Day 5 - FitWhitt Approved ABOUT TIME

I want to introduce you all to an amazing company and product. You might have noticed on my nutrition plan that I have incorporated the use of a casein protein as my last meal of the day. I stumbled upon About Time protein a few years ago.

 

 

The company provides a variety of products. They focus on producing a natural product with limited ingredients in delicious flavors. Their whey protein actually only has 4 ingredients: whey, stevia, xantham gum and natural flavorings. It taste great and mixes well in recipes. Each scoop of whey has 25 grams of protein for only 100 calories. It is even gluten free! If you are familiar with supplements, you might not believe everything I am saying because it is so different from everything else on the market.

 

In fact, I believe in this brand so much that I wanted to partner with them in helping you all reach your goals. They have agreed to give away one tub of the nighttime recovery in your choice of flavor: chocolate or peanut butter. This is valued at $45.99!

 

Here are the steps you need to do to enter this amazing giveaway.

 

1) Follow @abouttimeprotein on instagram

 

2) Follow @fitwhitt on instagram

 

3) Repost this picture (below) on instagram and #90dayfitwhittchallenge

 



 

 

 

 

You can share as often as you would like. Each share will qualify for one entry. The entries will stop being counted after Saturday night at 12:00am. Winner will be announced Saturday afternoon. 

 

Feel free to check out all their amazing products by going to www.tryabouttime.com - Use the code "fitwhitt" at checkout for a special deal of 25% off your entire order.

 

 

I will continue to share amazing products with you weekly that make it fun and easy to reach your goals.

 

- FitWhitt



FitWhitt.com presents - Protein Pancakes/Whey Protein Isolate

I am loving me some Cellucor whey protein. The taste is great and the price is even better. I have been ordering mine from bodybuilding.com. They currently have a great special. My current favorite flavor is the peanut butter marshmallow. Watch the video as I prepare a weeks worth of protein pancakes using the whey protein.

Whey protein isolate is an excellent supplement. Whey protein isolate is the purest form of whey and contains little or no fat, lactose or cholesterol. The benefits of whey protein include repairing body cells, muscles and bones due to the naturally occurring branched chain amino acids. This explains why consuming whey protein immediately after exercise is very beneficial to you. Of course your first line source of protein should always be real foods in their natural state but sometimes we all need a little help. And that is when I turn to whey protein isolate. Whey protein is also the fastest digesting form of protein, which makes it an excellent source immediately post workout. Exercise literally breaks down current muscle tissue. It is very important to give your body the "building blocks" it needs immediately post workout so that it can rebuild. The muscles are literally depleted post workout and require supplementation with adequate nutrition. They are also "hungry" and ready for nutritional uptake. Keep your post workout meal to carbohydrates and proteins. Avoid fats directly after your workout.

"While your post-workout feeding should be rich protein and carbohydrate, this meal should be fat free. The consumption of essential fats is one of the most overlooked areas of daily nutritional intake but during the post workout period, eating fat can actually decrease the effectiveness of your post-workout beverage. Since fat slows down transit through the stomach, eating fat during the post workout period may slow the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates and proteins." - source

Protein Pancake Recipe
1 scoop whey protein isolate
1/4 cup oats
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup fruit
1 tbsp liquid egg white 

Happy Meal Prep!! Have a great week!
- FitWhitt

REST

I have been a victim of this before. Perhaps even encouraged it for others in the past, unknowingly. As I gear up for another prep, I wanted to address this issue to the best of my ability. As I was studying today, I was reviewing the importance of hormones and the role they play in exercise. Here is the scenario. You are working out 6 days a week, sometimes twice a day. Your diet is on point; high protein and low carbs. For some reason though, the scale is not moving. You have also noticed that you are cranky, depressed, can't sleep and on edge. So what do you do? You hit the gym harder and train longer and cut your calories more so that you can begin to see the results you have been working so hard for. What is the culprit for your stalled progress and horrible mood? Overtraining.

Overtraining is defined as an accumulation of training and or non-training stress resulting in long-term decrease in performance capacity. You become counterproductive in all your work. You wreck havoc on your adrenal glands and through your body into a hormonal imbalance.
So what can you do? REST (Take a cue from these puppies and do what they do. Growing is hard work.)

Realize that it takes time to make lifelong changes to your body. Keep your workouts intense but not too long. Remember that most gains occur during rest. Incorporate periodization into your schedule. Schedule easier training periods leading up to more intense training times. Make sure you are following an adequate nutrition plan to keep up with your strenuous workouts.

I am writing this because I have already been guilty of overtraining since I started my prep this round. I was so excited to begin improving that I was willing to put 100% everything into it all 24/7 if I had to. Although this is a great attitude to have, it is not what the body needs. This past week I was determined to do two a day workouts 6 days a week. I have made great gains physically. But in the long term is this the best way to treat my body to get long lasting results? This week I am going to be doing only one cardio session a day for 6 days. I plan to increase my cardio to two a days in February, 6 weeks out from my next show. I know that even though I want results now, it will be better for my body and health to take my time getting there the next few months. I want to compete all year long, through August, and need to be kind to my body to keep my hormones in control and prevent injuries.
I also have decided to train more on the weekends and allow Thursday to be my complete rest day. I have made such amazing gains the past two weeks. I have 8 more weeks to improve my physique and be in tip top shape. I may end up including an additional day of rest as the show approaches. This would allow for an increase in intensity as I get closer to the show date. I also plan to incorporate yoga in my practice starting next week. Stay tuned for why I have chosen to do this.

REST!
- FitWhitt



Other articles on the subject.
Not Recovering?  Novice trainer trap