Michael – Fuel for sure! But a couple things you need to take into consideration. When was your last meal? If you ate two hours ago, and you had lots of carbs you potentially don’t need to eat before you work out. Its all predicated on you. Your body, your goals, and what your training looks like. If you’re going on a treadmill for 45 minutes you don’t need carbs for that; sweet potato, white rice or any carbs for that. It all depends on your training. But you definitely want to have some fuel before and after a work out. Q – What’s HIIT? Michael – High Intensity Interval Training. It’s my number one selling program bar no one. And I think we just passed 100,000 students world wide. Hittmax.com is essentially my version of high intensity interval training. I basically took plyometrics and strength and married them together to give you HIIT MAX. In a nut shell it is high intensity exercise followed by either low intensity exercises or a short period of rest. Q – What is the best way to bulk? Michael – Eat. If your really lean, like skin and bones and a hard gainer, and your goal is to bulk I hate to say it, but it’s milk and peanut butter. Almond butter if you want to go a little healthier and whole milk, pasture raised and the more organic the better. If you are lean hard gainer, that is highly recommended. Me and D are the opposite of that. We look at a cheese burger and gain weight. The moral is that you have to eat above your TDEE. You need to figure out your TDEE and you can go to morellifit.com and click on the blog. There is a BMR calculator so you can figure out your TDEE. Now in order to gain weight you have to eat above your total daily energy expenditure. If you don’t you won’t gain weight. If 3500 calories is a pound, then eat 500 above your TDEE for 7 days. In a week, you know that you’ve gained a 1 lb. You always have to remember, the cleaner you eat, the cleaner the gains. Know that I’m thankful for your support, and I’ll always have your back. Be patient. Stay the course. And let’s get fit, together. Tweet 0 Share 0 +1 0 Reddit Pocket Pinterest LinkedIn 0
The recommended amount of water you should drink daily is a topic at the center of many heated debates. Many people claim there is an one-size-fits-all prescription to how much water you should drink every day. The most common water prescription says that you should drink 8 glasses per day. However, this statement is entirely false. The optimal daily water intake is highly individualized and is different for each person. Why? Because various internal and external factors play a role in determining the amount of water you should drink. The purpose of this post and the video below is to provide you with: The 7 Factors to Determine Your Daily Water Intake A Better Prescription for Your Daily Water Intake Important Health Reasons for Proper Hydration 7 Factors That Determine Your Daily Water Intake Climate Altitude If you are a woman and are nursing If you are sick, have the flu, or healing from any other illness How active you are during the day Your body-fat percentage Your weight A Better Daily Water Intake Prescription “Half your body weight in ounces of water” is a good baseline prescription for the amount of water you should drink daily. For example, for a person who weighs 200 pounds, he or she would divide by two. This equals 100. Therefore, for a 200-pound person, the starting point or baseline prescription for water is 100 ounces per day. However, please keep in mind this is just a starting point, as you must add in other factors. For example, if you are a bicyclist or avid runner, then you should drink more water. So, start with the baseline prescription. Then listen to your body and increase your daily intake based on what you are feeling. This is the most solid prescription that you can get without going to see a hydration specialist. Important Health Reasons for Proper Hydration It is important to maintain an exceptional hydration status for many reasons, including, but certainly not limited to: Toxin Removal, Increased Energy Levels, and Mood Improvement Other liquids such as tea, coffee, juices and the like do not factor into your hydration status. Only water by itself factors into your hydration status. Achieving Good Hydration Do not beat yourself up if you fail to drink 100 ounces of water every day. Just try your hardest. And do your best while remaining aware that what one person may need to stay healthy may be entirely different than what you need. Start at the baseline prescription of drinking half your body weight in ounces. And then listen to your body from there. It will always tell you what you need. After you implement this, leave me a comment below letting me know how this approach to staying hydrated is working for you. And until next time, take care. Tweet 0 Share 4 +1 0 Reddit Pocket Pinterest LinkedIn 0
Are you burning fat at the rate you want? If the answer is no, then you need to focus on cranking up your metabolism. This can be done from the comfort of your own home. So, if you want to use a resistance training program to lose weight, there are a few things to keep in mind. These things will ensure that you burn the maximum amount of fat possible. Let’s take a look at some key things to remember: Consider A Circuit Approach The first thing to think about is structuring your program so that it’s a circuit training set-up. Circuit training is going to have you moving from one exercise to the next, as quickly as possible, with hardly any rest periods in between. Because of this, it tends to produce the absolute best metabolic boosts possible, causing you to burn off calories at an accelerated pace for the hours post training. In fact, you can burn calories for up to 24 hours after an intense training session. If you want to increase post-exercise calorie burn; aka the “after-burn” effect, circuit training is an effective way. Just be sure to challenge yourself and lift heavy enough weights to keep resistance up for high intensity and maximum results. Cardio Intervals Next, you need to add intervals of cardio
if you aren’t going to implement circuit training into your resistance training. Place short bouts of cardio in between sets when you’d typically be resting. This will keep your heart rate higher throughout the workout and allow you to ‘kill two birds with one stone’, avoiding long, boring and repetitious cardio training afterwards. Here are some of the best exercises and combined movements for your circuit training program: -mountain climbers -burpees -jumping jacks -jump squats -box jumps Don’t Forget About Your Diet Lastly, but most importantly, do not forget about your diet. Diet is one of the most crucial things, and you’ll need to be disciplined if you want to endure lasting success in health and fitness. Many people think that they can just exercise their way to fat loss, however, you’re in for a rude awakening if you don’t balance your life with a healthier diet. If you aren’t making better choices in the kitchen, it’s going to be very difficult to accomplish health and wellness. Once you get going, don’t look back; because once you get there, you’ll wonder why you waited so long. Always make sure you are aware of what you’re eating throughout the day, if you’re conscious of it you can control it. Crash diets are a no-no and can cause more harm than good. Remember that the goal is long term success and sustainability. Let’s get fit together! Tweet 0 Share 1 +1 0 Reddit Pocket Pinterest LinkedIn 0
