General Diet Advice (Hope this helps)

[The_Ryno]

First off, let me reiterate that this is GENERAL advice. While this specific program MAY not work for everyone, I've found it effective in the majority of cases.

 

1. DIET

 

By far, the most important aspect of your training must be your diet. Whatever your goal, be it weight loss, gain, or maintenance, you will make NO progress without a proper diet. Your diet may differ signifigantly from the guy (or girl, this works for the ladies too) next to you, however rules of thumb apply regarless.

 

2. RULES OF THUMB

 

Roughly 1g of Protein per lb of TARGET bodyweight. If you weigh 200lbs, and you want to weigh 180, 180g of protein.

 

Roughly 2g of carbs per lb. Same rules apply.

 

Carbs should be as complex as possible. Whole grains, fresh veggies, fruits. Bread makes people fat.

 

Consume fewer calories than you burn for weight loss.

 

Consume more calories for weight gain.

 

Use fats sparingly, fats should be in the form of unsaturated, essential fatty acids (EFA's) These are Omega-3, Omega-6, and Omega-9.

 

Cold water fish are a great source.

 

3. FINDING YOUR CAL INTAKE.

 

First find your bodyweight. That's the number at the top of the scale when it stops spinning (J/K, if you don't mantain a sense of humor, you'll get burnt out.). Be honest, if you cheat at this point you'll throw everything off. Besides, you're only cheating yourself. I'll use myself as an example. 135lbs (I'm 5'4", stop picking on me.)

 

Take that number and multiply by 13 to find the number of calories that you would generally need to mantain that bodyweight. For example, 135 x 13= 1,755.

 

Decide whether you want to lose, gain, or maintain.

 

Take your maintenance calories and add (for weight gain) or subtract (for weight loss) to get your target caloric intake (TCI). In my case, I need to gain a few lbs because my girl thinks I'm skinny. That being the case, 1,775 + 500= 2,255.

 

For the first week or so, this will be your TCI. This may be adjusted a little later on if you discover that your TCI is too low or too high depending on your metabolism.

 

4. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER (up to this point)

 

Eat more often. If you're only eating three or fewer meals a day, your body is going to have a hard time either dropping the weight, or properly using the nutrients that you're taking in.

 

Protein should be consumed at every meal, all six of them.

 

Get the bulk of your daily carb intake early in the day and immediately after workout. Later in the day, your body begins to slow down in preparation for sleep. Getting carbs too late will result in fat storage. However, right after workout, 20-30 grams of simple carbs is highly recommended. The reason for this is that your body runs on a substance called Glycogen. When you exercise, your body will use the Glycogen in your bloodstream as fuel. That slaughtered feeling at the end of a hard workout is Glycogen depletion, the result of your body using all of the readily available Glycogen. If this is not replaced, your body will raid Glycogen stores to elevate blood sugar. Unfortunately, Glycogen is only stored in two places, the liver (which stores Glycogen SOLELY to feed the brain), and skeletal muscle. I bet you already know that breaking down muscle is bad. Why else would they call it muscle wasting?

 

5. Cardio

 

Cardio is most effective when done first thing after you wake up, on an empty stomach. If there are no available carbs from food, your body has no choice but to burn fat for energy. However, in order for this to happen, you have to get your body into what's called a Kreb's Cycle. All this is, is your body's fat-burn mode. This happens when you sustain your target heart rate for around 20 min. At that point your body will begin roasting your gut, thighs, hips, love handles, butt, whatever. Now, for those of you saying "Great, but what's my target heart rate," simple. Take 220, subtract your age, then multiply by .70. For example, I'm 25, so 220-25=195x.70=136.5. Got it?

 

That being the case, I recommend at least an hour of cardio 3x per week. You can do more or less, depending on your needs. In fact, if you're trying to gain weight, I'd almost say avoid cardio altogether, but knowing that some of us have to keep up our road work for endurance reasons, just make sure that you replace the calories that you burn on the street.

 

6. WEIGHT TRAINING

 

I'm often asked whether resistance training is useful in losing weight. I've heard at least a hundred different answers to this from people who are supposedly "in the know". There's really only 1 correct answer, YES! Not only is weight trraining useful, I'd say its essential. There are a number of reasons for this, one of which is appearance. I mean, come on, if you're losing weight, do you want to end up looking like a toothepick with skin hanging all over? I thought not. Weight training will build muscle mass and give you some tone and shape. The most important reason, however, is the added fat burn. I know some of you think I just dropped something on my head, but hear my out. Fat has no demands on your body in terms of nutrients and energy. It just sits there making you look bad. Muscle on the other hand, is what's called metabolically active tissue. This means that muscle takes nutrients and converts them to fuel. In the case of fat, this is done on a micro-cellular level, in the mitochondria (think of them as little muscle power plants). Consequently, your body will use those fat stores to meet some of those demands.

 

Now, I'm not going to get into specific training routines because frankly, everyone has different target areas and goals. If you want more specific training guides for the gym, send me an e-mail or PM me, and we'll put something together.

 

Alright, everybody still here? I want to cover a couple of gender specific FAQ's really fast. Ladies, Don't put off weight training because you're afraid of bulking up. You simply don't have the main thing required to build large, bulky muscles, Testosterone. Guys, I hate to burst your bubbles, but you most likely won't end up looking like Ronnie Coleman or Ah-Nuld. The fact is, without a pretty good supply of steroids, that super-freaky bodybuilder is rarely attainable by us "mere mortals".

 

7. YOUR FOOD SUPPLY

 

Protein- Your best sources of protein form whole foods are as follows. Skinless chicken or turkey breast, egg whites (if you have to have yolks, 1 for every six egg whites) lean top sirloin, tuna, and salmon. Both tuna and salmon are also good sources of EFA's. NOTE: men should avoid large amounts of Soy, studies have shown that the isoflavones in soy that mimic estrogen can lead to Gynomastica (man boobs) and Testicular shrinkage. Both are reversible.

 

Carbs- The best carbs are low GI (Glycemic Index, means that they don't elevate blood sugar and insulin levels too badly), complex carbs, such as oatmeal, green vegetables, citrus fruits, berry fruits, and whole grains (EFA's again!). If you have to have bread, whole grain or pita breads are best. NOTE: post workout carbs should be simple easily absorbed carbs, honey is ideal.

 

Fats- A good plan is to avoid every fat that's solid at room temp. Omega fats are not only harmless, they're good for you. These can be found in cold water fish, whole grains like Flaxseed and Borage, and many nuts. However, a good EFA supplement can provide all of the omegas conveniently with no mess, or fishy taste. If you use a fat supplement, use liquid instead of capsules, and refridgerate, they go rancid after a few days.

 

 

 

In closing, I've tried to make this as complete and all-inclusive as possible. If I did leave anything out, or if you have a question that I didn't touch on, let me know and I'll fix it ASAP. Until then, Eat right, Train hard, and die OLD.

[MSPav]

Thanks for the info, there are some good points in there.

[BoxerScott]

Okay, I just read your post real fast (will re-read it again later).

 

Your number 5 (Cardio) info about "Cardio is best done in the morning" is very wrong. There are a number of reasons why. I will post again to back that up.

 

But overall, good job!

[iolair]

That Protein figure is very high ... 1g per lb or 2.2g per kg. I've only ever seen one study that suggests anything that high, and it was pretty inconclusive.

 

Most sports nutritionists should advise somewhere in the region of 1.2 to 1.7g per kg of body weight. In fact, unless you are doing a lot of heavy weights 1.2g per kg (about 0.5g per lb) should be plenty.

 

Excess protein can lead to urinary tract problems (crystals forming - ouch).

 

I think there's a mixed jury as far as bread is concerned ... especially as there so many varieties of bread which makes it a complex issue.

 

Otherwise, most of it looks like good advice...

[BoxerScott]

Okay I have a link to back me up (somewhat). However, this is a much debated topic so I encourge you to do your own research too.

 

Morning Cardio - BodyBuilding.com Forum

[Dragon]

i dont really believe in diets. My natural eating routine contains fast food, fruit, veg, normal food.

 

But the excersize and training i do burns of the fatty foods.

 

Im 13 and i need it

 

"to grow up big and strong"