Nutrition

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Understanding nutrition for weight loss

Most people know that an effective diet is key to changing your body. And most people know that to lose weight, you must burn more calories than you consume, creating an energy imbalance, but that is about as much as many people know. Some people are lucky enough to get decent results with sub-optimal diets. Many others get no results at all when using similar diet protocols. This article will help you to avoid many of the common mistakes made, and get the best possible results for a body that's ready to go all year round.  

Some Fundamental Principles & Concepts 

Let me start off with one simple underlying truth behind all diet advice, and fundamental rule to success; The best diet plan is one that can be sustainable and fits your life. If you plan the perfect macro balanced diet that requires you to eat throughout the night, in all likelihood you will ditch it within one short sleep deprived week. You may have the ultimate enriched diet, high in protein, then find out you physically cant get hold of the right ingredients. Failing on an impossible diet wont just impact your results, it will also give you a crushing psychological blow, and teach you to fail. To get results you will need consistency, discipline and you will need to have the flexibility to overcome a few hurdles. 

Common Mistakes:  There are many common mistakes that can hinder fat loss results. Some of them are a result of poor information. Others are simply a result of negligence; it is easy to make some of these mistakes without even realizing it. I myself have made some of them, and did not realize it until they began to cause problems.  

1. Not Eating Enough:  Not consuming enough food, or enough of the right foods will hinder your fat loss goals in many ways. The fewer calories you consume, the less energy you will have, potentially effecting how much you move and how well you train. Your sleep cycle can suffer, mood swings can become erratic, and general fatigue can hinder your life. All this basically means that your body burns calories in a less efficient way, your general health and way of life suffers, and your end goal is harmed as a result. If calories levels are too low, your muscle tissue stands a much bigger chance of being burned for energy. Decreased calories can also significantly reduce performance in the gym.  

2. Eating Too Much:  Eating too many calories, or too much of the wrong foods is just as bad. On one hand, eating more can potentially cause your body to burn more total calories through additional energy put in to training, however, this is a tool which must be used intelligently; it does not mean you can eat as much as you want. Ultimately, you still need to create a calorie deficit to lose weight. 

3. Not Eating Frequently Enough:  Nearly every bodybuilder understands on some level that eating smaller, more frequent meals can help. There are some that know it is helpful, but are unaware of just how important it can be. Even worse, there are some who stubbornly believe that it does not matter.  The first, and most well-known reason is to provide the body with a steady supply of protein. Maintaining a supply of protein is crucial for building muscle, and it is very important for fat loss & preventing muscle loss as well. The body cannot store protein for future use, so providing a steady stream of amino acids is extremely important.  The next reason involves hourly energy balance. Too many people think in terms of daily energy balance. They think of calorie per day, or grams of protein per day, which is plain silly. Why not count in calories per 2 and half days, or grams of protein per week? It makes just as little sense. Eating frequently is important for providing your body with just enough nutrients it needs at that given moment.  

4. Thinking in Terms Of 24-Hour Energy Balance:  Too many people think in calories per day, total carbs per day, or grams of protein per day. Your body however, does not share this same though process. When you consume food at any time, your body will use what it can, and store the rest as fat. Amazingly, many people who know this still pay little attention to moment-to-moment energy balance.  Imagine that someone needs 300 grams of carbohydrates per day, and is trying to lose weight. They consume a large part of those during the time of day when they are less needed.  A large portion of those ends up being stored as fat. Later on, when their body needs, and can use carbohydrates, less are consumed. Glycogen stores do not get replenished to the same degree. Some protein ends up being burned as energy, because sufficient carbs were not available at that moment.  At the end of the day, weight was lost, because calories burned exceeded calories eaten. However, extra muscle tissue was lost, and less fat was burned. Possibly little to no fat may have been burned. Momentto-moment, or hourly energy balance is much more important that daily energy balance.  Some people say that this is not necessary. Their reasoning behind this is that 'lots of people' 'get results', by only eating 2-3 meals per day. This is ridiculous, and is like saying that because some people can score decent grades on tests without studying, that studying is not important for doing well.  

5. Not Paying Attention to Meal & Nutrient Timing:  As mentioned before, the amount of food consumed at any particular time is an important concept. Similar to calorie needs at any given moment, the body has specific needs for certain macronutrients at any given movement. There are times when carbohydrates are more ideal, and there are times when fats are more ideal.  Protein is needed just about all the time, but there are times when even more of it is needed. Not paying attention to this, and thinking that you are good to go just because you met your macro. Quotas, is another mistake.  

6. Consuming Too Few Carbohydrates:  Very low carb, or ketogenic diets are a fairly popular method of weight loss. While people do get results with these types of diets, they are neither necessary, nor ideal for fat loss. Again, something may 'work' for some people.  A few people may even get better than average results. But that does not mean it is ideal, or without serious drawbacks. Carbohydrates are crucial for ideal performance in the gym. Having optimum performance is very important for losing fat. Having a certain level of carbohydrates in the body is also important for sparing muscle tissue from catabolism.  A slight reduction of carbs can be beneficial. Carb cycling can be an excellent method, if used intelligently. But drastically reducing carbs yields many more drawbacks than possible benefits.  

 7. Not Consuming Enough Fats:  Even people who understand the importance of fats in the diet sometimes unknowingly reduce fats way too much when cutting. Therefore, it is important to pay special attention to fat intake to ensure that you are getting the optimal quantity and types of fat.  Fats are essential for the production of nearly every hormone, including testosterone. They are important for metabolic function, skin health, immune health, and many other things. Essential fatty acids, especially omega-3 fatty acids, are largely responsible for many of these benefits.  Fish oil, which contains the omega-3 acids DHA and EPA, can provide some outstanding benefits for anyone trying to get the best possible body for summertime. More information on that will be given later.  

8. Not Drinking Enough Water:  It would be hard to find a bodybuilder who did not know the importance of consuming sufficient amounts of water. However, it would be rather easy to find one who did not actually consume enough.  When effort is not made to drink enough water, it is easy to fall far short of the optimal amount. The biggest reason this happens comes from relying on thirst. In many people, the thirst mechanism is not a reliable measure of when water is needed.  I have had this happen to me in the past, and did not notice until my performance began to drastically drop, and I lost over 8 pounds. As a general rule, your urine should stay clear or a very light yellow. If it starts to significantly darken, it could be a sign of dehydration.