What do you recommend to someone like myself who’s in school? I’m finding that I can only work out 2x – 3x per week. My workouts are short, but I find that’s all I can do. Can you make any suggestions to someone who can not be as active “temporarily?” —Stud Turned Student, Hollywood

STS: I’ll give you the same advice I give professional athletes who are sidelined because they’ve sustained injuries: you need to watch your diet when you’re unable to be as active. As you get older, your metabolism slows down, and this means you’ll put (fat) weight on more quickly and easily if you’re not focused. Try these tips…

Keep a log of everything you eat. Buy a small spiral bound notebook and carry it with you where ever you go. In it, write down everything you put into your mouth. Food, water, alcohol, any other beverages. This will bring a consciousness to your nutritional habits while you are unable to get into the gym.

It’s crucial to make the most of the 2 or 3 sessions you do have. When you’re at the gym, take this notebook and review each day carefully, looking for the things that surprise you. Log your workouts in the same journal — how many minutes of cardiovascular activity did you do? What machines did you use? Did you incorporate resistance training, and which exercises or body parts did you focus on?

On alternating days of the week, replace your snacks with low glycemic vegetables like fresh celery, radishes, cabbage, cucumbers, zucchini, broccoli, or cauliflower. The fiber in the raw vegetables will fill you up, and you’ll be reducing your regular “snack” calories with these much less caloric raw veggies. By doing this on alternating days of the week, you’ll be creating a little bit of a “Zig Zag” to your diet, which will keep your body’s metabolic furnace running a bit more efficiently.

Find creative ways to stay more active in the rest of your life.

• Park your car at the corner of the store lot and carry your groceries back to the car.
• Take the stairs whenever there’s an option.
• Walk someplace where you’d normally drive.
• Carry your luggage instead of checking it.
• Take your dog for a small walk in the evening.
• Find a once-a-week class that you enjoy — it’s also a great way to meet other people.
• In Los Angeles, there are free yoga classes on Saturday mornings at the base of Runyon Canyon, free group runs at the Nike store at the Grove on Wednesday nights, and a pretty kickin’ men’s gay softball league currently looking for players (it’s a Sunday morning commitment).

By ratcheting up your activity a little bit here and there, and staying laser focused on your nutrition, you should stay pretty close to your target weight – you may even drop a few pounds. If not, I offer a customized Zig Zag meal plan for $200 which has produced profound results in my clients.

Tags: Dieting, exercise, Fat, Gym, Low Glycemic, Metabolism, Nutrition, oh yeah, Professional Athletes, Student, Training, zig zag diet

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 17th, 2008 at 10:39 am and is filed under Fitness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.