Most people realize that in order to achieve certain fitness-oriented goals, they will need to pay special attention to what they are eating. As simple as this seems, it is often one of the most confusing aspects of a fitness plan. I mean what fad diet are we going to try this week? Adkins, South Beach and the hard to kill Cabbage Soup Diet are a few of the more popular fad diets making the rounds these days. Now don't get me wrong, not all of these diets are totally useless, but overall, fad diets are responsible for some very unhealthy habits. Not to mention the fact that the majority of all dieters fad and otherwise, will ultimately gain all of the weight back! Some will even gain more weight back than what they started with.
Hopefully after reading this article, you will understand the basics of nutrition and realize just how simple creating an effective and healthy nutritional plan can be.
In order to get started, you will need to arm yourself with a few things. Grab a pen, some paper, a calculator and a scale.
First, we will need to define your goals. What do you want to achieve from this program? Do you want to lose 20lbs, 50lbs or even 100lbs? Do you want to gain 20, 50 or 100 lbs? It really doesn't matter how crazy your goals may seem now. I assure you that if given the proper amount of time, any goal is within your reach! Just write down the first few things that come to your mind. Next to each one of your goals, write what your motivation for attaining them is?
Maybe you want to look good for a wedding. Or perhaps you have been ordered by a doctor to loose weight or else! Now I realize that this may seem like a very unimportant part of the equation, but I speak from experience when I say, no goal will ever be achieved unless you can understand exactly why it is important to you. Nobody else needs to know what makes you tick, but in order for you to achieve success at anything in life, you must master this step.
Nutrition 101
Now that you're on the track to success, you will need to learn what components make up a successful nutritional plan. Bear with me as I explain the basics of nutrition. Everything that you eat is made up of calories. Calories are fuel for the body. Calories are responsible for providing fuel for the body to do everything from basic body functions to more advanced functions like muscle contraction and exercise. So basically, calories are energy. It is extremely important to be able to accurately estimate your body's caloric needs.
BMR
The most accurate method for estimating your caloric needs is a simple equation involving your estimated body fat % and estimated activity level. This equation will lead you to your BMR or basal metabolic rate. The value that you get for your BMR can be use to calculate your Total Daily Expended Energy. Basically, your total daily expended energy is the amount of fuel, (calories), needed to maintain the weight that you are currently at, at the body composition that you are currently at.
In order to lose weight, you must create a calorie deficit. In order to gain weight, you must increase your total caloric intake.
Very simple, straight-forward stuff.
Now you have a place to begin. You will no longer be guessing at how many calories you have to eat. You can calculate exactly how many your body needs and adjust from there.
In order to calculate you basal metabolic rate and your total daily expended energy, simply plug in your estimated % body fat and lean body mass in kg, into the Katch-Mcardle formula.
BMR = 370+(21.6 x Lean Body Mass kg)
Now select your estimated activity multiplier from the table below.
Activity Muiltipliers
Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
Extra active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)
After you have established your BMR and selected you activity multiplier from the chart above, simply multiply your activity multiplier by your BMR. This value is your total daily expended energy. From here, you will need to apply a little bit of skill in order to adjust your value to achieve your goals. For most people, if your goal is to lose weight, you will need to adjust you caloric intake down from the TDEE value somewhere between 5 and 20%. If your goal is to gain muscle mass, then you will need to gradually increase your caloric intake. Again I would recommend making any changes to your TDEE value gradually. Generally speaking, an increase of 5-25% is typically a good place to start.
Before we go any further, it is critical that you realize a few important functions of the human body. The more fuel you eat, (calories), the more energy your body will be able to expend. The human body is a very complex organism. You must eat the right amount of calories to fuel your daily activity or your body, as clever as it is, will begin to store as many of the calories that you eat as body fat. This is not what you are looking for, unless you see a future in sumo wrestling down the road.
So, what really happens when your caloric intake is too low? Your body, going back to the prehistoric days will revert to the flight or fight mode. Not knowing when it's next meal will come, your body will attempt to store any and all of your calories as body fat for future use, after all it may not eat again for days. This is one of the basic reasons that starvation diets rarely work. Not only will you more than likely gain weight, but your body will begin to canabolize itself and try to turn protein (muscle mass), into energy. This conversion process is one of the most inefficient ways for your body to generate energy. You in turn, will feel the effects of this inefficiency as you begin to feel groggy and tired all of the time. To put it bluntly, you will lose muscle mass and gain body fat at the same time.
Now, back to the basic nutrition lesson. As we are all aware by now, calories are the fuel for the body. You probably realize that calories come from food, but lets take it a little bit further and explain what types of food contain what types of calories. There are six basic nutrient classes. Protein, Carbohydrate, Fat, Vitamins, Minerals and Water. Each nutrient is utilized in the human body for very specific tasks. The body as amazing as it is, will often try to manipulate certain types of responses from these nutrients in order to sustain life, especially when incorrect proportions of nutrients are consumed.
Protein
Protein serves numerous functions in our bodies. It is the major structural component of the cell. It is also used for growth, repair and maintenance of body tissues. Another important function that protein plays in the body is the ability to form antibodies for disease protection. And as stated previously, protein can be used to create energy, although not very efficiently. Protein contains 4 calories per gram. Although there are many benefits to consuming protein, especially for bodybuilders and people wishing to increase lean body mass, it is important to realize that protein is only a piece of the nutrition puzzle. Only paying attention to your protein intake and neglecting other areas of your nutritional plan, will guarantee that you will not achieve your fitness goals.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates also serve many functions in the human body. Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for the human body, especially during high-intensity exercise. Carbohydrates regulate fat and protein metabolism, as well as providing the exclusive energy source for the nervous system. Carbohydrates, like protein contain 4 calories per gram.
Fats
Fats are responsible for maintaining proper brain function as well as supplying energy to the body. The main responsibility of fats in the human body is to provide a constant supply of energy. Because the body must be prepared for times when energy consumption is minimal, the human body tends to place a supply of fat on the body for later use. This is also why it can be difficult to lose body fat after it has been stored there. When you try to lose fat, you are actually working against your bodies instincts.
Dietary fats have taken a bad rap in recent years due to the amount of publicity given to obesity and heart disease. The most important thing to remember here, is that saturated fats and trans-fatty acids are bad for the body and unsaturated fats can be good for the body.
Saturated fats come primarily from animal sources. Saturated fats are responsible for clogging arteries, elevating cholesterol and a slew of undesirable side effects. Saturated fats come primarily from meats and manufactured and processed foods.
Polyunsaturated and Monounsaturated fats, "healthy fats", come from sources such as flaxseed, safflower, grapeseed and olive oils. Polyunsatuated fats serve as the building blocks from which cells are produced. It is important to consume an adequate amount of these "healthy" fats for proper bodily function.
Healthy or unhealthy, each gram of fat contains 9 calories.
As you can see, fats are the most calorie dense nutrient, more than doubling up on carbohydrates and protein. Because of this, it is important to not only limit your consumption of fats to avoid an excess of calories, but also to make sure to eat primarily "healthy" types of fats.
Vitamins and Minerals
Vitamins and minerals are often overlooked components of any nutritional plan. Vitamins are responsible for promoting growth and maintaining health. Minerals are essential for normal cellular function. Together vitamins and minerals create an environment primed for optimum performance. Although not very exotic, vitamins and mineral supplements, when consistently taken, can bolster your immune system, increase your energy levels and promote overall body function and health. I personally do not believe that you need to break the bank here, when looking for a good vitamin/ mineral supplement. Many excellent vitamin/mineral supplements are on the market today for a fraction of what they would have cost you 5-10 years ago.
Water
Water is the last of the six nutrient classes discussed here, but certainly not the least. Water, makes up roughly 60% of the human body. Do I really need to explain any further? Water serves as the lubricant by which body function is driven. With out enough water, you will die. At the very least, without consuming enough water throughout the day, you will certainly not be able to reach your fitness/ health goals. It is recommended that training athletes consume a minimum of 24 oz of water per hour of exercise. Regardless of your goals, I personally believe that a minimum of 1 gallon of water per day should be the goal.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you have gained a better understanding of the important role that nutrition plays in achieving your fitness goals. You simply can't neglect this area of your program, without consequences. To briefly recap, establish your maintenance calorie needs. After you have established this value, take a look at your goals. If your goal is to lose weight, realize that you must create a calorie deficit. You will need to expend more energy than you are consuming. The only two ways to accomplish this are to increase you activity levels via cardiovascular exercise to burn more calories, or to eat fewer calories. If your goal is to gain weight, you will need to increase your caloric intake. Typically, you will want to continue to live an active life, including cardiovascular exercise. In order to increase this value enough to see a measurable difference, you will need to gradually increase your caloric intake over time. Typically 500 to 1000 extra calories per day, should get you headed in the right direction. If you are happy with where you currently are, simply eat enough calories to match your maintenance level.
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