Fact or Fiction? Creatine is Harmful

Welcome to the first “Fact or Fiction?” post.

In the fitness and nutrition industries, new rumors are heard every day. In this blog series, I hope to dispel some of them, based on research and my own experiences, so you can make better choices about your health.

What's the truth?

Creatine: The Fiction

When my friend found out I was going to start taking creatine, he was very concerned. “That’s a steroid!” he cried, opening his eyes wide in fear as he echoed his high school wrestling coach’s words. He must have thought I would take 5 mg of creatine and suddenly bulk up to SheHulk-like proportions, sprouting chest hairs and angrily chugging protein shakes.

At least he cares.

He wasn’t alone in his protestations. If you type, “Is creatine...” into Google, it saves you a few seconds and fills in “a steroid” lickety-split, proud of itself. Bodybuilding.com forums are filled with questions about creatine’s ill effects (and yet no signs of proper grammar).

Why all the commotion if it’s not grounded in truth?

To be honest, no one’s really sure. Some think it was because Mark McGuire was taking creatine when he got busted for steroid use, and the two just became synonymous. But if we look at the science, facts are that creatine, in the recommended doses, isn’t harmful at all. It’s actually pretty awesome.

Creatine: The Fact

Creatine is a nitrogenous organic acid that helps supply energy to muscle cells, primarily, by increasing the formation of adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. It is produced naturally by the body from amino acids glycine and arginine. It is a completely natural thing that is naturally in your natural body, naturally.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s look at why people, mostly athletes, are taking creatine as a supplement.

How Creatine Works

Benefits of Creatine

• Supplies extra energy for high-intensity exercise
•  Reduces muscle cell damage and inflammation after exhaustive exercise (in other words, it helps with recovery)
•  Increases muscle size and, therefore, body weight (good for bulking up for competitions)
• Enhances brain function by acting as a neuroprotectant
• Improved glucose tolerance (which may assist with warding off diabetes)

For studies and more information, check out these links:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/drobson181.htm
http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/creatine/background/hrb-20059125

How to Take Creatine

You’ll read it recommended that you begin taking creatine with a loading phase, typically taking 15-25g a day for 1 week. Though this will get the creatine into your system faster, it won’t really have any long-term effects. So if you’re nervous about taking such a large dose, don’t bother loading.

Take 5g of creatine a day, at any time of day. It is typically in a powder form that you can mix into water or a protein shake. However, don’t mix it with any sort of citrus juice, as that can render the creatine useless (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/koch1.htm).

Here's a link to where you can learn more about creatine and buy it: Shop for Creatine. 

Give creatine a shot. You won’t test positive on a steroid test, I swear. The worst that could happen is some tummy distress. Alternatively, the best thing that could happen is you feel stronger, faster, and have better cognitive function.

Lift.Eat.Love.Sleep.

To Thine Own Self Be True: A Rant

Health is a touchy subject. 

As someone who writes about gym routines, diets, and general self-discipline, I know this first-hand. Many people have histories that make talking about food restriction or cardio triggers that could catapult them into the danger zone of eating disorders or unhealthy exercise routines. Others, tired of trying to change their bodies for years with no luck, get defensive, refuse help, and eventually give up the fight. 

For those who have struggled with their bodies, who view them as enemies instead of allies that carry them through the joys of life, reading page after page after page of articles touting the newest diet craze as the final answer, of bloggers (like myself) explaining nuances of low-carb, or scientific research articles whose results contradict each other, is exhausting, frustrating, and generally confusing. 

I get it. Really, I do. I've been through it all myself. 

There's a lot of information out there, and it's difficult to discern between reliable and unreliable sources at times. Heck, the fitness industry is a giant money-making machine, and there are people out there who make a really good living preying on the vulnerabilities and desperation of the sad, misguided, and ill-informed products of a society that puts more importance in looking good than feeling good. 

So I completely understand if you're skeptical of and angry with any fitness or nutrition advice. 

But just as being over-informed is dangerous, being completely uninformed is just as dangerous to your health. As there are fitness "specialists" selling you anything from vibrating ab belts to shake weights, there are nutrition "experts" out there who can convince you that their processed, sugar-filled meal-replacement shakes will turn you into Cindy Crawford in 60 days (or your money back!). 

It may surprise you how misinformed some people are. The other day, I read a story of a woman who won't eat animal products because she heard that "muscle weighs more than fat," and she thought that meant eating muscles will make her gain more weight than eating fat. Other people have no idea, at all, how many calories are in anything. But why would they? For most people, nutrition is a 2-day course in 7th grade health class, and there is no way it adequately covers even the most simple ideas like how eating fat won't make you fat, let alone how you should calculate your TDEE and eat enough protein to maintain your muscle mass. 

There are a lot of mysteries still out there in the fitness and nutrition world. As of this moment, there is no definite one-size-fits-all fitness and nutrition plan. There are, however, a few universal truths:

-More vegetables are better than fewer vegetables

-Too much refined sugar is bad for you

-Healthy diets require some proteins, fats, and carbohydrates

-Moving every day is good for your body

Yes, these are intentionally vague. I don't want anyone spreading the word that I said something like, "No one should ever eat any carbs, ever," or "Vegans are wrong," or "Running is bad for you," because I don't think those things. 

What I do think is this.

Health and fitness are both physically and emotionally personal things. It is up to you, and you alone, through good ol' trial and error, to see what fits into your lifestyle and can become a part of you for your entire life. It doesn't matter how great I think HIIT is if you hate it so much you never want to do it. And it doesn't matter if someone says low-carb is the greatest diet ever if you're a lactose-intolerant vegan; unless you want to subside on olives and guacamole forever, it's just not going to work. 

When it comes down to it, do as the title says: to thine own self be true. Be honest with yourself about what foods and exercise routines make you happy and what you can stick with for the long haul. Try to follow the above universal truths. An even more simplified version would be, "Move more. Eat things from nature, not from factories. Be patient and listen to your body." 

And as always, I'm here if you have any questions. KatherineHajzer@gmail.com 

Lift.Eat.Love.Sleep.

The Newest Superfood: Broccoli Leaves

Your mother always told you to eat your broccoli. 

It’ll give you broccoli muscles, my dad said. I wasn’t sure if those were located next to my spinach biceps or my orange juice thighs, but I ate them anyway.

Five-year-old me had sweet spinach biceps and rosemary hair.

I’m lucky in that I crave vegetables. Always have, always will. Maybe it’s because my parents knew how to treat them. Rarely did we ever get a soggy, flavorless green masses plopped onto our plate. Instead, we had fresh broccoli roasted with garlic and olive oil. Buttered carrots cut so elegantly on a bias. Green beans, par boiled, shocked, and laid in bright green rows next to mashed potatoes and chicken thigh.

But I will say that broccoli leaves are new to me. I’ve only recently discovered the joy that is kale. Raw, mixed in a smoothie, the star of a chopped salad, baked into crisps. Kale is the ultimate superfood: low in calories, high in nutrition. All you have to do is get past that bitter, tough, “Why am I eating rabbit food?” taste.

Take a look at the nutritional comparison. 

Kale vs. Broccoli Leaves

We see that gram for gram, broccoli leaves have fewer calories, less fat (who knew kale had any fat at all?), less sodium, fewer carbs, and the same amount of protein. While it has a slight, probably insignificant amount more Vitamin A, broccoli leaves do lose in the Vitamin C, Calcium, and Iron competition, if only by a nose.

I find it interested that kale has 2g of fiber in 100g, while broccoli leaves have none. Usually green, leafy vegetables are full of fiber. So if you’re planning on switching from broccoli leaves, make sure you get your fiber in elsewhere.

Here’s the newest superfood in all its glory: 

Broccoli Leaves!

It kinda looks like kale, or collard greens. So no, it’s not the tiny leaves that come on the stem when you buy big bunches of broccoli. 

Whether this familiarity makes them easier or harder for you to incorporate into your daily food routine, here are a couple recipes you could try.

Sauteed Broccoli Leaves: http://www.cooks.com/recipe/k31uw6fx/broccoli-leaves.html

Broccoli Leaf Soup: http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/broccoli-leaf-tortellini-soup.aspx

Paleo Broccoli Leaves: http://www.primalpalate.com/paleo-recipe/sauteed-broccoli-greens/

Smoothie (plus tips on how to harvest your own leaves!): http://gardenmentors.com/garden-help/grow-your-own-food/how-to-harvest-eat-your-broccoli-leaves-recipe/

Experiment by substituting them in for other dark leafy greens in your recipes. Let me know how it goes!

Lift.Eat.Love.Sleep. 

The Very Unofficial Ranking of Fruits

Fruit is nature's candy, you know.

If you don't get this reference, you need to watch more 90's Nickelodeon. 

Literally. The amount of sugar in fruits is pretty darn high. That's why they're so delicious! So while it's good to include more fruits in your diet, especially if they are replacing white sugar or processed goodies, it's really better to include even more vegetables in your diet. 

Even the more starchy root vegetables, like carrots, have less sugar per gram than the supposed healthiest of all fruits, the apple. 

100 grams of carrots: 4.7g sugar

100 grams of apple: 10g sugar

Now, of course, even the super sugary fruits are better for you than, say, a Snickers bar, 100g of which contains nearly 50g of sugar. 

For reference, the American Heart Association suggests that men not consume more than 37.5g of added sugar a day; women's limit is 25g. However, in 2008 the national average of added sugar consumption per day was a whopping 76.7g! (Reference)

So even if fruit salads are your go-to breakfast, snack, and dessert, you're probably still doing better than the general population. Especially since fruits, even with their sugar counts, are inherently better than junk food because of their fiber, water, vitamin A and vitamin C. 

Plus, look at this handy dandy chart:

Fuzzy navel with extra iron, please.

My Ranking

Now, the words "very unofficial" are in the title for a reason. Mainly because I didn't feel like doing a bunch of actual research for this blog post (Sorry guys. I know how much you love verifying my sources). 

So the characteristics upon which I based this ranking are:

• Taste
• Sugar content
• Ease of eating
• Versatility
• My own whimsy

In other words, this is up for debate, and I would to get your opinions.

Without further ado, my very unofficial ranking of fruits, from worst to best. 

10. Durian

Durian. Um. Okay.

This is the worst fruit for so many reasons. It has spikes on it and looks super difficult to open. Also, it has the texture of wall insulation and reeks of cream cheese and onion, or, as food writer Richard Sterling says, "its odor is best described as pig-shit, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock." It is one of the three foods Andrew Zimmern, the guy who literally eats disgusting foods for a living, won't even touch. Legend has it the flesh actually tastes good, but I'm not one to take risks.

9. Watermelon

Actual size when I attempt to grow it.

The name says it all. Watermelon is 93% water. It's hard to grow, hard to carry home from the supermarket, nearly impossible to open without losing a finger, and then once you do, it's full of seeds, and it tastes like lightly flavored crunchy water. Oh, and if you eat a whole watermelon in one sitting, it gives you the runs. No. Just, no.

8. Apples

Beautiful now. Painful later.

It's not that I don't like apples. I used to eat apples every single day. They're absolutely delicious. Then why so far down the line? Apples are chock-full of fructose. The only things with more fructose than raw apples are soda, honey, agave, and concentrated apples. 

What's so bad about fructose? Nothing, really, if you're not sensitive to it. But if you are, it can lead to  abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloating, and excessive gas. And it turns out I'm super sensitive to fructose. Bye-bye apples. You're just not worth it. 

7. Cherries

Cherries. Insert some immature joke here.

If someone can find me a bag of seedless cherries, I'll move these up a few numbers. Until then, these choking hazards sit at number 8. 

6. Bananas

You can have those bananas, buddy.

On the surface, bananas are great. They're versatile, able to be baked or blended into a smoothie to make it creamy without cream. They can be frozen into a faux ice cream. They come in their own neat little packages that can go with you anywhere. 

However. 

One banana contains 14g of sugar, and 27g of carbohydrates. Which is excellent if you're about to run a marathon or need to recover from a heavy strength training workout. But most people aren't doing that. They walked 3 miles on a treadmill and then grab a banana-kiwi smoothie "protein shake" like it's doing them good. It's actually just spiking their blood sugar for no good reason, making them more likely to become insulin resistant. 

Sorry if my opinion offends your love of bananas, but hey, if you want to read your own opinions, get your own blog.

5. Pineapple

Sweet tropical deliciousness!

Pineapples are known to boost your immune system, increase bone strength, protect your eyes, and aid in digestion. Plus, if you mix it with rum, it makes all your worries go away.

4. Pomegranate

Jewels and crowns. The food of royalty. 

Pomegranate probably doesn't really come to mind when you think of fruits. But it's a great one, perfect to top salads with or just munch on as a replacement for chips while you're watching the game. 

The only thing is: how the hell do you get those tiny seeds out without breaking them all?

Cut the pomegranate in half. Hold one half, cut side down, in your left hand, and the knife in your right. Using the wide side of the knife, whack the top and sides of the pomegranate gently, loosening the seeds, which will fall out through your fingers and into the bowl you placed underneath. Repeat with other half. You're welcome. 

3. Peaches

Peaches. Yumm...

The taste of peaches is so sweet, so summery, so utterly peach-y, that they are my favorite underrated fruit. The difficulty of them is finding them in season and when they're perfectly ripe, but when you do? Such heaven. 

I really have nothing else to say about peaches. I just really like them. 

2. Citrus Fruits

Limes, lemons, and oranges. Oh my!

These colorful fruits have packed in a lot of nutrients and fiber with such distinct and mouth-watering tastes. Flavanoids in tangerines might fight type 2 diabetes. All the citrus fruits have all or nearly all of your daily requirement of immune-boosting vitamin C. They're good on their own, or squeezed into water for a low-calorie, sugar-free, refreshing drinks, and their zests add flavor (and an element of fanciness) to any dish. They're cheap and they have a long shelf life. What's not to love?

1. Berries

Sweet, tart, and gosh darn good for you!

Did you guess it?

Berries are magical. They have a low glycemic index (meaning they won't spike your blood sugar even though they're sweet), they have tons of antioxidants, and studies have shown they can help you lose weight and even lower your blood pressure. 

You can cook them down into a warm pie-like filling, or blend them in smoothies, or eat them raw in a bowl! You can make healthy sugar-free jams at home with them, or include them in a chia seed, raw unsweetened coconut salad (delicious as dessert). 

What do you think of my list? What would your list include? Let me know in the comments below!

Lift.Eat.Love.Sleep.

Results of the Whole30

My second Whole30 is complete!

I did it! I completed another round of 30 days without alcohol, beans, grains, sugar, or dairy, and survived. Some might argue I even thrived on it (I would be one of those people). 

**For those of you who would like to read my account of my first Whole30, click here. 

The differences between this Whole30 and my first Whole30

• For my first Whole30, I was at the end of a 6 month cut.
• For my second Whole30, I was at the end of a 6 month bulk. 

Therefore, the fact that my results this round didn't bring me down to my lowest weight ever as my first one did it unsurprising. Instead of using the Whole30 as a final push to get a six pack for my wedding, I used it as a jump-start on my fat loss after eating way too much Ben & Jerry's for the sake of mad gains. 

• For my first Whole30, I was netting around 1300 calories a day.
• For my second Whole30, I was netting around 1500 calories a day. 

So again, it is reasonable that, though I lost 5-6 pounds on my first Whole30, I only lost 2-3 on this one. This also makes sense considering I likely gained muscle mass during my bulking period leading up to this Whole30. 

Still waiting for someone to buy me this shirt. 

A note for those concerned about counting calories: Calorie counting and macronutrient counting are not a mandatory part of the Whole30. In fact, the makers of the diet discourage it. However, their logic behind this is that those just beginning to step away from processed foods and into the "real" food arena need to learn to listen to their body and simply eat to fuel their bodies properly. 

I, on the other hand, am crazy, and honestly can't deal with thinking about not counting calories. Perhaps that's an experiment for another month. More on that later. 

Before Pictures

Alright, let's get to the part you've all been waiting for. Pictures. Does this diet really work? How can it, eating steak and eggs with fried potatoes for breakfast, chili for lunch, and chicken thighs for dinner?

Deliciously, that's how. 

Now, remember, these before pictures are from the tail end of a bulk, remember. And I'm in my underwear. So. Yeah. Reality. 

Sun's out, guns out.

Ah, the beautiful lack of muscles showing in my abs.

My diet at this time was netting around 2000 calories/day, with 45% carbs. I was lifting heavy for few reps. Oats and squats, you know how we do. 

But obviously, I had gained more than muscle here, and wanted to cut back down. My goal is to be a solid 117. Here, I was 125 with a 5'2" frame.

During Picture and Workout Routine

Glamorous. 

This is what I look like at the gym. Come at me, bro. 

Workout routines changed to low weight, high reps. Which, frankly, I hate. It just feels like too much work. 

I also added in a mile run as a warm up, and, when I had the energy, HIIT sessions after lifting. 

To be honest, my workouts were not as intense as they were during my bulking phase. Likely cause: caloric deficit, as well as a lack of ready-to-use carbohydrates. 

If I do another Whole30 (and you bet your butt I will), I intend to try it with moderate instead of low carbs and see if I feel better that way. 

Oh, and here's a picture of my favorite meal this month. 

Steak, pan-seared in olive oil and finished in the oven, with mustard and rosemary baked potatoes and steamed green beans, soaked in a date-sweetened sauced and topped with almond slices. Yum!

After Pictures

Drumroll please!

Sun's out, smaller guns out.

Abs coming back, definition in arms returning.

For side by side comparison...

Before and After Whole30 Part Two

Current weight: 122. I still have 5 pounds to go before my goal of 117, and I intend to reach it by the end of May. 

My Diet Plans Moving Forward

I think I like the idea of trying a different diet strategy every month and figuring out what works best for me. 

Experiments include:

Ketogenic Diet (Fewer than 20g carbs a day)

Whole30 without counting calories or macronutrients

Whole30 with 45% carbohydrates

Paleo

Vegetarian (though I really, really, REALLY don't think this will work for me)

Carb-cycling

Even smaller window of Intermittent Fasting (3-4 hours of eating)

Of these, I've already tried Keto and Carb-cycling, and both fit into my lifestyle decently well. 

If you have any questions on any of these diets, or about the Whole30 in general, 

please ask me! 

Want to try a Whole30? I really think you should! Go to www.Whole30.com for more information.

Lift.Eat.Love.Sleep.