Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below 
holy ghost
New member
DIETING BASICS
By Anthony
DIET 70% / Training 28% / A.A.S 2%
Introduction
This article will cover the basic aspects of building a balanced diet. The information within can be applied when trying to lose weight or gain weight.
What is a diet?
Without a doubt, a balanced diet is the single most important factor of a healthy lifestyle. Exercise and sleep are not far behind, but diet plays an important role with how successful exercise progress is and can also affect your sleep.
Simply put, your diet is what you eat. Whether you eat nutritious healthy foods or unhealthy fast food, whether you eat to gain weight or lose weight - everything you consume is part of your diet.
A balanced diet is a very important factor when trying to stay healthy and fit. Not only will a bad diet cause your progress to suffer, it will also create an environment that promotes cravings, eating binges, sickness, and disease.
What are trend diets and why should they be avoided?
Trend diets are diets that take an extremely unbalanced approach to dieting. Examples include the Caesar salad diet, cabbage soup diet, etc, etc, etc. These are just a couple out of the thousands that circulate.
Although trend diets have a large following that preach success, the success is usually short lived. Trend diets are usually used for weight loss and what most people fail to understand is quick weight loss on an unbalanced diet is usually a result of losing mostly muscle mass or water, instead of fat. The result is a lighter body weight, but body fat percentage remains the same (in some cases it's higher) - basically a smaller fat person. Since no proper diet habits were developed during the trend diet, the person will usually go back to their normal eating habits and the 'results' disappear almost as quickly as they were achieved.
This pattern can repeat itself over and over, causing stress and frustration to many people. There are no short cuts. Building a healthy lifestyle doesn't happen over night, but with some hard work, determination, and a little discipline - it is possible.
What are the benefits of a balanced diet?
A healthy balanced diet will help you in many ways. It will help increase your body's ability to burn calories/fat and increase muscle mass when a solid exercise program is followed (more muscle also increases your body's ability to burn calories/fat). It will also help lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and reduce risk of numerous diseases.
What makes a balanced diet?
All food is made up of three macronutrients - protein, carbohydrates, and fat. This section will discuss what each are used for and why it is important to have all three in your diet.
Protein is the building block of muscle. This does not mean protein will build muscle on it's own. When you exercise (i.e., weight training), your muscles become damaged. Your body uses protein to repair the muscles, making them stronger and eventually bigger. Examples include lean beef, chicken, fish, eggs, beans, cottage cheese, soy, etc.
Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for our bodies. There are two types of carbohydrates: simple and complex.
Simple carbohydrates are digested quickly. Many contain refined sugars and few essential vitamins and minerals. Examples include fruits, fruit juice, milk, yogurt, honey, molasses, maple syrup, and sugar.
Complex carbohydrates take longer to digest and are usually packed with fiber, vitamins and minerals. Examples include vegetables, breads, cereals, legumes, and pasta.
Fat is essential for body insulation, internal organ protection, nerve transmission and metabolising fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K). Remember - there is good fat and bad fat. Good fats, or Essential Fatty Acids, are found in flaxseed oil, safflower oil, natural peanut butter, nuts, and many types of fish. All saturated fat should be avoided as much as possible.
Eating more often is one of the easiest ways to increase your body's metabolism. When your body does not receive food for a long period of time, it will go into "starvation mode." This will cause your body to store all the energy it can as fat. By eating more often, you tell your body that it will always have a source of energy so it doesn't need to store as much. This doesn't mean to eat more, just more often. Divide the food you eat into 5 or 6 meals, instead of the general 3 most people eat.
Your body depends on water to sustain many chemical reactions and to maintain correct body temperature. Sweating during exercise depletes your body's water supply and can lead to dehydration. Drinking water before, during, and after exercise will also increase your performance. Do not rely on thirst as an indicator on when you should drink. If you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated.
When building a balanced diet, remember to eat foods you enjoy!
Find your Basal Metabolic Rate / Active Metabolic Rate
Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the number of calories your body uses when in a resting state for a complete day. Active Metabolic Rate (AMR) is the number of calories your body uses during a complete day, including any activity you performed. Basically, this will tell you how many calories to eat to remain the same weight. Based on your goals, you can adjust your calorie intake to meet your needs (decrease calories to lose weight, increase calories to gain weight). Keep in mind that a drastic change in your calories is NOT recommended.
There are two main methods to find your BMR / AMR. The following is a formula that gives a fairly accurate estimate.
This is for women:
655 + [4.36 x weight in pounds] + [4.32 x height in inches] - [4.7 x age] = BMR
This is for men:
66 + [6.22 x weight in pounds] + [12.7 x height in inches] - [6.8 x age] = BMR
Don't forget to calculate your activity level!
_____ (BMR) x ____(activity rating/see below) = AMR (total calories per day)
Activity rating:
1.3 lightly active (normal every day activities)
1.4 moderately active (exercise 3 to 4 times a week)
1.6 very active (exercise more than 4 times a week)
1.8 extremely active (exercise 6 to 7 times a week for more than an hour in duration)
Another method is to record all calories you eat for an entire week. If you remain the same weight at the end of the week, divide the number of calories by 7 (days in the week) and the answer will be the amount of calories you need each day to remain the same weight.
Counting Calories
You will need a kitchen scale, a measuring cup, a calorie counting book (make sure it lists all 3 macronutrients), and a little patience.
When counting calories, there are a variety of macronutrient ratios that you can use depending on your goals. For the sake of simplicity, this article will use a ratio of 40% protein, 40% carbohydrates, and 20% fat.
To find the calories for each macronutrient, multiple the total number of calories (AMR) by each percentage. For example, let's assume the AMR came to 3000 calories / day. The amount of calories for each macronutrient would be:
3000 calories x 40% (protein) = 1200 calories from protein
3000 calories x 40% (carbohydrates) = 1200 calories from carbohydrates
3000 calories x 20% (fat) = 600 calories from fat
Now let's take it one step further and find the grams for each macronutrient (remember, 1 gram of protein = 4 calories, 1 gram of carbohydrates = 4 calories, 1 gram of fat = 9 calories):
1200 calories from protein divided by 4 = 300 grams protein
1200 calories from carbohydrates divided by 4 = 300 grams of carbohydrates
600 calories from fat divided by 9 = 67 grams of fat
So now we know there is 300g of protein, 300g of carbs, and 67g of fat that has to be consumed each day. If we divide this into 6 meals we come up with 50g of protein, 50g of carbs, and 11g of fat per meal.
The next step is to decide what foods you want to eat. Using your calorie counting book, you can determine the amount of each food to eat in order to meet your calorie requirements.
Okay ... so it's not that much fun. But it does get easier with practice, and at least you'll have the comfort in knowing that you are in control of the progress you will make.
Progress & Goals
No one is expected to build a perfect diet over night. Changes to your diet should be made gradually. If you change it too quickly, you may come to hate it (plain rice and chicken again?!) and give up. Start with the little things - removing extra salt, only butter one slice of bread instead of both, not eating fast food, etc. Giving yourself time to adjust will ensure that your clean diet becomes habit instead of a nuisance.
Once you have your diet constructed, there will still be days that you screw up. You might miss a meal, maybe you have a bite of pizza while you're out, and there will probably be days when nothing is followed. That's part of the game. Make note of it and move on.
Keeping a daily record of the foods you eat will help you stay on top of your progress. Writing something down has much more impact than just thinking it. You probably record your daily progress in the gym and this is no different. Also use your journal to write down goals (reduce body fat, gain muscle, eat better, drink more water, etc). Seeing them every day helps keep focus.
By Anthony
DIET 70% / Training 28% / A.A.S 2%
Introduction
This article will cover the basic aspects of building a balanced diet. The information within can be applied when trying to lose weight or gain weight.
What is a diet?
Without a doubt, a balanced diet is the single most important factor of a healthy lifestyle. Exercise and sleep are not far behind, but diet plays an important role with how successful exercise progress is and can also affect your sleep.
Simply put, your diet is what you eat. Whether you eat nutritious healthy foods or unhealthy fast food, whether you eat to gain weight or lose weight - everything you consume is part of your diet.
A balanced diet is a very important factor when trying to stay healthy and fit. Not only will a bad diet cause your progress to suffer, it will also create an environment that promotes cravings, eating binges, sickness, and disease.
What are trend diets and why should they be avoided?
Trend diets are diets that take an extremely unbalanced approach to dieting. Examples include the Caesar salad diet, cabbage soup diet, etc, etc, etc. These are just a couple out of the thousands that circulate.
Although trend diets have a large following that preach success, the success is usually short lived. Trend diets are usually used for weight loss and what most people fail to understand is quick weight loss on an unbalanced diet is usually a result of losing mostly muscle mass or water, instead of fat. The result is a lighter body weight, but body fat percentage remains the same (in some cases it's higher) - basically a smaller fat person. Since no proper diet habits were developed during the trend diet, the person will usually go back to their normal eating habits and the 'results' disappear almost as quickly as they were achieved.
This pattern can repeat itself over and over, causing stress and frustration to many people. There are no short cuts. Building a healthy lifestyle doesn't happen over night, but with some hard work, determination, and a little discipline - it is possible.
What are the benefits of a balanced diet?
A healthy balanced diet will help you in many ways. It will help increase your body's ability to burn calories/fat and increase muscle mass when a solid exercise program is followed (more muscle also increases your body's ability to burn calories/fat). It will also help lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and reduce risk of numerous diseases.
What makes a balanced diet?
All food is made up of three macronutrients - protein, carbohydrates, and fat. This section will discuss what each are used for and why it is important to have all three in your diet.
Protein is the building block of muscle. This does not mean protein will build muscle on it's own. When you exercise (i.e., weight training), your muscles become damaged. Your body uses protein to repair the muscles, making them stronger and eventually bigger. Examples include lean beef, chicken, fish, eggs, beans, cottage cheese, soy, etc.
Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for our bodies. There are two types of carbohydrates: simple and complex.
Simple carbohydrates are digested quickly. Many contain refined sugars and few essential vitamins and minerals. Examples include fruits, fruit juice, milk, yogurt, honey, molasses, maple syrup, and sugar.
Complex carbohydrates take longer to digest and are usually packed with fiber, vitamins and minerals. Examples include vegetables, breads, cereals, legumes, and pasta.
Fat is essential for body insulation, internal organ protection, nerve transmission and metabolising fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K). Remember - there is good fat and bad fat. Good fats, or Essential Fatty Acids, are found in flaxseed oil, safflower oil, natural peanut butter, nuts, and many types of fish. All saturated fat should be avoided as much as possible.
Eating more often is one of the easiest ways to increase your body's metabolism. When your body does not receive food for a long period of time, it will go into "starvation mode." This will cause your body to store all the energy it can as fat. By eating more often, you tell your body that it will always have a source of energy so it doesn't need to store as much. This doesn't mean to eat more, just more often. Divide the food you eat into 5 or 6 meals, instead of the general 3 most people eat.
Your body depends on water to sustain many chemical reactions and to maintain correct body temperature. Sweating during exercise depletes your body's water supply and can lead to dehydration. Drinking water before, during, and after exercise will also increase your performance. Do not rely on thirst as an indicator on when you should drink. If you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated.
When building a balanced diet, remember to eat foods you enjoy!
Find your Basal Metabolic Rate / Active Metabolic Rate
Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the number of calories your body uses when in a resting state for a complete day. Active Metabolic Rate (AMR) is the number of calories your body uses during a complete day, including any activity you performed. Basically, this will tell you how many calories to eat to remain the same weight. Based on your goals, you can adjust your calorie intake to meet your needs (decrease calories to lose weight, increase calories to gain weight). Keep in mind that a drastic change in your calories is NOT recommended.
There are two main methods to find your BMR / AMR. The following is a formula that gives a fairly accurate estimate.
This is for women:
655 + [4.36 x weight in pounds] + [4.32 x height in inches] - [4.7 x age] = BMR
This is for men:
66 + [6.22 x weight in pounds] + [12.7 x height in inches] - [6.8 x age] = BMR
Don't forget to calculate your activity level!
_____ (BMR) x ____(activity rating/see below) = AMR (total calories per day)
Activity rating:
1.3 lightly active (normal every day activities)
1.4 moderately active (exercise 3 to 4 times a week)
1.6 very active (exercise more than 4 times a week)
1.8 extremely active (exercise 6 to 7 times a week for more than an hour in duration)
Another method is to record all calories you eat for an entire week. If you remain the same weight at the end of the week, divide the number of calories by 7 (days in the week) and the answer will be the amount of calories you need each day to remain the same weight.
Counting Calories
You will need a kitchen scale, a measuring cup, a calorie counting book (make sure it lists all 3 macronutrients), and a little patience.
When counting calories, there are a variety of macronutrient ratios that you can use depending on your goals. For the sake of simplicity, this article will use a ratio of 40% protein, 40% carbohydrates, and 20% fat.
To find the calories for each macronutrient, multiple the total number of calories (AMR) by each percentage. For example, let's assume the AMR came to 3000 calories / day. The amount of calories for each macronutrient would be:
3000 calories x 40% (protein) = 1200 calories from protein
3000 calories x 40% (carbohydrates) = 1200 calories from carbohydrates
3000 calories x 20% (fat) = 600 calories from fat
Now let's take it one step further and find the grams for each macronutrient (remember, 1 gram of protein = 4 calories, 1 gram of carbohydrates = 4 calories, 1 gram of fat = 9 calories):
1200 calories from protein divided by 4 = 300 grams protein
1200 calories from carbohydrates divided by 4 = 300 grams of carbohydrates
600 calories from fat divided by 9 = 67 grams of fat
So now we know there is 300g of protein, 300g of carbs, and 67g of fat that has to be consumed each day. If we divide this into 6 meals we come up with 50g of protein, 50g of carbs, and 11g of fat per meal.
The next step is to decide what foods you want to eat. Using your calorie counting book, you can determine the amount of each food to eat in order to meet your calorie requirements.
Okay ... so it's not that much fun. But it does get easier with practice, and at least you'll have the comfort in knowing that you are in control of the progress you will make.
Progress & Goals
No one is expected to build a perfect diet over night. Changes to your diet should be made gradually. If you change it too quickly, you may come to hate it (plain rice and chicken again?!) and give up. Start with the little things - removing extra salt, only butter one slice of bread instead of both, not eating fast food, etc. Giving yourself time to adjust will ensure that your clean diet becomes habit instead of a nuisance.
Once you have your diet constructed, there will still be days that you screw up. You might miss a meal, maybe you have a bite of pizza while you're out, and there will probably be days when nothing is followed. That's part of the game. Make note of it and move on.
Keeping a daily record of the foods you eat will help you stay on top of your progress. Writing something down has much more impact than just thinking it. You probably record your daily progress in the gym and this is no different. Also use your journal to write down goals (reduce body fat, gain muscle, eat better, drink more water, etc). Seeing them every day helps keep focus.
