The best way to train for a sport is to do it over and over and over again. If you want to get better at throwing a football, you need to throw hundreds and hundreds of passes. Combat sports are no different. The best way to become a better boxer is to go to gym and have an instructor train you in the sport of boxing. However, gym membership costs can add up quickly and there are a few things that you can do at home with minimal equipment (such as a heavy bag and double end bag) or if you are training at a gym, you can do these workouts on your own without a partner. As I said earlier the BEST way to train for combat sports is to sign up with a gym and get professional instruction. Workouts you find online, or even instructional DVDs are NOT a substantial substitute for diligent dedication and countless hours with a qualified instructor.
Shadowboxing - Shadowboxing is a great tool for honing your skills and building your conditioning. I like to think of there being two different types of shadowboxing. The first is a controlled, slow-paced action where you concentrate on technique, footwork, and head movement. The emphasis here is on getting full extension on your punches and kicks and make sure they have good technique. The second type is of course shadowboxing as a means of conditioning. Mike Tyson did a lot of this. It was almost more frightening to watch him shadowbox than to fight. You are more likely to "get sloppy" when throwing hard and fast, so make sure you have good technique before you begin shadowboxing for conditioning purposes.
Sample Workouts:
1) 5 minute rounds (with 1 min rest between rounds) until you've thrown over 1,200 punches
2) 1,500 punches in 5 x 5 min (1 min rest)
3) 800 punches in 3 x 3 min (1 min rest)
4) 1,050 punches in 3 x 4 min (1 min rest)
5) 1,300 punches in 3 x 5 min (1 min rest)
6) 1,500 punches in 5 x 5 min (1 min rest)
7) 760 punches in 7 min (no rest)
Plyometrics - plyometrics are great for improving coordination and core strength. Below is a list of different plyometric exercises. If you do not know what some of the exercises are, Google is your friend. You can add intensity to these exercises by progressively increasing the distance you do them. For example for weeks 1, 2, and 3 you might do them each for a distance of 10 meters; weeks 4, 5, and 6 a distance of 20 meters; and weeks 7, 8, and 9 a distance of 30 meters.
Sample Exercises:
High Knees (forwards and backwards)
Butt-kickers (forwards and backwards)
Shuffle
Carioca
Bear Crawl (forwards and backwards)
Skip (for Height)
Skip (for Distance)
Runbox (forwards and backwards)
Walk on Heels (forwards and backwards)
Lunge (forwards and backwards)
Sidebend Walk (lean to front leg) (forwards and backwards)
Trunk-Twist Walk (turn towards back leg) (forwards and backwards)
Heavy Bag and Other Bags - Bag work is a good way to drill combinations, work on conditioning, speed, and safely work on punching power. There are several different ways to train on the heavy bag; for speed, for power, and for technique. Below are some sample bag workouts, most of which I found on RossBoxing Conditioning Forum.
1) 5 min rounds w/ 1 min rest until you've thrown 1,200 punches
2) 6 x 5 min rounds w/ 30 sec rest
3) 5 min shadowbox, 2 x 5 min heavy bag, 5 min double-end bag, 5 min jump rope (1 min rests)
4) 12 x 30 sec burnout (30 sec rest)
5) 10 x 1 min power (every shot as hard as you can) @ 30 sec rest
6) 3 x 5 min (30 sec rest), 4 x 1 min power (30 sec rest), 4 x 30 sec burnout (30 sec rest)
7) 4 x 5 min (30 sec rest), 6 x 30 sec burnout (30 sec rest)
8) 3 x 3 min shadowbox, 3 x 3 min heavy bag, 3 x 3 min double-end bag, 3 x 3 min jump rope (1 min rests)
Conditioning - Unfortunately the time tested method of running long mile after mile, is NOT the best way to condition for combat sports. Any type of circuit training is ideal. There are tons of workouts found online. There are obviously TONS of similar websites, but these are some of my favorites.
Websites:
http://www.gymjones.com/schedule.php
http://www.rosstraining.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=19144
Long Distance - Long runs still have their place. They are good for general conditioning, and road work can be very helpful, but the more sport-specific you can make your training, the better. If you're training for a marathon, run half-marathons to train. If you're a sprinter, sprint; a fighter, fight... etc.
Road Work Examples:
(Olympic Boxing examples from RossBoxing.com)
1) 1 mi warm up, 2 x 800m (1 min rest), 4 x 400m (1 min rest), 4 x 200m (1 min rest), 800m cool down
2) 1 mi warm up, 6 x 600m (1 min rest), 800m cool down
3) 2 mi run, sprint 100m, shadowbox 3 min, backpedal 200m, sprint 100m, shadowbox 3 min, sprint 100m, runbox 400m, shadowbox 3min, sprint 100m, backpedal 100m, jog 400m, walk to cool down
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Grappler's Guide to Nutrition
The following is a summary of "The Grappler's Guide to Nutrition" by John Berardi and Michael Fry. I highly recommend the book for any and all coaches and athletes involved in combative sports (Wrestling, Boxing, Jiu Jitsu, Kick Boxing, Muay Thai, etc...) You can purchase the book or download the PDF for free. Just google it and it should be fairly easy to find. My comments/additions can be found throughout in italic text.
10 Rules:
1 - Eat every 2 - 3 hrs
2 - Eat protein at every meal
3 - Eat fruit or vegetables at every meal
4 - Eat carbs only during or post - workout
5 - Eat healthy fats (apx 30%)
6 - Non-calorie beverages only (tea, coffee, diet soda)
7 - Eat whole foods rather than supplements when possible
8 - Eat a wide variety of foods
9 - Plan ahead and prepare your meals in advance
10 - Plan to break the rules about 10% of the time
Explanation of Rules:
1 - This is to keep your metabolism ticking. When you eat less often you tend to eat more at once. This does two things. It makes your body think it is starving and thus it stores all the energy (calories) you are feeding it because it does not know when it will be fed next. It also slows your metabolism (the rate at which your body burns calories) because your body does not know when it will be fed next, it will use existing stored energy (fat) sparingly.
2 - You are what you eat; a ragging bull or a tub of butter?
3 - Remember the food pyramid from when you were a kid? 3 - 5 servings of fruits and veggies per day is a good guideline
4 - Carbs spike your insulin levels which blunts your body's ability to burn fat. Thus, you need a steady supply of energy throughout the day but only need it to be fast acting energy (carbohydrates) or particularly really fast acting (simple sugar carbs opposed to complex carbs) in large doses first thing in the morning, during your workout, and immediately following your workout.
5 - Many people DIED in the 90s because they thought ALL fat was bad for you and removed it entirely from your diet. You NEED protein, you NEED carbs (contrary to Atkins), and like it or not you NEED fat. Just make sure its coming from the right places.
6 - You need to choose your calories so that you will feel the most satisfied, eating calories will fill you up more than drinking them. Alcohol, soda, and fruit juices are all wasteful. There is a reason they call them "empty calories."
7 - Supplements are great for convenience but for the best food, whole food is better for you and more satisfying than supplements. When price and convenience can be spared, go with the whole foods over supplements every time.
8 - Variety will keep you sane and help keep you from burning out on your diet.
9 - "Fail to plan and plan to fail" Its hard to make sure all your meals meet your needs, and can be inconvenient to cook and clean along with eating every 3 hours. To simplify things, cook 2 or three meals at a time, put them in a ziploc or tuperware then leave it in the fridge or cooler or lunchbox until your ready to eat again.
10 - This is again to help keep you sane and stay on a lifestyle track instead of short-term diet fix. Cheating is OK every once in a while as long as it does not become habitual. If you're eating 5 times per day (as you should) at 7 days per week that's 35 meals per week, thus you should plan on breaking ONE OR TWO of the above rules once every 3 - 4 times you eat.
Examples of Given Food Groups:
Protein - (at every feeding) - lean beef, chicken, fish, egg whites, low-fat dairy (cottage cheese, yogurt), protein supplements (whey, casein)
Simple Sugar Carbs - (during workout and post-workout) - soda, fruit juice, table sugar, sports drinks (gatorade), breakfast cereal
Starchy Carbs - (post-workout) - bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, sweet corn, whole oats
Fruits and Veggies - (one of either at every feeding) - spinach, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, apples, oranges, berries, green beans
Saturated Fat - (1/3 of total fat) - Animal Fat (whole eggs, dairy, meat, butter)
Monosaturated Fat - (1/3 of total fat) - olive oil, nuts, avocado
Polysaturated Fat - (1/3 of total fat) - vegetable fats, flax seed/oil, fish oil
20 Super Food:
Lean Red Meat
Salmon
Omega 3 Eggs
Low Fat Yogurt
Supplement Protein
Spinach
Tomatoes
Cruciferous Veggies (Cauliflower, Broccoli, Cabbage)
Mixed Berries
Oranges
Mixed Beans
Quinoa
Whole Oats
Mixed Nuts
Avocados
Olive Oil
Fish Oil
Flax Seeds
Green tea
Liquid Exercise Drinks
Above is the list as it appears in the book. Personally I would change the list to: Grapefruits, Blueberries, Skim Milk, Green Beans, Almonds, Peanuts, Smart Balance Cooking Oil, Smart Balance Peanut Butter, Protein Powder, Tuna, Chicken, Salmon, Green Tea, Broccoli, Lean Beef, Fat Free Turkey, Whole Grain Pasta, Chicken Breast, Oats, Oranges
On Dehydration:
This is a common practice of "cutting" weight in order to compete in a weight class that is lower than your natural body weight. Here are some things you should know:
1) Effects of dehydration can take place as soon as 2% of the body's weight is lost in water. In an extremely hot environment while taking part in strenuous activities, some marathon runners have been known to loose as much as 8lbs of water in ONLY AN HOUR!
2) You should drink every 15 - 20 minutes while exercising
3) Carb drinks and protein supplements should be sipped after exercise (dilute to apx 6 - 12% concentration)
Top 5 Supplements:
Protein, Greens, Muscle Recovery / Workout Drinks, Creatine, Fish Oil (If you want to know the reasoning for these, look it up in the book, I'm just summarizing here and don't want to take credit for another person's work)
Again, there are a few changes that I would personally make and they are...
Protein Powder - for recovery and to make it more convenient and affordable to maintain high
protein diets
Glucosamine - there are a variety of "joint guard" products out there and people in combat sports
tend to beat the hell out of their joints especially after years of cutting weight
Omega 3, 6, 9 - find something with all three of these and you will be doing your heart and joints a
big favor
Multi Vitamin - in spite of our best efforts to eat healthy, it never hurts to have a little insurance when
it comes to micronutrients and all kinds of other vitamin/mineral goodies
CGT - Creatine is good, but lets make it better. Amino Acids in general help repair your body, of all the amino acids in your body nearly 50% of their content is from Glutamine alone.
I do not think that a Greens+ supplement should be on the list by the books own admission, whole foods (real fruits and veggies) are superior to supplements and I used the same reasoning for abandoning recovery drinks (that is what the protein powder and/or gatorade is for). Fish Oil is good, but a bit too general. The goal is to get EFAs (Essential Fatty Acids) which are grouped as Omega 3s, Omega 6s, and Omega 9s. It's just as easy to find a supplement with all 3. Creatine is a type of energy that your body uses at a cellular level. In my opinion it is a bit of a toss up between creatine and glutamine; it is the question of the chicken and the egg; which is more important, energy to work out or material to recover? Why not both.
Macro Nutrient Ratios:
Fat - apx 30% of diet/daily calories
Carbs - Less than 70% unless your an elite endurance athlete (if you've been reading my other posts you should know why)
Protein - 2g / Kg of Body Weight. EX: 220lb man should eat 100g of protein
The fat content is about right, when trying to build mass I like a my diet to be about 20% of my daily calories from fat. When losing fat I like it closer to 30% daily calories from fat. As for Carbs the book is not nearly as clear. When gaining mass I like 50% daily calories from carbs, when losing fat 30%. This protein recommendation seems a bit low to me. I have generally read everywhere else that serious athletes should be consuming between one and two grams of protein per pound of body weight. This would be 150 - 300g for a 150lb person. I think this is much closer as I like my diet 30% protein when building mass and 40% when losing fat.
Cutting Weight:
- Remember that at 2% dehydration (2% of your body weight lost through water weight) the fatiguing effects of dehydration set in. At 10% they can become FATAL!
- Try to be within 10lbs of your competition weight before you begin to cut. If I want to fight at 170lbs then I will spend my training camp trying to weigh 180lbs on the day that is one week before the weigh in.
- When preparing for a competition you will likely be working out more than you previously were in the off season and thus will need more energy to workout and fuel to recover. When preparing for a competition you should add 200 - 400 calories / day to your diet.
- Next, there is a bit of variance depending upon whether you have a SHORT or LONG period of time between when you weigh in and have to compete. Wrestling matches usually have about an hour between weigh ins and matches, some BJJ tournaments require you to go directly from the scale to the mat... those are examples of SHORT periods. Things like MMA fight have a 24 hour wait between weigh ins and competition... that is an example of a long period.
- SHORT PERIOD - drop 200 - 400 calorie from your diet 2 - 4 weeks out from the weigh in. This should get you within 10 lbs of your competition weight and thus you will not have to dehydrate yourself very much to make weight. 3 days out you should drink 2 - 3 gallons of water per day, then 2 days out, decrease the water intake to 2 gallons. The rest of your weight cut will have to come from mild dehydrate, and major caloric restriction to clean out the useless weight within your bowels. About 12 - 15 hrs away from the weigh in is when I suggest starting to actually dehydrate and not eat anything. In order to rehydrate after weighing in, you should only drink sip your fluids and make sure they are fast carbs like gatorade and maybe a protein shake or workout recovery drink. Remember that your body can only rehydrate at a rate of about 1.5L per hour, anything extra is waste. And you will crap your brains out, trust me, I know, I've seen me do it.
- LONG PERIOD - 5days out from your weigh in you should drink 3 gallons of water per day and cut back your carbs. 2 days out you should cut out your salt intake and cut back on the water. Dehydrate with COMMON SENSE if you must and clean out your bowels as above. To recover after weighing in you should eat every 1 - 2 hours. These meals should consist of a carb drink (like gatorade) complex carbs, and protein. Your last meal should be about 2 hrs before your competition.
- For both the LONG and SHORT periods, you should record and evaluate your results after your competition. Everyone's body is different and thus the above suggestions will not be exact.
10 Rules:
1 - Eat every 2 - 3 hrs
2 - Eat protein at every meal
3 - Eat fruit or vegetables at every meal
4 - Eat carbs only during or post - workout
5 - Eat healthy fats (apx 30%)
6 - Non-calorie beverages only (tea, coffee, diet soda)
7 - Eat whole foods rather than supplements when possible
8 - Eat a wide variety of foods
9 - Plan ahead and prepare your meals in advance
10 - Plan to break the rules about 10% of the time
Explanation of Rules:
1 - This is to keep your metabolism ticking. When you eat less often you tend to eat more at once. This does two things. It makes your body think it is starving and thus it stores all the energy (calories) you are feeding it because it does not know when it will be fed next. It also slows your metabolism (the rate at which your body burns calories) because your body does not know when it will be fed next, it will use existing stored energy (fat) sparingly.
2 - You are what you eat; a ragging bull or a tub of butter?
3 - Remember the food pyramid from when you were a kid? 3 - 5 servings of fruits and veggies per day is a good guideline
4 - Carbs spike your insulin levels which blunts your body's ability to burn fat. Thus, you need a steady supply of energy throughout the day but only need it to be fast acting energy (carbohydrates) or particularly really fast acting (simple sugar carbs opposed to complex carbs) in large doses first thing in the morning, during your workout, and immediately following your workout.
5 - Many people DIED in the 90s because they thought ALL fat was bad for you and removed it entirely from your diet. You NEED protein, you NEED carbs (contrary to Atkins), and like it or not you NEED fat. Just make sure its coming from the right places.
6 - You need to choose your calories so that you will feel the most satisfied, eating calories will fill you up more than drinking them. Alcohol, soda, and fruit juices are all wasteful. There is a reason they call them "empty calories."
7 - Supplements are great for convenience but for the best food, whole food is better for you and more satisfying than supplements. When price and convenience can be spared, go with the whole foods over supplements every time.
8 - Variety will keep you sane and help keep you from burning out on your diet.
9 - "Fail to plan and plan to fail" Its hard to make sure all your meals meet your needs, and can be inconvenient to cook and clean along with eating every 3 hours. To simplify things, cook 2 or three meals at a time, put them in a ziploc or tuperware then leave it in the fridge or cooler or lunchbox until your ready to eat again.
10 - This is again to help keep you sane and stay on a lifestyle track instead of short-term diet fix. Cheating is OK every once in a while as long as it does not become habitual. If you're eating 5 times per day (as you should) at 7 days per week that's 35 meals per week, thus you should plan on breaking ONE OR TWO of the above rules once every 3 - 4 times you eat.
Examples of Given Food Groups:
Protein - (at every feeding) - lean beef, chicken, fish, egg whites, low-fat dairy (cottage cheese, yogurt), protein supplements (whey, casein)
Simple Sugar Carbs - (during workout and post-workout) - soda, fruit juice, table sugar, sports drinks (gatorade), breakfast cereal
Starchy Carbs - (post-workout) - bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, sweet corn, whole oats
Fruits and Veggies - (one of either at every feeding) - spinach, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, apples, oranges, berries, green beans
Saturated Fat - (1/3 of total fat) - Animal Fat (whole eggs, dairy, meat, butter)
Monosaturated Fat - (1/3 of total fat) - olive oil, nuts, avocado
Polysaturated Fat - (1/3 of total fat) - vegetable fats, flax seed/oil, fish oil
20 Super Food:
Lean Red Meat
Salmon
Omega 3 Eggs
Low Fat Yogurt
Supplement Protein
Spinach
Tomatoes
Cruciferous Veggies (Cauliflower, Broccoli, Cabbage)
Mixed Berries
Oranges
Mixed Beans
Quinoa
Whole Oats
Mixed Nuts
Avocados
Olive Oil
Fish Oil
Flax Seeds
Green tea
Liquid Exercise Drinks
Above is the list as it appears in the book. Personally I would change the list to: Grapefruits, Blueberries, Skim Milk, Green Beans, Almonds, Peanuts, Smart Balance Cooking Oil, Smart Balance Peanut Butter, Protein Powder, Tuna, Chicken, Salmon, Green Tea, Broccoli, Lean Beef, Fat Free Turkey, Whole Grain Pasta, Chicken Breast, Oats, Oranges
On Dehydration:
This is a common practice of "cutting" weight in order to compete in a weight class that is lower than your natural body weight. Here are some things you should know:
1) Effects of dehydration can take place as soon as 2% of the body's weight is lost in water. In an extremely hot environment while taking part in strenuous activities, some marathon runners have been known to loose as much as 8lbs of water in ONLY AN HOUR!
2) You should drink every 15 - 20 minutes while exercising
3) Carb drinks and protein supplements should be sipped after exercise (dilute to apx 6 - 12% concentration)
Top 5 Supplements:
Protein, Greens, Muscle Recovery / Workout Drinks, Creatine, Fish Oil (If you want to know the reasoning for these, look it up in the book, I'm just summarizing here and don't want to take credit for another person's work)
Again, there are a few changes that I would personally make and they are...
Protein Powder - for recovery and to make it more convenient and affordable to maintain high
protein diets
Glucosamine - there are a variety of "joint guard" products out there and people in combat sports
tend to beat the hell out of their joints especially after years of cutting weight
Omega 3, 6, 9 - find something with all three of these and you will be doing your heart and joints a
big favor
Multi Vitamin - in spite of our best efforts to eat healthy, it never hurts to have a little insurance when
it comes to micronutrients and all kinds of other vitamin/mineral goodies
CGT - Creatine is good, but lets make it better. Amino Acids in general help repair your body, of all the amino acids in your body nearly 50% of their content is from Glutamine alone.
I do not think that a Greens+ supplement should be on the list by the books own admission, whole foods (real fruits and veggies) are superior to supplements and I used the same reasoning for abandoning recovery drinks (that is what the protein powder and/or gatorade is for). Fish Oil is good, but a bit too general. The goal is to get EFAs (Essential Fatty Acids) which are grouped as Omega 3s, Omega 6s, and Omega 9s. It's just as easy to find a supplement with all 3. Creatine is a type of energy that your body uses at a cellular level. In my opinion it is a bit of a toss up between creatine and glutamine; it is the question of the chicken and the egg; which is more important, energy to work out or material to recover? Why not both.
Macro Nutrient Ratios:
Fat - apx 30% of diet/daily calories
Carbs - Less than 70% unless your an elite endurance athlete (if you've been reading my other posts you should know why)
Protein - 2g / Kg of Body Weight. EX: 220lb man should eat 100g of protein
The fat content is about right, when trying to build mass I like a my diet to be about 20% of my daily calories from fat. When losing fat I like it closer to 30% daily calories from fat. As for Carbs the book is not nearly as clear. When gaining mass I like 50% daily calories from carbs, when losing fat 30%. This protein recommendation seems a bit low to me. I have generally read everywhere else that serious athletes should be consuming between one and two grams of protein per pound of body weight. This would be 150 - 300g for a 150lb person. I think this is much closer as I like my diet 30% protein when building mass and 40% when losing fat.
Cutting Weight:
- Remember that at 2% dehydration (2% of your body weight lost through water weight) the fatiguing effects of dehydration set in. At 10% they can become FATAL!
- Try to be within 10lbs of your competition weight before you begin to cut. If I want to fight at 170lbs then I will spend my training camp trying to weigh 180lbs on the day that is one week before the weigh in.
- When preparing for a competition you will likely be working out more than you previously were in the off season and thus will need more energy to workout and fuel to recover. When preparing for a competition you should add 200 - 400 calories / day to your diet.
- Next, there is a bit of variance depending upon whether you have a SHORT or LONG period of time between when you weigh in and have to compete. Wrestling matches usually have about an hour between weigh ins and matches, some BJJ tournaments require you to go directly from the scale to the mat... those are examples of SHORT periods. Things like MMA fight have a 24 hour wait between weigh ins and competition... that is an example of a long period.
- SHORT PERIOD - drop 200 - 400 calorie from your diet 2 - 4 weeks out from the weigh in. This should get you within 10 lbs of your competition weight and thus you will not have to dehydrate yourself very much to make weight. 3 days out you should drink 2 - 3 gallons of water per day, then 2 days out, decrease the water intake to 2 gallons. The rest of your weight cut will have to come from mild dehydrate, and major caloric restriction to clean out the useless weight within your bowels. About 12 - 15 hrs away from the weigh in is when I suggest starting to actually dehydrate and not eat anything. In order to rehydrate after weighing in, you should only drink sip your fluids and make sure they are fast carbs like gatorade and maybe a protein shake or workout recovery drink. Remember that your body can only rehydrate at a rate of about 1.5L per hour, anything extra is waste. And you will crap your brains out, trust me, I know, I've seen me do it.
- LONG PERIOD - 5days out from your weigh in you should drink 3 gallons of water per day and cut back your carbs. 2 days out you should cut out your salt intake and cut back on the water. Dehydrate with COMMON SENSE if you must and clean out your bowels as above. To recover after weighing in you should eat every 1 - 2 hours. These meals should consist of a carb drink (like gatorade) complex carbs, and protein. Your last meal should be about 2 hrs before your competition.
- For both the LONG and SHORT periods, you should record and evaluate your results after your competition. Everyone's body is different and thus the above suggestions will not be exact.
Eating Right for Dummies (Advanced Version)
*Please read the basic and intermediate versions prior to this post.
**Consult your doctor before beginning any diet or exercise program.
Firstly, I just want to clarify/restate that the complexity of your diet program should serve the purpose you want to use it for. For example, you may be content to follow the basic version and that is just fine. When deciding whether you want a "basic" or "advanced" diet, consider the following options
1) More aggressive goals decrease the likelihood of sticking with your diet
2) Your physique will reflect the effort you put into your dieting
3) Sedentary lifestyles will require a more strict diet to maintain similar physiques
4) Active lifestyles will not need to follow as strict of diet to "stay in shape"
Lets take a look at each of those.
1) The "basic version" will by far be the easiest to follow, however, the "advanced version" will lead to the best control over your body and lead to the best results
2) If you just want to "live healthier" then maybe the Basic Version is for you. If you want to look like you belong on a magazine cover then you need to put in the effort that yields what you want your body to look like. If you half-ass your diet, expect your body to look like such. If you spend hours researching, calculating, measuring, diligently following diets and workout regimes... then the same is also true.
3) When I was in school, in spite of working out almost daily, I had a very sedentary lifestyle. When I was not working out I was either sitting in class, behind a computer, or doing homework at a desk. This meant my diet had to be VERY precise in order to maintain the physique I wanted.
4) Since starting training MMA, I spend about 3 hrs per day doing high intensity workouts that are very aerobic and anaerobically strenuous activity opposed to one set (lasting maybe 5 sec) then resting for 5 min. I essentially burn off any food I put into my body and do not NEED (though for optimal performance should) as strict of a diet to maintain my physique.
With those things in mind. Lets continue with the meat and potatoes of the Advanced Version:
Caloric Intake - This is going to be the baseline for the entire diet. I usually recommend to people that before beginning a diet they should monitor how many calories they eat per day for an entire week. You only need to count calories for this period. Keep track of everything you eat throughout the day and either at the end, or when you have the wrapper handy, jot down the calories contained in each thing you eat. Many restaurants now how have this information available online if you eat out a lot. The measuring makes sure that the diet is personalized for your body weight and natural caloric needs (and metabolism). The reason I recommend doing this for a week is that there are many factors that may contribute to one "out of the ordinary" day where you either eat much more or much less than you normally would. During this trial period DO NOT eat any more healthy or unhealthy than you normally would. Just go about your normal diet and exercise habits, the only things that should change is that now you're documenting it. Once your trial week is up, add up all the daily caloric totals and divide by 7 to get the mean (average) of your daily caloric intake.
Prudence - As stated earlier, it is not healthy to either loose or gain more than two pounds per week. Any fad diet you see advertising more is likely a hoax referring to TEMPORARY dehydration. However, it should be mentioned that the more you weight, the easier it is for you to loose any given amount because it is a smaller percentage of your total mass (20 lbs is only 10% of a 200lb man vs. 15% of a 130lb woman). Also, the more fat you are, the easier it will be to loose excess fat for the same reason (its easier for someone with 20% body fat to loose 5% than it is for someone wanting to go from 15% down to 10% body fat). As I mentioned before it is the cold hard truth that the more weight you expect to loose, and the shorter the period of time you expect to loose it, the more likely you will fail at your diet and gain all the weight back. Your goals should be challenging yet reasonable.
Reducing Intake - Lets say (for example) you consume an average of 2,000 calories per day. Consider the following example: (I chose this example for the purpose of simple math, I DO NOT recommend it, DO NOT follow this example because if you cut your caloric intake in HALF (2,000 to 1,000) for 5 weeks you will likely suffer from a major case of DEADNESS!). If you want to 10 lbs in 5 weeks that means that you will need a total caloric deficit of 35,000 calories (3,500/lb). 35,000 / 5 = 7,000 caloric deficit per week; 1,000/day. Instead of eating 2,000 calories per day you would only eat 1,000. More realistically lets say that you wanted to loose 5 lbs in 1 month (4 weeks). (This example is still pretty aggressive considering you are still dropping a large percent of your daily intake. 625/2,000 is a daily deficit of over 30%... refer to "Prudence").That's a total caloric deficit of 17,500 calories (3,500 for each lb you want to loose). 17,500cal / 4 weeks = 4,375cal. 4,375cal / 7days = 625 calories / day. If you currently consume 2,000 calories per day and drop to eating only 1,375 calories per day (a daily deficit of 625 calories) and stuck to that for 4 weeks (28 days) then you would loose about 5 lbs. Got it?
Macro Nutrient Ratios - When trying to build muscle, I like a macro nutrient ratio of: 50% carbohydrates, 30% protein, and 20% fat. When trying to loose fat, I like a ratio of: 30% carbohydrates, 40% protein, and 30% fat. Using the example above (again this is JUST an example, by no means a recommendation) of 1,375 cal / day: 40% of 1375 is 550 and 30% is 412.5. This means that your total daily caloric intake should be 1,375 with 550 (40%) coming from protein, 412.5 (30%) from carbohydrates and fat each. This means that following a macronutrient ratio of 40/30/30 (P/C/F) you would want to consume 137.5g of protein (137.5g x 4cal/g = 550cal), 103.125g carbs (103.125 x 4cal/g = 412.5cal), and 45.8333g fat (45.8333g x 9cal/g = 412.497cal). OF COURSE you DO NOT have to follow these kinds of things to halves of grams or less, that is just ridiculous. Rounding to the nearest whole gram is PLENTY accurate. Do not sweat the small stuff, if your total calories is over by an amount you deem to be negligible then so be it. Again, refer to Prudence. The more accurate the better, but you also need to be able to maintain your plan.
Meal Times and Composition - All the "rules" stated in other posts are still in play. You should eat every 2 - 3 hrs or 5 -7 meals per day. You should eat a balanced amount of fat every meal with a bit less at the last meal of the day. You should eat a balanced amount of protein at ever meal with slightly more after your workout and at your last meal. Your carbs should spike at your first meal and your post-workout meal. As always, don't forget your fruits and veggies as well as good fat sources like fish and nuts.
Variety - This is very important. In order to maintain this type of program you are likely going to find yourself eating many of the same foods over and over and over again every single day. This can get very redundant. The key is to find similar foods of similar nutrient ratios. For example, if you want to substitute ground beef for chicken that is fine, but be conscious that beef has a higher fat content than chicken and remember to adjust the rest of your meals accordingly. Many green vegetables will have the same nutrient ratios as long as you avoid starchy veggies like sweet corn and potatoes. Again, these are fine as long as you adjust your daily intake accordingly.
That is it! The complete Eating Right for Dummies! Your diet should fit your lifestyle goals. The ONLY time I would actually use the Advanced Version myself would be (as exemplified earlier in this post) if I were living a very sedentary lifestyle. The more active you are, the less precise your diet needs to be, HOWEVER, in order to obtain maximum performance from your body and and maximum health consciousness in your brain; you should try to follow a diet plan that is a compromise that suits your needs. Preliminary guidelines are likely not going to be enough to "whip you into shape" and for sure will not land you on the cover of Men's Health. Likewise, If you try to follow the above Advanced Diet you are likely to burn out because you will be eating a lot of the same old things every day. For the every day person I do not really recommend this diet and only recommend it for the most intense dieters; the balance is that knowledge is good... period.
**Consult your doctor before beginning any diet or exercise program.
Firstly, I just want to clarify/restate that the complexity of your diet program should serve the purpose you want to use it for. For example, you may be content to follow the basic version and that is just fine. When deciding whether you want a "basic" or "advanced" diet, consider the following options
1) More aggressive goals decrease the likelihood of sticking with your diet
2) Your physique will reflect the effort you put into your dieting
3) Sedentary lifestyles will require a more strict diet to maintain similar physiques
4) Active lifestyles will not need to follow as strict of diet to "stay in shape"
Lets take a look at each of those.
1) The "basic version" will by far be the easiest to follow, however, the "advanced version" will lead to the best control over your body and lead to the best results
2) If you just want to "live healthier" then maybe the Basic Version is for you. If you want to look like you belong on a magazine cover then you need to put in the effort that yields what you want your body to look like. If you half-ass your diet, expect your body to look like such. If you spend hours researching, calculating, measuring, diligently following diets and workout regimes... then the same is also true.
3) When I was in school, in spite of working out almost daily, I had a very sedentary lifestyle. When I was not working out I was either sitting in class, behind a computer, or doing homework at a desk. This meant my diet had to be VERY precise in order to maintain the physique I wanted.
4) Since starting training MMA, I spend about 3 hrs per day doing high intensity workouts that are very aerobic and anaerobically strenuous activity opposed to one set (lasting maybe 5 sec) then resting for 5 min. I essentially burn off any food I put into my body and do not NEED (though for optimal performance should) as strict of a diet to maintain my physique.
With those things in mind. Lets continue with the meat and potatoes of the Advanced Version:
Caloric Intake - This is going to be the baseline for the entire diet. I usually recommend to people that before beginning a diet they should monitor how many calories they eat per day for an entire week. You only need to count calories for this period. Keep track of everything you eat throughout the day and either at the end, or when you have the wrapper handy, jot down the calories contained in each thing you eat. Many restaurants now how have this information available online if you eat out a lot. The measuring makes sure that the diet is personalized for your body weight and natural caloric needs (and metabolism). The reason I recommend doing this for a week is that there are many factors that may contribute to one "out of the ordinary" day where you either eat much more or much less than you normally would. During this trial period DO NOT eat any more healthy or unhealthy than you normally would. Just go about your normal diet and exercise habits, the only things that should change is that now you're documenting it. Once your trial week is up, add up all the daily caloric totals and divide by 7 to get the mean (average) of your daily caloric intake.
Prudence - As stated earlier, it is not healthy to either loose or gain more than two pounds per week. Any fad diet you see advertising more is likely a hoax referring to TEMPORARY dehydration. However, it should be mentioned that the more you weight, the easier it is for you to loose any given amount because it is a smaller percentage of your total mass (20 lbs is only 10% of a 200lb man vs. 15% of a 130lb woman). Also, the more fat you are, the easier it will be to loose excess fat for the same reason (its easier for someone with 20% body fat to loose 5% than it is for someone wanting to go from 15% down to 10% body fat). As I mentioned before it is the cold hard truth that the more weight you expect to loose, and the shorter the period of time you expect to loose it, the more likely you will fail at your diet and gain all the weight back. Your goals should be challenging yet reasonable.
Reducing Intake - Lets say (for example) you consume an average of 2,000 calories per day. Consider the following example: (I chose this example for the purpose of simple math, I DO NOT recommend it, DO NOT follow this example because if you cut your caloric intake in HALF (2,000 to 1,000) for 5 weeks you will likely suffer from a major case of DEADNESS!). If you want to 10 lbs in 5 weeks that means that you will need a total caloric deficit of 35,000 calories (3,500/lb). 35,000 / 5 = 7,000 caloric deficit per week; 1,000/day. Instead of eating 2,000 calories per day you would only eat 1,000. More realistically lets say that you wanted to loose 5 lbs in 1 month (4 weeks). (This example is still pretty aggressive considering you are still dropping a large percent of your daily intake. 625/2,000 is a daily deficit of over 30%... refer to "Prudence").That's a total caloric deficit of 17,500 calories (3,500 for each lb you want to loose). 17,500cal / 4 weeks = 4,375cal. 4,375cal / 7days = 625 calories / day. If you currently consume 2,000 calories per day and drop to eating only 1,375 calories per day (a daily deficit of 625 calories) and stuck to that for 4 weeks (28 days) then you would loose about 5 lbs. Got it?
Macro Nutrient Ratios - When trying to build muscle, I like a macro nutrient ratio of: 50% carbohydrates, 30% protein, and 20% fat. When trying to loose fat, I like a ratio of: 30% carbohydrates, 40% protein, and 30% fat. Using the example above (again this is JUST an example, by no means a recommendation) of 1,375 cal / day: 40% of 1375 is 550 and 30% is 412.5. This means that your total daily caloric intake should be 1,375 with 550 (40%) coming from protein, 412.5 (30%) from carbohydrates and fat each. This means that following a macronutrient ratio of 40/30/30 (P/C/F) you would want to consume 137.5g of protein (137.5g x 4cal/g = 550cal), 103.125g carbs (103.125 x 4cal/g = 412.5cal), and 45.8333g fat (45.8333g x 9cal/g = 412.497cal). OF COURSE you DO NOT have to follow these kinds of things to halves of grams or less, that is just ridiculous. Rounding to the nearest whole gram is PLENTY accurate. Do not sweat the small stuff, if your total calories is over by an amount you deem to be negligible then so be it. Again, refer to Prudence. The more accurate the better, but you also need to be able to maintain your plan.
Meal Times and Composition - All the "rules" stated in other posts are still in play. You should eat every 2 - 3 hrs or 5 -7 meals per day. You should eat a balanced amount of fat every meal with a bit less at the last meal of the day. You should eat a balanced amount of protein at ever meal with slightly more after your workout and at your last meal. Your carbs should spike at your first meal and your post-workout meal. As always, don't forget your fruits and veggies as well as good fat sources like fish and nuts.
Variety - This is very important. In order to maintain this type of program you are likely going to find yourself eating many of the same foods over and over and over again every single day. This can get very redundant. The key is to find similar foods of similar nutrient ratios. For example, if you want to substitute ground beef for chicken that is fine, but be conscious that beef has a higher fat content than chicken and remember to adjust the rest of your meals accordingly. Many green vegetables will have the same nutrient ratios as long as you avoid starchy veggies like sweet corn and potatoes. Again, these are fine as long as you adjust your daily intake accordingly.
That is it! The complete Eating Right for Dummies! Your diet should fit your lifestyle goals. The ONLY time I would actually use the Advanced Version myself would be (as exemplified earlier in this post) if I were living a very sedentary lifestyle. The more active you are, the less precise your diet needs to be, HOWEVER, in order to obtain maximum performance from your body and and maximum health consciousness in your brain; you should try to follow a diet plan that is a compromise that suits your needs. Preliminary guidelines are likely not going to be enough to "whip you into shape" and for sure will not land you on the cover of Men's Health. Likewise, If you try to follow the above Advanced Diet you are likely to burn out because you will be eating a lot of the same old things every day. For the every day person I do not really recommend this diet and only recommend it for the most intense dieters; the balance is that knowledge is good... period.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Eating Right for Dummies (Intermediate Version)
This is going to get a bit more complex than the basic version. If you have not read that, then click here.
Moving On...
Fad Diets and Why They DO NOT Work - They are fads. Just like clothing, music, and hairstyles they will have their time and pass. There is, however, a little bit of science and research behind each of them that it blown up through media propaganda and celebrity endorsement. Ever wonder why so many people go and so many different diets, or why there is a new magic diet ever year, or why you've tried 4 diets in the last year then proceed to loose weight and gain it all back? This is because you are following fads, DON'T DO IT. There is no "magic" diet or food that is the solution to everyone's weight related problems.
Lifestyle and Commitment - Have you ever wondered why losing weight and keeping weight off seem to be two very different things? That is because losing weight requires a lifestyle change. Going on a super-strict diet will yield results but will also probably leave you wondering why you gained all the weight back 6 months later. Unless you are trying to meet the weight limit for a specific athletic competition, you need to be in this "fitness thing" for the long haul or you're not really in it at all. If losing weight and staying in shape were easy then there would not be the weight problem in this country that there is. It is going to take time, effort, and commitment.
Everyone is different - You have to keep in mind that there are many different ways to loose weight, and they all center around calorie restriction of some sort (more on that later). But, what works for your best friend may not work at all for you. There are three different body-structure types and countless combination of genetic traits that could affect your ability to loose weight. However, there are few scientific certainties that you can rely upon and mold a diet to suit your own needs.
Calorie Restriction is NOT Enough - In the most crude fashion all you need to do to loose weight is burn more calories than you eat. That is not the entire story though. If you are depriving your body of nutrients that it needs then you are actually causing more harm to your body than good even if you are at a "more healthy" weight. Ironically Americans are the most OVERfed and UNDERnurished people on the planet. This is because not only do we eat too much, most of it is processed CRAP lacking nutritional value. "You are what you eat." I have a friend who is a personal trainer and professional MMA fighter and he put it the best; "If you all you eat is butter then that is what you'll look like, do you want to go from 200lbs to 150lbs of butter or turn into 200lbs of lean steak?" If you want to perform at you highest capability there is no way to outwork a shitty diet.
What's Next...
Three Body Structures - There are 3 basic body structures. Ectomorphs are people who are naturally skinny and seem to eat endlessly and never gain any weight. Mesomorphs are people who have a naturally muscular build. Endomorphs have a "softer" and heavier build.
Healthy Weight Loss/Gain - As a general rule, if you plan to keep weight off/on (depending on your fitness goals, yes, some people do want to gain weight) you should only aim for a consistent +/- 2lbs per week. This is a good and plenty aggressive example but is by no means the standard. Set a goal weight and due date with this information as a guideline. If you want to loose 10 lbs you should have a deadline of NO SOONER than 5 weeks from the day you start. Remember, the more aggressive you are in your dieting, the faster the weight will come off AND the more difficult it will be to keep it off. It is much better to aim conservatively and then accelerate then to start too aggressive and have to take steps backwards.
Numbers - It takes a calorie deficit of 3,500 calories to loose 1lb of body weight (this is not including means of dehydration to loose weight). If you want to loose/gain 10lbs then you need a calorie deficit/surplus of 35,000 calories in your diet over the course of your given time frame. 35,000 calories over the course of 5 weeks would be 7,000 calories per week, or 1,000 calories per day. If there is a calorie deficit of 1,000 calories per day then in 5 weeks if you have been strict (and honest) then you should have lost about 10lbs of solid body weight. This is, of course, a VERY aggressive example.
More Numbers - As mentioned earlier caloric restriction is not enough to make a "good" diet. You need to have balance and make sure you are getting your calories from whole grains, lean meats, nuts, fruits, veggies, etc... and not from eating one grease burger and a frozen pizza then simply not eating for the rest of the day. (we'll get back to that in a bit). There are 4 calories per gram of protein, 4 calories per gram of carbohydrates, and 9 calories per gram of fat (You should know this already). This information is paramount throughout your diet.
Size IS Everything - I'm not telling you to keep track of every gram of every calorie you consume (not yet anyway) but the information is very important. Portion control is also very important. Rather than eating three large meals per day as prescribed by social norms, it is much more metabolically effective to eat 5 - 7 SMALL meals per day. What this does is increase your metabolism which is (basically) the rate that your body consumes and uses energy. If you eat one huge meal per day then your body will do two things: 1st - it will store most of the calories you've just eaten because you do not need that much energy right away, and we all know what "stored energy" is - FAT; 2nd - Later, when you've not eaten for many many hours your body will think it is starving and rather than burn up the previously stored energy it will actually SLOW DOWN the rate that it burns the fat because it does not know when it will be fed next. This same information is also true when restricting calories too far in order to loose weight too quickly. Your body will actually start to shut down because it think it is dying when you are not feeding it. For example, most anorexics who die as a result of the disease die from heart failure. This is because your body will slowly shut down with the vital organs being last if you are (essentially or literally) starving it to death. Inversely if you eat several smaller meals then your metabolism will speed up.
What Should These Meals Contain - Refer to the Basic Version for this information. Common sense applies. The calories should be fairly evenly spread out with the following guides (not absolutes) in place: You need carbs for energy so before/after you exercise and/or early in the morning, you need protein to recover so after you exercise and before you go to bed, and fat should never be consumed in large quantities if possible. You need the most energy first thing in the morning and before you work out, and the least energy (your last meal should be) a few yours before bed). If you are feeling lethargic try eating a few more carbohydrates or fast acting carbs (yes, maybe even something sugary) after you work out. If you are having a sweet tooth then that is usually a sign that you need a bit more fat in your diet, if your feeling weak or sore long after your exercise, add protein to your diet. Protein should be around 1-2 grams per pound of body weight depending on your needs or heath restrictions. CONSULT A PHYSICIAN BEFORE BEGINNING ANY DIET!
Still More Numbers - One serving of carbs is 15 grams, one serving of protein is 7 grams, and one serving of fat is 5 grams. You can use this information in coalition with a food pyramid get a good idea of where to start with your diet. It is also important to note that you will want to ease into your daily calorie deficit. The numbers in the example provided earlier stated that you would need to have an AVERAGE daily caloric deficit of 1,000 calories. You may want to ease into your deficit for the first few weeks but then remember that to maintain the average you will need to pick up the slack and have a deficit greater than the average in the later weeks.
Back to the Lifestyle - The goal here is weight loss/gain. Unless you have a competition coming up it is not necessary to weigh yourself any more than once per week. That is to give you a good read (as there are too many variables that may affect your day to day weight) and make sure that you're not obsessing over your weight or a few 10ths of a pound or something ridiculous like that. If you want to be in this for the long haul, then 3/10ths of a pound over the course of a week are not going to make much difference. If you want to keep the weight off, you need to pick a pace that you can maintain for as long as you want to keep it off!
On Cheating and Cheat-Meals - There has been much controversy over whether cheat meals should be allowed or not in dieting. The mixed reviews are just and in my opinion your view on "cheating" should (like all things in dieting and fitness) be based upon the goals you want to achieve. If you are training for a specific event like a boxing match, bodybuilding competition, strong man competition, or something that is not going to occur on a frequent (more than once a month) basis then you should not cheat on your diet as you are in the most harsh part of your training and can train/diet more fiercely since your are only planning to keep the weight off / muscle on for a brief time. However, if you are dieting for life, then you (during the long haul) need to keep your sanity in place! If this means cheating and eating whatever the hell you want once per week then DO IT! Like I said, if you're in this for the long haul, you should not be concerned with your day-to-day weight. That buffet you gorged on last month will "come out in the wash" if your are properly dieting long enough.
Moving On...
Fad Diets and Why They DO NOT Work - They are fads. Just like clothing, music, and hairstyles they will have their time and pass. There is, however, a little bit of science and research behind each of them that it blown up through media propaganda and celebrity endorsement. Ever wonder why so many people go and so many different diets, or why there is a new magic diet ever year, or why you've tried 4 diets in the last year then proceed to loose weight and gain it all back? This is because you are following fads, DON'T DO IT. There is no "magic" diet or food that is the solution to everyone's weight related problems.
Lifestyle and Commitment - Have you ever wondered why losing weight and keeping weight off seem to be two very different things? That is because losing weight requires a lifestyle change. Going on a super-strict diet will yield results but will also probably leave you wondering why you gained all the weight back 6 months later. Unless you are trying to meet the weight limit for a specific athletic competition, you need to be in this "fitness thing" for the long haul or you're not really in it at all. If losing weight and staying in shape were easy then there would not be the weight problem in this country that there is. It is going to take time, effort, and commitment.
Everyone is different - You have to keep in mind that there are many different ways to loose weight, and they all center around calorie restriction of some sort (more on that later). But, what works for your best friend may not work at all for you. There are three different body-structure types and countless combination of genetic traits that could affect your ability to loose weight. However, there are few scientific certainties that you can rely upon and mold a diet to suit your own needs.
Calorie Restriction is NOT Enough - In the most crude fashion all you need to do to loose weight is burn more calories than you eat. That is not the entire story though. If you are depriving your body of nutrients that it needs then you are actually causing more harm to your body than good even if you are at a "more healthy" weight. Ironically Americans are the most OVERfed and UNDERnurished people on the planet. This is because not only do we eat too much, most of it is processed CRAP lacking nutritional value. "You are what you eat." I have a friend who is a personal trainer and professional MMA fighter and he put it the best; "If you all you eat is butter then that is what you'll look like, do you want to go from 200lbs to 150lbs of butter or turn into 200lbs of lean steak?" If you want to perform at you highest capability there is no way to outwork a shitty diet.
What's Next...
Three Body Structures - There are 3 basic body structures. Ectomorphs are people who are naturally skinny and seem to eat endlessly and never gain any weight. Mesomorphs are people who have a naturally muscular build. Endomorphs have a "softer" and heavier build.
Healthy Weight Loss/Gain - As a general rule, if you plan to keep weight off/on (depending on your fitness goals, yes, some people do want to gain weight) you should only aim for a consistent +/- 2lbs per week. This is a good and plenty aggressive example but is by no means the standard. Set a goal weight and due date with this information as a guideline. If you want to loose 10 lbs you should have a deadline of NO SOONER than 5 weeks from the day you start. Remember, the more aggressive you are in your dieting, the faster the weight will come off AND the more difficult it will be to keep it off. It is much better to aim conservatively and then accelerate then to start too aggressive and have to take steps backwards.
Numbers - It takes a calorie deficit of 3,500 calories to loose 1lb of body weight (this is not including means of dehydration to loose weight). If you want to loose/gain 10lbs then you need a calorie deficit/surplus of 35,000 calories in your diet over the course of your given time frame. 35,000 calories over the course of 5 weeks would be 7,000 calories per week, or 1,000 calories per day. If there is a calorie deficit of 1,000 calories per day then in 5 weeks if you have been strict (and honest) then you should have lost about 10lbs of solid body weight. This is, of course, a VERY aggressive example.
More Numbers - As mentioned earlier caloric restriction is not enough to make a "good" diet. You need to have balance and make sure you are getting your calories from whole grains, lean meats, nuts, fruits, veggies, etc... and not from eating one grease burger and a frozen pizza then simply not eating for the rest of the day. (we'll get back to that in a bit). There are 4 calories per gram of protein, 4 calories per gram of carbohydrates, and 9 calories per gram of fat (You should know this already). This information is paramount throughout your diet.
Size IS Everything - I'm not telling you to keep track of every gram of every calorie you consume (not yet anyway) but the information is very important. Portion control is also very important. Rather than eating three large meals per day as prescribed by social norms, it is much more metabolically effective to eat 5 - 7 SMALL meals per day. What this does is increase your metabolism which is (basically) the rate that your body consumes and uses energy. If you eat one huge meal per day then your body will do two things: 1st - it will store most of the calories you've just eaten because you do not need that much energy right away, and we all know what "stored energy" is - FAT; 2nd - Later, when you've not eaten for many many hours your body will think it is starving and rather than burn up the previously stored energy it will actually SLOW DOWN the rate that it burns the fat because it does not know when it will be fed next. This same information is also true when restricting calories too far in order to loose weight too quickly. Your body will actually start to shut down because it think it is dying when you are not feeding it. For example, most anorexics who die as a result of the disease die from heart failure. This is because your body will slowly shut down with the vital organs being last if you are (essentially or literally) starving it to death. Inversely if you eat several smaller meals then your metabolism will speed up.
What Should These Meals Contain - Refer to the Basic Version for this information. Common sense applies. The calories should be fairly evenly spread out with the following guides (not absolutes) in place: You need carbs for energy so before/after you exercise and/or early in the morning, you need protein to recover so after you exercise and before you go to bed, and fat should never be consumed in large quantities if possible. You need the most energy first thing in the morning and before you work out, and the least energy (your last meal should be) a few yours before bed). If you are feeling lethargic try eating a few more carbohydrates or fast acting carbs (yes, maybe even something sugary) after you work out. If you are having a sweet tooth then that is usually a sign that you need a bit more fat in your diet, if your feeling weak or sore long after your exercise, add protein to your diet. Protein should be around 1-2 grams per pound of body weight depending on your needs or heath restrictions. CONSULT A PHYSICIAN BEFORE BEGINNING ANY DIET!
Still More Numbers - One serving of carbs is 15 grams, one serving of protein is 7 grams, and one serving of fat is 5 grams. You can use this information in coalition with a food pyramid get a good idea of where to start with your diet. It is also important to note that you will want to ease into your daily calorie deficit. The numbers in the example provided earlier stated that you would need to have an AVERAGE daily caloric deficit of 1,000 calories. You may want to ease into your deficit for the first few weeks but then remember that to maintain the average you will need to pick up the slack and have a deficit greater than the average in the later weeks.
Back to the Lifestyle - The goal here is weight loss/gain. Unless you have a competition coming up it is not necessary to weigh yourself any more than once per week. That is to give you a good read (as there are too many variables that may affect your day to day weight) and make sure that you're not obsessing over your weight or a few 10ths of a pound or something ridiculous like that. If you want to be in this for the long haul, then 3/10ths of a pound over the course of a week are not going to make much difference. If you want to keep the weight off, you need to pick a pace that you can maintain for as long as you want to keep it off!
On Cheating and Cheat-Meals - There has been much controversy over whether cheat meals should be allowed or not in dieting. The mixed reviews are just and in my opinion your view on "cheating" should (like all things in dieting and fitness) be based upon the goals you want to achieve. If you are training for a specific event like a boxing match, bodybuilding competition, strong man competition, or something that is not going to occur on a frequent (more than once a month) basis then you should not cheat on your diet as you are in the most harsh part of your training and can train/diet more fiercely since your are only planning to keep the weight off / muscle on for a brief time. However, if you are dieting for life, then you (during the long haul) need to keep your sanity in place! If this means cheating and eating whatever the hell you want once per week then DO IT! Like I said, if you're in this for the long haul, you should not be concerned with your day-to-day weight. That buffet you gorged on last month will "come out in the wash" if your are properly dieting long enough.
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