B.S. /Hons
Take advantage of the setting
When you embark on any fitness and body composition plan the most important rule without question is that you must put nutrition before your training. It is a fact that you can't outran a bad diet. When it comes to fat loss, you must realize that what you put in your mouth and on your skin directly influences how you burn fat. To make sure you get this right I have implemented the following rules so that you can go over them whenever you want to make sure you are doing them daily.
Hydration is key
Water is what our body is made of. 85% of our brain is made up of water, our muscles a 70-75% water and body fat is only approximately 10% water. This shows you the importance of what our body needs. Keeping our body clean on the inside is paramount to fat loss and this is why drinking clean water is the most important process in maintaining internal health.
Green is great
Vegetables need to be a main factor in your diet. If you want results then you must include vegetables at every meal for the best results. Green vegetables should cover half of your plate for breakfast, lunch, and evening meal. If you can't get green vegetables into your breakfast then simply have a blended shake containing 400ml water, ½ squeezed lemon, ¼ of one whole cucumber, handful spinach, a scoop green detox powder. The carbohydrate content found in green cruciferous vegetables means you would have to eat around half a kilo of it to equal the same amount of carbohydrates as one single whole meal pitta. Now you realize how beneficial replacing carbs with vegetables can be for fat loss.
Eat protein with every meal
Protein is key to a better physique. A high protein diet means you will be less hungry, eat less and therefore lose body fat as a result. You should eat high quality protein from animal meats, fish and eggs in particular and look to achieve a minimum of 2grams protein for every kilogram of your body weight. Example would be 60kg's female would require a minimum of 120grams protein. Therefore spread over 6meals you would look to get a minimum of 20grams per meal of protein. 1 tin of salmon for example would take you over your 20grams. Remember that for muscle building you would aim to achieve between 3-4grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight. An 80kg male would require between 240-320grams to build lean muscle tissue, approximately 40-54grams of protein each meal (over 6 meals).
Eat real food
If you stick to this rule of thumb, all of the other rules will take care of themselves. All the essential foods required to survive is key to faster fat loss and overall health. As long as you stick to eating only real food then you will master your goals. To work out whether something is right for your health simply follow the rule of thumb that if it didn't have a face or grew out of the ground then you shouldn't eat it. Or simply when looking at a product on the shelf ask yourself would this food have been available to cavemen 5,000 years ago? If not then don't put it in your shopping cart. It really is that simple.
Do not fear fat
It is important you realize that 'fat does not make you fat'. It is imperative you consume good quality fats if you want to build muscle and burn body fat. Good fats play a number of roles in energy metabolism, vitamin storage and absorption, and the production of hormones for overall fat burning. Foods such as red meat, fish, nuts, avocado, and oils such as extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, walnut oil are great ways to get adequate healthy fat into your diet. You must however avoid dangerous fats such as hydrogenated and trans-fats such as the ones you find in sweets, cakes, biscuits, low fat ready-made meals and many other processed foods.
It's not just about 'calories in vs. calories out'
1,000 calories from bread is not the same as 1,000 calories from fish or animal meats. The amount of calories is the same but the nutrition inside the foods is very different. The bread has almost no nutritional value whatsoever and messes your hormones all over the place (causing fat storage), whereas the fish and meat is abundant in nutrients that will allow balanced hormones and plenty nutrients for fuelling the body. So you must understand that only by sticking to the 'real food' philosophy will you get success on any program.
Free-range food is the way to go
Remember when eating animal foods, it is about how the animal is reared that makes all the difference. A healthier animal with have more nutrients and nutrients available with its meat. Free range animals will have more nutrients because they get more exercise and eat more varied diets which mean we will get more from what we eat. I always and will always avoid caged animal products fed on grains and wheat's. The nutrients will be lacking but also these animals are pumped with antibiotics and sometimes steroids to fatten them up, and increase profits. Caged animals get sick more frequently than free range animals.
Add herbs and spices to all your foods
Antioxidants are a key component of fat loss because they help with overall food absorption, they help to detoxify our body and they keep flavour to what many believe to be a bland diet. Western society is missing out many nutrients because of the lacking diet variation they have and herbs and spices are fantastic ways of culturing our foods and adding much needs value to what we already eat.
Start your day and then continue
Breakfast is so important on many levels. You must start your day with protein, fat and vegetables. It may seem strange and almost a ridiculous concept at first but for me eating processed cereals to me is an absolute crazy idea. We are designed to eat meat and vegetables in a morning. That's what we used to do but now we simply follow what the media tells us is good to eat. Since we have done that, we have become fatter as a society year on year. It really is that simple. Once you get over the initial trial of changing to real food breakfasts you will never go back to cereals again.
Source: Azernews