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BBSweet
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For those of you that got the cal counting sheets but may not have ever counted your calories, or just to open things up for discussion.
The first thing to know is how to find the nutrient content of what your eating. It is listed on the label of every food product. But what about restaurants? At your local book store there will be nutrition guides. The one I use is "Eat Smart" Random House Webster's. I only use the tables to find my nutrient content. Don't take too many opinions, especially from people around you that do not even workout. Everybody is a damn expert!? Sometimes you have to estimate the content of the food you eat but remember that this does not have to be exact, you only need to have a good idea of how your eating. If you want to be exact, you must have a good food scale and several portion scoops.
There may be some confusion in how we gain Muscle or lose Fat though. Although it is possible to do both at the same time, especially with the fact that an increased percentage of lean body mass leads to an increase in your metabolic rate, it is important to focus mainly on one at a time, Gain Muscle or Lose Fat.
As you begin to track your daily intake of nutrients or lack of, you will be surprised of how you really eat! Consistency is the basis to altering your body. Work out with weights and consume the right nutrients. Easy to say huhhhh...Life gets in the way; this is a fact. This I want you to remember overall ... "When you miss a workout and miss tracking your calorie intake, DON'T BEAT YOURSELF UP!" This is only positive. There is no room for negativity. If you know you missed a workout or have not been eating right, that in itself is the key ...You are conscious of the situation and not in denial.
A couple of basic things. Unlike what some crazy diet programs say, you consume more calories than you burn in a day you gain weight, Fat or Muscle depending. You intake less calories than you burn, you lose weight Fat or Muscle depending. The tricky part is that most people go on a diet and cut calories too low with too low of protein, which puts them in a catabolic state. This means they lose muscle not Fat. They lose weight but their body ratio actually worsens, less lean body mass means a slower metabolism. When they inevitably regain the weight, they are in worse disarray. This is why it is so important not to lose more than around 2LBS a Week!
OK so first is total caloric intake; second is Protein in your dieting phase and saturated fat in your bulking phase.
For instance, while you are tracking your dieting phase and you see that you consumed the right amount of calories, but you are out 40 grams in protein you know you will LOSE MUSCLE IF THIS CONTINUES! The reason for this is because almost all of your protein is being burned up as food energy and there isn’t any excess for muscle sparing purposes.
While your Bulking, if you see at the end of the day that you ate too many calories, but your fat (especially saturated fat) consumption was under control it is not as bad as if it were not. Fat does not have to go through the same conversion process as protein and carbs and thus is more readily available for storage. It is difficult to get enough calories without fat, however, because fat has 9 cals per gram while protein and carbs have 4. If you are over in fat and spiking your insulin with simple sugars (especially in the same meal period, about every 4 hrs or so) you are defiantly going to store fat. The more fat you gain in a bulking cycle (although necessary to gain some) the more you have to loose on the cutting cycle. You always gain some fat on a bulking cycle and loose some muscle on a cutting cycle.
It is fun to watch your body transform into what you know it should be, but it takes time, consistency, and intensity. Intensity when you work out. Don't just go through the motions. You can and will transform your body!
Please, if this is helping anyone? Any questions, no matter how small or often is just a email or post away.
BBsweet
The first thing to know is how to find the nutrient content of what your eating. It is listed on the label of every food product. But what about restaurants? At your local book store there will be nutrition guides. The one I use is "Eat Smart" Random House Webster's. I only use the tables to find my nutrient content. Don't take too many opinions, especially from people around you that do not even workout. Everybody is a damn expert!? Sometimes you have to estimate the content of the food you eat but remember that this does not have to be exact, you only need to have a good idea of how your eating. If you want to be exact, you must have a good food scale and several portion scoops.
There may be some confusion in how we gain Muscle or lose Fat though. Although it is possible to do both at the same time, especially with the fact that an increased percentage of lean body mass leads to an increase in your metabolic rate, it is important to focus mainly on one at a time, Gain Muscle or Lose Fat.
As you begin to track your daily intake of nutrients or lack of, you will be surprised of how you really eat! Consistency is the basis to altering your body. Work out with weights and consume the right nutrients. Easy to say huhhhh...Life gets in the way; this is a fact. This I want you to remember overall ... "When you miss a workout and miss tracking your calorie intake, DON'T BEAT YOURSELF UP!" This is only positive. There is no room for negativity. If you know you missed a workout or have not been eating right, that in itself is the key ...You are conscious of the situation and not in denial.
A couple of basic things. Unlike what some crazy diet programs say, you consume more calories than you burn in a day you gain weight, Fat or Muscle depending. You intake less calories than you burn, you lose weight Fat or Muscle depending. The tricky part is that most people go on a diet and cut calories too low with too low of protein, which puts them in a catabolic state. This means they lose muscle not Fat. They lose weight but their body ratio actually worsens, less lean body mass means a slower metabolism. When they inevitably regain the weight, they are in worse disarray. This is why it is so important not to lose more than around 2LBS a Week!
OK so first is total caloric intake; second is Protein in your dieting phase and saturated fat in your bulking phase.
For instance, while you are tracking your dieting phase and you see that you consumed the right amount of calories, but you are out 40 grams in protein you know you will LOSE MUSCLE IF THIS CONTINUES! The reason for this is because almost all of your protein is being burned up as food energy and there isn’t any excess for muscle sparing purposes.
While your Bulking, if you see at the end of the day that you ate too many calories, but your fat (especially saturated fat) consumption was under control it is not as bad as if it were not. Fat does not have to go through the same conversion process as protein and carbs and thus is more readily available for storage. It is difficult to get enough calories without fat, however, because fat has 9 cals per gram while protein and carbs have 4. If you are over in fat and spiking your insulin with simple sugars (especially in the same meal period, about every 4 hrs or so) you are defiantly going to store fat. The more fat you gain in a bulking cycle (although necessary to gain some) the more you have to loose on the cutting cycle. You always gain some fat on a bulking cycle and loose some muscle on a cutting cycle.
It is fun to watch your body transform into what you know it should be, but it takes time, consistency, and intensity. Intensity when you work out. Don't just go through the motions. You can and will transform your body!
Please, if this is helping anyone? Any questions, no matter how small or often is just a email or post away.
BBsweet
