Eating to Burn Fat!

by MVP (Will Riggs)

Each piece of pie has to be worked on in balance in order for your fitness goals to be effectively reached. You will not build muscle and strength if you do not weight train. You will not burn calories, and in effect, lose body fat, if you do not do cardio. You will not build adequate muscle and effectively lose body fat without proper nutrition. So they are all linked to another in some manner.


However, I have been in fitness long enough to realize there is one area that is slightly more important than the others. It has to be nutrition. All of your fitness goals can be sabotaged without proper and adequate nutrition.

Muscle growth does not occur in the gym. The weight-training workout is just the stimulus for muscle growth. While training you are creating microscopic tears to muscle fibers that must heal and repair to prepare for future demands placed on them.

Nutrition is the main requirement in this healing process. Rest is probably the next important part. Without proper nutrition, tihs healing and repqair process is negatviely affected and your body does not have the supplies to effectively rebuild the damaged muscle fibers. If you are doing your weight training properly, you are preforming your scheduled cardio sessions properly, and are still not seeing results, your nutritional concerns have not been properly met.

In this section of the program we will go into depth about how to structure your eating habits and to help you, not hinder you. We will set up for eating so that you can effectively burn more calories 24/7 without doing any more physical activity.

There are five nutritional elements that have a significant effect on muscle building and fat-loss. These elements are calories, protein, carbohydrates, fats, and water.

Calories are a unit of measurement. The rest of the elements are marcrountrients. Each is vital in your effort in achieving the most out of your fitness program,

Again, a calorie is a measurement of total energy value of the food you eat. Calories are the fuel your body needs to function. Each and every day that you are breathing, your body is expending a certain amount of energy. This energy is derived from the foods you eat. The more active you are, the more calories you need for fuel. Other factors come into play when determining total calorie burned. Total mass. body temperature, and the types of foods consumed all have an impact. The bigger you are, the more calories burned. The more muscle you posses, the more calories burned. Muscle tissue is a very active tissue and requires a fair amount of energy to maintain. It gets this energy from burning calories. That is why it is important to include weight training into ayn long - term weight loss attempt. The more muscular your body is, the more calories burned at rest to support this muscle tissue. Fat however, does not need calories to be maintained. So to burn more fat, work at building more muscle tissue.

Calories are derived from 3 sources: protein, carbohydrates, and fats.

1 gram of protein = 4 calories
1 gram of carbohydrate = 4 calories
1 gram of fat = 9 calories

Fat contains 2 1/4 times as many calories as either protein or carbs, so you can eat 2 1/4 times as much protein or carbs as you can fat while still maintaining the daily caloric intake amount.

This is how and why extra fat in the diet will add significantly to your daily calorie amounts rather quickly. Not so much that fat is evil, it's just very calorie dense. Those people on those high-fat, low-carb diets will not achieve any long-term success because the more fat they eat, the more calories they consume. Remeber the saying, "you are what you eat." If you eat fat, then you will get fat.



Protein

Any growth promoting process that occurs in your body requires protein. It is the single most abundant substance in the body, next to water. It is in every organ in your body. It is essential for blood, hormone, and enzyme production, as well as optimal immune system function. Protein is required for optimal muscle tissue growth and repair. The more muscle you have, the more protein you require. Resistance training places a huge demand for protein by the body. If you do not supply your body with enough protein, it will take it from your muscles, which is called catabolism (muscle breakdown). If you go to any length of time without eating, your body will attack muscle tissue for its protein requirements. Your body literally starts to "break itsself down". It is a must to supply your body with adequate protein every three to four hours. This ensures your body of maintaining adequate levels. Protein can be obtained from whole food and from protein supplements. Try to get your protein from whole food sources first. However, eating whole food sources high in protein every three to four hours can be difficult. This is where the protein supplements like whey protein shakes or meal replacements come in handy. As far as whole food sources, get your ptoein from lean sources like chicken, turkey, fish, lean red meets, eggs, milk, soy products, and legumes. As far as protein supplements, the most effective protein source with the highest biological value (it is utilized most effectively by the body) is whey protein. When purchasing a protein product, stick with a quality company like AST Sports Science, Twinlab, or Natures Best and use a quality whey protein shake or whey and milk-derived meal replacement powder. These will endure your body gets its protein requirements.



Carbohydrates

With all of the misleading fad diets on the market, the most hyped one is the one that is against carbohydrates. It's easy to get confused as to the role in which carbs play in the body.

The end result of a bagel and a tablespoon of sugar is the same. The body converts them into glucose, or blood sugar. Once converted to glucose, the body uses this fuel for muscle growth and brain function.

Carbohydrates are either simple or complex. Simple carbs include fruit, table sugar, honey, juices, and molasses. Complex carbs include pasta, rice, potatoes, vegetables, and grains. The difference between a simple carb and a complex carb is simply the time it takes for the body to convert each one of these into glucose. This is why is it more beneficial to consume complex carbs over simple carbs. It takes you longer for your body to convert complex carbs into blood sugar so they give the body a more gradual energy release. Simple carbs give you a sharp, sudden energy release but then is followed by a sharp decline.

As far as carbohydrates making you fat, remeber it is more calories that make you store body fat, not more of one macronutrient. Exess of calories, not excess carbohydrates, are directly responsible for storing body fat.

Once the carbs have been converted to glucose, whatever is not used by the body to fuel body function and replenish muscle glycogen stores is shuttled into fat stores. So excess carbs not utilized by the body will be stored as body fat. Carbs should be looked upon as primarily an energy source to fuel muscle activity. Eat enough for this function each day and no more. Any extreme excess will cause you to store the rest as body fat. Any extreme exess, other than water, will cause this to happen.

Try not to structure your meals so that the majority is carbohydrates, unless it is vegetables. Vegetables, although they are carbs, are not very high in calories. You can eat a large volume of vegetables and consume little calories but you cannot consume a large volume of starchy carbs without having a very high calorie amount.



Fats

Fats are a necessity for the body and are vital for many body functions. Fats are used as energy, protection, insulation, and many other functions. Fats are needed, the problem is most people eat too much of them. Fats taste good. It is what gives flavor and texture to food.

Fats are the most dense energy sources. A gram is equal to 9 calories, over twice that of protein and carbs. You can reach your daily calorie limit fairly quick if your diet is high in fats. Again, any excess calories you consume over your daily limit will increase your body fat levels, but it is just done easier by eating too many fats. Most people can get enough fats in their diets without having to focus on adding extra. If for some reason you are lacking in dietary fats, start to include fish, such as salmon, to your diet or add a teaspoon of olive or safflower oil to your salad. These are high in "good fats" known as essential fatty acids, or EFAs. Once again, it is not difficult to reach your daily requirement for fats.



Water


Your body is approximately 75% water. Your muscles are 70% water. It stands to reason that water is a very vital, necessary part of every day living. Yet so many people I talk to do not drink enough water. They wonder why they preform below their maximum potential. Water is vital, cheap, and abundant. It is the most important element in the body. It is used for nutrient absorption, digestion, nutrient transport, and flushing toxins from the body. It helps regulate body temperature and effects the utilization of all water-soluble vitamins in the body. It cushions joints, which may prevent injuries. To say it is critically important is an extreme understatement. Try to drink at least a gallon of pure, clean water a day. Keep a bottle with you all the time. You have no exuse for not getting enough water. It is everywhere.



How much protein, carbohydrate, and fat do you need?

These numbers have been devised based upon current research in the field of exercise physiology and sports medicine. These numbers are just guidelines. Everybody is genetically different. It is difficult to obtain a specific number needed for everyone.


Protein

Once gain, because of protein's importance of building muscle in the body, we want to shoot for making ti account for approximatly 50% of our daily caloric intake. So if you are 180 pounds and eat 3000 calories a day, your protein intake would be 375 grams, or 1500 calories (3000x.50/4)=375. If you weigh 200 pounds and eat 3500 calories a day, then 437 grams would come from protein or 1750 calories. Obviously, different people have different metabolic rates. People with slower metabolisms eat fewer calories. Fewer clories mean less protein. Do not skimp on the protein, though. It is the building block of muscle. Carbs and fat do not have a direct effect on muscle building, only protein does. Add high quality protein to your diet and watch the results it brings.


Carbohydrates

Carbs should account for approximatly 40% of your daily caloric intake. If you consume 2500 calories a day, 250 grams should come from carbs, or 1000 calories (2500x.40/4). If you consume 4000 calories a day (4000x.40/4) then 400 grams, or 1600 calories should come from carbs. The majority of carbs should come from complex sources like vegetables, pasta, grain, and rice. A word of caution though. Starchy carbs like pasta and rice are highly caloric, meaning a small amount contains a high number of calories. So be cautious of how many starchy carbs you are consuming. Stick with more vegetables as your carb sources. This will supply a gradual energy source throughout the day without that spike associated with simple carbs.


Fats

Keep fat intake to approximatly 10% of your daily caloric intake. This is plenty for optimal health without adding all of the empty calories. If you are 3000 calories a day, 33 grams of 300 calories should come from fat. When following a good, high-protein, moderate-carb diet, the proper fat intake will take care of itself, meaning you do not need to add extra fats to ensure adequate intake. Due to the calorie dense nature of fats (9 calories per gram), excess fats will more quickly create an excess calorie overload than will protein (4 calories per gram) or carbohydrates (4 calories per gram). So keep fat intake to a minimum.


From this number, we can no wbreak down the amount of protein, carbs, and fats needed.

Calories= 2340
(150x.65x24)

Protein= 292.50 grams, or 1170 calories
(2340-x .50/4)

Carbohydrates= 234 grams, or 936 calories
(2340-x. 10/9)

Fats= 26 grams, or 234 grams
(2340-x, 10/9)


Above the breakdown of grams and calories of protein, carbohydrates, and fat.


Now, because losing body fat requires you to create a calorie deficit, you can speed up the fat-burning process by decreasing your daily caloric amount by 150-200 calories a day you still do not see results, start to take away another 150-200 calories a day you still do not see results. Do not reduce more than this number because too big of a reduction will have counterproductive effect on your metabolism.

Calculate your Caloric Requirement

First decide: are you inactive?


Here is a sample day of supportive eating that combines protein with carbohydrates:


6:00 a.m. 1 tall glass of cold water before meal
1 meal replacement shake/high protein shake OR a bowl of oatmeal w/raisins and a piece of whole wheat bread w/peanut butter


8:00 a.m. A small slice of whole wheat bread w/tablespoon of peanut butter OR a small nonfat yogurt with granola


11:00 a.m. A whole-food lunch like a chicken breast & a salad, OR a Turkey sandwich on whole-wheat with baked potato chips.


2:00 p.m. A meal replacement shake or high protein shake.


5:00 p.m. A whole food dinner like tuna with light mayo on whole wheat OR a chicken breast with brown rice and steamed vegetables.


8:00 p.m. A small serving of lean steak or chicken with steamed vegetables OR a low-fat, low-sugar protein bar (Balance, Zone, Powerbar).


At bed: A small snack like a small bowl of cereal, a nonfat yogurt, or a protein bar (Balance Bar).

Consume at least a galloon of water thoughout the day as well.


Sample Supportive Meals


Chicken Breast, Wild rice, Small Salad

Turkey on Whole Wheat, Pickle

Meal Replacement Protein Shake (Met-Rx, Perfect Rx, Myoplex)


Grilled Salmon, Baked Potato, Broccoli

Srambeled Eggs, Whole Wheat Toast, Banana

Top Round Steak, Brown Rice, Squash


I would like to include a few words on meal replacements. Pick the right one and you have a valuable tool to use against the battle of the buldge. Pick the wrong one and you are throwing your money away.

Slimfast, although very well known, is not a well-designed meal replacement. They have a very big marketing campaign and can afford a lot of advertising. Slimfast is loaded with carbs, primarily from sugar. One of the first ingredients on the can is sugar! It's primarily water and sugar. Slimfast is not high in protein; most carns only have 10 grams. Choose a meal replacement that is high in protein, with about 30-40 grams.