Eh...
You should be eating at least 5 small, complete meals per day. By complete i mean each meal contains carbs, fat, and protein. There are variations where carbs arent included in every meal, but for starters, just try to learn how to balance your macronutrients. Optimally, you should be eating as many meals/day as you can. 5/day is great, but 6 or even 8/day is even better. The theory behind eating small meals frequently is that it elevates your metabolism. On a normal 3 meal/day diet, there is too much time left between meals. The body enters "starvation mode", because it doesnt know when its going to get fed next. As a result, metabolism decreases as your body attempts to store energy. Also, muscle is compromised quickly, as muscle is a very energy hungry tissue. Each pound of muscle burns an additional 50cals/day. It'll be the first to go if you arent eating properly, and your body feels the need to start conserving energy. By eating frequently, your body thinks "hey, this is great, im getting fed all the time!" The byproduct is that the body doesnt feel a need to conserve energy. When using this diet in a caloric deficit, you remove bodyfat quickly and efficiently... and the muscle loss is kept to a minimum, as the body knows its getting fed all the time, and can support the extra energy drain the muscle causes. When in a caloric excess, a clean diet of this type will maximize muscle gain, as youre feeding the body a constant supply of protein throughout the day... and bodyfat gain will be minimized, as the body has no reason to store excess energy when its being fed so often.
That said, the content of your meals is extremely important. You can eat 8 small meals a day and have a highly elevated metabolism and still gain fat if your diet isnt clean. When cutting, or trying to lose bodyfat, things like cheese, milk, carrots, white rice, white bread, etc are all unacceptable. These foods either have sugar, or are high on the glycemic index... meaning they're going to spike your insulin. For a complete listing of the Glycemic Index, do a search using that term in google. I'm sure you'll find something. Now, the problem with Insulin is that once it enters the bloodstream in an elevated amount, it immediately stops fat loss for several hours. So you could be busting your but in the gym, and see minimal results.
When bulking, things change a bit. Foods like those i mentioned above are ok, but it's certainly not an excuse to gorge yourself. Insulin is actually a good thing at times, such as directly after a strenuous lifting session. Insulin here helps to shuttle protein to your muscles, which is desired as your muscles are at an optimal period for protein uptake right after a workout. How strict you are with your diet dictates how your body will look 6 months from now. If you're dedicated, you'll have the body of a model. If you're a bit lackluster, the mirror will tell you.
Regardless of whether you're cutting or bulking, there are some general rules: Try to get at least half your required daily protein intake from real food, not protein shakes. I also saw someone mention getting up in the middle of the night to eat more protein - while a promising idea, its not worth it. Sleep is a lifters best friend. By waking yourself up every night, you screw with your sleep cycles. You may only end up getting 10 minutes of REM sleep a night, which sucks. If you're really worried about "running out" of protein overnight, buy casein - a slow digesting protein. Or, just mix whey with a bit of fat (natural peanut butter works well), to slow the digestion.
I think thats just about everything mentioned in this thread... :/
You should be eating at least 5 small, complete meals per day. By complete i mean each meal contains carbs, fat, and protein. There are variations where carbs arent included in every meal, but for starters, just try to learn how to balance your macronutrients. Optimally, you should be eating as many meals/day as you can. 5/day is great, but 6 or even 8/day is even better. The theory behind eating small meals frequently is that it elevates your metabolism. On a normal 3 meal/day diet, there is too much time left between meals. The body enters "starvation mode", because it doesnt know when its going to get fed next. As a result, metabolism decreases as your body attempts to store energy. Also, muscle is compromised quickly, as muscle is a very energy hungry tissue. Each pound of muscle burns an additional 50cals/day. It'll be the first to go if you arent eating properly, and your body feels the need to start conserving energy. By eating frequently, your body thinks "hey, this is great, im getting fed all the time!" The byproduct is that the body doesnt feel a need to conserve energy. When using this diet in a caloric deficit, you remove bodyfat quickly and efficiently... and the muscle loss is kept to a minimum, as the body knows its getting fed all the time, and can support the extra energy drain the muscle causes. When in a caloric excess, a clean diet of this type will maximize muscle gain, as youre feeding the body a constant supply of protein throughout the day... and bodyfat gain will be minimized, as the body has no reason to store excess energy when its being fed so often.
That said, the content of your meals is extremely important. You can eat 8 small meals a day and have a highly elevated metabolism and still gain fat if your diet isnt clean. When cutting, or trying to lose bodyfat, things like cheese, milk, carrots, white rice, white bread, etc are all unacceptable. These foods either have sugar, or are high on the glycemic index... meaning they're going to spike your insulin. For a complete listing of the Glycemic Index, do a search using that term in google. I'm sure you'll find something. Now, the problem with Insulin is that once it enters the bloodstream in an elevated amount, it immediately stops fat loss for several hours. So you could be busting your but in the gym, and see minimal results.
When bulking, things change a bit. Foods like those i mentioned above are ok, but it's certainly not an excuse to gorge yourself. Insulin is actually a good thing at times, such as directly after a strenuous lifting session. Insulin here helps to shuttle protein to your muscles, which is desired as your muscles are at an optimal period for protein uptake right after a workout. How strict you are with your diet dictates how your body will look 6 months from now. If you're dedicated, you'll have the body of a model. If you're a bit lackluster, the mirror will tell you.
Regardless of whether you're cutting or bulking, there are some general rules: Try to get at least half your required daily protein intake from real food, not protein shakes. I also saw someone mention getting up in the middle of the night to eat more protein - while a promising idea, its not worth it. Sleep is a lifters best friend. By waking yourself up every night, you screw with your sleep cycles. You may only end up getting 10 minutes of REM sleep a night, which sucks. If you're really worried about "running out" of protein overnight, buy casein - a slow digesting protein. Or, just mix whey with a bit of fat (natural peanut butter works well), to slow the digestion.
I think thats just about everything mentioned in this thread... :/
Facebook
Twitter