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Sunday, July 26, 2009

The BAsics Behind Weight Loss

10:54 AM by dody · 0 comments
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A lot of people looking for weight loss hear the words 'eat less and exercise more', but what do they mean. weight loss is not that hard, and you DO have the will power and self control Want to lose weight? Well you're not alone. Are you aware that the latest statistics show that more than half the population of the United States are overweight and nearly eighty percent of these people are on a diet at any time?

That is the reason that if diets work and eighty percent of overweight people in the U.S. are on a diet at a certain percentage then begin to decline. But no! There are still fifty percent of Americans are overweight and this percentage is increasing each year.

Unfortunately, the statistics also show that most people who actually do lose weight after following a diet regain all the weight in a very short time. They do not have the basics correct before you start your weight loss plan. Therefore, if you're going to start a diet to lose weight you must make sure that you get the foundations right so it does not become another statistic!

In this new era of information technology there are all kinds of diets, pills. Potions and plans at your fingertips that can be easily accessed with the click of a mouse. Due to the wide range of options, along with so many different opinions can be overwhelming and seems impossible to decide what is best for you. It is therefore essential that before starting the investigation of methods to lose weight to take some initial steps. Here are several valuable tips to get started.

Start by consulting a professional who specializes in weight loss. This does not mean that someone is your neighbor weight watchers and lost 20 pounds in 2 weeks! Start your search for that contact with a person by his own doctor. While probably not your own doctor specializing in weight loss or nutition he or she is a highly qualified professional who has a deep understanding of the human body. Further he / she is very likely to recommend a more specialized and professional to give contact information.

Next - watch your intake of fats and fat content of foods they are buying. Often people embark on a diet and see every little calories they consume, but not to read the fat content on the labels of their food. Do count calories from fat, but it is much more important. Fat is a major factor in weight gain and the elimination of much of it from their diet can lose weight without affecting too much the amount of food you eat. By reducing your fat intake, you will see a dramatic effect on your overall weight loss and health!

Try to keep a food diary outlining what you eat and how you feel about the food you eat. Health professionals and nutrition recommend this as a powerful first step and your weight. Keep a diary of your food intake, their feelings about food and exercise routines is a powerful way to analyze your eating habits. Be disciplined enough to keep a journal allows you to see if there are emotional reasons such as stress, loneliness or boredom, for example, that are contributing to their eating patterns.

Research plans for weight loss and a selection that you think you could maintain or even enjoy. Look at the history of weight loss plan. Read other people's comments about her to know that one has the largest permanent achievements. Look at what's allowed on diet and foods that are not. Will incorporate some type of fitness program? How much exercise is needed? Will you have enough time and motivation to cook all dishes strange?

There is absolutely no point in launching the start of a diet plan or weight loss if you know you are very hard to find and reach to discourage the start. Use your food diary to plan ahead. Once you have chosen your plan you want to show your doctor or health professional and make sure they approve of it! Many diets and weight loss plans can be very dangerous and threatens health. Make sure your plan is followed to the letter, as it may be doing damage that are not aware that if you do not. For example, a very low calorie diet is recommended in the level of caloric intake, may cause long term adverse effects on your body if you start skipping meals!

Once you begin to ensure that all its positive achievements in their daily food. Beraten not yourself if you fall short of their goals. Make sure you have positive when the adoption is successful. Praise to you to reach each goal, while not losing the weight I wanted to congratulate you when you follow your plan - that is proven to himself that is willing to do this!

Do not allow you to become discouraged if you miss a target. You are still going in the right direction by being focused and disciplined. Pamper yourself a little when you succeed. Buy yourself some new clothes for her new body and enjoy the fact that you have done your best. This is a positive reinforcement and help you maintain your diet and weight in the long term.

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Protein Requirements

10:28 AM by dody · 0 comments
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As most people who lift weights are well aware, the “one gram of protein per pound of body weight” rule has been the mainstay advice for protein intakes for decades. But is it correct? In the past, mainstream nutritionists and medical doctors have warned of dire consequences from such intakes of protein, which we now know is total bunk.

They also maintained for decades that athletes didn’t need additional pro-
tein above the RDA.

For the past half-century or so, scientists - using crude methods and poor
study design with sedentary people - have held rm to the belief that
bodybuilders, strength athletes of various types, runners, and other highly
active people did not require any more protein than Mr. Potato Head ...err,
I mean the average couch potato.

However, in the past few decades, researchers using better study designs
and methods with actual athletes, have come to a di erent conclusion al-
together - a conclusion hard-training bodybuilders have known for years.
The fact is that active people should consume far more protein than the
RDA to maintain hard-earned muscle tissue when dieting, and to increase
muscle tissue during the o -season.

As one of the top researchers in the eld, Dr. Peter Lemon, stated:

“These data suggest that the RDA for those engaged in regular endurance ex-
ercise should be about 1.2 - 1.4 grams of protein/kilogram of body mass (150%
- 175% of the current RDA) and 1.7 - 1.8 grams of protein/kilogram of body
mass per day (212% - 225% of the current RDA) for strength exercisers.”

Another group of researchers in the eld of protein metabolism found that
strength-training athletes eating 0.86 grams per kilogram of body weight
(close to the RDA for protein) showed a decreased whole body protein syn-
thesis (that’s losing muscle, jack!). They came to an almost identical conclu-
sion to that of Dr. Lemon in recommending at least 1.76 g per kilogram of
bodyweight per day for strength-training athletes to stay in positive nitro
gen balance/increases in whole body protein synthesis
This same group found in later research that endurance athletes also need
far more protein than the RDA/RNI and that men catabolize (break down)
more protein than women during endurance exercise. They concluded:

"In summary, protein requirements for athletes performing strength training
are greater than sedentary individuals and are above the current Canadian
and US recommended daily protein intake requirements for young healthy
males."

It should be noted that there is still some confusion on this point. In fact,
some prominent researchers have suggested that protein metabolism ac-
tually becomes more e cient with training, and that there is no evidence
of increased protein needs for either strength or endurance athletes. How
do we resolve this con ict?

First of all, we need to acknowledge a critical fact: there is a di erence be-
tween what's needed to maintain lean body mass, and what's optimal for
increasing it. As a recent review on the subject acknowledged:

"...for athletes desiring muscle hypertrophy, there is little reason to limit protein
intake and relatively high intakes might be the best recommendation...Even if
2.5 - 3.0 g protein * kg-1 BW *day-1 is consumed and this amount of protein is
more than the synthetic machinery can process, the excess will simply be oxi-
dized. As long as the intake of other nutrients important to the success of an
athlete is not compromised, there appears to be little harm in ingesting these
high amounts."

How does this information relate to the eating habits of the average ath-
lete following the one gram per pound of body weight rule? Well let's see.
Given that scientists work in kilograms we have to do some converting.

Recall that a kilogram weighs 2.2 lb. So, 200 divided by 2.2 gives us 90.9.
Multiply that times 1.8 (the high end of Dr. Lemon's research) and you get
163.6 grams of protein per day.

Now this is an average gure, that doesn't take biochemical individuality
into account. As with vitamins and other nutrients, you identify what looks
to be the precise amount of the compound needed for the e ect you want
(in this case positive nitrogen balance, increased protein synthesis, etc).
Then add a margin of safety to account for the biochemical individuality
of di erent people, remembering the fact that there are low grade protein
sources the person might be eating and other variables. Since there’s no
evidence of harm, it’s best to err on the high side of the range, rather than
the low.

So the current recommendation by the majority of bodybuilders, writers,
coaches and others, of one gram per pound of body weight, does a good
job in taking into account the current research and adding a margin of
safety. In my view, one thing is for sure: a little too much protein is far less
detrimental to the athlete’s goal of increasing muscle mass than too little
protein.

The truth of the matter, of course, is that many strength training athletes
exceed the one gram per pound of body weight rule and are often closer
to 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per lb. of body weight.

There are no particular reasons why readers can’t eat intakes higher than
one gram per lb. of body weight, if they so desire, but we will stick to the
one gram per lb. gure for this chapter. This makes it relatively simple to
determine total protein intake. An example calculation is shown below.


Example:

It’s simple to determine the protein intake for a 200 lb. person:

Total protein: 200 lb. x 1 g /lb. = 200 g
Total calories from protein: 200 g x 4 calories/g = 800 calories
Percentage of cals. from protein: 800 kcal/3640 kcal = 0.22 (22%)

If the person was eating 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per LB of BW as some
do, that percentage gure would be higher. The same person eating
1.5 g of protein per pound of BW would be getting:

Total protein: 200 lb. x 1.5 g/lb. = 300 g
Total calories from protein: 300 g x 4 calories/g = 1200 calories
Percentage of cals. from protein: 1200 kcal/3640 kcal = 0.33 (33%)
On the ip side, there is some evidence that suggests an upper limit, be-
yond which additional protein is useless. There appears to be a dose-re-
sponse relationship between ingestion of essential amino acids and mus-
cle protein synthesis, but only to a point. Protein synthesis in response to
the ingestion of 6 g of essential amino acids was nearly twice that of 6 g of
mixture containing only 3 g of EAAs; but the response was similar after the
ingestion of either 20 g or 40 g or EAA.

The bottom line is that high protein intakes are bene cial, but there’s no
reason to go overboard! There is no evidence that going over 2 g protein
per lb. will be useful for most athletes wishing to build muscle.
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Top 10 Bodybuilding Foods

10:17 AM by dody · 1 comments
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people want to know what "Top Ten" foods are - and why I think they're important. It's a tough question, as there's a vast array of foods to choose from, and variety is important for a healthy diet too! Just because some foods are "better" than others in certain ways, doesn't mean that you should restrict your diet to those foods alone, in the mistaken belief that you've got all the bases covered. No one food - or short list of foods - can do it all.
Nonetheless, there are some foods that are especially useful, and pack
some extra "bang" for your calorie "buck". So keeping the above consider-
ations in mind, here's my "Top 10" list of foods that should make regular
appearances on your menu. These are:



1. Lean Beef
2. Skinless Chicken/Turkey Breasts
3. Cottage Cheese
4. Eggs
5. Whey Protein
6. Tuna and Other Fish
7. Oatmeal
8. Whole Grains
9. Fruits and Vegetables
10. Healthy Fats



What's so special about these foods? Here's the scoop:

o Lean Beef: Beef is often overlooked due to the perception that it's too
high in fat. While this is true for many cuts, there are several that have
more fat than other popular low fat choices, such as skinless
chicken or turkey. For example, if you check out the nutritional infor-
mation in the Food Database in the Members’ Area, you’ll discover that
100 grams (3 1/2 oz.) of broiled Top Sirloin steak provides a solid 30
grams of high quality protein, yet contains under 6 grams of fat.

Beyond the macronutrient content, beef is loaded with all sorts of
things that are conducive to muscle growth. Beef is a source of highly
bioavailable heme iron, creatine, carnitine, carnosine, CLA, B-vitamins,
zinc and selenium. It should be a staple of any anabolic diet.

See the shopping lists in Chapter 3 and Appendix A for more cuts of
beef that o er outstanding nutrition without excessive fat.

Skinless Turkey and Chicken Breasts: Versatility and ease of prepara-
tion make these low fat meats the rst choice for many bodybuilders.
It’s easy to nd boneless and skinless poultry, already cut into single
serving sizes which can be seasoned and quickly cooked in a variety of
ways. Both are excellent sources of high quality protein and provide
signi cant amounts of niacin, vitamin B6 and selenium.

Cottage Cheese: This is one of the most underrated bodybuilding
foods. It’s made by acidi cation of milk at a pH 4.6, which causes pre-
cipitation of the casein proteins. After that, the whey is drained o
and the curd is washed repeatedly. The washings function to remove
lactose and prevent further acidi cation of the curd, leaving relatively
pure casein protein. It’s also a an excellent source of vitamin B12 and a
good source of calcium, phosphorous, zinc, folate, ribo avin and vita-
min B6. Cottage cheese can be found in nonfat and low fat (1% milkfat)
versions, which are preferable to the higher fat (4%) products.

Eggs/Egg Whites: Eggs are considered one of nature’s most perfect
foods, and they’ve been used as the standard for evaluating the pro-
tein quality from other food sources. Although eggs have gotten a
bad rap for their cholesterol content, data has shown that dietary cho-
lesterol has less impact on serum cholesterol than was previously sup-
posed. Most people who eat eggs on a regular basis nd they don’t
increase their cholesterol levels.

Omega-3 forti ed eggs are now available from axseed-fed chickens,
which provide an additional bene t.Protein: Whey protein is fully covered in the supplement section
in Chapter 5, so only a summary is needed here. Whey is a product of
milk. The two major proteins found in cow’s milk are whey and casein.
The whey proteins are separated and puri ed into whey concentrates
and isolates. Whey has an exceptionally high biological value, high
levels of BCAAs, and low levels of lactose and fat. Whey protein also in-
creases the body’s supply of glutathione, which improves immunity
and helps protect against cancer. Glutathione’s antioxidant activity
may help protect athletes against overtraining syndrome, and provide
other positive health and performance bene ts.

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