Body Building, Eat Smart - By: Shaun Bentham

Now we all know that by consuming more calories than you are burning off your body will store it as fat and if you burn more calories than you are consuming you will lose it. However when dieting your body can counteract against the lack of calorie intake so you must make sure you are consuming the right amount of calories, not too much and not too little. Finding the happy medium is essential when trying to lose weight. Your body reacts to the lack of calories by storing as much as possible as fat, the more calories you cut back on, the more your body will take a grip on its fat stores. This is known as "starvation mode" a state that your body goes into when you are not getting enough fuel to function properly.
It is always recommended consulting with a dietitian in order to get the right amount of calories for reaching your target weight. As we are all different in hight and build everybody's daily calorie intake will be different and tailored to your needs.

Food Groups And What They Do

1) Protein
Protein is a fundamental part of everyone's diet, whether you are trying to lose weight, gain muscle or both. If you are trying to lose fat or build muscle, its particularly important to include protein in every one of your meals. Protein is the most important factor in muscle development that repairs the muscles after strenuous activities/training. Protein also slows down the rate at which the body releases carbohydrates as energy, stopping you feeling hungry and overeating.

2) Carbohydrates
The body turns carbohydrates into blood sugars for energy. There are four different categories, not all are good for you.

Complex Carbohydrates
These are foods like, whole grains, wholemeal paster, rice, oats, wholemeal bread, potatoes and root vegetables. All the above also contain vitamins, minerals and fibre. Complex carbohydrates are ideally consumed early in the day as they are slow in releasing energy.

Refined Carbohydrates
These are foods like, white flour, white rice, white sugar, cornflour and soft drinks. Try to keep clear of these carbohydrates as they offer very little nutritional value.

Fibrous Carbohydrates
These are foods like, lettuce, spinach, basically all your green salad vegetables. These foods offer very high nutritional values and should be consumed on 2-3 of your daily meals.

Simple Carbohydrates
These foods are all the fruits and are healthy that offer very high nutritional value and fibre. These foods are also best consumed early in the day.

3) Fat
When people here the word Fat they instantly think "not good". When in fact there are two kinds of fats, good and bad. Good fats clean out your arteries and help process the vitamins you consume, whereas the bad fats do the opposite and clog up your arteries. All fats, good or bad, are high in calories so even the good fats should be consumed in small amounts.
As a rule try to avoid all processed foods (Refined Carbohydrates), from breakfast cereals to canned foods. Cakes and biscuits are a no-no as they offer very little nutritional value and are high in fat. The refined sugars in these kind of foods give you cravings and should be avoided. Many people supplement there diets with a mass gainer and use them as meal replacements as they are high in protein and calories. However mass gainers also contain a lot of fat from refined sources so are not recommended.

Quick Guide/Summary

Eat five times a day, two snacks and three meals.
Eat protein and carbohydrates at every meal.
Eat complex carbohydrates early in the day.
Eat fibrous carbohydrates later in the day.
Eat your daily dose of good fat.
Avoid processed foods and hydrogenated fat.

By following the guide lines above you will give yourself the best chance in reaching your goals in your chosen sport.

About the Author

Regards,
Shaun Bentham

For extensive information on sport nutritional products and articles on How To Gain Weight, Mass Gainer and many more, please visit the following link URL: http://www.nenutrition.co.uk

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