VeganAthleteGuide

Category: Uncategorized

How to measure body fat percentage from home – Easy and cheap
There are many ways to measure your body fat percentage. Some include to go and get an expensive check by a doctor that can give you almost 100% accurate numbers. But most people don’t need it to be this accurate and can measure body fat percentage from home easy and cheap.

How to measure body fat percentage from home with a mirror
You can choose different tools and methods to check your body fat percentage from home. But all have their pros and cons.
There is a totally free method and that is basically the mirror. This way you can roughly estimate your fat percentage.
What you do is take pictures of yourself every week to record your progress. Either you make the shot or let somebody else make a picture of you. Just keep in mind to have good light and take it at the same spot with the same light, as this can make a difference.
Capturing your progress can further motivate you by having your progress not only in numbers but visually. This can be done additionally to other methods of fat measuring you use.
To help you to guess your body you can check the pictures from builtlean.com below:
Pros using a mirror and camera to measure body fat percentage:
It is free (if you have a mirror and camera already)
Extra visual motivation to the numbers
Cons using a mirror and camera to measure body fat percentage:
You need to have experience to guess your fat percentage
It is not very accurate to determine body fat
Should be done at the same spot and with good light

How to measure your body fat percentage from home with a BIA device
A BIA device (Bioelectrical impedance analysis) is measuring your body fat percentage by sending electricity through your body. There are two devices you can choose from. One comes as a weight scale and another to hold in your hands like in the picture below.
If you would use the device on the picture above, it would send the electricity from one arm to the other while passing your body. This way it determines your body fat percentage by measuring the resistance and time the electricity needs to travel.
The problem is that the hydration of your body plays a role when measuring. You can’t be dehydrated because this would lead to false results. Like measuring after waking up without breakfast.
But too much water in a full bladder or poop in your intestines can have influence in the results as well. So you always have to “launch the rockets” before using the device.
And there is one more problem as electricity is always looking for the fastest way to travel. This leads to a partly fat check in your body only.
If you would take the device meant for your hands, then the electricity would only run through your upper body neglecting the fat stored in the lower one. A scale on the other hand, would only measure your lower body by sending the electricity from one leg up to your butt and down to the other leg
Depending where your body is storing your fat, this could lead to inaccurate results as well. For more accuracy you would better need both devices and take the average of both results.

Pros using a BIA device to measure body fat percentage:
Very easy and fast method
Can be done alone
Cons using a BIA device to measure body fat percentage:
Hydration of the body can falsify the results
Measures only limited parts of the body

How to measure your body fat percentage from home with a caliper
A caliper is a simple tool that is using the thickness of your skin to measure your body fat percentage.
It needs to be placed at three or more different spots on the body like thigh, abdomen, chest and triceps for example. The average number of the results will indicate the body fat percentage.
It is best to have another person to do the measurements for you. It is important that the measurement is done at the same spots as before and in the same way.
Therefore, it should be done by the same person because someone else can measure different like with more or less pressure and falsify the results. You can use NOFOLLOW linear-software.com to calculate the result for you.
Most important for you is not how much body fat percentage you have but how it is changing. So make sure that the measurement is done in the same way for accurate progress records.
The calipers are unusable or inaccurate if your body fat is too high because then you can’t have a good grip with them.

Pros using a caliper to measure body fat percentage:
More reliable than other home devices
Very cheap
Cons using a caliper to measure body fat percentage:
Best with another person to measure for you
Not suitable for highly overweight people

Conclusion
Measure your body fat percentage once a week/month to keep track of how it is changing.
From the mentioned devices a caliper would be the best choice to measure body fat percentage at home. A BIA device can be used, if you have a too high body fat percentage what can make the calipers unusable.
If you want one of the devices:
Anything unclear? Leave a comment below.

See ya
Alex
February 16, 2017
Vegan Meal Plan for Beginners – The Healthy way

Starting to be vegan without knowing the basics that keep you healthy or a wrong mindset can be reasons to quit a vegan diet. To keep that from happening you need a vegan meal plan for beginners that helps you to stay on track.
I won’t focus on giving you meal examples but guidelines you can use to create your own meals with some inspiration from some other sources if you need.

Basics ingredients and guidelines to create a Vegan Meal
You can see the most important foods as well as things to look for in the infographic below.

Have all of the 6 food groups daily in your diet and keep your food variating to make sure to get your nutrients.
At the beginning of your (healthy) vegan journey you should use cronometer.com to keep track of the nutrients you get from your food. Using it a couple of times you will start to know for yourself what to eat to get your nutrient levels.
Dry legumes need to be always soaked before you cook them. This will get rid of the phytic acid that prevents the release of nutrients and also your body from absorbing nutrients.
But phytic acid has some positive effects as well. It acts as an antioxidant and prevents cancer. You can find out more on www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
And about the whole grains. The options you see on the infographic are without gluten. In case you have a gluten intolerance, they are your preferred source. If you don’t have any, I would recommend to use whole spelt over whole wheat. Whole Oats are good too.

Thoughts that make you doubt a Vegan Diet
I won’t get enough Protein. Actually you not only can get enough protein throughout the day but even enough if you exercise and don’t supplement with protein shakes. Legumes, nuts, seeds and whole grains are all good sources of protein.
Iron? Not only it will be enough for men but as well for women who need a bit more. If you use my recommended food groups well, you won’t have any mineral deficiency except if you already have some health issues you might not be aware of. That is one reason to not just believe that everything is fine but to make regularly check ups.
There is nothing I can eat. The limitation is only in your head. There are millions of combinations you can have to create a vegan dish. And it is very likely that you can find at least hundred dishes you like, of which you will probably use not more than 20 regularly.
There are no restaurants. There are more and more options for vegans to go out to eat. And this will increase because veganism is growing. And you can be a part of the growth and not only improve your health but also reduce animal abuse and environmental damage caused by factory farming.
Veganism might be unhealthy for long term. Not sure what Dr. Ellsworth Wareham would say to that. This vegan retired as a plastic surgeon at 95. His mind and body stayed sharp like the scalpel he used.
A vegan lifestyle is unhealthy when you don’t know what you do. And depending what drugs you take that you shouldn’t (like birth control pills), or doing other lifestyle mistakes, you set yourself a ground for being unhealthy you might blame your diet for where it is not the diets fault.
Beware that cosmetics with questionable ingredients can cause harm too, like decreasing your thyroid function.

Is Supplementation necessary when having only Vegan Meals?
Using the RDA guideline in cronometer, you will usually have difficulties reaching your recommended calcium needs. But you won’t need as much as shown. 9.4mg per kg will do (~60%). Here is the study for that claim.
Your vitamin D levels can only be sufficient from sunlight no matter what diet (or supplementation in winter when the sun won’t be enough for you).
Vitamin B12 is the only “modern” vegan problem. You can read about my experience testing to go without vitamin B12 supplements.
If you variate and have a sufficient amount of the foods shown in the infographic, you shouldn’t face any malnutrition. Neither in macronutrients like protein nor in micronutrients like iron.

Conclusion

No matter how your individual vegan meal plan will look like, make sure to enjoy what you eat. You can give yourself some treats from time to time. Just keep yourself from being stressed about your diet. Stress can cause more harm than an unhealthy diet.
To stick to a vegan diet as a beginner, you will need a good reason to do so. I will soon link a post about how to stick with a vegan diet.

You probably have some questions. Don’t hesitate to leaf some in the comments section.

See ya
Alex

January 19, 2017
Best Anti Aging Face Cream – Only Natural Ingredients
If you have read the ingredient list on cosmetic products you probably read a lot of ingredients that sound like spaceships. Often these spaceships are made of skin or health damaging compounds that can even make your hormones go roller coast. And that is something you really don’t want, because your hormones play a significant role in your aging process. But is it really necessary to buy an expensive cosmetic product that is putting you in such danger?

The best anti aging face cream doesn’t have to have tons of questionable ingredients. And it can be made by yourself. Below you can see how. Already excited?

The Ingredients

Avocado Oil. Your main ingredient is Avocado Oil. “Huh, running around oily?” you may ask. Actually no. Avocado oil is soaked up in less than 15 minutes by your skin and keeps it moisturized. It has high amounts of the antioxidant Vitamin E.

Your skin will get the following benefits from the Avocado Oil:
- Moisture
- Elasticity
- Anti inflamentory
- Reduces itching
- No acne
- Less wrinkles
- Scar repair
It also seems to protect you a little against UVA rays from the sun, which make your skin cells die faster and make you age. And you should know that glass only protects from the UVB rays that make you tanned, but not from UVA.

You should know that glass only protects from the UVB sun rays that make you tanned, but not from UVA. This man was driving his truck for many years. The one sided sun exposure caused his skin to age significantly compared to the non exposed side. Check out my Vitamin D Post to find out how to protect your skin.

Essential Lavender Oil. This essential oil can be used on every skin type. It has the same effects like avocado oil. Another nice ability is it’s calming effect that can aid to your sleep or raise your mood depending when you use it.

Rosehip Oil. It contains high amounts of Retinol in its plant form called Beta Carotene and also high amounts of Vitamin C. Rosehip Oil is scientifically proven to have age reversing effects. So you should consider to include it if you are over 30. It is especially well known for scar repair and has great ability to keep the skin moisturized as well.

Another benefit is that you can inhale the essential oils for other beneficial effects. So you don’t only get a better facial skin. I have put together a list of the best quality oils for you.

How to use them

I would recommend to use a small glass bottle to make your mixture in it. As base ingredient you use 90% Avocado oil as a carrier oil and 10% of the two essential oils combined. All of the mentioned oils can be applied on your skin without being diluted if desired though. That means the amount of the two essential oils can be higher if you like. But this isn’t applicable for most of the other essential oils.

You can use your new self made face “cream” once in the morning and once in the evening. And that’s not it. The mixture can be used for your hair and scalp as well to promote hair growth and prevent thinning hair.

Keep the essential oils in your fridge, so they don’t lose their effects and get rancid. Especially the Rosehip oil. You can do the same for the avocado oil if you don’t intend to use it for salad dressing or similar.

Before mixing them all together you should try all oils on parts of your forearm skin. In case you might be allergic to one of them.

Don’t expect the oils to work immediately. It can take a few weeks until you see the difference.
```
Essential oils can't be patented. That's why they won't get popular with pharmaceutical companies or be recommended as a healthy alternative. This is the reason why they are not well studied. The knowledge about their effects come mainly from years of ancient experience.
```
Final words about anti aging

It would be nice if its enough to just put some magical elixier on your face and not to age at all. But I don’t have to tell you that this is not true. You know that a proper diet that enables your body to work properly is one of the main keys for youth. If you want to learn how aging works and what you can do about it, then you might be interested in my eBook. It is free. More information on the side bar.

Remember to return and leave your experience in the comments.

See ya

Alex

Dedicated to Irene
September 23, 2016