If you play football to gain size you need not to worry about fat gain because amount of exertion and running makes it impossible. However for bodybuilding it is nearly a challenge to have muscle gain without fat. You need to be careful about what you eat and burn. They key is to make quality your priorities i.e. eat quality food, train hard and increase protein in your diet. The more muscle you want, the more you need to feed your body. It’s surprising to see someone taking more than 4,000 calories a day, without gaining fat. The trick is to eat consistently with lean and high quality fuel. Focus on quantity and quality as well.
Here are 3 guiding principles to determine what goes on your plate:
- Balance your meals around the lean proteins
- Include low-glycemic, nutrient-rich carbs
- Have generous portions of healthy fats only
Protein Way Of Life
Protein makes muscle. Amino acids inside protein are the building blocks of your muscles, and your body needs them during and after workout for recovery and repair by breaking the protein into the aminos for various functions, and then your body converts what isn’t used.
Take 1 to 1.5 g/per pound of bodyweight a day and break that total amount for 5 to 6 meals every day. This makes approximately 360 g of protein every day. Eating protein often throughout the day allow you to build muscles when you aren’t in the gym. You spent hours for training; however the other remaining hours are those when you get your desired results. However the quantity is secondary issue and quality of protein comes first.
The best is to get lean and not fried sources of proteins such as chicken breast, egg white, 98% leaner ground beef, fish, turkey, and good protein supplements. This will maximize your chances to gain optimum amount of muscles with minimum of body fat.
Another plus point of protein is that unlike carbs, it doesn’t raise insulin which is a potent hormone. Elevating points at non-optimal i.e. any time of a day besides post-workout, may increases fat storage. By taking lean protein frequently and carbs strategically, you can keep insulin levels under control till the time when you need to raise them.
Best Sweet Spot
Healthy fats and carbs are equally important. Eating a low-carb diet to keep stay sub 8% fat is not always right. For harder workout days, you may need 500 g of carbs or more depending on you and your body’s capacity to utilize them strategically. Carbohydrates give fuel to work. Without carbs, you feel tired and you will not perform during your gym sessions. Prefer carbs from high-fiber and high-nutrient foods like oat meals, sweet potatoes and brown rice.
Healthy Fats by Oil Change
The bad rapport about fats is interchanged with healthy fats. Your body needs fats, and in even larger doses. Fat gives much more calories than proteins and carbs (9cal/gram). However fats are only good when they are taken from healthier sources like fish, avocado, nuts and nuts butter, olive oil and coconut oil.
Resource:
