Improper nutrition, as well as lack of exercise is the main cause of obesity in todays modern world. On the other hand, proper nutrition combined with hard physical training is the main cause of winning gold medals at the olympics today! So, if you have one but not the other, that makes you half way in between obese and an olympian right? Well, maybe, but its something for you to think about anyway. What I'm trying to say, is that you need both for optimal performance. If you workout every day, but your post workout meal is a number 3 with extra sauce at the drive thru, and your bed time snack is cake and beer, you're not going to get very far. I read in a magazine one time that we have to think of our bodies as high performance sports cars: the higher grade fuel we put into the tank, the better the car runs. This is true with our bodies. Whether you are trying to loose fat, build muscle, or both, or maybe just maintain your weight, you must realise that proper nutrition will help you to reach your results more than twice as fast. A personal trainer at a GNC store (General Nutrition Center) once told be that what we put in our mouths will be responsible for 70% of our bodies condition, sleep and rest between workouts will be responsible for 20%, and all the time you spend running, biking, or lifting weights will be resonsible for only 10%. I may disagree a little about the time spent training, but you get the idea: nutrition is a big player. Now, I know everyone has different goals, so I'll divide this section into 3 parts so you don't have to read it all, even though the more knowledge you have, the better, so read it all if you have the time, but if not the 3 sections are: building muscle, loosing fat, and maintaining your weight and staying fit.
But before that, let me explain as simply as possible, the concept of energy and fat. The main reason we eat and drink is for energy. The energy that food supplies you is measured in units called calories. Calories are made up of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Carboyhdrates (carbs) are the bodies prefered fuel source, and are the sugars, fibres and starches found foods. Foods known to be high in carbs include potatoes, rice, cereal, bagels, fruit, etc. One gram of carbohydrate is equivalent to 4 calories. For example, and apple containing 20g of carbohydrtes would contain 80 calories of energy. Proteins are found mainly in dairy and meat products, and are the essential building blocks of muscle. Protein repairs and builds torn muscles after tough workouts, making them stronger for the next session. Foods high in protein include fish, eggs, meat, milk, cheese, baked beans, etc. Like carbs, one gram of protein is equal to 4 calories. For example, a can of tuna containing 30g of protein would be equal to 120 calories. Finally, fats are another source of energy for your body, and help in the transportation of nurients. Some fats are good for you, and are found in nuts, fish, and in some natural oils (canola oil, sunflower oil, etc). Other fats are saturated, and high in cholesterol, and include foods sold at fast food hamburger restaurants. Unlike carbs and protein, one gram of fat contains 9 calories. For example, a teaspoon of butter containing 10 grams of fat has 90 calories. Now, heres what many people misunderstand: fat does not make you fat! ANY excess calories, whether from carbs, protein, or fat will convert to body fat to be used as energy at a later time. So technically, your whole diet could come from fast food, as long as your daily intake of calories equaled the amount of calories that you used, or 'burned'. So, now that you know a few of the basics, here are some specifics you need to do according to your goal:
1) BUILDING MUSCLE
In order to build muscle, along with a good weight training training program, you need good nutrition. When you workout, microscopic tears occur in the muscle tissue. In order to rebuild the torn muscle, your body needs protein. Most experts recommend eating approximatly 30g of protein within an hour of training. After training, your body also needs carbohydrates for fuel. In the above section, I mentioned that carbs are the bodies prefered fuel source. After a workout, your body has used most of your carbohydrate energy and will use protein for fuel if your don't feed it some carbs. Now, you want the protein to be used for repairing and building muscle, rather than energy, so carb up! Foods high in protein include eggs, fish, meat, low fat milk products, and so on. Foods containing good quality carbohydrates can include bagels, rice, potatoes, bananas, apples, and so on.
To check out the nutritional contents of foods (how many carbs, protein, calories, etc) click here. To find out how many calories you need each day, click here. After you know how many calories you need per day, you need to determine the composition of your diet. For building muscle, a diet composed of 60% carbohydrate, 20% protein, 20% fat is best. Don't get caught up in all the high protein diet stuff. Nutritionists agree that between 0.7g and 1.0g of protein per pound of body weight is plenty for even competative body builders. For a typical male, you can get this amount without even trying.
Don't let your fat intake drop bellow 20%. Your body actually needs vitamins and minerals only found in certain fats in order to maximize muscle growth, and is also essential for healthy skin, etc. Next, the standard 3 meals a day is not going to be enough. Your body needs a constant 'flow' of nutrients and protein for optimal growth. Depending on your size, the body can only absorb around 30g of protein at a time. So if you only ate one big meal a day consisting of 100g of protein (a lot of steak and milk), the body would still only absorb about 30g of that protein, the rest would go to waste, after putting a lot of strain on the kidneys. However, if you ate several (5 or 6) small meals each day, each rich in nutrients and protein, your body will absorb almost all of it. A good rule is to eat every 3 hours, which adds up to 5 or 6 meals a day (depending when you go to bed and how much sleep you need). Before going to bed (your 6th meal), try to only eat protein, no fat, no carbs. Tuna is an excellent choice. An average can has just over 30g of protein, 1g of fat or less, and 1 carbohydrate or less. This is because your body doesn't require much energy while you sleep. The average active person will burn under 50 calories per hour in their sleep. 50 calories is equivilant to eating about 2/3 of an apple! So don't go loading up of food before bed. Its just going to turn to fat. (Note: some endurance athletes may 'carbo-load' several days before a big game or race. This is so they have long term energy reserves to use. They 'plan' to use those extra calories stored as fat, and often don't eat very much before the big marathon).
Besides your post-workout meal, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Your body has just gone 9 hours or so without food, and needs fuel for todays workout as well as for continuing to build and repair torn muscle from the last workout(s). I usually have All Bran or Oatmeal with a chopped banana and skimmed milk, an apple, an egg, some peanuts, and yogurt. Maybe a weird combination for some of you, but it is a great nutrient dense meal to start the day, especially before a 8:30 class. I've hit all the food groups (grains, fruits & veggies, dairy, and meats & alternatives). It is approximatly 95g of carbs, 20g of protein, and 10g of fat. A great 550 calorie way to start to the day!
Try to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables, grains, low fat dairy products, and lean meats. Minimize or eliminate other junk foods. Go ahead and eat that donut once in a while if you want. If you're training hard several times per week its not going to cause fat storage, but just think, "you are putting low grade fuel into a high performance sports car". Finally, drink lots of water. 8-10 glasses a day is usually good enough. Those cups of coffee don't count. Water means water. Not coke. Its 70% of your body and helps in hydration, transportation of nutrients, and blood flow. Again, don't just read this information, this is just to get you started. The more you read and learn about your body, the better you'll be able to use it. Start by reading my 'Building Muscle' article for MUCH more detailed information! Good luck, sign my guestbook, eat tuna, and train HARD!
2) LOOSING FAT
Gaining fat is a simple mathematical equation: take in more calories than you burn and your body stores those calories as fat. Loosing fat is also simple. Just reverse the equation: take in less calories than you burn and your body will use those body fat stores for energy. In order to do this, your body needs a calorie 'deficit' by the end of the day. To have a calorie deficit, you can either burn more caloreis through exercise, or eat fewer calories. Or ideally, for quickest results and better health, do both! Many people think that eating fatty foods will make you fat. Not so! Gaining fat comes from excess calories, whether they are from fat, carbs, or protein. The reason fat gets a bad rep is because it contains more than twice the calories of carbs and protein. To find how many calories your body needs, click here. To find how many calories are in your favorite foods, click here.
Besides that simple equation, there are a few more tips you should know. Drink lots of water! Water contains no calories, takes up room in the stomach making you feel full sooner (making you eat less at meal times), and it helps disolve bad fats and flush them through the digestive system. A type of carbohydrate, fibre (found mainly in grains like All Bran cereal), has a similar effect of water. Also, eat less in the evening, when you are less active. Try to eat 2/3 of your calories during the first half of the day. For loosing fat, food before bed is a no-no, unlike for gaining muscle. Unless you are also weight training and need the protein to repair muscle tissue, don't eat within 2 hours of bed time. If you really are starving, try a salad. Lettuce contains hardly any calories and will satisfy hunger. Eat more frequently. Small, frequent meals keep metabolism up, and keep you burning fat. Your body will digest 5 or 6 smaller meals throughout the day better than 3 big ones. Eat fruits and vegetables, be consistant, and don't give up. Loosing fat takes time, but does happen. Like I've said before, read other information. These facts are just basic tips to get you started. Checkout some of my links, read health and fitness magazines, and do your own searches on 'fat loss', etc on the internet. If you fail your diet, and induldge once in a while, don't worry, but try not to make it a habit. See my MUCH more detailed article on ridding fat for more information. Good luck!
3) MAINTAINING YOUR WEIGHT AND STAYING FIT
Maintaining weight is simple. Keep your average calorie intake equal to your average calorie expenditure (take in as many as you burn). To find out how many calories you need, click here. To find out how many calories are in your favorite foods, click here. Enjoy a variety of healthy foods, exercise regularly, and you will maintain your present weight. Drink plenty of water (8-10 glasses a day is the standard amount). If you are fairly active, a good formula I recently learned is to multiply your weight in pounds by 16. (This figure is for active males. Females I'm guessing would be a bit less, maybe 12?). This number is the number of calories you need each day. If you find you are slowly gaining fat, either add a little more cardio or subtract a few more calories. If you start to loose weight, bump up your calorie intake slightly.
Keep your fat intake below 30%, minimize junk food especially anything containing saturated fat and simple sugars, which are more readily stored on your body as fat. Eat smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day, with less in the evening when you are less active. Try to balance your diet with 60-65% carbohydrate, 15-20% protein, and no less than 20% fat. Thats basically it for maintence. Short and sweet. However, I'm assuming that if you surffed into this site you probably typed in key words including "muscle or fat" rather than "maintenence". Those who don't need to adjust their weight are usually the ones who know all this stuff anyway! Please sign my guestbook, and check out my links section for more useful information and tips.
