Muscle & Fitness - Training System - Eating Habits & Gaining Muscle Strength training is the best thing

you can do to lose fat. 2 Big Reasons Big Reason #1: Muscle tissue requires more calories to feed and maintain than fa t does. Big Reason #2: Strength training cranks up your metabolic rate. REMEMBER: You don't exercise for the immediate caloric expenditure. You do it fo r the sustained metabolic effect. 5 Universal Healthy Body Principles 1) Maintain a steady and rigorous resistance and cardio training regimen. 1a - Keeping your metabolism fired up. If you want to maximize this principle, i nclude morning exercise in your program. You burn more calories from fat in the morning and you get a greater metabolic increase than if you exercised at night. 2) Be cautious of faddish body fat reduction programs. 2a - You need to make changes you can live for the rest of your lives. Changes t hat you won't have to think twice about. Changes that will improve your health w ithout setting up impossible goals and the pain of caloric restriction. Challeng e yourself in a steady progressive manner with lifestyle choice that involves a variety, fun, and moderation. Avoid overnight diet wonder; they just don't last. Slow and steady is the ticket. 3) Drink more water. 3a - Water is essential to be able to mobilize and burn fat. Rule of Thumb - kee p a 20 oz of water bottle near you and try to drink five serving per day. 4) Balance the calories you take in with the calories you burn. 4a - (Body Weight [lbs] * 13) = resting metabolic rate or RMR + number of calori es burned during exercise = Calories Consumed 5) Enjoy a treat or two. 5a - We're not robots. As human beings we crave delicious food. Allow yourself s ome of the food you love in moderation. It will help keep you sane and increase your committment to the entire program over the long haul. The 10 essential nutritional rules of optimum body composition-getting lean Rule #1: Eliminate empty calories and junk foods. (Fat eaten as fat is easily ab sorbed in the body and sugar halts fat-burning pathway -->Start reading Labels, know the content of what you are eating). Rule #2: Reduce the amount of overall fats in your diet to a maximum of 30%. (Re member some fats are essential and some are better than other. Sources of more h ealth fats include avocado, olives, nuts, seeds, and various oils, flaxseed and canola, and fatty fish). Rule #3: Adjust your caloric ratio to increase protein during the day and decrea se carbs at night. (Protein contains calories; if you overdo it, any excess calo ries can be stored as fat. As a general rule, you want a gram of protein per pou nd of body weight per day. Don't try to get it all at once. Eat protein through the day so your muscle gets what they need, when they need it. Keep carbs lower in the evening as you have fewer energy demand as the day goes on.) Rule #4: Eat less as the day goes on. (As the saying goes, Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper. This keep you working with your body natural metabolic rate, satisfy your energy demand, makes you feel ene rgized, and stoke your fast-burning furnace.) Rule #5: Separate your protein-intensive and carb-intensive meals. (For instance , don't try to eat a steak with a huge bowl of pasta at the same time. Protein and carbs each require different digestive environment to be optimally digested. Get your carbs in the morning and afternoon and layoff them at night when your body doesn't burn them as efficiently. Rule #6: Eat small frequent meals but still less as the day goes on. (Throw out the idea of 3 big gluttonous table sagging meals. These destroy your body into a

metabolic and blood sugar roller coaster ride and can stimulate fat storage. So eat 5-6 small meals a day.) Rule #7: Eat 25-35 grams of fiber a day. (Fibers tend to lower insulin level and decrease fat absorption. Fibers also absorb water and take more room in your st omach which fights off hunger pangs. Great sources of fiber include bran cereal, oatmeal, and beans.) Rule #8: Vegetables are a great snack and a great mainstay. (They pack maximum n utrition with minimum calories leaving you more full on fewer calories. Set your goal on 5 serving of veggies per day whether on a sanwich, as a meal, a side sa lad, or grilled up. Rule #9: Eat and walk (It has been shown that very light physical activity like a stroll after dinner can not only help digestion but help boost the metabolism in addition to what eating and digestion does. The addictive effect can be benef icial to fat loss.) Rule #10: Supplement your diet with the nutrients it needs especially if you are cutting calories. (When you're pushing your body in the gym, really being stric t, the tendency to develop a deficiency of an essential nutrient - be it vitamin s or minerals is greatly increased. Supplements are not magic bullet though but they do offer nutritional support that you may need.) The 10 essential rules for mass building nutrition Remember your nutrition program must directly support the metabolic need of your specific training program. Marathon runner don't eat like power lifter nor shou ld they. Your objective is to fuel your muscle with energy and provide protein f or growth and recuperation. You want to be in an antabolic state at all time. Rule #1: Protein is your foundation. (Focus on high quality protein namely anima l protein because they contain the best mix of essentail amino acids. Vegetarian source of protein are important too but they must be mixed like rice and bean f or instance to delivery the broad range of amino acids necessary. Eggs, dairy so urces, poultry with skin peeled off before cooking so that fat doesn't seep into the meat, fish, beef like flank steak, eye of round steak, protein powder -- ar e all excellent sources. Red meat in particular comes loaded with nutrients that support strength and mass gain.) Rule #2: Complement your protein with carbohyd rate. (Two words: glycogen and insulin. Glycogen is your body storage form of ca rbohydrate found in muscle tissue. It is the primary energy source for your weig ht lifting workout. When you eat plenty of carbs, your body energy tank will be full and you'll be less likely to dip into protein which could deplete muscle ti ssue. If you are too low on carbohydrate, the body will use muscle protein to ma ke blood-sugar for energy--that inhibits growth. Be careful with starchy food li ke potato, rice, pasta, and bread -- in excess carbs could be stored as fat. Lim it yourself to 3-5 total starch serving per day and keep vegetable/protein intak e high). Rule #3: Calories are good. (Calories directly relate to how your body uses prot ein. If your caloric level remain at or just above your daily energy requirement , protein is recruit to build muscle. If your calorie level remains low, your bo dy burns the protein that might have gone into muscle building. If you're workin g out and your mass isn't changing, your weight isn't rising, you're probably ch eating yourself on total calories. If so, icnrease your carbohydrate intake to r e-establish that balance. Rule #4: Be fat friendly to friendly fats. (For those of you ready to build mass , you need to take in fats for a few reasons. First, for the extra calories. Sec ond, studies suggest fats actually aid in glycogen formation. Third, fat-soluble vitamins need dietary fats to get absorbed into the body. Otherwise, they tend to be flush right through. Fourth, research tells us that omega-3 fatty acids fo und in salmon and flax seed can improve glucose tolerance. That is, fat can enha nce the body ability to remove glucose and control glucose - the basic unit of c arbohydrate and store it as muscle glycogen. For big gains, consume salmon, mack erel or sardin, three times a week. This in addition to your moderate fat diet w hich should include red meat, egg yolk, one-whole yolk for ever 3-4 egg whites, and a regular sprinking of nuts and seeds to your salad or rice.

Rule #5: Variety in your diet is vital. (Don't get caught up in super strict die t of repetitive daily menu planning. 3 different fuits/vegetables a day are impo rtant. Mix fruit into your oatmeal or protein shake. Add cauliflower, broccoli, mushroom, or chopped union and green pepper into your rice or pasta. Have at least one large garden sized salad a day but beware of fatty dressing. Rule #6: Regarding food intake: go slow before your workout. (Take in slow-burni ng or low glycemic index carbohydrate before training, the kind of carb that bre aks down slowly into glucose, which will provide you with available consistent e nergy as you lift. For example, oatmeal, beans mixed with rice, yogurt, buckweed , noodle, cherry and pear which keep your blood-sugar more stable so you can har der for a longer period of time and prevent sudden energy crashes). Rule #7: Don't forget your last lift of your workout: it's to the mouth. (After you tear up the iron, your body needs to replenish nutrients and energy level. I f you don't provide the right nutrients, your body will turn inward and chew up exactly the glycogen and amino acids that you were going to build muscle mass wi th. So immediately after your workout, eat fast-digesting carbohydrate sometimes called high glycemic carbs to satisfy your body immediate energy needs. The hig h-glycemic or simple carb causes a quick surge in insulin which kickstart muscle recovery by suppressing the 4 key hormones that oppose growth and recovery. Gre at sources of fast-acting carb include the dense carb group like raisin, mash po tato, whole grains, banana, or carb drink. Also whey protein powder is quickly d issolved into amino acids which provide your body with that quick supply of buil ding block to enhance recuperation. Rule #8: Eat multiple meals. (6-7 small meals per day help avoid energy crashes, help eliminate that bloated feeling from gorging at the dinner table and preven t the built-up of body fat from see-sawing blood-sugar level. On a physiological level, it provides a non-stop flux of amino acids, proteins and carbs which sup port muscle growth. Amino acids help repair muscle tissue and glucose keepd insu lin level elevated which prevent muscle breakdown.) Rule #9: Consider supplements. (especially antioxidant like Vitamins C & E which are two key elements for the mass builder. Vitamin C has been shown to signific ant decrease cortisol - a muscle wasting stress hormone that increases with har dcore training. Vitamin E has been suggested in multiple studies as something th at combat muscle fiber injuries, reduces free radicals, enhances recovery, and b oosting the effectiveness of the immune system.) Rule #10: Put creatine and gluatmine to work. (Creatine increases power, delay f atigue, increases protein synthesis, has been linked to strength increases. Glut amine helps support the immune system which is key to recovery. It also support the formation of muscle glycogen and control muscle wasting cortisol. One study shows that body builder deprived of glutamine will fail to grow regardless of ca lories and carb intake so take this one seriously. Take immediately after traini ng, along with a high-carb meal, which will spike insulin level, facilitating th e storage and useage of glutamine and creatine. This will maximize growth, recov ery, and repair.