ALCOHOL SURVIVAL GUIDE (IN 5 STEPS)

If you’re going to drink on tour or after the late night gig, follow these simple rules to ensure that you’re having fun and not at your body’s expense.

1. Limiting yourself to one drink per day will ensure that your weight is not effected by drinking and that you don’t end up with a crippling hangover the next day. Drink more and your body may not be able to metabolize all of the extra calories and carbs that you consume when you drink. If you’re going to drink more than one, choose wisely. Red wine is best, in small quantities, of course. Vodka has the least amount of calories and carbs, but can be the worst for you when mixed with sugary drinks like cranberry and orange juice, or tonic water. Dark beers (except for a select few like Guinness) have a lot of carbs and calories and will expand your waist if you drink them all night. Light beers are better for your body. I suggest sticking to vodka soda with lime if you’re going the distance.

2. Eat before you drink, NOT after: Your body will not begin to metabolize food until it has metabolized all of the alcohol you drank before eating that food. Eating meals after you drink and late at night will put on tons of weight. Satisfy your hunger before drinking. If you must eat after boozing, choose healthy snack foods that I’ve listed in an earlier blog post, not foods high in fat or calories.

3. Avoid the hangover: Know your limits, listen to your body, for obvious reasons. But one not so obvious reason is that chronic hangovers raise your risk of a stroke in your later years. If you’re a binge drinker, you may want to reconsider your lifestyle.

4. Drink water before you fall asleep: No matter how much you drink that night, remember to hydrate yourself before you fall asleep. The more water the better, but drink at least one more glass of water than you think you want. Better to wake up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom than wake up at 2pm with a headache and the shakes.

5. Drink like a winner, not a college senior: Learn a little bit about the finer things. Order yourself some good beer on tap. Get a fancy cocktail. Sip and enjoy. Think: quality over quantity. You just may live to fight another day.

10 Simple Ways to Burn More Calories TODAY!

1. Take the stairs: Most hotels, venues, and other businesses have stairs. If you’re not carrying heavy gear on wheels, sick, or escorting someone who can’t take the stairs, take the stairs. You don’t need to worry about speed. Go at your normal pace and watch your step. You’ve just done your mid section, lower body and your heart a small favor for the day.

2. Walk around the block: After setting up at the venue, before the show, go for a walk around the block. You should take every opportunity to stay on your feet and keep moving throughout the day.

3. Help out when loading/unloading gear: Once you’ve loaded in your own stuff, help out by lifting your band mates’ gear (carefully, of course). The combination of walking and lifting will get your heart rate up and you may even break a little sweat.

4. Do 15 jumping jacks: Anytime, anywhere, as often as you like. Just make sure you have enough room.

5. Do 10 pushups before each meal: This easy, effective exercise will strengthen major muscle groups, get your heart rate up, and burn fat. Before you go out to eat, or make that sandwich on the bus, hit the deck and give yourself ten. If you’re doing at least 30 push ups every day, you’re doing a lot of things right.

6. Stand: By simply standing, your body is burning more calories. Give up your seat on the bus, subway, or train. Let your buddy take the bar stool. Stand behind the chairs at the party.  Just remember to check your posture; Square your shoulders, keep your back straight and your chin up.

7. If you’re traveling in a car or van… Get out at every stop, even if you don’t need to. Stretch your muscles, walk around. Get your blood flowing. You may even want to jog or run around for 3 min if you have enough time, and if you’re traveling for hours at a time.

8. Warm up before you perform: Playing your instrument burns calories. Take some time before each show to work on new song ideas, techniques, or simply play for fun. You shouldn’t warm up too close to show time, but do whatever is comfortable for you.

9. Do the Non Workout Ab Workout: Suck in your stomach and hold it for 15 seconds. Breath normally while holding. You’re working your group of Ab muscles behind your upper, middle and lower Abs. This group is just as important to your “core” as the others, but may be easily overlooked when you’re searching for new Ab workouts. You can do this anytime, anywhere. Try doing three “sets” of 15 second holds at a time.

10. Sleep at night: Sleeping in an essential part of maintaining a healthy body. Shooting for eight hours of sleep per night (studies show that only a tiny percentage of the population don’t need a full eight hours of sleep) will allow your body to repair muscles that you’ve worked during the day, making them stronger and hungrier the next day, burning more calories during the day. Getting a full nights sleep will also cause you to actually eat LESS during the day. When you lack sleep, you’re appetite grows in your body’s desperate attempt to get energy. You want natural energy from sleep, NOT food. Running on fumes = Filing your tank with useless calories.

Five Common Gut Busters

The following foods are everywhere on the road. They’re cheap and mighty tasty, but the only thing they’re good for (by the time your body processes them) is lowering your energy, slowing down your metabolism and adding useless calories to your day.

Eating any of these foods should be an occasional instance.

1. BAGELS: They’re always convenient, always delicious, and always full of carbs. Even whole wheat bagels offer very little fiber. You will get the same fullness from eating whole grain/multi grain toast with cream cheese with four times less the carbs.

2. FRENCH FRIES: Instead, ask for a side salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing on the side.

3. ICE CREAM: Eat it once a week, at most. Obey the serving suggestion. Don’t be fooled by low fat versions because that still usually means high sugar.

4. CONDIMENTS: Watch out for mayo, salad dressing, extra cheese, and ketchup. Cut these items out of your diet and you’ll see a difference. Say yes to mustard, balsamic vinaigrette, and spices like basil, oregano and pepper.

5. PASTA: Serving size should be the size of your fist. Try whole wheat pasta instead of regular.

TIP: Want to cut calories out of every meal without changing your diet? Skip the bread and butter or chips and salsa before the meal. It will fill you up, but won’t provide you with any important nutrients.

Eating on the Road: Part 1

There are two parts to achieving and maintaining a healthy, strong body. The first is regular exercise. The second is a healthy diet. (When I say “diet”, I’m talking about the quality of the food you eat on a regular basis.)

You need to eat in order to stay in shape. That’s right. Food is fuel for your muscles, organs, bodily functions, and your immune system. If your muscles are well maintained by exercising and feeding them the right foods, they will burn fat all day long. When you’re hungry, it’s time to feed your muscles, so feed them what they crave.

Remember this: You can still eat a lot, if not MORE than you normally eat, and still lose weight as long as you eat the right things.

If you’re exercising, your appetite will increase and you’ll need to know what to eat.

Food is delicious body fuel for the working musician!

Let’s keep this simple. Before you hit the road, go to your grocery store and buy these foods:

Snacks:
Baby Carrots
Celery
Hummus
Whole Wheat/Whole Grain Bread
Almonds (raw or roasted but not salted)
Natural Peanut Butter/Natural Almond Butter
Apples, Pears, Oranges
Strawberries/Blueberries
Broccoli

Breakfast:
Oatmeal (not from a box)
Any Kashi brand cereal (High in fiber, protein and some have flax)
Non-fat low sugar Yogurt
Skim Milk
Turkey Bacon
Egg whites

Lunch:
Salad
Tomatoes
Turkey Breast
Tuna (canned)

Dinner:
Chicken breast (grilled or baked)
Tuna/Salmon Steak (grilled or baked)
Lean Steak (grilled)
Squash/Any vegetable (steamed)

Tips:

Eat as soon as you can when you wake up. This will kick start your metabolism and help you burn more calories throughout the day. Keep all of your meals balanced by including one serving of protein, plenty of vegetables/fruit, and whole grains. You can snack on as many vegetables as you want throughout the day when you get hungry. You can snack on almonds but keep them down to a fist full per serving.

Avoid food with trans fats, and processed carbs. Speaking of carbs, I didn’t include pasta because it’s not something you should eat on the regular. If you do eat it, make a fist and that’s about as big as your serving should be.

A rule of thumb for most processed foods: The less ingredients in the food, the healthier the food.

You want to aim for the following eating schedule: breakfast, a snack before lunch, lunch, a snack after lunch, dinner, and a snack after dinner. If you’re waking up at noon, you won’t need to eat this much. If you’re not working out, you certainly won’t need this much food. Even if your schedule changes from day to day, you should still try to eat enough.

Don’t eat too late at night, but also, don’t go to bed hungry. If you must eat late, keep it light.

I know you can’t always prepare your own meals when traveling. Maybe your vehicle can’t store perishable food and/or you don’t have access to a full kitchen. Never fear! You can still find and eat some of these items, especially the snack food. Find a grocery store on the road and stock up. You will not only save your gut, but also some coin. You can also put some of these items on your rider and (of course) take them with you after the show.

Workout Music Playlists Pt. 4: Reader's Lists

Sarah Rubenstein’s current workout playlist:

1. Heavy Cross - Gossip

2. Strict Machine (iTunes Originals Version) - Goldfrapp

3. Throw It On Me - Timbaland featuring The Hives

4. I’m Just A Girl - No Doubt

5. Dammit - Blink 182

6. Believe - The Bravery

7. With Every Heartbeat - Robyn

8. The Rooster - OutKast

9. Bowtie - OutKast

10. It’s All Gonna Break - Broken Social Scene

11. Come Around - M.I.A.

Sierra Dehmler’s current workout playlist:

1. Blue Skies - Noah & The Whale (4:08)

2. Careful - Paramore (3:50)

3. Don’t Lose Yourself - Laura Veirs (4:12)

4. Feeling The Pull - The Swell Season (2:20)

5. Mistaken For Strangers - The National (3:33)

6. North By North - Faded Paper Figures (4:34)

7. Sweeter Than This - Katie Herzig (2:32)

8. Rapture - Pedro The Lion (3:26)

9. Consolation Prizes - Phoenix (3:18)

10. The Way We Get By - Spoon (2:40)

11. Sweet Disposition - The Temper Trap (3:52)

12. In Spite Of Me - Greg Laswell (3:12)

13. Turn It Off - Paramore (4:20)

14. Two Weeks - Grizzly Bear (4:03)

15. In My Head - Until June (3:26)

16. Cello Song (ft. Jose Gonzalez) - The Books (3:54)

Workout Music Playlists Pt. 3: Reader's Lists

Musician Andrew Futral (Age of Rockets) recently posted his playlist:

Panic! At Disco - “Nine In The Afternoon” 3:12
Taking Back Sunday - “Sink Into Me” 3:04
Motion City Soundtrack - “Cambridge” 2:34
Paramore - “Brick By Boring Brick” 4:14
Hot Rod Circuit - “At Nature’s Mercy” 3:31
Kiss Kiss - “Plague #11” 2:25
Sigur Ros - “Gobbledigook” 3:04
Minus The Bear - “Knights” 3:39
Saves The Day -“certain Tragedy” 2:27

Small changes that go a long way...

Make these simple changes in these common foods and you’ll avoid hundreds of useless calories and dozens of grams of fat immediately:

Skim Milk All The Way: Drinking Skim Milk instead of Whole milk with your cereal, oatmeal, coffee or PB&J will cut out a significant amount of saturated fats and calories from your everyday intake. Remember, Skim Milk still has all of the vitamins and minerals as whole milk and studies show that people who drink Skim Milk on a regular basis build muscle faster (which burn more calories per day) and maintain strong bones that beat osteoporosis. The fat is replaced with water. Relax, think of the benefits and you’ll get used to this change fast.

Dressing and Condiments On The Side: Salad dressing, mayo and even ketchup are pretty bad for you. Dressing is full of fat, sugar and plenty of artificial colors and flavors. Your Caesar salad probably drenched with it. Mayo is a great way to give any reasonably healthy sandwich the fat content of a greasy slice of pizza. Ketchup is full of sugar and sodium. Ask for these items on the side when you order a salad, a sandwich, or a burger. You can put them on yourself in small amounts for to flavor the food that is already eating. The less the better. Also, try Balsamic Vinaigrette instead of Ranch of Bleu Cheese. Try spicy mustard instead of ketchup or mayo.

Skip the Bacon. You’ll do yourself and your heart a huge favor. Bacon is not rich in protein. It’s usually fried in a pan and served with it’s own grease and fat. Ask for Turkey bacon. It’s a better cut of meat and more satisfying. Not to mention, it’s a good source of protein and not nearly as greasy.

Cut off the Fat: Beef, Pork and even poultry are often served with some excess fat. Eating this fat is like putting a spare tire directly onto your tummy, because that’s where it’s headed. Cut off the fat, and save yourself A LOT of unnecessary work at the gym.

Low Fat Cheese or Bust: Cheese is rich in protein and calcium, but also fat. If you’re like me, you love cheese. But most food already tastes good without it. Ask for lowfat cheese if you must have it. Even then, try to keep your weekly portions to a mimimum. I suggest buying an extra fine cheese grater. That way, is seems like you’re getting the same about of cheese to cover the same amout of real estate, but it’s actually much less.

Lose the Soda, watch out for the Juice: The main issue here is sugar. Soft drinks are loaded with it. Excess sugar is converted to fat. There’s a whole involved science behind blood, sugar, and fat but the moral of the story is that excess sugar in your diet is not only unnecessary, but unhealthy. Orange Juice and other Juice Drinks main contain vitamins and minerals and help keep you hydrated, but they also contain too much sugar. Drink an 8 oz cup of OJ and be done with it. Better yet, eat a full orange. That way, you also get the valuable fiber with helps regulate body functions.

Baked, Grilled, Boiled: Yes. Fried, No.: Avoid all fried meat, vegetables and desserts. If you must get something fried, make sure it’s with olive oil.

Whole Wheat/Whole Grain Bread Only: Bread should serve a function in your life. It’s a source of fiber. White bread does not fall into this category because it’s ultimately processed at sugar and stored as fat. You don’t need a lot of bread in your diet, so ask for whole grain or whole wheat breads and wraps whenever possible. But remember, not all whole wheat bread is created equal. Check out the fiber content, calorie content and other nutrition information. You want low fat, low calorie and high fiber. (Turns out wraps are NOT healthier than a quality whole grain slice of bread.)

Say no to refried beans: Refried beans are essentially mashed up beans that are mixed with lard and cooked. Ask for black beans, or any other substitute and give your stomach, heart and arteries a break. Real beans, sans lard, are very nutritious.

Workout Music Playlists Pt. 2: Reader's Lists

Here’s some examples of what readers are listening to while they work it out:

Sarah Leaper:

1. Rebellion (Lies) - Arcade Fire
2. D is for Dangerous - Arctic Monkeys
3. Tug of War - Carly Rae Jepsen
4. Life in Technicolor II - Coldplay
5. We Interwined - The Hush Sound
6. Bucket - Carly Rae Jepsen
7. Sexy Ladies / Let Me Talk To You - Justin Timberlake
8. Manhattan - Kings of Leon
9. Pressure - Paramore
10. The Market - The Hush Sound
11. A-Punk - Vampire Weekend
12. Brick by Boring Brick - Paramore

John Thrasher:

“Order is very important,” says John.

1. “Vertigo” - Jordin Sparks
2. “Run This Town” - Jay-Z featuring Rihanna & Kanye West
3. “Maybe” - Ingrid Michaelson
4. “Obsessed” - Mariah Carey
5. “She Loves Everybody” - Chester French
6. “Waking Up In Vegas” - Katy Perry
7. “Two Mans” - Chester French starring Solange
8. “Paparazzi (Demolition Crew Remix)” - Lady Gaga
9. “3” - Britney Spears
10. “Revolver” - Madonna
11. “Empire State of Mind” - Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys
12. “Poker Face {Orchestral) - Lady Gaga
13. “Soldier” - Ingrid Michaelson

Tyler Booth:

1) Morningside- Sara Bareilles 
2) Neon-John Mayer
3) Sky(Feat Ingrid Michaelson)- Joshua Radin
4) Stood Up- A Fine Frenzy 
5) Stop This Song(Lovesick Melody)- Paramore
6) Hush- Automatic Loveletter 
7) Sixteen- No Doubt 
8) Bulldozer- Bess Rogers
9) Molasses- The Hush Sound
10) Incinerate- Sonic Youth
11) Two Step- Dave Matthews Band
12) Locked Up- Ingrid Michaelson 
13) Innocence- The Airborne Toxic Event 
14) Thnks Fr Th Mmrs- Fall Out Boy

Workout Music Playlists

Recent studies have shown that music helps motivate you during a workout. No matter what style of music you choose, it’s a good idea to put together a playlist and take your portable music player to the gym.

Here’s my current iPod Workout Playlist:

1. “Gonna Make You Love Me” - Ryan Adams

2. “Why I Am” - Dave Matthews Band

3. “Afraid” - David Bowie

4. “No Action” - Elvis Costello

5. “It’s A Lie” - Fiction Plane

6. “Monkey Wrench” Foo Fighters

7. “In View” - The Tragically Hip

8. “How Does It Feel?” - Pharrell & The Yessirs

9. “Consoler Of The Lonely” - The Raconteurs

10. “Dakota” (live) - The Stereophonics

11. “Green Light Girl” - Doyle Bramhall II

12. “Brick By Boring Brick” - Paramore

13. “Where The Lines Overlap” - Paramore

What’s your current playlist? Email thehealthymusician@gmail.com and we’ll post it.