One of the most important parts to achieving your fitness goals is nutrition. Weather your bulking up or slimming down, what you put in your tank is vital.
Bulking up:
When bulking up you need to make sure that you are eating more than enough calories than your RDA. But dont just use this as an excuse to eat cake and sweets. Instead try eating alot of meat and whole meal carbs such as pasta, jacket potatoes and wholemeal toast. Go for quality, not always quantity or taste. In fact it has been suggested by many bodybuilders down the years, from Arnold Schwarzenegger to Phil Heath, that small meals regularly is actually better. One, it allows you to train without feeling bloated, and two it keeps the body constantly supplied and there is less chance of excess nutrients being lost which can occur when you just pile the food in over 3 meals.
Having eggs for breakfast is a good way to boost your calories and energy levels throughout the day and dont just have boiled eggs, go fo somthing creative like an omlet with plently of ham and vegetables. To get more than one source of protein and extra nutrients and vitamins form the veg.
Another good breakfast is porridge oats. They combine protein and fibre with low GI carbs helping to sustain enegry levels and provides alot of key nutrients. Also again try to add fruit or nuts to the porridge.
Keep a wide variety of meats in your diet in order to supply your muscles with a range of different amino acids needed for growth. However try to trim the fat from the meats in order to avoid to much wieght building around your gut instead of on your muscles.
Other good sources of protein include, Natural yoghurt, fish, nuts, beans, ricotta cheese, cottage cheese.
Should I take metabolism boosters when bulking?
YES. It wont stop muscle gain and can actually boost it. Not only does it increase the amount of nutrients and blood flow reaching the muscles but it will also help to restrict fat gains that are a common occurance in most bulking diets. It may even aid protein uptake by damaged muscle tissue and lead to fatser gains and more energy in your training.
Clean or dirty?
I always prefer clean bulking, not only because it reduces fat gains, but also that the better quality fats, carbs and proteins do boost recovery times more than dirty buuling foods and in my experience are just as satisfying and make the gains more visible and defined and leads to a shorter cutting window to reveal your new muscles at the end of your bulking session. So put the cake down! It may be a calorie rich food but its got nothing else of value! Cottage cheese and whey is just as tasty and is packed with protein!
Increasing your Fitness:
Good nutrition is key when increasing your fitness levels and helps your body recover from the cardio vascular training.
You will need to eat a varied diet, mainly sticking to the eating right plate to make sure that you are getting all of the nutrients and foods that you need.
Water is also key, it helps increase your metabolism and keeps you hydrated during and after exercise. when doing alot of cardio it is key to drink lots of water to replace the water lost in sweat, but also you need to replace the salt lost as well. But don't go adding lots of salt to every meal, instead try having organic peanut butter spead on wholemeal toast every other day. But make sure you check the label and go for the tub with the most peanuts and no additives.
Weight Loss:
We've all read the crazy celebrity diets such as the cabbage soup diet, raw veg diet and of course the fasting diet (not eating food for so many days). However these are potentially dangerous and not advised by most doctors or nutritionalists.
Instead forget the idea that eating fat makes you fat. It simply isn't true! Monounsaturated fats, found in most nuts and avocados are essential. These 'Good' fats will help increase your metabolic rate and will ultimately lead to you burning more calories throughout the day. However you will need to avoid trans fats and saturated fats but these are mainly found in processed foods and things any diet aims to avoid. Its actually the insulin spike from eating to much sugary foods that leads to fat storage and excess eating due to increased cravings!
You want to try to manage your hunger on a scale of 1 to 10. With 10 being christmas dinner full and 1 being starvation. You want to eat when you feel mildly hungry around 3-4 and stop when you are at 7-8 or comfortably full. This will prevent eating or snacking out of boredom and helps to keep your blood sugar more constant. However this does require alot of willpower to figure out when your only bored and when you actually need some grub.
Focus on eating protein in every meal, this will make you feel fuller for longer so you are less likely to snack and can help you recover faster in your training. It also takes up to 25% of the calories found in the protein to break it down compared to 10% for carbs and 5% for fats So just by eating protein you are buring calories!
Recently it has been discovered that the unique blend of calcium found in greek and natural yoghurt actually helps with fat loss. The calcium attaches itself to the fat being digested and carries it out of our body, preventing any fat absorption and so less flab!
Finally drink lots of water as it helps to keep your body hydrated as well as keeping all of your systems working and helps you process the nutrients you are taking in. It has also been proven that it helps to break down fats for energy and will keep you more alert and ready to train.
Try foods such as porridge oats and natural yoghurt, chicken, avocado, salad leaves, bannanas, nuts and turkey. all low calories and high in must needed nutrients.
Lean muscle building:
Everyone who undergoes weights training wants to get that 'shreaded' toned physique. Diet plays a vital role in achieving this goal.
I'm not suggesting that you go on a crash diet but there are some good tips I can give.
Fistly, in order to shift any extra pounds that you are carrying you want to try to burn more calories than you take in. But you should complement your work in the gym with plently of good quality protein and healthy fats and vegetables. But the ammount of calories you burn in the gym isn't as important as the ammount you burn the rest of the time. You want to elevate your metabolic rate as much as possible in order to keep those calories buring hours after you leave the gym. Lots of big muscle movements, e.g squats, bench press and dead lift can achieve this.
Go for quality food. you want your food to be as natural and fresh as possible as it contains more nutrients and less salts and trans fats that processed foods. This quality is key to you success.
Curb your Carbs and not just refined carbs but also avoid too much starchy carbs, such as potatoes and white rice as they raise your insulin levels whch leads to high blood sugar and can cause a serious increase in fat storage. Instead try to get your carbs from vegetables such as sweet potatoes, salad leaves and spinach.
Chicken is probably the best source of natural protein. It contains on average 20-25grams of protein per 100 grams and supplies all of the essential amino acids needed to build and repair muscle. It also contains vitamins B3, B6 and B12, which help release energy from food.
When going for a lean physique you want to be training more in order to shift the pounds. So by eating more iron and vitamin B1 you will fight fatigue and help yout body absorb the protein you take in. Water cress and spinach are good sources of this.
Finally beef is another fine meat for achieving your goals. It is packed with protein and creatine and is also a major source of zinc and iron which will help with cell growth and muscle repair.
Explaining Cravings:
We've all experienced weird food cravings at some point in our lifetime and usually on a saturady night we'll get the urge to dive for an unhealthy option. This should explain why and hopefully help prevent unhealthy cravings in the future.
Food cravings mean that the body has its signals mixed up. When we are exhausted or blue, we have low blood sugar and/or low serotonin, and the body signals the brain that it needs a pick-me-up. This signal causes a sugar craving or carbohydrate craving.
Serotonin is our basic feel-good hormone. If serotonin is low, we feel sad or depressed. And hormonal imbalance or weak digestion can lead to low serotonin. Unfortunately, sugars and simple carbohydrates release a short burst of serotonin — we feel good for a moment, but soon return to our low-serotonin state — then crave more sugar and simple carbohydrates. It’s an uphill battle from here.
If you eat a low-fat diet in the hope of losing weight, you unintentionally make the problem worse. Insulin is responsible for maintaining stable blood sugar levels by telling the body’s cells when to absorb glucose from the bloodstream. But many healthy diets tell us to avoid gluscose and carbs. However if you suddenly make the jump form normal to carb avoiding diets then your in serious trouble! Your body cannot cope with the suden drop in carbs and stimulates your brain to crave them . In a few days time you will give in and eat too much carbs at once, leading ultimately to weight gain!At the same time, your cells cannot absorb the glucose they need, so they signal your brain that you need more carbohydrates or sugars. The result is persistent food cravings.
Another cause of food cravings is adrenal imbalance. If you are under a great deal of stress, or suffer from sleep deprivation, you are probably exhausted much of the time. This situation causes your body to call upon your adrenal glands for more stress hormones to act as a pick-me-up, but over time, your adrenals become less able to respond appropriately. You may resort to sugar or carbohydrate snacks or coffee during the day and carbohydrates or alcohol at night, all of which exacerbate the problem.
To try and prevent this there are a few tips we can give.
1. SLEEP! Its vital that you get enough sleep to prevent this adrenal imbalance that leads to cravings. About 8-9 hours should be great.
2. Don't completely ditch carbs! As I've already said a sudden drop can lead to extar consumption in order to compensate for the lack of carbs and so you end up eating more and gaining weight! Instead try to gradually reduce the carbs until you see your weight dropping and then keep it there.
3. Keep your timing accurate. This means that you stick to the same nightly routine. if your usually in bed by 11 on a week day then keep it up over the weekend. Studies have shown that even one hour of extra alertness can lead to cravings due to a drop in your brains glucose levels and it craves carbs to give it a sudden energy boost!
Bulking up:
When bulking up you need to make sure that you are eating more than enough calories than your RDA. But dont just use this as an excuse to eat cake and sweets. Instead try eating alot of meat and whole meal carbs such as pasta, jacket potatoes and wholemeal toast. Go for quality, not always quantity or taste. In fact it has been suggested by many bodybuilders down the years, from Arnold Schwarzenegger to Phil Heath, that small meals regularly is actually better. One, it allows you to train without feeling bloated, and two it keeps the body constantly supplied and there is less chance of excess nutrients being lost which can occur when you just pile the food in over 3 meals.
Having eggs for breakfast is a good way to boost your calories and energy levels throughout the day and dont just have boiled eggs, go fo somthing creative like an omlet with plently of ham and vegetables. To get more than one source of protein and extra nutrients and vitamins form the veg.
Another good breakfast is porridge oats. They combine protein and fibre with low GI carbs helping to sustain enegry levels and provides alot of key nutrients. Also again try to add fruit or nuts to the porridge.
Keep a wide variety of meats in your diet in order to supply your muscles with a range of different amino acids needed for growth. However try to trim the fat from the meats in order to avoid to much wieght building around your gut instead of on your muscles.
Other good sources of protein include, Natural yoghurt, fish, nuts, beans, ricotta cheese, cottage cheese.
Should I take metabolism boosters when bulking?
YES. It wont stop muscle gain and can actually boost it. Not only does it increase the amount of nutrients and blood flow reaching the muscles but it will also help to restrict fat gains that are a common occurance in most bulking diets. It may even aid protein uptake by damaged muscle tissue and lead to fatser gains and more energy in your training.
Clean or dirty?
I always prefer clean bulking, not only because it reduces fat gains, but also that the better quality fats, carbs and proteins do boost recovery times more than dirty buuling foods and in my experience are just as satisfying and make the gains more visible and defined and leads to a shorter cutting window to reveal your new muscles at the end of your bulking session. So put the cake down! It may be a calorie rich food but its got nothing else of value! Cottage cheese and whey is just as tasty and is packed with protein!
Increasing your Fitness:
Good nutrition is key when increasing your fitness levels and helps your body recover from the cardio vascular training.
You will need to eat a varied diet, mainly sticking to the eating right plate to make sure that you are getting all of the nutrients and foods that you need.
Water is also key, it helps increase your metabolism and keeps you hydrated during and after exercise. when doing alot of cardio it is key to drink lots of water to replace the water lost in sweat, but also you need to replace the salt lost as well. But don't go adding lots of salt to every meal, instead try having organic peanut butter spead on wholemeal toast every other day. But make sure you check the label and go for the tub with the most peanuts and no additives.
Weight Loss:
We've all read the crazy celebrity diets such as the cabbage soup diet, raw veg diet and of course the fasting diet (not eating food for so many days). However these are potentially dangerous and not advised by most doctors or nutritionalists.
Instead forget the idea that eating fat makes you fat. It simply isn't true! Monounsaturated fats, found in most nuts and avocados are essential. These 'Good' fats will help increase your metabolic rate and will ultimately lead to you burning more calories throughout the day. However you will need to avoid trans fats and saturated fats but these are mainly found in processed foods and things any diet aims to avoid. Its actually the insulin spike from eating to much sugary foods that leads to fat storage and excess eating due to increased cravings!
You want to try to manage your hunger on a scale of 1 to 10. With 10 being christmas dinner full and 1 being starvation. You want to eat when you feel mildly hungry around 3-4 and stop when you are at 7-8 or comfortably full. This will prevent eating or snacking out of boredom and helps to keep your blood sugar more constant. However this does require alot of willpower to figure out when your only bored and when you actually need some grub.
Focus on eating protein in every meal, this will make you feel fuller for longer so you are less likely to snack and can help you recover faster in your training. It also takes up to 25% of the calories found in the protein to break it down compared to 10% for carbs and 5% for fats So just by eating protein you are buring calories!
Recently it has been discovered that the unique blend of calcium found in greek and natural yoghurt actually helps with fat loss. The calcium attaches itself to the fat being digested and carries it out of our body, preventing any fat absorption and so less flab!
Finally drink lots of water as it helps to keep your body hydrated as well as keeping all of your systems working and helps you process the nutrients you are taking in. It has also been proven that it helps to break down fats for energy and will keep you more alert and ready to train.
Try foods such as porridge oats and natural yoghurt, chicken, avocado, salad leaves, bannanas, nuts and turkey. all low calories and high in must needed nutrients.
Lean muscle building:
Everyone who undergoes weights training wants to get that 'shreaded' toned physique. Diet plays a vital role in achieving this goal.
I'm not suggesting that you go on a crash diet but there are some good tips I can give.
Fistly, in order to shift any extra pounds that you are carrying you want to try to burn more calories than you take in. But you should complement your work in the gym with plently of good quality protein and healthy fats and vegetables. But the ammount of calories you burn in the gym isn't as important as the ammount you burn the rest of the time. You want to elevate your metabolic rate as much as possible in order to keep those calories buring hours after you leave the gym. Lots of big muscle movements, e.g squats, bench press and dead lift can achieve this.
Go for quality food. you want your food to be as natural and fresh as possible as it contains more nutrients and less salts and trans fats that processed foods. This quality is key to you success.
Curb your Carbs and not just refined carbs but also avoid too much starchy carbs, such as potatoes and white rice as they raise your insulin levels whch leads to high blood sugar and can cause a serious increase in fat storage. Instead try to get your carbs from vegetables such as sweet potatoes, salad leaves and spinach.
Chicken is probably the best source of natural protein. It contains on average 20-25grams of protein per 100 grams and supplies all of the essential amino acids needed to build and repair muscle. It also contains vitamins B3, B6 and B12, which help release energy from food.
When going for a lean physique you want to be training more in order to shift the pounds. So by eating more iron and vitamin B1 you will fight fatigue and help yout body absorb the protein you take in. Water cress and spinach are good sources of this.
Finally beef is another fine meat for achieving your goals. It is packed with protein and creatine and is also a major source of zinc and iron which will help with cell growth and muscle repair.
Explaining Cravings:
We've all experienced weird food cravings at some point in our lifetime and usually on a saturady night we'll get the urge to dive for an unhealthy option. This should explain why and hopefully help prevent unhealthy cravings in the future.
Food cravings mean that the body has its signals mixed up. When we are exhausted or blue, we have low blood sugar and/or low serotonin, and the body signals the brain that it needs a pick-me-up. This signal causes a sugar craving or carbohydrate craving.
Serotonin is our basic feel-good hormone. If serotonin is low, we feel sad or depressed. And hormonal imbalance or weak digestion can lead to low serotonin. Unfortunately, sugars and simple carbohydrates release a short burst of serotonin — we feel good for a moment, but soon return to our low-serotonin state — then crave more sugar and simple carbohydrates. It’s an uphill battle from here.
If you eat a low-fat diet in the hope of losing weight, you unintentionally make the problem worse. Insulin is responsible for maintaining stable blood sugar levels by telling the body’s cells when to absorb glucose from the bloodstream. But many healthy diets tell us to avoid gluscose and carbs. However if you suddenly make the jump form normal to carb avoiding diets then your in serious trouble! Your body cannot cope with the suden drop in carbs and stimulates your brain to crave them . In a few days time you will give in and eat too much carbs at once, leading ultimately to weight gain!At the same time, your cells cannot absorb the glucose they need, so they signal your brain that you need more carbohydrates or sugars. The result is persistent food cravings.
Another cause of food cravings is adrenal imbalance. If you are under a great deal of stress, or suffer from sleep deprivation, you are probably exhausted much of the time. This situation causes your body to call upon your adrenal glands for more stress hormones to act as a pick-me-up, but over time, your adrenals become less able to respond appropriately. You may resort to sugar or carbohydrate snacks or coffee during the day and carbohydrates or alcohol at night, all of which exacerbate the problem.
To try and prevent this there are a few tips we can give.
1. SLEEP! Its vital that you get enough sleep to prevent this adrenal imbalance that leads to cravings. About 8-9 hours should be great.
2. Don't completely ditch carbs! As I've already said a sudden drop can lead to extar consumption in order to compensate for the lack of carbs and so you end up eating more and gaining weight! Instead try to gradually reduce the carbs until you see your weight dropping and then keep it there.
3. Keep your timing accurate. This means that you stick to the same nightly routine. if your usually in bed by 11 on a week day then keep it up over the weekend. Studies have shown that even one hour of extra alertness can lead to cravings due to a drop in your brains glucose levels and it craves carbs to give it a sudden energy boost!
