Muscle Building Techniques

When "dieting", don't restrict your calories too much or too drastically or for to long of a time or else you'll ending up losing a lot of muscle and very little fat.

REASON:

The body's main purpose is to stay in "homeostasis" or to basically stay balanced at all times. It does this mainly through adaptation by a system of checks and balances. For example, when you reduce calories too much or for too long, the body thinks it's starving and it won't be able to find food.

It begins to go into "hibernation" mode and it does this by slowing down your metabolism and reducing thyroid output and also, by preserving FAT for survival and burning up muscle, since muscle requires more calories for existence.

As you can see, this would defeat our purpose. So, at times, it's best to reduce calories by 10% every 2-3 weeks and at the same time, expend more energy through exercising.

There is no need to do too much, too soon. Do a little, your body will be okay with it and around 14-21 days, it will begin to adapt and that's when you'll need to once again, reduce calories by another 10%.

In fact, one of our protocols we use is to reduce calories by 10% for weeks 1+2, then increase exercising by 10% or 20-30 minutes 3x a week for weeks 3+4. This is one month. Then, repeat the second month by further reducing calories by another 10% for weeks 5+6 and then after two weeks, increasing your workouts a little more during weeks 7+8.

By just going back and forth and reducing food a little for 2 weeks and then adding more exercise for 2 weeks and so forth, you'll keep your body happy, burning fat and preserving muscle. Obviously, you can't do this forever and after 3 months, it's time for a break by increasing calories for about a week. But this is good for now and we'll get into specifics in the future.

Labels: burn fat, fat burning, fat loss, how to burn fat

For further clarification on previous posts, you should try to eat your protein/carbohydrate meals during the first half of the day if possible and your protein/fat meals during the second half of the day.

REASON:

This again has to do with managing your insulin levels. But also, keep in mind that carbs are used for quick and instant energy. When you have carbs during the early part of the day, you can utilize the calories for the rest of the day since you will be active. But when eating carbs late at night and going to bed afterwards, the carb calories will get stored mostly as fat.

There is an exception to the rule in that immediately after exercising, it's a good idea to have a protein/carb meal without any fat. I know many people exercise after they leave work, later in the day ... so have some carbs after your workout will be beneficial and help speed up recovery.

Just don't over do it!

Labels: fat burning, fat loss, how to burn fat

As stated in the previous post (How To Burn Fat, Law # 3), you do need to eat some amount of healthy fats every day (about 15%-20% of your diet) It's best to do so with protein meals and as well, more so later on in the day. Healthy fats would consist of uncooked/raw nuts, flaxseed oil, extra virgin olive oil and fish oils (capsules).

REASON:

Fats are very important in that they slow digestion and hence, reduce insulin secretion and at the same time, keep you from getting hungry quickly after a meal. They are also beneficial because they create good hormones and enzymes, which are needed to build muscle and reduce body fat.

The hard part or real secret is that fats should NOT BE HEATED! Hence, you have some raw almonds ... or a tea spoon of flaxseed oil in your protein shake or a bit of olive oil on top of your salad. When you cook/heat/fry fats, they become hydrogenated and they aren't as beneficial for your body ... not to mention, they can increase the potential of getting cancer.

I'm not saying go overboard here ... but a little bit of healthy fats a day will keep your skin looking younger, increase your sex drive, lubricate your joints and reduce pains and arthritis and has host of other benefits.

Labels: burn fat, fat burning, fat loss, how to burn fat

Eat more of your calories at the beginning of the day and less at night. Meals 1-3 should be bigger than meals 4-6, and meal 1 should be the biggest, while meal 6 the smallest.

REASON:

Your metabolism is faster at the beginning of the day, versus at night time and hence, you'll burn and absorb the day-time calories. This way, you can typically eat MORE total calories without getting fat, rather than if you ate more at night.

Also, your insulin receptors work better during the day since you have less cortisol. At night, you have more stress hormones like cortisol released, which readily turn food into fat (hence, why most get sugar cravings at NIGHT time and don't feel like eating much during the day).

Additionally, try to have more of your carbohydrates during the day-meals and more protein during the evening meals. Again, all of this having to do with your insulin and cortisol, how to manipulate them and work WITH them, rather than against them.

Probably the hardest part about all of this this is having to eat LESS at night time, especially carbohydrates. I know for me and most everyone I know, we all tend to crave sugars and carbs more so at night, than during the day.

Some people use supplements to get rid of sugar cravings, but even if you don't use them, that's fine. Just tough it out the first few weeks of this new diet and your body will slowly adjust and adapt and you won't crave sugars as much - especially if you are eating often through out the day as mentioned in How To Burn Fat | Law # 1

Labels: burn fat, fat burning, how to burn fat

Eat More OFTEN, To Burn More FAT!

Don't go too long without eating something (preferably containing some protein). You should be eating every 3-4 waking hours. If you are having "hunger pains" through out the day, chances are you aren't eating often enough.

REASON:

The more often you eat, the faster your metabolism becomes because it has to WORK to digest your food. If it works 6x a day, versus only 2-3 times, you'll burn more calories and even more importantly, DIGEST your food better and hence, the calories will be directed more towards energy, repair, muscles, etc. ... rather than the fat cells.

The Thermic Effect of Feeding (TEF) represents the additional caloric expenditure (above resting metabolism) that it takes to digest, absorb, and process the food you eat. Studies on the thermic effect of different foods have been important in describing the different effects of the macronutrients on metabolism.

The TEF lasts from between one to four hours after eating a meal. When adding up the thermic effects from each of your meals, this extra metabolism represents between 5% and 15% of your total daily energy expenditure. Therefore, if your daily energy expenditure is 3,000kcal, about 150 to 450kcal of that comes from the TEF. Interestingly, different macronutrients tend to have different effects on metabolism.

Welle et al. (1981) and Robinson et al (1990) demonstrated that during a normal six hour period of rest and fasting (basal metabolism), subjects burn about 270kcal. When eating a single 400kcal meal of carbs alone (100g) or fat alone (44g), the energy burned during this six hour period reached 290kcal (an additional 20kcal). Interestingly, when eating 400kcal of protein alone (100g) the subjects burned 310kcal during this six hour period (an additional 40kcal). Therefore, protein alone had double the thermogenic power vs. fat or carbs alone!

Another reason is if we wait too long to eat, most of us are so hungry that we'll pretty much eat anything in front of us that's fast and convenient and that usually translates to junk food. But by eating more often, you feel somewhat satisfied through out the day, you won't have cravings as much and when it's time to eat, you can logically choose healthier foods rather then turning into a wild animal and devouring everything in sight.

Also, when you don't eat for 5-6+ hours ... your blood sugar drops and you become fatigued and can't think straight or concentrate. Then, when you begin to eat, there is a massive surge of insulin and there is a "rebound effect" and you'll have very HIGH insulin levels, which means your food gets converted to FAT much more readily.

If you are use to only eating 2-3 meals a day, then start to add in a simple snack here and there and slowly train your body and mind to eat more often. A good snack would be something that contains both protein and carbohydrate - something like yogurt or cottage cheese or half a sandwich.

Or, just cut your lunch in HALF and have one half at noon and the other half around 3 pm. Just be careful that you don't increase your TOTAL calories by having the snacks in ADDITION to all your regular meals.

Remember, eat smaller, but more often. Split your lunch and dinner into TWO parts and basically, have 4 mini-meals. I know for some it's a hard habit, but you'll feel and look so much better! Just start slowly ...

Now, the whole point of eating smaller, frequent meals is to SPEED UP YOUR METABOLISM, without having to DECREASE calories and starve yourself.

Labels: burn fat, fat burning, how to burn fat