Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Do you skip breakfast? Eat your heaviest meals at night? You’re setting yourself up for failure. Eating too little throughout the day and overdoing it at night is inefficient ! You want to be in "energy balance"—or close to it—throughout the day.(* energy balance* is measured with the following equation: /Energy intake = internal heat produced + external work + energy storage/) Neutral energy balance is when the calories you take in is equal to the calories expended. Which means : Weight is maintained. Positive energy balance is when the calories you take in is greater than the calories expended. * Weight is gained and fat stores are increased. * One pound of fat contains approximately 3500 Calories. Negative energy balance: calories you take in is less than the calories expended. · Adipose, glycogen, and muscle can be used for energy to make up the caloric deficiency. · Ideally weight is lost and fat stores are reduced. Aerobic exercise (tredmill) * Expends calories during exercise Anaerobic exercise (lifting weights) can increase metabolism for hours after exercise is finished * 3-14 hours: dependent upon intensity ! Understanding how your body’s blood sugar levels rise and fall explains why this is so critical for anyone looking to add muscle mass and stay lean Providing your body with the amount of fuel it needs at regular intervals so you’re neither overeating nor under eating. Normally if you eat something, your blood sugar( glucose levels) will rise, level out, and then drop in about three-hours. If you don’t eat every three hours or so, blood sugar begins to drop even further. As soon as blood sugar starts to drop to the body kicks into emergency mechanism to make sure there’s enough sugar around for brain function, heart function, other organ functions. In conclusion if you don’t eat properly, you’ll burn the muscle you’re trying to build. And the problem doesn’t stop there. As you lose muscle, you lower your metabolic rate as well, which is closely tied to the amount of muscle you have. That means you can’t eat much without storing fat. The kicker is this : your body will catabolize muscle to supply itself with fuel, if this amount is insufficient to meet your body’s needs your blood sugar will continue to fall. Then, when you do eat, more insulin is produced than normal because our cells are starving for energy—remember insulin helps transport the glucose into your cells. That means more fat around your middle ,thighs etc. How much you eat total depends on a number of factors including how much you weigh, your age, your training schedule, and how active you are. A simple formula is to multiply your weight in pounds by 12 if you’re trying to lose weight and gain muscle; multiply your weight by 15 if you’re trying to gain muscle.We’re fuel-based creatures, so before you can talk about energy distribution, or how much should be carbs/protein/fat, you really have to make sure that energy needs are met first and that a person is consuming enough total energy to satisfy their total body needs based on their total physical activity I always have the individual start with 50/30/20 Percents meaning, 50% of carbs,30% of protein and 20% of fat being distributed throughout the day at every meal … Plan on eating five or six times a day, and you’ll see a difference in the way you feel—and in the results you reap from the exercises you perform, too. For more information about training and eating properly feel free to email me health@choices4wellness.ca