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KARIN + RAOUL MAGAZINE ‘TASTE’ ISSUE #5: TRAILER from Karin + Raoul on Vimeo.

It’s finally summer and my inner Thupamodel dreams of looking her best (you can’t retouch the love handles in life, isn’t that a bummer? How about some Photoshop for the real world!) Lucky for me I have a fabulous personal trainer, Derek Nicholas, who is one of the top nutrition and exercise gurus in NYC. He’s developed an Operation Bombshell routine: in just a few successful months you can transform putty into Michelangelo’s “David.”

Derek, what is your number one nutritional rule for getting instant results?

Cut chemicals and trans fats out, and you will see instant results! Change your food intake to those sources which have the most nutritional value. If you give your body whole and natural foods, it will find the best way to use and implement them. Eat as much raw fruits and vegetables as possible, and supplement your diet with seeds, nuts, and whole grains. Stay away from processed foods. Animal protein (meat) should make up the smallest percentage of your caloric intake. Much of dairy contains hormones & chemicals, so shop at a local/organic market whenever possible.

Alcohol has no nutritional value, however, wine contains antioxidants from grapes which, in moderation, have been found to have nutritional benefits (but I recommend just eating some grapes!) Watch out for chemicals which come in oxidized proteins and fats, such as French fries. Eating a potato is not the end of the world, but when it’s fried, the oil oxidizes due to the heat and becomes carcinogenic. Same goes with cooking animal protein: the heat changes the fat in the animal protein on the molecular level, and so it becomes a trans-fat that’s difficult for the body to digest. Steak tartar, on the other hand, or raw eggs, contain raw fat that is easier for your body to process. Also, drink plenty of water! It keeps your body hydrated, yourself looking fresh, and flushes toxins out faster.

People love fad diets, but we all know that they don’t last. Taking into consideration the points you’ve mentioned, how soon can one see major physical results with just light exercise: jogging, biking, tennis, etc?

If you can combine the habits I’ve mentioned above with just some basic outdoor sports (tennis, cycling) or plain cardio in the gym a few days per week, you’ll notice that your body will start to drop retaining water (that bloated, heavy feeling). You can lose up to 1-2 pounds of fat per week, and that’s about 4-8 pounds of fat per month (plus another couple of pounds of water weight!) The more you put in, the more you can lose. You can “cleanse” or do a fast, but i don’t recommend doing anything you can actually maintain over an extended period of time (at least 3 months). The reason – this weight will always come back, and it will disrupt your body’s metabolism, slowing down your progress.

The fastest results come from eating foods with nutritional value combined with a great cardio routine.

And what do you recommend for a solid gym routine?

The best routine is to actively do cardio 3-4 days per week. The intensity levels should vary daily, for example:
Day 1 can be interval training – run for a 1/4 mile hard, then recover for a 1/4 mile with a light jog. Do this for 30 min.
Day 2 can be longer, sustained, steady state cardio at a lower heart rate – try to do the exercise bike or the stepper for 45-60 min. Work up a sweat, but don’t let the heart rate get get too high, above 150 (you should feel like you can talk in complete sentences without having to gasp for air.)
Day 3 can be a basic cardio class at the gym – kick-boxing, spinning, boot-camp, etc.

I’ve had family, friends, and clients get results very quickly from this basic routine. And I mean 20-25 pounds over 3-4 months! This is not an exaggeration, these are completely realistic, possible results.

What is your perfect daily routine, nutritionally and physically? Let’s compare at how much the rest of us are lagging behind, hehe!

Here is a sample weekday food log:
5am – 2 raw eggs, small container blueberries, teaspoon of raw honey, coconut oil, and flaxseed
8am – cup irish steel cut oatmeal (with water), cinnamon, tbsp raw honey, tbsp hempseed
11am – beet, kale, spinach, cucumber, apple, cayenne pepper fresh juice
2pm – 6 egg whites, kale, peppers, avocado
3pm – 5 oz. sweet potato
4pm – workout
6pm – 5oz sweet potoato
9pm – gigantic salad (dark greens spinach based) with poached salmon (6-8 oz) only lemon or balsamic vinegar for dressing.

My ideal workout is a 40-50 mile bike ride (weather permitting), or a cross training workout in the gym with a mix of cardio and weights. Gym for 1hour, or cycle for 2-3 hrs. I train 5 days a week, 2 weights and 3 cardio sessions. I will stretch, do yoga, or a massage on the 6th day. And one day (weekend) I do nothing but eat whatever I want!

Remember moderation. We all have cravings and need a release sometimes, like a couple drinks, etc. Be smart, stay on track, and you will see great results!

Pretend situation: I had a perfect week of avoiding fried foods, carbs, and alcohol, but on Friday I had too much beer/wine/vodka (yes, all at once!) and wound up eating a falafel/pizza/hamburger (yes, all at once!) What is my game plan for the next day or two for get back on track? How do you deal with a hangover and craving for fried, fatty foods from a long night out?

One rule when dealing with a binge or a bad meal is to pretend it never happened, and go about eating healthy and normal. “Forget it, it’s over with, back on track” is my mentality. The worst thing you can do is starve yourself to make up for the bad meal. This deregulates insulin (a digestive function which helps your body process sugar in the blood) which causes body fat storage.

As far as dealing with a hangover – it is what it is, there is no quick way around it. Grab a greasy breakfast, but stop at that. I find that a spicy Bloody Mary actually keeps me from eating all the damage. Lay off the bacon, sausage, and cheese, and instead opt for an omelet with toast and a Bloody Mary.

The best time to binge is early in the day: it gives your body a chance to digest and work through some of the damage during a full day. Try to avoid doing the late night burger and fries before bed. Sumo wrestlers gain weight so proficiently by binging and napping – they repeat this cycle all day! Hint hint. Don’t eat and fall asleep unless it’s only protein and veggies. No carbs before bed!

Most importantly is to avoid the behavior that causes the hangovers and cravings (at least keep it down to once a week.) The common theme is moderation – don’t tell yourself that you can’t have something. Instead look at it as something you’re choosing to avoid. Mentally, when we tell ourselves that we can’t have something, we’ll just want it more!

What is the better food to splurge on: Pizza vs. Hamburger, Falafel vs. Hot Dog, Beer vs. Wine, Ice Cream vs. Chocolate?

The thought process should be to satisfy your craving and eliminate the greater of the evils –
Pizza vs. hamburger: hamburger with all natural or organic beef. Put lettuce, tomato, onion, and an avocado on it, and you’re good. Stay away from the fries.
Falafel vs. hot dog? My pick is a falafel. Even if it’s fried, at least it’s chickpeas. A hot dog is mystery meat!
Beer vs. wine? My pick is wine because it has antioxidants. Beer has yeast and gluten, which is basically liquid bread. Can you say bloat?
Ice cream vs. chocolate? I’ll go for dark chocolate, since it has very little dairy as compared to ice cream, and it’s far less caloric. More importantly, dark chocolate has been shown to lower blood pressure due to antioxidants found in cocoa phenols. European chocolates are higher in cocoa phenols than the chocolate produced in the US. Milk chocolate blocks the absorption of the cocoa phenols, so always go for dark!

Please recommend the readers a few nutritional tips during the day to beat phantom hunger, emotional cravings, and stressful alcohol binges.

Some things I can recommend to keep from giving into liquor and food cravings are: sparkling water, crunchy veggies like carrots, cucumbers, celery, and seeds/nuts. At night, when you get home from work, it’s pretty common to want to reach for a glass of wine or a martini. I find a glass of sparkling water with lemon and cucumber satisfies the habit of having something in my hand to drink. The lemon and cucumber give it flavor, and fills me up without actually putting calories in my body.

Fat slows down our digestive process, so if you want to feel full longer, add a little fat to your meals and snack on nuts – I sprinkle ground flaxseed on my salads, or add a little olive oil. If i have a piece of fruit for a snack, I’ll have 10 almonds with it. At night I snack on carrots, cucumbers, celery, or peppers. If you’re really in a pinch, it wont hurt to dip those in hummus. A little goes a long way and can be a good snack so you don’t go to bed hungry.

Try to avoid power food bars. There are very few that actually contain good nutrients and aren’t full of sugar. I use Pro Bars (Cliff bars are ok but tend to be high in sugar.)

Any book recommendations?

The best book I can recommend is “The New Optimum Nutrition Bible” by Patrick Holford. It gives you the science, and you can choose how best to work it into your own life!

Thank you Derek! I hope this inspires my readers to a healthier life approach as you’ve done for me. I’d love to have you back again seasonally! See you Wednesday :)

Derek Nicholas, a NSCA certified personal trainer in New York City. His focus is mainly on one-on-one personal training, working out of Rich Baretta Private Training, known for its highly qualified trainers and athletic clientele. Living a healthy, outdoor, active lifestyle is one Derek not only lives himself, but one he lives to promote. In Derek’s sessions, the attention is placed not only on the obvious aesthetic benefits desired from exercise, but also in performance enhancement, pain free living and proper nutrition. His clients range from triathletes to the weekend warriors, from beginner to the highly conditioned. Most recently, Derek has been working closley with Rich Baretta, former Mr. America (1987) and owner of Rich Baretta Private Training, who he attributes to being his most influential mentor.

Links: Facebook |  Last Stand For Lucy | Rich Baretta Profile |

Sometimes a girl can’t help herself when the champagne is flowing like water. Padma Lakshmi, the gorgeous model, cookbook author, actress, and the host of Top Chef has her own secret remedy to preventing a hangover.

“I can tell you the best hangover cure ever … You take 1,000 milligrams of Vitamin C, with two Advil and one liter of water. Consume that in entirety before you go to bed. And … a falafel. Or, an egg in a hole, with hot sauce … and preferably cheese. If you can follow those instructions, you might feel good enough to go to the gym the next day, which you should do.”
{Source: New York Grub Street}

Sounds good to me, though I would avoid fried foods and focus on bread to soak up the extra alcohol. I also suggest a sauna next day!

I love the “Keep Calm and Carry On” posters: the graphic designer in me appreciates the minimal layout/font, the luxe touch of the British crown, and the quirkiness of interchangeable colors/phrases. Designing my own posters with foodie lingo was super fun, and I can’t wait to have these babies on my walls. I also wanted to share them with you: click the link to download three high-res images that you can print out and frame yourself!

From Wikipedia: Keep Calm and Carry On was a poster produced by the British government in 1939 during the beginning of the Second World War, intended to raise the morale of the British public in the event of invasion. It was little known and never used. The poster was rediscovered in 2000 and has been re-issued by a number of private sector companies, and used as the decorative theme for a range of other products. There are only two known surviving examples of the poster outside of government archives.

Where do models like to pig out (presumably months before any major runway shows or bikini shoots)? Grub Street has a report from the models of Sports Illustrated what their favorite food joints are. Example:

Genevieve Morton: “McSorley’s. It’s my favorite place in New York because you can drink beer there; it’s interesting; they only have light and dark ale; and you can, like, smack the glasses together and they don’t break, ever. And then the burgers and the chips are, like, homemade, and if you’re going to cheat on your diet or whatever, you might as well go there and have a good time.”

Alyssa Miller: “Shake Shack, that’s my weakness. I like to go uptown because
I like to go to the park and the museum.”

Shannan Click: “I love La Esquina. I love tacos.”

Anne V: “I love Bar Pitti; that’s one of my favorite restaurants. I just love food in general.”

Irina Shayk: “I love food. I can eat 24/7, 365, and I don’t have any food at home,
so usually I’m going to the restaurants. My favorite is Nobu. But I can wake up at two o’clock in the
morningand I just eat, you know, some meat and soup. Yeah, I love food.”

Read the full article from Grub Street here