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The Low Down On Nutrition For Fat Loss
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The first thing I need to address is the crash diet and why it's counter productive. The average person believes that to lose weight you simply need to stop eating... Now, this will force you to lose weight in the first two weeks, however, that weight will consist of lean muscle mass as a good percentage. This is counter productive because the more lean muscle mass you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate is making you burn more calories through out the day automatically.
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When you starve yourself for more than 3 days in a row, your body goes into a survival mode. In this survival mode your body will store up as much fat cells as it can from the food you're eating because you've programed your body to believe there may not be consistent food in the future and to ensure survival it has to store some energy. So not only are you losing valuable muscle mass but you are storing MORE fat cells...
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Clearly this is not the answer. What you want to do is be sure to eat when your body is hungry every third day. This way you stay out of survival mode and you stay in anabolic mode. But of course, all foods aren't equal... So here's the breakdown.
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Let's start with protein. Protein is fantastic for burning fat because as a fuel source, it takes longer to burn making us less hungry during the rest of the day. However, all proteins aren't the same. You need to stay away from any processed meat such as deli. You also need to limit your beef steaks and pork meat. The best source for protein is lean meats such as chicken and fish. Eggs are also excellent. If you are concerned about cholesterol, be sure to buy pasteurized eggs whites.
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Now as for carbohydrates, they still play a role. Carbs are needed to keep your energy levels up and muscles fueled up. So, we can't cut out carbs completely. Those who cut out carbs from their diet for long term train their body to deal with fats and proteins only. When they do eat carbs again down the road, their body doesn't know how to process it and can lead to extra fat gain. So to stop this from happening eat carbs in every meal every third day. But when you do have your carbs, make sure they are from a whole wheat or whole grain source. These carbs have lower sugar levels allowing them to be burned slower making it more efficient for energy through out the day. Example of low GI (glycemic index, low sugars) carbs are whole wheat bread, oatmeal, whole oats, sweet potato, brown rice, and whole wheat pasta.
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Finally we have fats. This is where a lot of people go wrong. The term "we are what we eat," doesn't exactly apply here. Healthy fats actually promote fat loss, so it'd be a huge mistake not to incorporate them into our diet. Healthy fats include poly-unsaturated and mono-unsaturated. These fats also include the omega 3's and 6's. Examples for sources of these fats are avocado, fish oil, extra virgin olive oil, and various seeds. Limit your saturated fats such as butter and animal fats. And stay away from trans-saturated fats as if it were poison. This means no margarine, 2% or higher milk, vegetable oils (canola oil), or anything highly processed.
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In short, there is basically one good indicator when it comes to carbs, the less processed it is, the better it is for you, here's why. When a carbohydrate is less processed (such as whole wheat) it takes longer for the carbs to be broken down into energy in your body to use as fuel. When you have slower burning carbs in your system, you don't spike your insulin levels which can lead to fat storage. Instead you keep your metabolism running at a high rate which helps burn body fat and keep your body in an anabolic state.
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Keep your meals balanced along with your vegetables and low sugar fruits. Be sure to eat at least one apple every day. Apples help control the release of lepton which in turn helps burn fat. Another trick is to eat celery before bed, which is actually a negative calorie since it takes more energy to digest it than actual calories consumed. Finally, experiment with having a slice of un-processed turkey before bed. Turkey contains tryptophan which is a hormone that makes you sleepy and stimulates the release of HGH (human growth hormone). HGH production also results in extra fat loss.
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To sum up, you want to eat lower calories for two days in a row, then eat normal to slightly high on the third day to keep from entering survival mode. Basically a week would look like this for daily calories (for the average size woman).
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1600 calories
1600 calories
2400 calories
1600 calories
1600 calories
2400 calories
(off day)
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The idea is to be in a total energy deficit by the end of the week. The average woman will burn 1800 calories per day by doing nothing more than staying alive, average man will burn 2000. All of this depends on how much muscle mass you have, and of course how much work you do during the day (walking, stairs, weight lifting, cardio).
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The real expert when it comes to fat loss is Jon Benson. If you feel you need to take drastic measures when it comes to diet, I highly recommend his top selling book "Every Other Day Diet." I have the link for you below if you'd like to check it out.
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This shake provides me with my healthy fats, amino acids, protein, vitamins, and totals around 990 calories. So this recipe works well as a natural weight gainer shake without all of the toxins. The most important time to consume this shake is directly after your workout, very important to give your body the nutrition it needs at this point.
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