Nutrition Fundamentals
Great nutrition is as essential because the workouts we carry out. By consuming wisely we’re assisting our physique to carry out much better in our selected fitness plan or sport.
Topics Covered In This Article
Vitamins and Minerals
The meals we select requirements to become of higher nutritional worth to provide us using the essential developing blocks, within the type of vitamins and minerals to help in recovery following strenuous workouts and to provide us the power to carry out much better throughout our physical exercise time.
Not just do we have to be supplying our physique using the correct vitamins and minerals however they also have to be within the right balance. When any certainly one of they are out of balance and we’re obtaining much more or much less than we ought to be, there will probably be an imbalance which will impact our progress.
High Quality Supplements
This imbalance can even result in illness, so purchasing great high quality supplements is crucial and understanding just how much to take can also be vitally essential.
Nutrition Fundamentals Guide:
Calorie Intake
An additional factor that requirements to become addressed is your calorie intake as this may figure out whether or not you’re obtaining sufficient fuel to advantage your workouts or whether or not you’re obtaining an excessive amount of and adding fat to your physique.
Sugar
Foods higher in refined sugar or animal fat ought to be avoided exactly where feasible, as they’ll be detrimental for your well being.
Protein
If you’re on a bodybuilding or resistance coaching plan then you definitely will require extra protein, as this really is the muscle developing meals.
These foods, like red meat may also provide you using the essential B vitamins and Iron which are important for strength coaching.
Other high quality protein foods like cheese, eggs, fish, poultry and milk ought to be integrated inside your diet plan so you’re obtaining selection inside your diet plan.
Amino Acids
These foods include the important amino acids, that are the developing blocks from the physique.
Vegetables are also an additional great supply of amino acids nevertheless they usually have particular amino’s missing and that’s why the base protein foods listed above have to be integrated inside your diet plan for total nutrition.
Fat
A mix of foods is needed as relying solely on meats for the protein can result in other issues like higher levels of cholesterol. Meat also is fairly higher in fat, that is linked towards the hardening from the arteries and heart illness.
Balanced Meals
It’s all about obtaining the right balance with each your meals and physical exercise.
Questions:
Eating Before a Workout
I normally train in the morning about a 1/2 hour after I get up. Do I need to eat before I workout?
Training first thing in the morning on an empty stomach is not a great idea. When you wake up you have just come off a period of many hours without eating. You are entering a catabolic state and your body is craving nutrients.
Failing to eat anything at this important time and beginning a work out will drive your body further into catabolism and you will be setting yourself up for some serious muscle breakdown.
As soon as you wake up I’d recommend a serving of whey isolate with your favorite fruit juice. I love orange juice. (I do not mix the protein with the juice as it’s gross. I drink one then the other).
Proper Nutrient Timing
Your body is primed to soak up nutrients at this point and the speedy digestion of whey makes it perfect to stop catabolism and start the muscle building process. I would recommend you take advantage of this protein/carb spike by adding in some micronized creatine.
Choosing High Quality Sources of Protein
I notice you don’t eat any fish during the day. I am focusing more on nutrition lately and wondered if it is OK to eat fish for some of my meals?
Getting More Protein in the Diet
Fish is a great source of protein and it is fine to add it to your diet. The reason I don’t eat much fish during the day is largely a matter of convenience and personal preference. I just find it easier to buy a bag of frozen chicken breasts and toss them on the George Foreman Grill. Plus I look forward to a turkey, chicken or beef and vegetable meal and never tire of it.
Diet Adjustments
When getting ready for beach season I like to keep all my meals exactly the same each day so I can better measure my nutrient intake and it is also easier for me to make diet adjustments as I get closer to when I want to be ripped.
Some people like more variety with their meals and there are many suitable protein sources to choose from like turkey, lean red meat, eggs and low fat dairy products.
Daily Nutritional Plan
You can structure your diet to contain any of these as long as the serving size and nutrient profile (protein, carbs, fats and calories) fits into your daily nutritional plan.
Increasing Fibrous Vegetable Intake
I notice you recommend a lot of vegetables in the diet. What vegetables do you eat and how much do you have at a setting?
I can’t stress enough the importance of increasing vegetable intake for health and vanity reasons. The addition of high fiber foods like vegetables keeps your metabolism elevated and keeps proteins directed towards anabolism.
This simple diet strategy will keep the fat burning process going strong and help you build muscle from the hard work you put in at the gym.
String beans, broccoli and grilled cauliflower from Trader Joes are usually my vegetables of choice.
I have 1 to 1.5 cups per serving but I don’t worry about being too exact with the serving sizes. Vegetables are almost like “negative calories” in a sense because they require just about as much energy to digest as they contain, therefore, you don’t have to be real meticulous about measuring them out.
Vegetables are the one food I can actually eat more of as I get closer to beach weather and the additional food volume is a welcomed treat when eating less calories to get ripped.
Eating Habits and Improving Diet
I work from 6 PM to 6 AM and my job requires me to spend most of that time in a car. My eating habits are not very good due to most places being closed for the majority of my shift. Can you give me some advice on how I can improve my diet?
Although your schedule is challenging I think you’ll find eating good nutrition on the go is easy with an apple or banana along with some beef/turkey/salmon/name your meat jerky or a handful of almonds or macadamia nuts and some whey protein.
Muscle Building Meals
These are great muscle building meals that you can easily bring along with you on the road. All you need is a cooler and a bottle of water. You’ll get the right blend of nutrients to enhance recovery and build muscle, plus it’s convenient.
Quick Meals
You can use these quickie meals for those times during your shift when you need to eat but can’t get your hands on any nutritious foods. If you stop at restaurants for your other meals make sure you are selecting clean and healthy foods.
Many places offer grilled chicken salads; which always makes for a healthy food choice as long as you don’t load them with cheese and salad dressings.
Combine some clean and sensible meals with whey protein and you’ll be able to stay on a good nutritional plan throughout your shift.
How Much Protein Should I Eat?
My nutrition coach recommends I eat 280 grams of protein each day. I find it a chore to prepare all that food and to count protein grams etc. Can I still gain a lot of muscle even if I don’t pay so much attention to my diet?
That is like asking me if you can drive from New York to California on one tank of gas. You are only going to get so far and then you’ll just stop moving.
Building muscle is the same way. Without proper nutrition and quality protein you will only get so far and then your results will be very minimal at best. A good nutritional program is essential for building muscle.
Training is 100% and nutrition is the other 100%.
Planning Your Diet
If you want to maximize your gains there is a price to pay outside of the gym too. You need to follow a consistent nutrition plan centered around quality protein as recommended by your nutrition coach. In order to do that it takes some planning and organization each day to make sure your nutritional needs are met.
Supplementing Your Nutritional Plan
No one ever said it would always be convenient to follow your nutritional plan but supplemental whey shakes and bars make that job much easier.
Muscle Building Snacks
With a shot of whey (or micellar casein) and an apple or handful of nuts you have the perfect muscle building snack at your fingertips. There is no measuring involved and it takes only seconds to prepare.
If you combine whey shots with some regular food meals throughout the day, you will find that following a consistent nutritional plan is not as hard as you first thought. It all boils down to how badly you want results. If you are looking for an easy way out and want to skimp on the nutritional end of the equation your results are going to suffer. The choice is up to you.
Do Low-Calorie Diets Really Make You Live Longer?
More and more evidence suggest that following a calorie-restricted eating plan does in fact promote longevity. However, according to some studies you’d have to drop your calorie-intake by a third to create the bio-environment conducive to prolonging lifespan to a significant degree.
Unfortunately, dropping your calorie intake this low makes an eating plan difficult to stick at for most people. It can make the regular working week real tough to get through particularly if you attempt to fit an intense training program into your schedule. Additionally, dropping calories this low also makes it difficult to build a lot of muscle mass or make quality improvements to your physique. However, there may be a less extreme, healthier way of obtaining similar health benefits.
Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis have reported that people who moderately restrict their caloric intake by only 10-15% showed a drastic improvement in biomarkers of health such as blood sugar, cholesterol and inflammation. In fact, some of the risk factors dropped so low in the older adults, they compared favorably to those that were decades younger.
The participants in this research consumed around 10% fewer calories than the average person (for their age, weight, height etc). They had voluntarily been following this low-calorie approach to eating for 3 to 15 years. This group was compared with an age and gender matched group who ate a typical Western diet.
However, while a reduction in calories appears to be imperative, the composition of the diet is equally as important. The composition of the lower-calorie eating group consisted of about 26% protein, 28% fat and 46% complex carbohydrates.
In contrast, the group who consumed a typical Western diet consumed less protein, more fats and more processed carbohydrates.
The key to a longevity-promoting calorie-controlled eating plan is not just cutting calories but also making the calories you consume as nutritious as possible.
