As I discussed in the last article, you want to use the information you have about fat storage and fat metabolism to stimulate your system to burn up excess energy. You are probably carrying a few kilos after the break.
A quick recap?
You know that fat is stored in 2 pathways:
o The Alpha pathway stores body fat as triglycerides
o The Beta pathway stimulates the breakdown or storage of fat in the bloodstream
Males tend to have more beta-receptors, whilst females tend to have more alpha-receptors. This means you store fat in different ways.
The situation is not as easy and simple as I am trying to write about, but basically you need to limit the storage system, by controlling the sugar intake and limiting your insulin response; and secondly you need to stimulate the use of body fat, both cellular and blood borne.
Last time we dealt with some training variations that will help you to increase the fat burning capability of your muscular system, today we will deal with dietary adjustments.
Through extensive research, not done by me, studies indicate that the fat metabolic system is stimulate more by a ketogenic type diet, this means high protein, high fat and low carb intake. Now a lot has been said about high protein diet, and not all of it is untrue.
Personally, this is the way I eat for life. Remember, high protein does not mean NO CARBS. What you need to do is limit the intake of simple sugars into your system; this decreases your insulin response and thereby prevents you from storing body fat.
Excess carbohydrate intake is public enemy number one when it comes to fat. (To read more about insulin go to my post “Fruit sugar and Body Fat loss” )
The top culprits in our modern diet are:
1. Alcohol
2. Sugar i.e. coffee,sweets,chocolates,
3. Fruit
4. White Flour i.e. Bread Dough
5. Pasta
6. Potatoes
7. Additives like maltodextrin, milk solids
By cutting these foods, you reduce your calorie consumption dramatically. It must be noted however that you still need to get energy from somewhere… this leads us to vegetables and fat intake. Complex carbohydrates release their energy slowly and allow your body a sustainable source of energy, the same is true for unsaturated fats, which are found in certain nuts, oils, avocado and oily fish. It is much more desirable to consume these foods that simple, processed sugars.
The simple formula for fat loss is to use more energy than you consume.
The dietary adjustments will help reduce calorie intake and exercise will increase energy output. The use of supplementation to boost the body’s metabolic rate is another way you can burn calories. Since the discovery of the harmful side effects of ephedrine and clenbuterol as fat burners, many people turn to “natural” products to boost fat burning potential. The best product that I have used is Yohimbine HCL. It has few side effects and is relatively safe if taken in controlled doses. Once again, I need to warn you that NO SUPPLEMENT is a quick fix. If you are not prepared to eat properly and exercise regularly, you are wasting your time taking pills and powders.
Just another warning about following the High Protein type eating style: If you do not re-introduce carbohydrates slowly into your system after completing any diet you will rebound, which is an experience most people know about. You cannot just go back to eating what you want. Your body cannot process simple carb’s after being denied them, it will just store all of it and you will be back to square one.
I know that it is difficult to glean information from the loads and loads of things out there. The best advice is to follow an eating plan consistently over a period. Do not try to achieve things dramatically; you set yourself up for failure. Try to form a habit of eating properly and the effects will be forever. A Healthy, Lean body takes time.
Kind regards
Jason
Thank you for that. SO what type of carb is better to eat if you have a major craving and you sick of eating veggies – rice, potatoes or chips?
According to a book by Patrick Holford, boiled baby potatoes are best, followed by baked potato, Basmati rice before ordinary rice and in absolute last place the chips, especially if they’ve been cooked in cheap oil. Use butter in moderate amounts on the boiled or baked potatoes. And my own tip, mayo is great.
In restaurants, tell them to take the bread away right away so it doesn’t sit there in the basket looking an smelling so tempting. But bread with olive oil and balsamic would be better than chips.