Skip the Food Coma!

Skip the Food Coma!

Hello MyFitNation!

Happybelated Mother’s Day to all you moms out there, and to everyone else – Happy Hump Day! Your favorite Bearded Bandit is back with yet another tip top Tip of the Week, and I hope all has been well with you, your friends, family, work, personal life, and of course, your health and fitness! This week you are going to learn about the dreadedfood coma - why it happens (which may surprise you), and how to avoid it as well.

Also, this Wednesday at 8:30 pm CT, you can catch me onREAL Talk – The Ultimate Fitness Web Show (http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ustream.tv%2Fchannel%2Freal-talk-with-jason-powell-and-kai&h=DAQGc7xbF),as I give a little chat about theMyFitFoods (www.myfitfoods.com) story, our fantastic clients, and how we just keep on growing! What else is going on with your Mad Mascot? The trips to the West Coast went extremely well, with us expressing interest in 10 more locations in San Fran and Los Angeles. After California, I got to spend some quality time at my Austin house (14 hours!!) before heading on to Houston and then up to Chicago for more real estate tours. Chi-town is definitely ready for some FitFoods as I expressed interest in 5 locations there as well, but now I’m back in Texas and grateful for some good down time at the Casa Mendias. Now without any further adieu, let’s get to your Tip of the Week!

A Mario Tale

As you know, life is a one-way street. You are either a successful person at what you set out to do or you are not, but there is no “yo-yo”ing when it comes to your success. But that doesn’t seem to be the case when it comes to our health and nutrition. While I was in L.A. touring locations, I was eating right and being active every day. Both my realtor Scott and I are into a healthy lifestyle so for three days we toured, worked out, and ate great as we both had easy access to the two newMyFitFoods (www.myfitfoods.com) locations out there. The trip was a success, and Friday evening I decided to go out and celebrate with a few friends. Needless to say, Saturday was spent recuperating, hydrating, wogging and then Sunday Scott and I drove up to San Fran.

I tend to forget the important things in life, and I’m so thankful for having my awesome assistant “The Steph” who always reminds me about those important things and keeps me on schedule. On this trip though, there was no Steph, and I forgot the most important thing in my arsenal on a road trip. Fit Foods. I don’t eat the food all the time, but I do eat it for about 70% of my meals, and I can honestly say thatMyFitFoods (www.myfitfoods.com) is what has kept me feeling and looking great in my late 30’s. I’m a baby 36, but what the heck, it is what it is. Waaaaah!

Road trips are what you make of them, and I always make mine great. =) Some tasty snacks, great music, and some interesting conversation are the key elements to any good trip. We were about 150 miles from the Bay Area when we hit construction on the 5 Freeway. In LA, it is called the 405 Freeway because during rush hour, it literally takes you 4 or 5 hours to get anywhere, in the middle of nowhere, I was not expecting a 90-minute delay. No biggie, but I gotta tell you that when the hunger monster strikes, he does not mess around. Scott and I were both mad hungry.

You know, the type of hungry where you can’t make a decision and stick with it, the type of hungry where you are so irritable and just want somenom nom in your face before you get testy with people. Yes, that kind of mad hungry!!!! So as we came to the next town, we decided to stop and get our grub on. We just had to figure out where. As we were cruising down the desert highway, I saw Scott staring at a sign like a 5 year old fat kid craving cake, and I knew that we would need to make a pit stop.

In n Out Burger. I said a few choice words. “It’s a road trip right?,” and Scott responded with an “Oh yeah!” So there we were, getting our grub on to the tune of a double, double cheeseburger, animal style, fries, and a chocolate shake. Did I mention that when the hunger monster strikes it is quite the beast? The aftermath isn’t much fun either, and after 30 minutes on the road, the dreaded food coma hit me like a sledgehammer striking a tiny tack.

Now I know better than to succumb to the In-n-Out madness, but hey I’m a human being too, and sometimes I don’t make the best decisions. Trust me, I really don’t, but it’s not how you fall off of the horse; it’s how you get back on. There I was sleepy as can be and my faithful road dog Scott was bobbing for apples as well, so I had to do the sensible thing that sleepy road warriors do - grab an Americano from Starbucks at 6pm. Now, I know that this is going to throw off my sleep pattern, which will leave me tired, and it is going to make my workout all the more difficult the next day in the tiny hotel gym. By the way, why are hotel gyms so tiny? We will probably never know the answer to this question, and also where all of our left socks have gone… darn dryer monster. So a long story short, the next three days in San Fran were not the best when it came down to the Bearded Bandit’s health and fitness. Let me tell you this though. Upon getting back to Texas, I most definitely got back on that healthy horse and proceeded to ride again! =)

After just a few days of eating right and hydrating properly, my natural desire to workout, to be active, and to eat healthy is back. I can’t speak for Scott, as I do believe he is going through his bachelor party this weekend! As his belly is getting more bloated by the day my bloated little belly is flat once again and that makes me feel great. Don’t worry Scott, you’ll be back to the flatlands again and remember Man Pouches are not cool even if you are married! Remember, it’s not how you fall off the horse, but more importantly, it’s how you get back on. You just have to make a decision.

So if you have fallen off your healthy horse, all you have to do is e-mail me, and I promise I will set you back on the right path to health and fitness once again. On average, Steph and I set up 250+ people per week with a program at aMyFitFoods (www.myfitfoods.com) in their area. All you have to do is e-mail me and we will make it happen for you as well. In the past year, we have helped over 12,000 people reach their goals. So just go ahead andsend me an e-mail (Mario@myfitfoods.com). It’s not hard, and we always make sure your fitness happens at a pace you can handle. How can you go wrong when you have a trainer for a week to get you started and a nutritional consultant who is dedicated to your dietary well being until you reach your goals? The answer is simple - You can’t, and I wont let you go wrong!

Send me an e-mail now to get started on a healthier life! Mario@myfitfoods.com

The Dreaded Food Coma

So now let’s break down the dreadedFood Coma, which not only makes you want some nap time during the middle of the day, but can also cause a downward spiral when it comes to your health and fitness.

The best way to avoid the food coma is to make sure that you are eating properly during the day. Remember to eat a good healthy breakfast as this is going to start your metabolism off properly and will help curb any cravings that you may have later in the day. Also, we really do not want to tempt the hunger mongrel, as that thing is a major pain in the posterior. I included a cool little pic that should help you understand why it is so important to eat in the morning if you want to be a leanie and not a fattie!

INSERT PIC of scribble drawing. =)

Please don’t make fun of my drawing skills, and I’m sorry that my tips are always so long-winded, but I just want to pass on some good info and give you a healthy knowledge explosion! =) So what causes a food coma? Most people think that consuming too many calories and having blood rush to your tummy is what makes you sleepy, but actually it is a little more complicated than that, although when I put this long-winded explanation into Mario Language it does seem pretty simple. The technical name for food coma isPostprandial Somnolence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postprandial_somnolence), which is a long fancy word meaning your derriere is tired after grubbing down on some tasty Nom Nom!

Here is the Mario breakdown of what happens to your body. When you eat foods that breakdown quickly into sugar in your body, your bloodstream is swamped with too much of the sweet stuff, so your body regulates that mean overload of blood sugar by injecting insulin into the bloodstream. The insulin helps even out your blood sugar levels, but does not help out with Tryptophan (the sleepy turkey stuff), which now flows freely through the blood brain barrier, and then turns into serotonin which makes you sleepy….very sleeeeeepy. In a nutshell, you consume too much of the wrong thing, store fat, and want to sleep at the same time. Sounds like a fat concoction to me or a little fat injection for all of us gluttonous fatties. After really thinking about this in detail, I think I will moderate or completely pass on my next In-n-Out experience.

So here’s the deal pickles, or as I like to say, the bottom-line. If you don’t like bobbing for apples after stuffing your pie holes, then ask yourself the following questions.

  1. Does this meal have a lot of high gylcemic carbohydrates that can turn quickly into sugars?
  2. Am I eating a proper portion size, or do I think that today’s meal is Thanksgiving dinner?
  3. Am I eating to fuel my body or am I eating to fuel my fat? =(

One last thing for you to think about before your favorite Health Warrior finishes up this tip. How about meals that contain food allergies? Your top four food allergies are Wheat, Gluten, Soy, and Dairy. If you are suffering a mild food allergy, a common side effect is a visit from the sleep monster, usually about 10-20 minutes after finishing your comida. The best way to differentiate between a blood sugar sleep monster and a food allergy sleep monster is to check your heart rate.

Let’s say for instance your resting heart rate is 60. You eat a meal and start to feel sleepy 20 minutes later. If you check your heart rate and it is now elevated by 20 beats per minute or more, you can be pretty sure you are having a food allergy. Remember, you liver cleanses about 4 pints of blood per minute, and if your body thinks you are having a food allergy, your little heart will pump faster so it can rid your body of allergens quicker. If your heart rate is not elevated and you feel sleepy, then it probably was due to too much high glycemic food or just too big of a portion!

And with that handy dandy tip, I’m out for the week. Keep the dreaded food coma at bay by choosing healthy, tasty food in proper portion sizes (where can I find that!?) and watching out for food allergies! I wish all of you a Happy Hump Day, and until we meet again, my friends……

I don’t always eat healthy, but when I do, I only eatMyFitFoods (www.myfitfoods.com) , and if you have a question, shoot me an e-mail, and I’ll get right back to you!

Sincerely,

Mario Mendias

Owner & Founder - MyFitFoods

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