Name: Michelle Rocha

Age: 22

Height: 1,62 m

Weight: 59 kg

Body Fat Percentage: 18%

“We live in an “Era” where everyone wants to take care of their appearance, whether it be for health reasons, self-esteem, wellbeing or any other reason. I call this the “Fitness Era”.

SEE ALSO: CLAUDIO FERNANDES’S TRANSFORMATION

Like many cases, I wasn’t any different. I was a teenager, didn’t know how to eat and hardly did any exercise. As a consequence, I was an obese teenager, with no self-esteem, uncomfortable in my own skin, an introvert due to the lack of self-esteem, didn’t like to socialize with people and ended up isolated. At age 19, 1,62m and 98kg I decided to fight for myself.

I began to gain interest in nutrition and feeding myself in a better and healthier way. I also decided to enroll in a gym. 6 months into my journey, I had lost around 30kg. This had a huge impact on my personal and social life. My self-esteem was at it’s peak. For the first time, I felt pretty, happier, more alive and active. I started socializing more, and no longer had any paranoia related to my appearance.

“I must confess that I wanted to lose weight only for beauty and appearance, but it ended up being impeccable for my health. I no longer had knee problems, I could breath better, among many other factors.”

SEE ALSO: TRAIN WITH YOUR BETTER HALF!

Since I had made huge progress in my life, I decided to maintain this lifestyle, always thriving for more. So I decided to find someone who was apt to advise me and set me onto the best path possible for my next challenge: entering a Bikini Fitness competition. I got in touch with #TeamTransformerz through Filipe, explaining my current and past situation. Despite having lost all that weight, I had around 31% body fat, and with the help of #TeamTransformerz I managed to lower that t0 21%, 10% less than I was, which sounded impossible! I can see a huge difference with the fat loss that I managed to do with the help of the team. I am so pleased to know that I can and will lower than % even more!

 

 “Without #TeamTransformerz help I know I couldn’t have done it. Every time I was without motivation, whether it was because of fatigue, or because of the diet in itself, they pushed me to keep going and gave me a lot of strength and support. Any doubt I had, they didn’t hesitate in clarifying the amount of times necessary. I could not be happier and more satisfied with the choice I made in searching for them.”

This fitness “world” makes us create bonds, like in any area, because we start to interact with people that have the same interests as we do. This is necessary because at times, of something isn’t going as it should, those relationships help finding the cause of the problem. I am still on my journey with the team, the goal is to be healthy and lower my body fat levels even more.

“I must thank the team for all the strength and support they have given me, that made all the difference in my journey and success.” 

For several years, we have been trying to find typical Portuguese dessert recipes where we could get our protein, nutrient and caloric requirements. As it happens, making sweets rich in protein, normally ends up terribly. Why? Because of the awful texture.

Recently we found a rice pudding recipe that is so simple and delicious that we decided to share it with you through our blog.

Ingredients:

• 200g Cottage Cheese (We use Milsa brand which you can buy in Aldi);
• 30g Vanilla Protein Powder;
• 50ml water;
• Cinnamon and sweetener to your preference.

Preparation:

• The preparation is incredibly simple: All you have to do is mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, mix with a spoon and let it set in either the fridge or the freezer for it to gain some consistency.

SEE ALSO: CHOCOLATE MUFFINS!

Nutritional Facts:

• Calories: 320
• Carbohydrates: 6 g
• Fat: 10 g
• Protein: 48 g

Notes:

• We use Milsa brand Cottage Cheese because it’s granulated and has a texture similar to rice;
• We don’t use rice in this recipe because it ends up with a taste very similar to real rice pudding;
• We suggest you add brown rice or oatmeal to the recipe if you want to boost it’s fiber content!

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of whole grain bread;
• 3 egg whites;
• Cinnamon;
• 30g Vanilla flavor protein powder.

Preparation:

• Grease a frying pan and set it on medium heat;
• In a mixing bowl, mix the egg whites, cinnamon and protein powder;
• Dip the slices of bread in the mixture, on both sides;
• Put the slices into the frying pan and let them cook. Flip them over, and maintain medium heat so as not to burn;
• Take the slices out of the pan once they’re evenly cooked on both sides.
• Add toppings (cinnamon, honey…)

SEE ALSO: PIZZA WITH A CAULIFLOWER AND OATMEAL CRUST!

Nutritional Facts:

• Calories: 290
• Fat: 3 g
• Carbohydrates: 22 g
• Fiber: 4g
• Protein: 41 g

Some foods are more calorically dense than others, and with just 200 calories there can be huge differences in food volume! In each photograph we show you 200 calories of each food in an identical plate. If you consider that a plate full of broccoli equals 37 grams of chips, we hope you take a second to think before you choose your next meal…

Broccoli

588 grams = 200 Calories

Baby Carrots

570 grams = 200 calories

Apple

385 grams = 200 Calories

SEE ALSO: EUNICE ROSADO’S 8 WEEK TRANSFORMATION

Cantaloupe Melon

553 grams = 200 Calories

Kiwi

328 grams = 200 Calories

Sliced Whole Grain Bread

90 grams = 200 Calories

Baguette

72 grams = 200 Calories

Full Fat Milk

333 ml = 200 Calories

Bailey’s

60 ml = 200 Calories

SEE ALSO: IS THE PUMP A GOOD WAY TO MEASURE WORKOUT EFFECTIVENESS?

Hot Dog Sausage

66 grams = 200 Calories

Boiled Egg

150 grams = 200 Calories

SEE ALSO: WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU RUIN YOUR DIET?

Tuna In Oil

102 grams = 200 Calories

Smoked Ham

204 grams = 200 Calories

Fried Bacon

34 grams = 200 Calories

Salted Mixed Nuts

33 grams = 200 Calories

Boiled Fusili Pasta

145 grams = 200 Calories

Crisps

37 grams = 200 Calories

Doritos

41 grams = 200 Calories

French Fries

73 grams = 200 Calories

Crackers

50 grams = 200 Calories

Donuts

52 grams = 200 Calories

Fruity Loops

51 grams = 200 Calories

Raisin Muffin

72 grams = 200 Calories

Cheddar Cheese

51 grams = 200 Calories

Butter

28 grams = 200 Calories

Peanut Butter

34 grams = 200 Calories

Snickers Bar

41 grams = 200 Calories

M&M’s

40 grams = 200 Calories

Yellow Sugar

53 grams = 200 Calories

Hershey’s Drops

36 grams = 200 Calories

Note: All photographs were taken from the site www.wisegeek.com.

We are certain that this myth is derived from the concept that carbohydrates turn into fat, specially if our body isn’t using them. Well, the transformation of carbs into fat, called lipogenisis, isn’t that easy in human beings. It does, however, occur in rats. We aren’t THAT similar, come on! For this lipogenisis to occur, first we would have to fully replenish our glycogen stores. After that, we would have to ingest between 700-900g of carbs, for several days. Only this way would this process occur in any significant way, as numerous studies have concluded.

SEE ALSO: LUIS’S 11 WEEK TRANSFORMATION

The end to this myth came when a study compared a group of individuals who ate most of their carbs at night with a group that consumed most of their carbs during the day. Both groups were in an equivalent caloric deficit. The group that consumed most carbs at night actually lost more body fat and maintained more muscle mass than the carbs during the day group! The conclusion was that the group that consumed most carbs at night maintained higher leptin levels. Leptin is a hormone that is synthesized through adipose tissue. It plays a significant role in regulating hunger, food intake and energy expenditure. Low leptin levels equal big cravings. It is responsible for signaling the brain and reporting current energy levels, and by doing so it affects other important hormones for the study in question, like the thyroid hormone (responsible for metabolism) and testosterone (key hormone for muscle growth/maintenace).

Now, Leptin reacts very well to carbohydrate intake (meaning that levels rise significantly when a significant amount of carbs is ingested). So, when you ingest carbs, leptin levels rise! That means less hunger, less cravings… good stuff!

What really matters is the total amount of calories consumed!

To wrap this up, when our goal is to burn body fat, meal timing is largely irrelevant compared to the total amount of calories we eat. People erroneously believe that by reducing carbohydrate intake at night, they will lose body fat. However, instead of some physiological response that has never been proved by science, the reason for fat loss is probably due to the reduced amount of calories ingested, which tends to happen when people cut carbs at specific points in the day. In other words, as long as you don’t go above your daily carbohydrate limit – aim for around 2 grams per Kg of body weight – you don’t have much to worry about.

References:

1. Katayose Y, Tasaki M, Ogata H, Nakata Y, Tokuyama K, Satoh M. Metabolic rate and fuel utilization during sleep assessed by whole-body indirect calorimetry. Metabolism. 2009 Jul;58(7):920-6.
2. Sofer S, Eliraz A, Kaplan S, Voet H, Fink G, Kima T, Madar Z. Greater weight loss and hormonal changes after 6 months diet with carbohydrates eaten mostly at dinner. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2011 Oct;19(10):2006-14.

Diet…Yeah. Everyone hates this word.

What we usually hear are stories about someone who went on a diet, managed to hold on (probably losing most sanity along the way) for 1, 2 or maybe even 3 months without falling into temptation a ruining their results.

Well, we are here to tell you how to diet in such a way that it can be the factor that most contributes to the quality of your life, instead of, like in most cases, it being the most nerve wracking part of improving your body composition.

SEE ALSO: IS THE PUMP A GOOD WAY TO MEASURE WORKOUT EFFECTIVENESS?

Reasons why your diet plans fall short:

1 – Excessive restriction

Ok. If you want to lose weight, you always need SOME restriction. But that cannot mean all you think about is food, and the only thing similar to food you get to eat is lettuce! By this we mean it can’t mean sacrifice. We normally see people following these hyper restricted, birdlike diets, where they are forced to eat food that they don’t like, following a very inflexible menu. After a week they are ready to shoot their brother if they have to eat another leaf of arugula. Sometimes we can see people following a diet for an extended period of time, which they saw some Fit Dude or Dudette following, just to get in shape for a competition or photo shoot.

We think that, if you can’t see yourself following a diet plan for a whole year, without any trouble whatsoever, then you might as well quit while you’re ahead. Why? Because sooner or later you will be extremely frustrated, and on the verge of finishing Burguer King’s stock.

2 – Being too extreme

Another really common mistake is someone who wants to lose a few pounds going from eating whatever he wants to only eating salads, and very low calories overall. This is probably the mistake that most compromises the diet, let us explain why:

When you significantly reduce the calorie intake that your body is used to, your body get’s frightened. This activates a trigger which makes your whole body stay “on the lookout”. Yes, you will lose fat and weight, but you will also lose muscle. In addition, your body will start to burn less and less calorie to maintain it’s weight, so soon you will hit a plateau. Your calories are already as low as they can be without you starving. What happens? You don’t lose anymore weight. Besides, once you star eating normally again, your body will absorb everything so to recover the lost weight (this usually translates into fat gains)!

On the other hand, there are people who want to put on some muscle and start to eat everything they can get their hands on. In these cases, their appearance becomes worse than it was before they started. As expected, they become frustrated and unsatisfied with the results.

The process of losing fat or gaining muscle is slow. Be patient, take baby steps.

3 – Starting a diet that doesn’t make sense for you

Sometimes people diet for a long time, mostly maintaining very low calories, and end up damaging their metabolism. This makes them hit a plateau and not lose weight. This tends to crate a lot of frustration, making people go on and off the diet. Therefore, people rarely reach their goals. What can also happen is the opposite, where someone doesn’t seem to be able to put on weight, tries to eat everything he can, but ends up with excessive body fat and not a lot of muscle.

The solution in these cases is to adjust the diet to your specific case, whether it be manipulating macronutrient quantities, optimizing your metabolism, increasing exercise volume… This way, all the weight you gain or lose when initiating a transformation will be quality weight, muscle if you gain, fat if you lose.

SEE ALSO: DANILO MATOS’S 8 WEEK TRANSFORMATION

Our solution:

Hang on, don’t get scared yet, BUT… our solution is based on counting calories and following a flexible diet. This process used to be really complicated back in the day, but nowadays any person (we have an example of a 60 year old lady) can easily do it. Besides only taking about 2 minutes of your day, this process gives you excellent control over the quality of your gains. Also, it transforms a sacrifice into a hobby! Many of the people who we have helped tend to make a game out of it!

If you need someone to teach you about flexible dieting, and all of this calorie counting business, feel free to contact us. We will be happy to help!

Forearm.

Yes, there is actually more arm beyond the biceps and triceps.

Maybe this is news for many people, but forearms not only can, but SHOULD be trained.

You’ve been curling 12kg dumbbells for the past six months and it’s simply impossible to increase the weight?

Well, this post might be for you.

Forearms have a vital role in elbow flexion (making the forearm go from being stretched, to touching your bicep). There are many muscles responsible for elbow flexion, like the biceps brachii (biceps), the brachialis, the braquioradialis…

It’s true! It isn’t just the bicep that performs this movement!

That’s one of the reasons why it’s essential that you train the other muscles responsible for elbow flexion, so that you can progress in your biceps exercises. Another very simple reason is structural balance. But let’s not touch on that just now.

It’s essential because if you don’t, the muscle that you’ll primarily be working is the bicep, making it stronger. If the other assisting muscles don’t keep up with this development, the bicep reaches a stagnation point. Why? Because it can’t work all by himself.

What’s the cure?

There are many things you can do to improve brachialis and braquioradialis development.

For example, varying your grip on the exercises you normally do.

When you use a neutral grip (hammer grip) while doing dumbbell curls, you’re stimulating these assisting muscles much more than if you just use a supinated grip (palms facing up).

Want to go a step further? Pronation (palms facing down). Instead of doing regular EZ Bar curls with your palms facing up, try doing them with your palms facing down. This way you’ll primarily hit the brachialis and the braquioradialis.

Training these muscles will bring you results and gains that have a huge carryover to your bicep training, but that’s not all! Grip strength is crucial for back training (think heavy Deadlifts and Rows)!

So don’t be afraid to try new things.

A few other suggestions are Pronated Preaches Curls, whether it be with a barbell or dumbbells!

When using cables, the same principle applies, just turn your hand upside down!

Don’t forget to thank us after you’ve got forearms like the ones in the picture 😉

To many, like us, Kevin Levrone was one of the best bodybuilders to ever set foot on the Mr. Olympia stage and was possibly the bodybuilder to present the best on stage routines ever.

Now you’re asking yourselves, why is it that we’re sharing a picture of Kevin Levrone?

We are sharing it because, unfortunately, there are still many who believe that it’s impossible to have a flexible approach regarding your diet and still step on stage.

RELATED: SELMO SANTOS’S TRANSFORMATION (12 WEEKS)

So, we’re using Kevin Levrone’s example, seeing as he started to follow flexible dieting and after only a few years, he decided to compete again step back onto the Olympia stage.

As you can see in picture, in the comments of this post, Kevin Levrone states that thanks to flexible dieting, he understood the importance of having a flexible and moderate diet to achieve the results we want.

Levrone states that thanks to a flexible diet, he is able to achieve the results he wants without having to undergo unnecessary restrictions in his diet and that he is also able not to suffer from frequent “binges” (eating compulsion).

We are well aware that most people don’t want to step on stage nor have a competition worthy physique.

Most people just want to get in shape and feel good about themselves.

That’s why, if a certain diet or approach works well enough for athletes to achieve their goal of stepping on stage (something that requires extensive amounts of knowledge and dedication), it’ll obviously work for those who only wish to transform their body so that they increase their self-esteem.