Consume the right types of calories from the proper food sources.
We’ve just established that in order to build muscle, you’ll need to always ensure that your caloric intake exceeds your caloric expenditure. That’s all fine and dandy, but it really only tells us half of the story.
Sit down and feast on big macs, ice cream cones and potato chips and your caloric intake would easily exceed your caloric expenditure… but do you think this would be an intelligent approach to building muscle?
Of course not. You need to realize this…
All calories are NOT created equally!
The raw number of calories that you consume determines whether you’ll lose weight, maintain your weight or gain weight… but it is the type of calories that will determine what kind of bodyweight is lost or gained (lean muscle mass, fat, water etc.)
Your obvious goal is to build lean muscle mass while keeping body fat gains at a minimum, and therefore you’ll need to focus on consuming the right types of calories from the proper food sources.
The 3 main food groups that you should be concerned with are…
1) High Quality Protein – Protein builds and repairs muscle tissue and is the most important nutrient for those trying to increase their lean mass. Stick to high quality, easily absorbed sources such as lean red meat, poultry, fish, eggs, skim milk, cottage cheese, peanuts/natural peanut butter and whey.
2) High Fiber, Low Glycemic Carbohydrates – Carbohydrates aid in the absorption of protein, provide your muscles and brain with energy throughout the day and also help to maintain an optimal hormonal environment within the body.
Stick to slow-release, low-glycemic sources that will provide you with a steady stream of sugars throughout the day such as oatmeal, yams, certain fruits, brown rice and whole wheat products. 3) Healthy, Unsaturated Fats – Not all fats will make you fat, and essential fatty acids fit that profile. EFA’s are highly beneficial to the muscle growth process by increasing testosterone levels, improving the metabolism and volumizing the muscle cells. Some good sources of EFA’s include fatty fish, nuts, seeds, avocados and liquids like flaxseed and olive oil. These 3 food groups should make up the bulk of your diet, and should be spread out over the course of about 5-7 small meals daily. It may seem like a lot of work at first, but over time you’ll get used to it.
Sharing is sexySit down and feast on big macs, ice cream cones and potato chips and your caloric intake would easily exceed your caloric expenditure… but do you think this would be an intelligent approach to building muscle?
Of course not. You need to realize this…
All calories are NOT created equally!
The raw number of calories that you consume determines whether you’ll lose weight, maintain your weight or gain weight… but it is the type of calories that will determine what kind of bodyweight is lost or gained (lean muscle mass, fat, water etc.)
Your obvious goal is to build lean muscle mass while keeping body fat gains at a minimum, and therefore you’ll need to focus on consuming the right types of calories from the proper food sources.
The 3 main food groups that you should be concerned with are…
1) High Quality Protein – Protein builds and repairs muscle tissue and is the most important nutrient for those trying to increase their lean mass. Stick to high quality, easily absorbed sources such as lean red meat, poultry, fish, eggs, skim milk, cottage cheese, peanuts/natural peanut butter and whey.
2) High Fiber, Low Glycemic Carbohydrates – Carbohydrates aid in the absorption of protein, provide your muscles and brain with energy throughout the day and also help to maintain an optimal hormonal environment within the body.
Stick to slow-release, low-glycemic sources that will provide you with a steady stream of sugars throughout the day such as oatmeal, yams, certain fruits, brown rice and whole wheat products. 3) Healthy, Unsaturated Fats – Not all fats will make you fat, and essential fatty acids fit that profile. EFA’s are highly beneficial to the muscle growth process by increasing testosterone levels, improving the metabolism and volumizing the muscle cells. Some good sources of EFA’s include fatty fish, nuts, seeds, avocados and liquids like flaxseed and olive oil. These 3 food groups should make up the bulk of your diet, and should be spread out over the course of about 5-7 small meals daily. It may seem like a lot of work at first, but over time you’ll get used to it.
Previous Entries
0 comments for this post
Leave a reply