Boise's Own Shawn Carlson Covers Nutrition.

Shawn M. Carlson

Shawn Carlson has been an active professional in the health and fitness industry since 2005.  In 2006, he left the commercial gym environment and began operating out of an independent studio. Since the move, Shawn has successfully developed a loyal following in helping clients re-shape their lives.  Offering a unique approach of incorporating customized nutrition plans and training programs for each client has given him a special standing in the local health and fitness community.  Holding multiple credentials in the fitness industry, Shawn excels at working with clients one-on-one in the areas of weight management, contest preparation and personalized nutritional planning. 

Professional Credentials:

·       Certified Personal Trainer, National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM-CPT)

·       Performance Enhancement Specialist, National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM-PES)

·       Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist, National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM-FNS)

·       Certified Specialist in Fitness Nutrition, International Sport Sciences Association (ISSA-SFN)

·       Certified Lifestyle & Weight Management Specialist, National Exercise & Sports Trainers Association (NESTA-LWMS)

1. Nutrition is such a huge part of health success. For someone wanting to make a large change in their diet, how would you recommend they approach it?

            *Start by keeping it simple! This is assuming, of course, that the person has a history of making not-so-great food choices.  In this instance, it’s important that they take things one step at a time… I’ve seen many more people fail when they tried to change too many variables at one time.  For someone who is new to making healthy changes in their lifestyle, if we change EVERYTHING at once, what happens if the expected changes in body comp, weight loss, etc. aren’t realized?

 That person has now put themselves into a position where they have to evaluate MANY variables; it can become overwhelming and extremely discouraging. So what exactly do I mean by “keep it simple”?? Well, first I would suggest tracking your food! If we don’t know where you’re starting, how can we make any appropriate adjustments? You would be surprised how many little things you consume throughout the day that can be forgotten. For example: Are there a lot of sweets in your nutritional intake? 

Many times people don’t even realize how many extra calories are being consumed by the little “extras” in their diet.  By extras, we’re talking about things like sodas, sugar based condiments, those couple handfuls of M&Ms you grabbed passing your co-workers’ desk… You get the point.  The next step could be looking at a couple of the items below and adding one or two of them into your daily habits:

·      Are you eating 4-6 small/medium sized meals per day?

·      Are you getting at least 3-4 servings of veggies per day?

·      Do you eat breakfast on a consistent basis?

·      Does at least 75% of your nutritional intake consist of whole foods?

·      Do you make sure to pair a protein with any of your carbohydrate meals?

These all are a great place to start in making a true lifestyle change in nutritional intake.  Keep in mind that these are just a few examples to start with, there are many other possibilities!  

2. For those who are freaked out by carbs, can you explain the importance of them?

            *I’ve worked with a lot of people over the years that in the beginning had a huge phobia of carbs!  Much of this could be attributed to misinformation in today’s mainstream media.  Fact of the matter is, carbohydrates (considered” glucose’ once in the body and stored in the body as” glycogen”) and in many ways, are our bodies’ preferred energy source.  It’s my belief, however, that the actual AMOUNT of carbs consumed can (and should) vary from person to person… depending on an individuals’ activity level, particular goal(s) and/or any underlying medical condition(s) (i.e. insulin resistance, diabetes, PCOS, etc).

 Carbs, just like any other macronutrient, CAN be over-consumed.  Any time the amount of food you consume puts you into a caloric surplus, it’s possible to gain weight and/or body fat.  The variable that seems to make carbs the “black sheep” of the macronutrients are their effect on blood sugar levels and insulin production…

 Simple or higher glycemic carbs are going to have a more dramatic impact when digested and cause rapid blood sugar spikes, thereby causing more drastic production and release of insulin. Simply put, in MOST cases, what this means to most people is the end result will be a higher likelihood of the ingested calories to be stored as body fat.  Some examples of your faster digesting carbs would be: white bread, bagels, candy, syrups, white rice, sugary drinks, white potato, many breakfast cereals and so on.

Don’t get me wrong, higher glycemic foods DO have their place and when timed properly, can actually be advantageous to someone who is looking to improve their body composition and performance. 

Instead of diving into that topic, some examples of the carb sources I generally will suggest to my clientele would be: brown rice, yams, sweet potato, whole grain or sprouted bread, oats, quinoa, most fruits and vegetables.  These carb sources are going to tend to fall more under the category of complex or lower glycemic foods.  As a side note, many of these complex carbs will also be more nutritionally dense (more vitamins/minerals), than simple carb choices.

At the end of the day, carbs ARE NOT evil and when you make smart choices can actually help you achieve your body composition goals!

3. What are your feelings on taking supplements?

            *I think supplements are great when used properly.  They can be great for helping you fill in your nutritional “gaps”, but I generally recommend that a person get their nutrition and exercise dialed in before turning to supplementation.  Remember, supplements should be used as tools to SUPPLEMENT a sound diet and exercise regime.  If you are banking on that fancy new fat burner you bought to be your answer to finally losing the weight, you’re in some trouble! Supplements can certainly help and give you an edge, but you should NOT be depending on them for results.  Below are a few of the basics that I recommend to those looking to supplement their active-healthy lifestyle:

           

·      Multi-Vitamin

·      BCAA’s (Branched Chain Amino Acids)

·      Fish Oil

·      Whey/Casein Protein Powder(s)

4. Why is breakfast such an important meal?

            Well, there are several benefits to making sure to eat breakfast on a daily basis… One really important reason, that I don’t hear many people bring up is to help control cortisol levels.  For those who don’t know, cortisol is a stress hormone that increases energy production by breaking down tissue. People who are looking for weight loss this sounds like a great thing, but in many cases elevated cortisol levels for long periods of time can equate to break down of lean tissue (i.e. muscle tissue), oxidative stress and increased fat storage (particularly around the midsection). 

Cortisol levels generally peak naturally in the early-mid morning hours (7-9am).  Additionally, caffeine intake can actually augment cortisol production, so for all you coffee drinkers out there that are skipping breakfast, this is not helping! By eating a healthy, balanced breakfast you can help to curb the severity and duration of these cortisol spikes.  What this means for you is the potential for less anxiety, improved overall mood and improved body composition!

5. Can you explain the myth of women lifting heavy weights will make them “mannish”?

            I’m assuming that when we’re talking about “mannish”, we’re talking about what some women might also refer to as “bulky”.  Again, this is a concern that is typically brought up by a good number of my female clients.  Fact of the matter is, much of your ability to develop and grow your muscles is genetically pre-determined.  Further, in most cases, women are not hormonally setup to build massive, muscled-out bodies. 

Does this mean that a woman can’t put on muscle if she wants to?? Absolutely not! There are many natural female athletes out there that are living proof of this.  I can guarantee you though; they had to work their butts off to get there!  Another factor to consider is that everyone is going to respond to exercise differently.  Some will be more apt to build muscle at a faster pace, but remember, there will still be limiting factors as to HOW MUCH growth will take place.  In other words, stop making excuses and hit the weights!!

6. What is the secret to a great 6 pack abs?

            Abs are made in the kitchen!  I’m sure most everyone has heard that saying by now, but I couldn’t agree more.  I get asked by a lot of people about how someone can “shape” their abs better or what exercises will make them “pop” more… The thing is, if you have a layer of fat covering what abs you DO have, doing more crunches or the latest ab movements aren’t going to do a lot for you.  It’s very likely you will be better developing and strengthening those muscles, but you will never have those “beach body” abs if you don’t take the steps necessary to uncover them!

To avoid any confusion, I’m NOT knocking on performing ab exercises; there are many benefits to performing them (above and beyond just developing abs). The point here is, if you want the secret to six pack abs, then most likely one of the first variables you should be looking at is your food intake.  Generally, a good starting point would be to “clean up” your diet.  What I mean by that is to try taking out some of the processed foods, sugary foods and foods that are high in SATURATED fat.  Additionally, add in more servings of fruits and veggies throughout the day.  As you are getting your nutrition dialed in, make sure that the exercise programs (both weights and cardio) you are following are both progressive and are tailored towards the goal your setting out to achieve.

7. What is the #1 biggest diet myth you can bust?

            Eating fats does not equal fat gain!! Fat intake can actually be quite beneficial to those looking to improve their body composition.  Yes, it’s true that there are certain TYPES of fat sources that you are going to want to limit or avoid, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you should be cutting out fat intake altogether.  Not only are fats the most energy dense macronutrient; they also play a vital role in hormonal balance, metabolic rate, cardiovascular health, reducing inflammation, formation of our cell and nervous systems and aid in the transport of our fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K.

Rather than give you a complete essay on the benefits and importance of fat intake, what I want to touch on are what types of fats we should focus on and the food sources we can acquire them from in order to help improve body composition.  The three main fat sources I want to talk about are the polyunsaturated, monounsaturated and saturated fats. 

Polyunsaturated fats (“poly” = more than one carbon is unsaturated) like omega-3 and omega-6’s are the ones most commonly referred to as the “healthy fats”.  Common sources of our polyunsaturated fats would be; flax seeds/oil, fish oil, salmon, tuna, canola, safflower, sesame.

Monounsaturated fats (“mono” = only one carbon is unsaturated) are found in many healthy nuts and seeds (as well as other foods). Common sources of our monounsaturated fats would be; almonds, pecans, peanuts, sesame, avocado, olive oil.

Saturated fats, most commonly referred to as one of the “bad” fats, are actually beneficial and very necessary in our dietary intake. While in my opinion, these should make up the LEAST amount of your fat intake, I don’t recommend that you make it a mission to completely cut them out (and actually, in most cases that’s pretty much impossible).  Common sources of saturated fats would be; beef, butter, cheese, whole milk, palm oil. 

It’s important to note that some of these food sources are going to tend to overlap and fall into more than one category… Fats are made up of fatty acids and the majority of foods are made up of a COMBINATION of these different fatty acids. Therefore, you’re going to be hard-pressed to find a fat source that is purely just a mono, poly or saturated fat. While the actual number of grams of fat that one should consume on a daily basis can vary greatly from person to person; I generally recommend that 70-75% of total fat consumption come from poly and monounsaturated fats and 25-30% saturated for optimal health.