Monday, 25 March 2013

Some Inspiration...



Ladies meet Phill - my personal trainer. He has some words of wisdom for you and should prove sufficient motivation or distraction. ;0)

Below is some nutritional information, this time it focuses on calorie intake and eating the correct amount for your body....

Macros or macronutrients are another way of summarising your carbohydrates/ proteins/ fats in your daily intake. It is often used by athletes and bodybuilders to find the correct amount of  carbs/fats/ proteins as this can prevent muscle wastage and help lose body fat. 


From the calculator below you can find out how many calories per day you need to maintain/ gain lean mass or lose body fat just by adjusting or maintain a stable calorie controlled diet. 


Try to avoid....

Low calorie diets, yes these have been proven to drop weight fast (fad diets) however in the long run this causes more damage to the body as the weight you actually lose is muscle rather than body fat. Your body enters a catabolic state and retains more fat for survival, so it is key not to neglect calories; especially carbohydrates, as this is the body's primary energy source.  You really should just spread your recommended daily amount of carbs throughout the day and over 5 or 6 meals, this will allow body fat to be burned and enable you to keep your muscle (key for keeping a high metabolism). 

By using the calculator below it will give you a good indication of what your calorie intake should be over the course of the day and in each meal. I would look at recording this and using a calorie app like myfitnesspal or the weightwatchers app to record what your macros are and adjust them to fit what the calculator recommends.


The results of low calorie diets or yo- yo dieting.

Over time our bodies adapt to the lowered calorie level. Our body then becomes more efficient at using energy (lowered metabolism) and therefore burns less fat.
This is why most of us reach a weight loss plateau. At this point, the only option is to boost our metabolism by:
  • increased cardio, especially interval training.
  • weight training,
  • 'cheat' meals (i.e. occasional high-calorie meals),
  • cycling (or zig-zagging) calories, I.e intermittent fasting,
  • even manipulating macro-nutrient ratios can all help to do this (don't forget adequate sleep and hydration).
You often find that the nearer you get to your goal weight (or body fat percentage) - the harder things get!
Continually dropping calories only serves to lower metabolism even further - the moment you return to 'normal' eating - the weight comes back on.

What happens when calories are too low?

1) Muscle mass is broken down for energy (catabolism).
2) Metabolic rate will begin to drop (typically) after 3 days of very low calories - this is related to and compounded by the loss of muscle mass.
3) With very low calories you risk sluggishness, nutritional deficiencies, fatigue, and often irritability. You are completely set-up for a regain in fat if you suddenly return to your previous eating patterns. 
This is generally what happens during a weight loss diet. So it's key to look at a pattern of smaller meals but more regularly throughout the day. 
Now onto what most people struggle with PROTEIN.
Protein is probably the single most important macronutrient for the purposes of maintaining muscle on a diet. Dietary protein is hydrolysed (broken down) into it’s constitutive amino acids during digestion. These amino acids are released into the bloodstream where they may then be taken up by cells (usually muscle cells) and used for growth and repair of tissue. Ingesting enough dietary protein is very important for someone who is looking to gain muscle, or maintain it while dieting. Dietary protein spares muscle by helping increase protein synthesis (and thus induce net muscle gain) and by acting as a muscle sparing substrate as it can be used for glucogenesis (synthesis of glucose). Dietary protein however, is not as muscle sparing* as carbohydrates when used as a substrate for glucose synthesis. Protein is also a very “expensive” molecule for your body to use as energy.

* Basically this means your body prefers carbohydrate to protein as an energy source. 
Don't forget just because your are eating a lot more protein you will not necessarily build muscle,  you need to focus on weight training or other factors like testosterone levels hence why women will never build muscle unless there training goals is specific to building.
Now for the scientific part. The body would much rather store amino acids than oxidise them as protein oxidation yields less net ATP produced per amino acid when compared to fat or carbohydrates. Therefore, it can be stated that dietary protein has a thermogenic effect on the body. Meaning you burn even more calories when eating protein! 
Moving onto my last point and thank you for reading up to here.

It is crucial that you consume carbohydrates before exercise for several reasons.
  • Dietary carbohydrates will provide fuel for the anaerobic pathway and spare the muscle tissue from being converted to glucose for fuel.
  • Dietary carbohydrates will cause the release of insulin, which blocks the release of cortisol from the pancreas.
  • Dietary carbohydrates will increase muscle glycogen levels which will improve performance and decrease fatigue.
It is suggested you consume around 35% of your total daily carbohydrates in a meal 1.5 to 2 hours before your workout as this will allow the carbohydrates adequate time to be digested and enter the bloodstream. I would also recommend that you do something similar post workout; as you need to replenish the glycogen and prevent any muscle breakdown, so a high protein high carb meal is important within an hour of when you finish your workout.
Ok - I have also composed a 'shopping list' of healthy nutritional foods that should form the basis of your calorie controlled diet.

Protein:

  • Tuna or most any fish.
  • Cottage cheese.
  • Eggs (especially the whites).
  • Chicken breast (boneless skinless).
  • Turkey breast (boneless skinless).
  • Lean beef.
  • Low fat or no fat cheese.
  • Low fat pork.
  • Milk protein isolate.
  • Whey protein.
  • Soy protein.
  • Essentially most any other source of protein so long as it is low in saturated fat and carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates:

  • Sweet potatoes.
  • Oat meal, oat bran, oat bran cereal.
  • Bran cereal.
  • Brown rice. (Long grain is best)
  • Wheat bread (try to limit to 2 slices per day).
  • Beans and lentils (not baked beans)
  • Low fat popcorn (low fat butter spray makes this a delicacy).
  • Fruits (limit to 2-3 servings per day). Aim for low GI fruits like berries
  • Vegetables.
  • Stay away from refined grains and anything that says “enriched” or “high fructose corn syrup” on the label!

Fat:

  • Omega 3 capsules (i.e. fish oil capsules).
  • Flax seed oil.
  • Primrose oil.
  • Borage oil.
  • Olive oil.
  • Nuts (limit to 1 serving per day), peanut butter (as long as it does not contain hydrogenated oils).
  • Egg yolks.
  • Fish (salmon especially).
  • Avocado 

And that's it. Hope you have all taken in some of the information above. If there are any questions, just ask.

Regards,

Phill

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