Nutritional Strategies for Fitness Success

Nutrition and rest are often the ignored elements of fitness programs, and the main reason that so many fail to realize their goals. Too many people try to out-exercise a bad diet and poor rest habits, which is an impossible thing to do while expecting to see results.

At the absolute most, people might find themselves training for 5 hours a week (for most people 3-4 hours a week of proper training is plenty).

There are 168 hours in every week. It is impossible to think that you can train hard for 3-5 hours per week, and then ignore what you do the remaining 163 hours of the week, and expect to see results.

HOW MANY CALORIES SHOULD I EAT?

If you are mainly trying to lose fat, set your daily calories at 12 times your body weight

If you are mainly trying to gain muscle, eat 16 times your body weight in calories daily

Don't get too caught up in counting calories though, because what you eat and when you eat it is more important than strictly monitoring how many calories you eat.

HOW MUCH PROTEIN SHOULD I EAT?

Try to eat 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day. Protein intake is important for a number of reasons:

It is the building blocks of muscle, without it your body will be unable to repair the damage you do through your training. It is also muscle sparing when on a calorie reduced diet for fat loss.

What that basically means is that adequate protein intake will prevent your body from breaking down muscle tissue for energy requirements when you are reducing your calorie intake in order to burn fat.

More muscle equals more calories burned at rest, since the body burns significantly more calories to maintain muscle than it does maintaining fat. Incidentally, this is one of the reasons it is difficult to lose excess body fat, as it is an easily stored emergency fuel for times that the body doesn't get enough calories for its daily energy needs.

The human body is programmed to sacrifice muscle and save fat for survival. This is why diet and nutrition is such an important component of any fitness or fat loss program.

WHEN SHOULD I EAT CARBOHYDRATES?

On training days, keep your carbohydrate intake low during the day except after training.

On non-training days, try to keep your carbohydrate intake to under 30 but not more than 50 grams (or as close to this as possible).

Carbohydrates spike your insulin levels, and insulin is a storage hormone. If you are spiking your insulin levels all day long, whatever is not burned off will be stored either as muscle or as fat for later energy.

If you spike your insulin levels after a workout and provide plenty of protein, this will be stored in your muscles and will not cause any significant fat gain.

If you spike insulin any other time, any excess will be stored as body fat.

Examples of carbohydrate consumption, according to workout schedule:

TRAINING DAYS:

- Carbs around 150 grams, consumed only after training (as much as possible)

- Approximately 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight

- Calories = Bodyweight x 12 - 16

NON-TRAINING DAYS:

- Carbs under 30 grams

- Meals to consist of protein and fats

- Approximately 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight

- Calories = Bodyweight x 12 - 16

A very effective, and sustainable, method of controlling your carbohydrate consumption for fat loss is called carb cycling, which is detailed below:

DAY 1 & 2 - No Carbs

DAY 3 - Refeed

DAY 4 & 5 - No Carbs

DAY 6 & 7 - Refeed

The refeed days are extremely important for a number of reasons.

First, it is easier psychologically to stick to a program like this if you know you get to cheat after 2 days.

Secondly, if you go without carbs for more than 6 days at the absolute max, hormones such as leptin, which is a major factor in fat burning, will get screwed up, and your body will actually hoard bodyfat because it is in survival mode.

REST & RECOVERY

Rest and recovery are major components of any fitness program. Training is only the stimulus that you give your body to change, but if you are not eating properly and getting enough rest, you body will not be able to repair and transform itself.

Sleep is very important as this is where muscles are made and fat is burned. If you train hard (and smart) and eat right, your body will grow and repair itself while you sleep. The optimal amount of sleep is 7-8 hours every night, but try to get as much as your lifestyle and health allows.

Sleep is also the time when growth hormone secretion is the highest. Growth hormone is mainly responsible for muscle growth and repair, but it also has a significant influence on fat burning.

Not enough sleep equals lower levels of growth hormone and an impaired level of fat burning. Sleep deprivation has also been linked in numerous studies to higher rates of obesity.

WHAT IS INTERMITTENT FASTING?

Intermittent Fasting is simply a nutritional strategy that seeks to maximize the body's ability to burn fat. Instead of eating breakfast (which is not the most important meal of the day, contrary to popular belief), you would eat your first meal of the day around lunch time or shortly thereafter.

You would then eat mainly protein/fats during the remainder of the day (subject to your caloric requirements), with the vast majority of your carbohydrate intake and calories eaten after your training.

There are numerous studies that show that growth hormone and other hormones favorable to fat loss are higher in a fasted state. If you are going fasted for the first part of your day, you are enabling your body to burn body fat as fuel, which will lead to higher rates of fat loss overall.

If, however, you try intermittent fasting and find that it is increasing your cravings for bad foods such as donuts, etc, it is probably better in the long run to have a breakfast consisting of mainly protein and fats, but not carbohydrates.

You can still get most of the benefits of fasting if you can postpone your breakfast at least 2 hours after you wake up.

Keep in mind that there is a period of adjustment that will take place over a period of a few weeks while your body adjusts and gets used to burning fat as fuel.

WHAT KINDS OF FOOD SHOULD I EAT?

Always try to get the foods you eat as organic and naturally fed as possible as this will minimize hormones, chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, etc.

Protein:

- Whole organic eggs

- Organic grass fed beef

- Chicken

- Pork

- Bacon

- Cheese

- Cottage cheese

- Sour cream

- Wild caught fish

- Tuna

- Whole or raw milk

Fats:

- Virgin, cold pressed coconut oil

- Virgin olive oil (be very careful to stay away from vegetable oils such as canola and soybean oil as they are processed using chemical and high heat and promote inflammation in the body.

- Unprocessed natural butter (without added color)

- Nuts/seeds (be sure to portion out properly, as nuts can push you over your calorie targets quite easily as they are very calorie dense)

Carbohydrates:

- Rice

- Potatoes

- Yams

- Pasta

- Quinoa

- Tortilla wraps

- Bananas or other fruits

- Bread

If you have a grain sensitivity (as many people do these days), obviously avoid it, but bread is not a bad choice of carbohydrate post-workout in my opinion and experience.

Most things are not 100% bad for you and can be beneficial if used at the right times and amounts. The same can be said for pasta or other maligned carbohydrates, timing and cycling them is the key to using them effectively.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

Learn to read nutrition labels, and even more importantly, ingredient labels. So many foods considered "healthy" have a long list of unhealthy chemicals and ingredients in them.

A good rule of thumb is to avoid processed food (anything that comes in a box, can or bag) as much as possible. Also stay away from margarine and anything that has a television commercial or similar advertisement. Stay away from artificial sweeteners and pop.

It is a good idea to eat your last meal of the day consisting mainly of protein, before bed (especially if you arte intermittent fasting), as your body will use them to repaid your muscle tissue while you are sleeping. Some good choices include whole eggs, cottage cheese, plain greek yogurt, etc.

You are allowed to eat as much greens and fresh, raw vegetables as you like. Try to incorporate them into every meal. Try to minimize fruit consumption to after your training, as the sugar levels will spike your insulin levels which stops fat burning.