I'm always in competitions and my father is a physical trainer -- hes been putting this in my head ever since i was a little kid.
Before i go on with my post---so we get no misunderstandings--- i would like to say, the term "Dieting" should not be referred to 'eating less"--lose weight . Proper term for diet: What we eat to fuel our bodies.
Yes it is true that "we did it without "calorie" calculators for thousands of years", but then again food was scare in those times. Now, people worldwide have the luxury of bombarding themselves with nutrient-deficient, high-calorie food, often called empty-calorie or junk food. So it is the combination of food choices, inactivity, and genetics that determines if you have fat around your body. There are no magic pills or effortless gimmick for use to lose weight. We have to use common sense of course, but when companies that specifically market junk food, "eat this, eat this, drink this, drink this, it's yummy - you'll love it", its pretty damn hard to NOT eat it.
Eating right (5-6 small healthy meals) is easy to say. But for some its "eating more or less what?" Many people in our society do not have that vast amount of knowledge to know what to eat, and eat right when all we see on television is junk food. Twenty-five years ago, the government tried to get junk food advertising off of children's television, but they were stopped by the toy industry, the food industry, the broadcasting industry and the advertising industry. It's time to take another crack at that.
Now with the use of these calculators it helps the person setting a goal, and achieving it by monitoring themselves. Yes we can achieve our goals(losing overall fat, gaining muscle mass...etc) without calculators using common sense, but the use of them will help you closely knit our plans
effectively (without signifcant fat accumulation or muscle loss). Why do you think body builders of today are much bigger, leaner, and much more defined than what they used to be 10-20 years ago? Then again were not bodybuilders
, were soldiers! But that doesn't mean we cannot benefit from modern knowledge!
For example(we have to explain to people when, what, and how to eat):
If you're a lean, very active guy trying to pack on muscle, you should hedge your bets with more than a gram of protein per pound, since extra dietary protein increases protein synthesis in the body. At the same time, you need plenty of easily available fuel in the form of carbohydrate.(The more intense the activity, the more carbohydrate your body uses for energy.) Without a lot of carbs, you run the risk that your body will dip into your protein reserves for the energy it needs. Those protein reserves are in your muscles---the last place from which you want to donate energy. Finally, you need enough fat to help prodcue testerone and other anabolic hormone. And the fat can be used for energy, too, especially any low-intensity activities---shooting hoops, playing golf, riding a bike.
When trying to shed fat, you have a slightly different set of concerns. You need protein to maintain your muscle even though you can't expect to gain muscle mass while trying to lose 2 pounds a week. You want those pounds to come entirely from your fat stores, so you shouldn't eat a lot of carbohydrate. Eating carbs signals your body to burn carbs. Eat fat, though, and your body will be more willing to use fat for energy. However, you shouldn't completely forgo carbohydrate. You need some for energy during exercise; you need fruits, vegetables, and whole grains for health reasons; and you don't want to feel deprived of the foods that comprise the vast majority of the available calories in the food chain. You're already cutting out a large chunk of your daily calories---don't pile on needless suffering by eating like a freak.
Now, does all this mean you have to follow a formal diet, counting every calorie? I think the answer is yes. If you're trying---and failing--to grow muscle or lose fat, you probably do need to follow a carefully calculated diet, at least for a while. Start by determining your actual food intake: Keep a 3-day food diary, making a list of everything you eat during that 72-hour period. Use a good calorie-counting Web site, such as those that Ive posted earlier or even
www.usda.gov, to figure out your average daily calorie intake. Then you'll be able cut or add calories as necessary to reach the total you calculated in the equations that Ive posted earlier.
OR, a simpler strategy is to examine your diet for less healthful foods and replace those with better ones. Thats what Aaron White was trying to say.
The benefits of eating the right foods diminish if you don't get the frequency and timing right. These two factors can be summed up pretty easily: Eat five or six small meals throughout the day, whether your goal is pure muscle growth (without significant fat accumulation) or pure fat depletion (without significant muscle loss). Think of our body as a fireplace. Would you expect a fireplace to burn consistently throughtout the day, keeping your living room at a steady temperature, if you threw logs into it two or three times a day and left it alone the rest of the time? Hell, no. If you wanted the room to remain at a consistent, comfortable temperature, you'd replenish the tinder every couple of hours. And you'd never throw a huge stack of wood on the fire at any one time--the room would get hot hot.
Now you know why it seems that lean, muscular people are always eating. When you're trying to build muscle, frequent small feedings allow you to get enough calories throughout the day without ever wolfing down 1,000-calorie meals. When you're trying to lose fat while sparing muscle, five or six small meals and snacks at regular intervals let you eat less overall without feeling ravenous and deprived.
Here's the best, simplest way to schedule your meals:
Eat your first meal as soon as you can after gettin up in the morning---you want your fire to start burning as quickly as possible.
Try to eat every 3 hours after that.
Have a pre-workout snack or drink about an hour prior to exercise and a post-workout snack or drink within 1 hour of completing your exercise. ( 2-to-1 carbohydrate-protein ration, with just enough fat to provide some flavor and texture). My favorite: The basic (187 calories) 1 teaspoon protein powder in the flavor of your choice, 1 cup 1% milk, and one banana --- blend...serve and drink before and after---yummy.
I guess i made my point pretty damn clear. Its up to you if you want to follow a closely knit plan, or just use common sense eliminating the not so good foods you can live without. Both will work, but with more attention to your diet, you will achieve greater results in less time.
Its up to
you.
DONT FORGET TO EXERCISE.
and have FUN.
