I was reading Tony Gentilcore’s blog post last week and I noticed a comment he made: “(…)there are numerous people (and nutritionist for that matter) who, despite knowing better, like to push off things like 100 calorie snack packs as viable “healthy” options.”  That reminded me of a blog post I wrote about a year ago: Let’s Stop Over-Complicating Nutrition. (As a matter of fact, I was just re-reading it as I put the link to the original post, and it’s so good I have a hard time believing I wrote that!)

A lot of nutritionists, people involved in health and fitness, and people in general have been focusing way too much on calories when trying to improve their health.  I have a groundbreaking news for you: IT’S NOT THE ANSWER! As I mentioned in my blog post linked above: “Good nutrition, no matter what your goal is, should be to eat as much natural, unprocessed foods as possible.  Our ancestors never had any weight or cholesterol problem because they were eating too much red meat or too many eggs!  And I’m pretty damn sure they never EVER counted calories either.” (Wait….did I just quote myself here?!? Next thing you’ll know is I’ll be referring to myself at the 3rd person!)

This guy is probably the only one who can refer to himself at the 3rd person, and it will still be acceptable

With that being said, counting calories is not the way to healthy eating habits.  But why?

Focusing on the number of calories you’re eating, believe it or not, can lead you to making poor decisions about your diet.  Here are a couple examples:

- Choosing low fat dairy products.  While it seems like the smart thing to do, as you may already know dietary fat doesn’t necessarily translate into body fat, which is usually a huge misconception among most people.  Also, there are estrogen hormones found in conventional (non-organic) milk that are linked to the growth of many tumors and different types of cancer; and “(…)one of the most biologically active and dangerous estrogen metabolites is found in the highest concentrations in skim milk(…) Whole milk also had the lowest total amount of estrogens”, according to Brian St. Pierre, a reputable nutritionist.

This might be your safest bet in terms of milk…

- Choosing low-fat variations of vinaigrettes and marinades.  While a lot of the condiments available on the shelf of your local supermarket are not great to start with, when choosing the low-fat variety you’re basically substituting a source of fat (usually oil) that contains 9 kcal/gram for sugar, which contains 4 kcal/gram to make up for taste.  Even if you get less calories here, processed white sugar is still one of the worst things you can put in your body.   The best alternative is always to make your own vinaigrettes with olive oil, vinegar and spices.

- Choosing 100 calories snack packs over a natural food snack.  If you’re going to eat a piece of fruit with a handful of nuts you’re already way over a hundred calories, but even if you smash me as hard as you can with a steel chair over the head, I still pick the piece of fruit and nuts over a 100 calories snack.

…and this chair shot also finally proves that wrestling is not fake!

Those 100 calories snack packs are packed with processed ingredients and preservatives which realistically don’t bring you any nutrients nor do they fill you up.  (Don’t tell me you couldn’t eat 5 of these 100 calories snack and still be hungry!)

…100% unhealthy

These are really just a couple examples to show you that counting calories is not the answer.  Focus on eating whole, natural foods; when doing that you get a bunch of fibers, vitamins , minerals and all the good stuff that helps make you feel fuller, longer.  By doing that, it’s very difficult to over eat.  Try and exercise a little bit every day in combination with that, and I guarantee you that you’ll never EVER need to count calories or go on a diet to loose weight.

Too many 100 calories snack packs for Yokozuna…

This might just be one too many wrestling references for a single blog post….so I’m done!

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2010 is coming to an end, and I must say it has been an incredible year for me! In the spirit of the holidays and as we’re wrapping up 2010 by the end of the week, I’ve decided to do the first ever DavidLasnier.com Best of 2010 Awards.  So without further ado, here it is:

Best Website: HockeyStrengthAndConditioning.com .  This website contains all the information you need from the top guys in the business.  If you train hockey players, or if you’re a hockey player yourself, the information on this website will be of great help.

Best New Exercise: Standing Belly-to-Overhead Press.  I got this one from my colleague Tony Gentilcore, and I simply love it.  The Standing Belly Press was already one of my favorite exercise, especially because it’s so functional and also because there are so many variations you can use.  Here’s the latest variation; it adds an overhead/anti-lateral flexion component to an already great core stabilization exercise.

Best Blog Post (from me): Keep Your Goal in Mind.  This was definitely one of my favorite blogpost, because I feel so many athletes are studying for the wrong test when it comes to training for sports peformance.

Honorable Mention:  The Glute Guy: An Interview With Bret Contreras

Core Training: The Good Stuff .  These were 2 of my blog posts that had the most visits, so it’s worth mentioning.

Best Blog Post (from someone else): The Case Against Conventional Dairy by Brian St. Pierre.  Technically, Brian wrote it in 2009 (December 21st, to be more specific), but it is by far the blog post that had the most impact on my life in 2010.  Brian raises many interesting facts on conventional dairy; the way it is produced, the way the cows are raised and how it affects the quality of dairy, and how low fat dairy products are linked to different types of cancer.  And don’t get me wrong, it’s not just Brian’s opinion; there are enough scientific proofs to support his point.  Simply put, if you are still consuming dairy products, you NEED to at least make the switch to the organic kind.

Best Quote: “We judge others by their behaviors. We judge ourselves by our intentions.” by Stephen Covey.  I read that quote for the first time on Kevin Neeld‘s website a couple of weeks ago.  Think about it for a second.  We all judge people around us by the way they act, even if their intentions might be different, but NEVER will we ever judge ourselves by our actions; only by our intentions.  This is a very powerful quote that impacts all of the relationships we have with other human beings.

Honorable Mention: On a funnier note, this is the most hysterical quote EVER: “Arguing over the internet is like the special Olympics; nobody wins and you’re still a retard” by Tony Gentilcore.  Hahaha…I have nothing else to say!

Best Sport Moment of the Year:

Enough Said.

Best Training Related Product: Show And Go by Eric Cressey.  If you have been reading my blog consistently this will come to no surprise for most of you.  The Show and Go program have been tested and approved by the whole Endeavor staff; and the results speak for themselves.  If you’re looking for a great training program that’s been proven effective without taking any guess on the results, Show and Go is what you need.

Best Song: Sitting on top of DavidLasnier.com’s Billboard for the past 3 months, none other than No Love, featuring Eminem and Lil’ Wayne:

Best Supplement: Vitamin D.  I have blogged many times in the past HERE and HERE about the positive effects of supplementing with vitamin D, so I won’t go over all the benefits in details again.  I will simply say this; with all the scientific proofs piling up, vitamin D is now considered an ESSENTIAL supplement.  It has been proven to increase levels of awesomeness and decrease the risks of everything that doesn’t make you awesome.

Best Picture:

Best Conditioning Modality: Split Squat Iso-Holds Into Slideboard.  I will admit that this is very hockey-specific type of conditioning, but 80% of our athletes at Endeavor are hockey players, so did you expect anything else?! My colleague Kevin Neeld came up with this idea this past summer, and I’m still amazed at how great that idea was!  Hockey is exactly that; iso-holds positions (when just gliding on the ice) alternated with short powerful bursts of acceleration (when skating).

Best TV Show: Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets.  That show featured on HBO was simply awesome!

Rex Ryan is the freakin’ man!

2010 was a great year, and honestly I’m sure 2011 will be just as exciting, if not more!  I wish to all of you nothing but the best for 2011; may this upcoming year bring you health, love and joy!  I will see all of you in 2011!

P.S. I have postponed my special announcement and my surprise to you, my readers, after New Year’s day, as I’m sure most of you will have something more interesting to do than read strength and conditioning blogs on December 30th and 31st.