How To Eat For That Lean, Muscular Body
Does your energy level plummet during the course of a day? Do you lose mental focus? Do you ever feel lethargic after a meal? Do you often experience unpleasant hunger pangs and uncontrollable cravings? Are you not achieving the progress towards a lean, muscular body you work so hard in the gym for?
If you answered "Yes" to the questions above, I have the answer. Your problem is more than likely that you aren't eating frequently enough throughout the day!
Notice that I said you may not be "eating frequently enough." There's a big difference between not “eating enough” and not “eating frequently enough.”
Ask any nutrition expert what is the optimal number of meals one should ingest to increase lean body mass, energy levels, and mental focus, while decreasing body fat and you're likely to hear the same magic number from all of them: "SIX."
If there's one thing virtually every "expert" in this field agrees on it's "frequent feedings." Almost every fellow expert that I have encountered agrees that eating more often is the best way to feed your body. “Why,” you may ask. Eating six daily meals can help you:
1. Boost energy levels: Research on diabetics supports the fact that eating every three hours is one of the best ways to stabilize blood sugar levels. When blood sugar levels are stable, energy levels increase and are more consistent throughout the day. On the other hand, think of a time when you over-ate to the point where you felt uncomfortable. What happened to your energy levels next? Chances are, an hour or so after eating, you were unconscious on the couch while your body was busy adding an extra layer of fat to your midsection!
2. Increase mental focus and productivity while decreasing stress: Most individuals will find that when their blood sugar levels are stable, they think more clearly and productivity increases tremendously. In addition, they are better able to cope with stressful situations as they arise during the day.
3. Decrease food cravings and overeating: If you experience severe hunger or food cravings followed by periods of overeating, you're a prime candidate for increasing your meal frequency. Once you experience that hunger, your blood sugar is already crashing and you are more likely to have cravings and make made choices. Eat frequently before you get hungry to stop cravings!
4. Increase assimilation of the foods you eat: The body can only efficiently assimilate and absorb certain amounts of various nutrients in one sitting. Your body will better assimilate six meals containing 35 grams of protein each (for a total of 210 grams) rather then two meals containing 105 grams of protein. By eating protein six times a day, you'll utilize more protein for muscle growth and recovery as compared to eating the same amount of protein over three meals. The same goes for many other nutrients. So, by eating frequent meals, you can protect yourself against the nutritional deficiencies that are quite common in physically active individuals.
5. Boost Your Metabolism: Studies indicate that eating protein rich meals frequently accelerates the metabolism so that you actually burn more calories throughout the day. This is the result of a process called the "thermic effect" of foods. The thermic effect is the energy your body expends to digest and use the food you ingest. This thermic effect is highest for protein, followed by carbs and fats.
If those 5 points don’t answer your “why,” than nothing I tell you will.
Now, you can't just eat anything you want during your six daily meals and expect results. You have to combine your foods in a certain way. However, unless you have the need to be very detailed, I don't see a need to count every single calorie you eat. Alternatively, count portions.
Divide your meal plate into "thirds." Cover one third of your plate with a lean protein source such as fish, turkey, or chicken. Cover the second third of your plate with a complex carb such as a baked potato or brown rice. And cover the last third with a fibrous vegetable such as a green leafy salad, broccoli, or green beans. Make sure you change foods regularly to insure you're getting a variety of nutrients.
Another common practice to determine appropriate portion is to think of a portion of protein as an amount equal to the size of your palm. A carb portion would then be equal to the size of your fist. Vegetables are pretty much a free-for-all. You can eat as much fibrous carb as you want.
Now, if you are like most of my clients you are saying, "Who has time to make six of these meals each day?"
Here are a few things you can do:
1. Pick two days a week to prepare large amounts of food yourself. Make your favorite high protein/low fat recipes and pack meal-sized portions in Zip-Loc bags and containers. Freeze them and thaw as needed.
2. Pick up your phone book. Look under culinary schools. Call a few to locate a chef that can prepare you great tasting, low-fat foods. They bring the food to you in containers each week and not much more expensive than eating out. This is a real time saver.
3. Use convenient meal replacement drink mixes and bars as meal substitutes throughout the day. (I eat three regular meals and have two to three Slim Plan Gold Meal Replacement Drink Mixes, and a Multi-Munch Bar, every day.)
We have just uncovered the real importance of eating frequently every day. Stop procrastinating and take action to start applying this knowledge now!
