Eat Regularly
Most people eat 3 big meals a day. Ironically, in order to loose bodyfat or gain muscle, the first step would be to eat more frequently throughout the day. 5 to 7 SMALL or MEDIUM meals a day would be optimum. The reasons being:
1. To manipulate the way our body uses the nutrients
Whatever we consume gets broken down to the smallest molecules before absorption and distribution in your body. The excess will be stored as fat. By eating smaller meals, there is less excess nutrients per meal which can be stored as fat. To put it simply, more smaller meals results in more of the nutrients you consume being properly utilized by your body and less of it being stored as fat.
2. Providing a constant flow of nutrients to prevent "Survival Mode"
When food is not consumed for too long, your body will react by activating a "survival mode". Its purpose is simply to enable a starving organism to survive starvation by:
- Increasing incoming food to fat stores
- Slowing down usage of fat stores for energy
Our body reacts this way because, in the wild, food wasn't as readily available as it is in modern times. This mode was an adaptation to help our ancestors to survive longer while starving. To achieve its purpose, "survival mode" will release stress hormones like estrogen and cortisol, and break down muscle. These all lead to increased fat storage and decreased body fat usage. It is the exact opposite of what you are trying to achieve! To prevent this, consume a small or medium meal 3 to 4 hourly. Constant flow of nutrients will keep the survival mode down, and also provide your muscles a steady supply of nutrients for maintenence.
3. Protein intake
Protein is the only nutrient your body can use to build muscle. Without enough of it, you won't be able to develop any new muscle. Generically, one would require a daily consumption of 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight (eg. You are 100 lbs, you need 100 grams protein). Personally 0.8 grams per pound of bodyweight has worked fairly well for me. Most Asian people weigh between 150 to 180 lbs, so you would need that much protein to be able to support muscle growth. Most of our bodies have a limitation for how much protein it can absorb at any one go, ranging from 30 to 50 grams. So you will need to consume protein spread out over at least 3 or 4 meals. Its wasteful to consume excessive protein in one go, as your body will excrete the extras.
The Nutrients
At this beginning stage, you should pay more attention to your protein and carbohydrate intake.
Protein
As mentioned before, one will need about 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight daily to be able to support muscle growth. Good sources of protein are eggs, milk, nuts, beans, any kind of meat.
Eggs
Sidetracking a little, most people limit their intake of eggs due to an ancient theory that eggs are high in bad cholesterol. This myth has been busted long ago, and recent studies show that eggs actually reduce bad cholesterol! Here is a link to a short and comprehensive article about this.
Eggs have 6 grams protein, and 3 grams of those are in the yolks. Moreover, almost all the other nutrients in eggs are in the yolks! So double your egg protein intake by eating the yolks as well.
Carbohydrates
Generically, one will need about 2 times as much carbohydrates as protein when trying to gain muscle mass (2 grams per pound of bodyweight). The good news is carbs are practically abundant in most things we eat! Some good carb sources are rice, noodles, pastas and potatoes.
So how do you go about eating enough of these 2 nutrients?
Honestly, I'd say most people probably already consume enough carbs daily, so you should shift your attention to your protein consumption at this stage. Start reading the labels and packagings of all the food you eat and you'll get a rough idea of the amount of protein. As for common foodstuff like meat, you probably won't find labels stating how much protein they contain. In this case, you can look up the net for the protein per gram or kg of that particular meat and weigh your food to get a rough estimate. Keep track of how much protein you have already consumed, and how much more you will need before your last meal of the day is up. Take note that you will need to pay more attention to the quantity and type carbohydrates you consume when you get to an advanced stage.
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| Photography: Ron Lai Trunk: Teron Model: Danie Dharma |
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