Answer Fitness®: Practical Fitness Advice for Everyone

How Long Will Whey Keep? | Ask The Fitness Nerd

How Long Does Whey Protein Last For? We Take A Look At The Shelf Life of That Cannister of Whey Protein

Dear Fitness Nerd,

I have a quick question about the shelf life of whey protein powder.  My ex boyfriend left a 5lb tub of Optimum Nutrition 100% whey protein powder in our apartment, but I can’t seem to find an expiration date on it. We’ve been broke up for about a year, so I know it’s at least 12 months old. It still has the seal on it, so I think he may have bought it right before we split. Is it safe to use? And do you have any idea how long it will keep?  Thanks! –  Tasha (Las Vegas, NV)

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What Is A Complete Protein? Complete vs Incomplete Proteins | Ask The Fitness Nerd

Completely Confused About Complete Proteins? Learn What A Complete Protein Is and How Balance Your Protein Intake

Dear Fitness Nerd,

Can you explain exactly what a complete protein is? I’m 23 and pretty into fitness, working out, etc. I lift weights several times a week and run daily.  But I’m also a vegetarian and concerned I may not be eating enough protein every day to support my activity levels.  I’m also worried that since I primarily eat plant sources of protein, I might not be getting a complete protein. Can you help me out here? Thanks!   – Jessa (San Diego - CA)

A complete protein is a protein source that contains all eight essential amino acids in the sufficient proportions to support normal biological functions.   In adults, the eight essential amino acids are:

• Phenylalanine
• Valine
• Threonine
• Tryptophan
• Isoleucine
• Methionine
• Leucine
• Lysine

These amino acids are called “essential” because the body cannot make them, so they have to be supplied through diet.  Recently, histadine has been added to this list as well, as scientists discovered that adults cannot synthesize it.

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Calorie Cycling: What Is Calorie Cycling and Does It Work? | Ask The Fitness Nerd

Can Calorie Cycling Help Pull Off More Body Fat and Hold On To Precious Muscle?

Dear Fitness Nerd,

I recently heard about something called “calorie cycling.” Apparently it’s a way to prevent weight loss plateaus and maybe burn additional body fat. Do you know anything about calorie cycling or how it works? Is this different from the zig-zag diet concept, or the same thing?  And will it help me add more lean muscle?  — Marcus (Arlington, VA)

Calorie cycling (also known as “calorie shifting” or “Zig Zag dieting”)  is an approach to eating that is intended to prevent weight or fat loss plateaus by “tricking out” your metabolism. 

Calorie cycling or Zig Zag diets are not really ”diets” in the sense of something like Atkins or South Beach, but instead a method of manipulating the metabolism through varying your calorie intake day-to-day.

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Top 10 Dumbest Fad Diets | Diet Reviews

We Take a Look at the Most Popular Fad Diets of the Past 30 Years and Pick The Top 10 Dumbest Fad Diets to Ever Be Unleashed on Dieters. 

The Fad Diet.

Nothing exemplifies the American obsession with quick fixes more than the seemingly endless parade of fad diets cooked up by everyone from modern snake-oil salesmen, to slick Internet entreprenuers, to corporate product marketing teams looking for a new way to sell an old product.

The formula for a fad diet is pretty consistent:

Take a single ”miracle food” , add a little glitz and glamour in the form of a celebrity (nevermind whether she actually uses it, just mentioning it will suffice), sprinkle on some big weight loss promises, mix in some mis-applied clinical research, finish it up with a heaping spoonful of dramatic before-and-after pictures and you pretty much have a recipe for the classic fad diet.  

The Top Ten Dumbest Fad Diets below go by many names and often have many variations.  

Like a virus, some of these diets just seem to naturally mutate once they are released on the Internet, so tracking down their origins or even how they work can be difficult. In this regard, they have more in common with urban legends, than eating plans.

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Does Whey Have Casein? | Ask The Fitness Nerd

Does Whey Protein Also Contain Casein? We Sort Out The Milk Protein Mystery Once and For All.

Dear Fitness Nerd,

I’m a little confused about whey and casein protein. Does whey also contain casein? And vice versa?  All I know is that both whey and casein are in milk.  Can you help me sort this out? — Janine (Dunwoody, GA)

You’re right that both whey and casein are proteins in milk.

But the important thing to grasp is that they are two totally different kinds of protein.

So in their purest form – isolated from the milk itself (for example in protein powder supplements) — whey typically doesn’t contain meaningful amounts of casein. Same goes for casein in regards to whey content.

Understanding Milk Proteins: Whey vs. Casein

The easist way to think about this is in the context of milk.

Milk contains about 80 percent casein protein, and 20 percent whey. Under normal conditions, you would never be able to differentiate between the whey and casein in milk visually. It just looks … well … liquid and “milky.”

However, when you add an acid or enzyme like rennet (which is used in cheese production), the milk will curdle. This literally separates the whey from the casein proteins.

The result is that the whey — which is a semi-clear liquid — will rise to the top, while the casein (which is heavier and coagulates in the presence of an acid or enzyme) will usually sink to the bottom.

In cheesemaking, the whey is siphoned off from the casein, and the solids are then drained through a cheese cloth, further extracting any residual whey or water and leaving the firm casein solids, which are then shaped into blocks of cheese (there are more steps, but I won’t get into them here.) 

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How Can I Lose Weight In A Day Or Two? | Ask The Fitness Nerd

Is It Possible To Really Lose Weight In Just A Day Or Two? More Importantly, Is It Safe?

Hey Fitness Nerd,

I’m leaving on Monday morning for a vacation to the Bahamas. I’ve been working out like a fiend since the end of December, lots of cardio and I’ve really cut back how much I’m eating.  I’ve managed to lose a fair amount of weight so far. About 12 lbs. The problem is that I really need to lose another five to get into the shape I want for the beach.  I have less than four days left, how can I lose some more weight in just another day or two? I’m desperate and time is running out on me. — Jenna  (Dallas, Texas.)

Jenna, you’re probably not going to like my answer, but I’m going to shoot straight with you: You can lose some additional weight a day or two before your vacation, but more than likely, you’ll put it back on the first day in the Bahamas.

Why?

Because at this point, any scale weight you lose through additional exercise or restriction of food will probably be the result of lost water and less food in your digestive tract, and not real fat loss. Body fat percentage and not scale weight is always your best gauge of progress and body composition. Losing weight per se shouldn’t be your focus.

Remember, you lose fat over weeks — not days — regardless of what the fad and crash diet marketers say. And losing body fat is really what makes for a great looking physique at the beach — not what some numbers on a bathroom scale say.

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Bodybuilding Supplements: Do They Really Work? | Ask The Fitness Nerd

Do bodybuilding supplements really work, or are they just a waste of good money? The Fitness Nerd dissects body building supplements.

Dear Fitness Nerd,

I have a question: 

I’m 41 years old, and workout 5 days a week. I use a lot of bodybuilding supplements and spend a lot of money on them.

Unfortunately, I’m not gaining muscle like I want.

Currently, I take Masstech protein 2x a day. But I’ve also tried  Anabolic Pump, NoXplode, SuperPump 250, Universal Animal Stak, Size One, and Vitrix. But I don’t see many results.  Am I  doing something wrong? Can you help me on it? Thanks — Gleidson

Thanks for the question Gleidson.

I’m afraid that what you just discovered is probably discovered every day by countless bodybuilders and fitness buffs who are hoping to get an edge at the gym by downing expensive shakes, powders and pills.

Just browse the myriad of bodybuilding supplement discussion boards out there and you’ll find plenty of mixed opinions on whether supplements actually result in better performance at the gym. Some people swear by them, others shrug their shoulders and say all supplements give you is really expensive pee.

it’s often hard to sort out what really works, versus how many of the reported results are just the product of the placebo effect.   

While there are some supplements out that may be effective for helping more highly-conditioned trainees overcome plateaus, unfortunately, the majority of bodybuilding supplements and sports supplements marketed in fitness and bodybuilding magazines (and increasingly, online) are more sizzle than substance.

Bodybuilding Supplements: Big Demand, Big Promises … and Big Money

The first thing to realize is that bodybuilding supplements are a huge business.  

In 2007, sales of sports, diet and bodybuilding supplements — as well as energy/sports drinks and specialty diet foods —  topped $19.6 billion. That’s a lot of dough. So there is plenty of demand out there and lots of money to be had. With all that blood in the water, it’s bound to attract sharks, unfortunately.

The second thing to understand is that supplement manufacturers have figured out what nearly every other good direct marketer has discovered: That people want quick fixes. And they are capitalizing on that.

The idea that you can down a shaker of “clinically-formulated” protein powder, or the latest NOS booster and suddenly build that beach body or killer physique is very attractive. I mean, if it really worked, who wouldn’t do it?

And supplement manufacturers pull out all of the stops and use every clever trick in the book to make you really believe that they’ve cracked the code to “insane anabolic pumps” — whatever the hell that actually means.

Anatomy of a Bodybuilding Supplement Ad

There is a pretty standard formula to marketing bodybuilding and fitness supplements, whether those supplements promise to help you burn fat and get “ripped” or help you add pounds of lean mass fast.

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